Opportunity[edit]

See also: Global digital divide, Digital divide and Global Internet usage

Developing countries lag behind other nations in terms of ready access to the internet, though mobile access has started to bridge that gap. Access to computers, or to broadband access, remains rare for half of the world's population. For example, as of 2010, on average of only one in 130 people in Africa had a computer[2] while in North America and Europe one in every two people had access to the Internet.[3] 90% of students in Africa had never touched a computer.[4]

Local networks can provide significant access to software and information even without utilizing an internet connection, for example through use of the Wikipedia CD Selection or the eGranary Digital Library.

Focusing on Africa[edit]

Exploring the Introduction of Computer Technology in Africa[edit]

Africa presents a unique cultural climate for the introduction of computer technology not only because of its diverse population, varied geography and multifaceted issues but also because of it singular challenges. Africa is composed of 53 countries many gaining independence since 1950 containing 75 unique ethnic groups and approximately 700 million people. It has been colonized and hence influenced strongly by the European’s from France, Portugal, Britain, Spain, Italy and Belgium except for the countries of Ethiopia and Liberia. Martin & O’Meara [5] describe Africa’s diversity and some of the issues that is presents: ethnicity; geography; rural/urban life styles; family life (class levels); access to developed world products, education; and media.

Despite this somewhat overwhelming diversity in Africa, the need for self-determination by Africans as fought for example by the Nigerian’s five Ogoni clans during the 1990s over oil rights is paramount. The “bare necessities of life – water, electricity, roads, education and a right to self-determination so that we can be responsible for out resources and our environment” [6] must be respected. Technology such as computers is considered by some to be important in obtaining such self-determination for Africa especially in the area of education. While it has already had an extreme boost through the independence of many of the African countries, more education can lead to water, electricity, roads and more self-determination. Bill Clinton supports the use of technology in education stating, “[s]o, I think that the potential of information technology to empower individuals, promote growth, reduce equality, increase government capacity, and make citizen interaction with government work better is enormous” [7] And at the same forum, Bill Gates further states, “Out of 6 billion people, somewhat less than 1 billion are using this technology. … Part of how to do that is by having community access, getting it into schools and libraries, and many of the projects we've done, both here in Africa and around the world have that theme that, although it won’t be in the home at first, it will be accessible.” [7]

South Africa and the Smart Cape Access Project[edit]

South Africa has one of the largest and most successful introductions of computers to the residents in Africa with the Smart Cape Access Project initiated in 2000 in Cape Town winning the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award in 2003 (Valentine, 2004. The project piloted 36 computers in six public libraries in disadvantages areas of Cape Town in 2002 with four computers designated for public use for each library. Libraries had the important structure with security, electricity and telephone connections, and known access by the public. Cape Town City Council sought information form librarians to build their project realizing that free Internet access was critical to the projects success including training, a user guide, help desk support and feedback loop. They anticipated that Internet access would "create much-needed jobs for citizens, but … it can empower people to market themselves, start their own businesses, or gain access to useful information”.[8] Funding for the project relied on donations and partnerships from private organizations with extensive volunteer help in accessing open-source software that is available from licensed vendors or free on the Internet. While the project has been plagued by slow Internet speeds, long lines of waiting users, hacking and budgets, the demand for more computers remains high. Residents have used Internet access to build their own businesses using Smart Cape for administration, to obtain jobs sometimes over seas, to create some unsanctioned small-scale ventures such as paying an educated user to write one’s resume,to write letters, e-mail, play games, complete homework and do research, and to obtain information such as BMW advertisements among other uses. Older people, unemployed youth and school children have been the most prevalent users of the Internet with 79 percent being men.

With the first phase of the project completed in 2005 and the second phase consisting of monitoring and evaluation of pilot sites just completed in 2007, the roll out of the final phase of the project is underway.[9] Over one hundred thousand people have made use of the Smart Cape Access Project computers’ free access since 2002 (Brown, 2007) which is about one fifth increase in overall access to the Internet for the 3.2 million population of Cape Town increasing total access to 17 percent of the residents in 2008 (Mokgata, 2008). However, the project continues to be plagued by budget issues leading to questions about long-term sustainability because of its heavy reliance on donations and volunteers. The project reports did not address the maintenance of the computers or the network which could also be a rather large expenditure. Of further concern is the lack of use by women and girls, which culturally presents a hierarchy problem because men are the public face, and another topic to consider in the future.

Africa and other less successful projects[edit]