Table A2.1 ICT Initiative Profiles: Health

ITU Telemedicine Pilot Projects
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is conducting telemedicine pilot projects in developing countries. Network connectivity is used for access to medical services and databases, teleconsultation, tele-education, vital sign monitoring, image transfer and video conferencing applications.

Texas Technology University Health Science Centers
Originally designed to connect the four campuses of the university, links were extended from the main campus to distant rural sites for the purpose of live medical consultations. In the early 1990s, the university invented TeleDoc, a single portable integrated package of software and hardware to provide live interactive video consultations.

Telemedicine in Ginnack
In Ginnack, a remote island village on the Gambia River, nurses use a digital camera to take pictures of symptoms for examination by a doctor in a nearby town. The physician can send the pictures over the Internet to a medical institute in the UK for further evaluation. X-ray images can also be compressed and sent through existing telecommunications networks.

Disease Response in Sub-Saharan Africa
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Internet is used to report daily cases of meningitis to monitor emerging epidemics. When threshold levels are reached, mass vaccination is required and the Internet is used to rapidly mobilize medical personnel and effectively coordinate laboratories and specialist services.

African Virtual University (AVU)
The AVU is a continent-wide network of universities that have joined with the World Bank to bring courses in computer science and business management to African students and professionals.

• AVU results in improved accessibility to high quality education.
• Travel and overhead expenses for students in remote locations are reduced.
• AVU generates employment opportunities as a result of higher education.

Cisco/ UNDP Networking Academy Program
The Program is an e-learning initiative that delivers web-based educational content, on-line testing, student performance tracking, hands-on labs, and instructor training and support. It is offered at high schools, technical schools, colleges and universities, community-based organizations and educational institutions around the world. In partnership with Cisco, the UNDP is running a sister program in 24 least-developed countries.

• The Program has served more than 155,000 students and 12,000 instructors around the world.
• 5,700 Networking Academies are located in all 50 US states and more than 100 countries.

Intel Teach to the Future
Teach to the Future is a training program created for teachers to help them learn how to utilize computer technology as a teaching tool to captivate students and ultimately move them toward greater learning.

• Intel has trained 400,000 classroom teachers in 20 countries around the world including 100,000 in India alone.
• The Program has increased the effectiveness of computers in classrooms and enhanced student learning.

The World Links for Development (WorLD)
The Program's mission is to establish global on-line communities for secondary school students and teachers around the world.

• WorLD is currently active in 15 developing countries.
• It promotes greater collaboration within schools and across different countries.
• WorLD encourages equitable gender involvement and participation.

NIIT's Education Program
A leading Indian software services and education provider in India is promoting education by setting up computer labs across the country, establishing scholarships for economically weak students and launching programs (such as the Hole-in-the-Wall) aimed at under-privileged children.

• Two hundred computer labs have already been established.
• IT training will allow students to participate in the burgeoning IT sector of the economy.
• The 'Hole-in-the-Wall' program will educate underprivileged children and increase their chances of enrolling in the formal education system.
• Web-enabling IT courses will further extend the reach of IT education in the country.

StarMedia
This initiative intends to provide a better future for millions of underprivileged youth in Latin America and the Caribbean by providing training in information technology skills, counseling and job placement.

• More than 60,000 students who participated in the programs have graduated from 190 schools in Brazil.
• More than 30,000 young people per year have been given improved education opportunities in Latin America.

Table A2.3 ICT Initiative Profiles: Economic Opportunity

PEOPLink
PEOPLink is a non-profit, fair trade organization helping talented artisans in developing countries market their products directly to buyers on the Internet, cutting out the middleman. The images of the products are placed on the PEOPLink site and marketed to retail and wholesale buyers all over the world. PEOPLink also helps local groups build their own web sites and post information.

• The site received 14,000 hits and traded US$30,000 by the end of 1998.
• Daily sales range from US$50–500, with up to 90 percent going to artisans.
• According to PEOPLink, it generally pays craftspeople about 20 percent more than the going rate for exported products.

Utilities Afrique Exchange
Established by Omega Scientific Research (OSR) and Izodia (formerly known as InfoBank Africa), utilitiesafrique.com is Africa's first B2B electronic exchange. This portal offers comprehensive e-trading to African utilities in the power, water, gas and telecommunication organizations and to their several hundred suppliers. It also offers utilities access to rich, real-time information such as news, business opportunities and events in Africa.

• This initiative is expected to help African businesses become active participants in the new economy.
• OSR expects that suppliers can reduce sales costs by 80 percent and purchasers can reduce the processing costs of procurement by a minimum of 50 percent.
• The B2B exchange initially focused on South Africa before expanding into East and West Africa. It has received expressions of interest from other countries such as Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania.

Rural Trading Networks
In Chincheros, a small rural village in Peru, village leaders formed an Internet-enabled partnership with a national export company to trade rural produce in overseas markets.

• Village income has increased five-fold to US$1,500 per month.
• The village vegetables are now sold daily in New York.

Table A2.4 ICT Initiative Profiles: Empowerment and Participation

Madhya Pradesh State Initiative
The Madhya State Initiative is an experimental Intranet computer network for remote farming districts in India. The State provides the content for the site, farmers buy their own computers, and the operation is franchised to an educated local person who charges small fees for access to information and services. Villagers can report broken pumps, lost pension checks or a sick teacher, and the state guarantees a reply within a week.

• For 10 cents, farmers can obtain copies of land titles that previously cost US$100 when purchased from corrupt officials.
• Farmers now take advantage of higher prices in city markets (up to 40 percent higher) because the system has reduced their reliance on local traders imposing lower rates.
• Farmers are learning computer skills and earning off-farm wages.

Andhra Pradesh Citizen Service Centers
Andhra Pradesh, a state of India, has launched Internet-enabled Integrated Citizen Service Centers. Access to services including bill payments, issuance of certificates, permits and licenses, public information and administration procedures are provided.

Charity@Incubator
This non-profit organization is using Internet technology and business incubator practices to help children in Arab countries. It deploys Accenture's expertise in technology, marketing, finance and idea generation to create world-class charities that are built, marketed and operated according to a business plan.

• The first project, AI Aydi, is creating an Internet-based children's portal to display the work of Arab children to a global audience. It has provided children with a sense of pride and self-esteem.
• The project has generated revenue through referral fees and corporate sponsorships.

DATPERS
The Dalit and Tribal People Electronic Resource Site (DATPERS) is a non-profit organization providing electronic newsletters on issues related to Dalit and Tribal People in India and helping to coordinate international human rights campaigns. DATPERS is dedicated to information dissemination, research, dialogue and projects to address the situation and the needs of people in South Asia.

• People in India, and others sympathetic to the issues, exchange information about what is happening in the Indian villages.
• DATPERS has exposed the exclusion of 250 million low caste people, coordinating International Human Rights campaigns and keeping the community in touch.

APC Women's Networking Support Program
This program promotes gender equity in the use of ICT technologies by providing IT training and research capabilities in the fields of ICT policy, skill-sharing and women's network-building. Various programs addressing inequities based on women's social or ethnic backgrounds are being launched worldwide.

Bio-diversity in Indonesia
A national computer-based information initiative in Indonesia combines the databases of various agencies and contributes to a global bio-diversity network.

• Sharing information strengthens the capabilities of existing data providers.
• Improved information access promotes public awareness.
• Networking encourages interest and participation in bio-diversity issues.

Weather/Pest Information Network
The Network provides weather data to forecast pest problems, reducing pesticide use and the subsequent impact on environmental quality and farming sustainability.

SIDSNet
SIDSNet is a medium of communication for 43 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on common issues such as biodiversity, climate change, coastal and marine management, energy sources and trade. It is promoting the sharing of SIDS experiences and the development of the global SIDS agenda.

• The web site receives an average of 300,000 hits per month from over 100 countries including donors and SIDS.
• The site contributes to the increasing level of awareness and understanding of the link between the environment and human development among SIDS decision makers.

Precision Agriculture
Precision Agriculture is an information-based initiative offering information products that benefit farmers by contributing to the protection and efficient use of environmental resources. It uses sensors, digital application controllers, communication links, global positioning systems (GPS), computers and innovative software solutions to automatically match agricultural inputs and practices to variable local conditions.

• Better information inputs for land management decisions are provided.
• Pesticides and seed varieties can be tested more efficiently.
• Environmental stewardship is improved.
• Agricultural yields can be significantly improved.

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