Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development: Africa
An initiative of IICD and bridges.org

The bridges.org/IICD Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development sets out to illustrate how ICT contributes to development in Africa. The aim of this series is to help ground level initiatives imagine the possibilities of what can happen if they use ICT successfully to overcome development obstacles, and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the digital divide.

I. Overview

Initiative: <Name of initiative: and a one sentence description including type, field of focus, technology used, and target client/audience>

Implemented by: <organization or individual that runs the initiative>

Funding or financial model: <not-for-profit or for-profit>

Timeframe: <when it started, and how long it is intended to continue>

Local context: <A description of the key socio-economic and cultural factors that shape the local context, including infrastructure, literacy, unemployment, GDP, etc.>

The development problem/obstacle addressed: <what factors such as social, political and infrastructure obstacles are hindering development>

How ICT is used to overcome the problem: <a brief description of activities and results>

Next steps: <how does the person or organization plan to improve on successes>

Geographical area targeted: <Where the initiative does its work>

Contact information: <URL, contact person, address, e-mail, telephone, and fax>

II. Gauging Real Impact

This section considers whether and how the initiative has made a Real Impact at the ground level by looking through the lens of basic best practice guidelines for successful initiatives. The bridges.org 12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives are used here as a framework to highlight what the initiative has done well.

The 12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-for-Development Initiatives

1. Start by doing some homework. Look at what has worked and what has not worked, study good practices in the area, and build on what you have learned.
2. Conduct a thorough needs assessment of the community to be served so you can plan to do what is actually required.
3. Make it local: ensure local ownership, get local buy-in, work with a local champion, and be context specific.
4. Engage a local problem-solver with some degree of responsibility, and involve them sufficiently so they can identify and address problems as they arise.
5. Form sound partnerships and collaborations, and be good partners and collaborators.
6. Set concrete goals and take small achievable steps. Be realistic about outputs and timelines.
7. Found your initiative on technology-neutral concepts so it can be adapted as needed to accommodate technology change over time.
8. Involve groups that are traditionally excluded on the basis of age, gender, race or religion.
9. Identify and understand the external challenges you face, and take practical steps to address them.
10. Monitor and critically evaluate your efforts with effective tools, report back to your clients and supporters, and adapt your approach as needed.
11. Make your initiative sustainable over the long term -- either by bringing in sufficient income to be self-sustaining, or by delivering on a social mission so effectively that it is worthy of continued donor funding.
12. Widely disseminate information on what you are doing and what you have learned so others can avoid your mistakes and build on your efforts.

III. Lessons Learned

This section invites the people driving the initiative to share their views on their greatest success, the challenges they have faced, key constraints and dependencies that affect the initiative, opportunities for future improvement of what they do, and other lessons they have learned.

IV. The Story

This section presents a narrative description of the initiative that highlights why this use of ICT for development is particularly interesting.

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About the bridges.org/IICD Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development

This case study series on ICT-enabled development aims to disseminate best practice examples of how information communication technology has been successfully used by groundlevel initiatives to alleviate poverty. Case studies are an effective tool for examining what works best, what fails, and why. The intention of this series is to share knowledge and catalyse lessons learned about ICT by local organisations and the international community. The current focus is on efforts based in Africa.

The case study series is an initiative of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and bridges.org, two organisations that share the goal of encouraging the effective use of ICT in developing countries. IICD is an independent non-profit foundation, established by the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation in 1997 and based in The Hague. Bridges.org is an international non-governmental organisation based in Cape Town, South Africa. This initiative is supported by the Building Digital Opportunities Programme (www.iconnect-online.org), funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Directorate General International Cooperation (DGIS), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).