The problems we see | What we are doing about it | The steps we take to get there | Our core values

Our Real Access / Real Impact strategy and our methodologies:

• Real Access / Real Impact criteria
• The 12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives

The problems we see

The inability of ground-level organizations to put ICT to effective use is one of the most critical issues facing the world today. And a failure to foster local entrepreneurship to support ICT places the sustainability of donor-funded activities at risk.

The massive scale of modern problems requires holistic and systemic solutions, whether you are talking about global climate change, the urgent need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, indescribable health crises, threats to national security, or any other of the frightening scenarios that threaten the future of our species. Poverty exacerbates all of these problems, and education is clearly a crucial element. So where does information and communications technology fit in? In the modern world, ICT is a required tool that must be a part of the solutions to any of these problems in order to achieve the level of information sharing, coordination, and scale needed to make a global impact.

ICT can increase efficiency and improve service delivery for social programs just like it does for business. But so far ICT is failing to deliver on its potential to improve development because many initiatives lack experience with ICT and fail to integrate it effectively into what they do. During recent years, much attention has been focused on the issues of the digital divide and ICT as a key enabler of socio-economic development, but there continues to be more talk than concrete results. There are many initiatives to bring technology infrastructure to developing countries, yet many people do not use it because of simple realities: they do not understand it, they are uncomfortable using it, they cannot afford it, or they cannot see its utility.

The problem of integrating ICT into development is complex and manifests itself in different ways in different countries. It presents both practical and policy challenges. Moreover, it is apparent that solutions that work in the developed countries cannot simply be transplanted to developing country environments; solutions must be based on an understanding of local needs and conditions. Numerous government and ground-level initiatives are helping to put technology to use for social good, but too often they neglect factors that limit their success. Development initiatives need more pragmatic solutions that weigh the real tradeoffs and opportunities of using ICT to enhance existing services.

What we are doing about it

The desire to drive change at a systemic level is at the heart of our mission. Bridges.org addresses these broad issues by acting as a catalyst for reform and promoting its holistic, integrated Real Access /Real Development /Real Impact strategy. We leverage our influence at both the international and local levels to promote new models for development, and act as an example of ICT-enabled development that is driven from the ground up. We push for development-aid efforts to be based on local needs and requirements, call for the private sector to think progressively about the developing world, and insist that governments engage with their citizens and organizations. We seek an end to the waste of limited resources, staggering levels of duplication, and solutions that are imposed rather than locally developed. We apply common sense and say what needs to be said.

We also recognize that improving the way that ICT is used for development is an enormous task, and no one group could solve the problem on its own. We work closely with other organizations to fully understand the realities of ICT use and raise awareness of how ICT can be used to support their activities. We help shape and promote sustainable, replicable models for community ICT use, grounded on the needs, interests, and active participation of local residents.

We support local entrepreneurship to identify and address business opportunities. We provide tools for government policymaking to provide coherent long-term plans for prosperity, and work at the highest levels of policymaking by informing national and international leaders about the ground-level realities that need to affect, and are affected by, their decisions. We provide facts about ICT access and use, create information toolkits, and offer grounded advice. We are committed to increasing awareness, establishing best practice, reducing duplication, and building local capacity. Our work provides thought leadership to improve the thinking about ICT and development, which in turn affects its implementation.

The steps we take to get there

To achieve our mission, we:

• Focus attention on the policy issues that come hand-in-hand with technology use and promote policymaking that fosters technology use.
• Bring people in developing countries and disadvantaged communities into technology policy discussions, by leading a local dialogue among stakeholders to foster understanding of the social, economic, and political implications of the widespread integration of technology in society, and helping them distribute and obtain information to coordinate their efforts both locally and internationally.
• Assist in efforts to develop sound legal and regulatory frameworks to support technology use.
• Support the local and global use of technology by people in developing nations and disadvantaged communities, in particular to support efforts that employ technology tools in areas such as healthcare, education, indigenous economic development, environmental protection, and managing resources for food, water and energy.
• Provide liaison, legal and technical assistance to organizations and individuals working to put technology to use to address social and economic problems.
• Gather a body of knowledge about digital divide issues through research, analysis, and recommendations, and help to spread the word about developments and activities in the field.
• Serve as an information clearinghouse and use online access, papers, publications, conferences, and workshops, to foster the exchange of information about the effects of technology integration in developing nations and disadvantaged communities and the key factors in maximizing the opportunities offered by technology.
• Study the effects of technology use on economic development, human rights and democracy, and the impact of national technology policies on these issues.
• Provide public education about technology use focused on training, business practices, and social issues, so that people are better able to work in the information economy and to participate fully in the information society.
• Sponsor workshops, training sessions and conferences about the local and global use of technology for economic and social development.
• Promote technology solutions that empower global users to be effective in their technology use.
• Design and implement programs to influence long-term planning for the use of technology in developing countries and disadvantaged communities.
• Bring a global perspective to local problems and ground our work at the community level through partnerships with local groups.

Our core values

We work in an environment where being underpaid and overworked is all too common, and there are many competing interests that vie for our time and attention. Sometimes even those with the best of intentions see their integrity put at risk. Like many others working in this field, we do our best. Our efforts are guided by the following core values:

• Reduce duplication and share information with like-minded efforts
• Maintain high standards in all that we do and strive for high-quality outputs
• Keep running costs low and use scarce resources wisely to maximize the social return on investment to our funders and those we serve
• Involve those outside the institutional development community — especially young people — whenever possible to cultivate fresh ideas and develop new thought leaders
• Work outside of the box and drive positive change
• Think critically, constructively, and rigorously

Our Real Access / Real Impact strategy and methodologies

Bridges.org has examined the ICT-based development field and considered what works, what does not work — and why. It has built on its own experience and the thinking of a number of other organizations to design a holistic, integrated strategy we call Real Access/Real Impact (RA/RI). This framework sets out the determining factors in whether there is Real Access to ICT: access that goes beyond computers and connections so that technology use makes a Real Impact on socio-economic development. It is not about a specific technology application that is used in a certain way. Rather, the RA/RI framework offers a roadmap to the digital divide that can be used to improve the way that ICT is integrated into initiatives in healthcare, education, small business development, government services and other programs in the countries and communities that have the most to gain.

Financial measurements and organizational processes are established benchmarks for planning, monitoring and evaluating development projects; but these measurements often fall short in the ICT arena, insofar as they are insufficient to give a full understanding of the immeasurable benefits to society that ICT projects and policies bring, or external challenges they face. Gauging the number of computers and connections is relatively easy, but measuring the level of effective use of ICT is much more difficult. Traditional measurements also highlight project shortcomings, but usually fail to give specific guidance on what a project or policy process needs to do to improve.

The Real Access/Real Impact approach can be used as a basis for the analysis, measurement, and implementation of initiatives on all levels, from the ground to high-level policy deliberations. The RA/RI methodologies can be used prescriptively (as part of a project-planning exercise), during a project (to inform decision-making along the way), or after-the-fact (to reflect on project successes and failures). They can also be used as the basis for technology research, or to inform policymaking processes. The RA/RI methodologies are widely applicable to efforts by communities, civil-society organizations, development-aid organizations, governments, and the business sector.

RA/RI provides a fresh angle on the issues, prompts ideas for moving forward, and ensures an all-embracing approach. RA/RI considers whether people have the capacity to use ICT and whether they actually are using it, including analysis of the underlying factors that affect whether they do (or do not) and why. The RA/RI framework helps initiatives plan effectively and take concrete steps for implementing ICT as part of what they do, highlights the strengths of ICT projects and policies, and provides direction for future improvements.

The two RA/RI methodologies together form an innovative framework for anticipating and evaluating the substantive and project administration issues that affect the success of ICT-based initiatives:

• The Real Access criteria are tool for examining the factors surrounding ICT access that determine whether people can effectively use ICT, including the "soft" aspects like training, relevant content and services, legal and regulatory environment, and local economic conditions.
• The 12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives serve as a guide for planning and assessing the application of good practices in ICT project management.