bridges.org's e-assessment reports:

• Comparison of E-Readiness Assessment Models —describes the various tools that are available and what they measure, including the tools' underlying goals and assumptions which shape their outcomes. With this report, we aim to foster informed decisions about approaches to e-readiness assessment, as national governments consider their IT policies and undertake development initiatives.
• Survey of Who is Doing What and Where —looks at where assessments have already been conducted in the world.
• Consultation report on e-readinessfor the South African Development Community - World Economic Forum — policies and recommendations for improving e-readiness in SADC countries, in a methodology that can be replicated in other areas of the world.
• List of other e-readiness resources and sample assessments - a repository of online tools and resources for e-readiness assessment and understanding the digital divide.

bridges.org's other e-readiness projects

• assessment of Cape Town's digital divide — bridges.org has conducted a comprehensive and ground-breaking assessment of Cape Town, South Africa's digital divide.
• Presentations and tutorials - bridges.org is an active participant in international fora on e-readiness and the digital divide. For example, bridges.org and McConnell International will present a tutorial on moving"From E-Readiness to E-Reality" at INET 2002.

a brief description of e-readiness

With the specter of the growing digital divide looming large, world leaders in government, business, and civil society organizations are harnessing the power of information and communications technology (ICT) for development. They seek to improve their countries' and communities' e-readiness -- the ability for a region to benefit from information and communications technology. It is increasingly clear that for a country to put ICT to effective use, it must be "e-ready" in terms of infrastructure, the accessibility of ICT to the population at large, and the effect of the legal and regulatory framework on ICT use. If the digital divide is going to be narrowed, all of these issues must be addressed in a coherent, achievable strategy that is tailored to meet the local needs of particular countries.

This study considers the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments, based on an in-depth evaluation of the e-readiness assessment initiative of the World Bank Information for Development Program (infoDev). Top-down, international initiatives waste money and effort on poorly conceived and under-supported e-readiness assessment programs and can be better targeted toward concrete development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals. The focus needs to move from “how much bandwidth?” to “how much bandwidth is needed for remote diagnosis to reduce child mortality?” Even before this report made it to final publication, the infoDev e-readiness initiative was retired and many of the statements made in this report are now taken as a given.

A number of organizations have conducted e-readiness assessments in developing countries using a variety of tools. One report looks at where e-readiness assessments have been carried out, and by whom; a companion report evaluates the various assessment models used including what they measure, their definitions of e-readiness, and their underlying goals and assumptions which shape their outcomes. These reports provide a resource to policy-makers and others who want to use e-readiness assessment results to plan for the integration of technologies in society, and to organizations that are considering new assessments.

A first step in any approach to the digital divide problem is to consider a country's ability or "readiness" to integrate information and communications technology (ICT), in order to provide a baseline that can be used for regional comparisons and planning. It is important to understand what it means for a country or economy to be "e-ready" and conduct an evaluation based on objective criteria to establish basic benchmarks. It means considering whether the necessary infrastructure is in place, but also looking beyond that to whether ICT is accessible to the population at large and whether there is an appropriate legal and regulatory framework to support its use. If we are to narrow the digital divide, all of these issues need to be addressed simultaneously in a coherent, achievable strategy which is tailored to meet the needs of a particular country.

In 2002, the World Economic Forum (WEF), the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the e-Africa Commission created the e-Readiness Policy Programme to help African countries address policy issues that affect information communications technology (ICT) use in the region. Bridges.org worked on the Programme to assess the current status of technology-related policies in Africa and to drive government, private sector and civil society stakeholders into ICT policy discussions. This report is intended as a first stage in a broader process to advance ICT policy and decision-making across Africa by building partnerships that inform and engage stakeholders in policy processes.

Bridges.org, in partnership with Cape Town IT company DGE, was commissioned by the City of Cape Town to conduct an assessment of the City's digital divide. The project's goal was to help the City better understand the current IT landscape in Cape Town -- including current access and usage of IT, the demand for services, and realistic constraints to improvement -- in order to better target its proposed policies and initiatives to lessen the divide. The project examines traditional measures to gauge e-readiness such as access to technology, affordability, and skill levels, as well as often overlooked issues of relevant content and services, and socio-cultural factors that impact effective, sustainable access.

Bridges.org partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in 2001-02 to hold a consultation among stakeholders on e-readiness issues, and draft a report that looked at how ready SADC countries are to adopt information communications technology (ICT) in terms of infrastructure, legal frameworks, and sectoral development.

Consultation report with the South African Development Community (SADC) and the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum Steering Committee on Policies and Strategies was invited in June 2001 by regulators from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to participate and share perspectives in a consultative e-readiness process. The result of the process is this action framework entitled, which was presented by the Steering Committee on Policies and Strategies as a deliverable to the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2002.