ICT Solutions for Development of Ghana - Essay Example

Technology Transfer to Ghana. The Environmental Information Network case Table of contents Introduction 2 Case background overview 3 Main stakeholders 4 Technology transfer case as a solution to specific problems 5 The project from the ICT, Globalization and Development perspectives 6 Conclusion 7 References 9 Appendix 10 Introduction Globalization, technologies and development are vital issues for the second decade of the 21st century. The more power these three issues gain to influence day-to-day lives of people, the more educated and experienced we should become in understanding how they work and interact, the more we should develop our ability to analyze those opportunities and threats that they bring altogether or separately. Globalization as a term and a phenomenon that could be referred almost to the beginning of the 20th century and associated with a dependency theory of Andre Gunder Frank, came to its real power in the 80th resulting in a massive strikes and conferences for and against it, thousands of books written and conferences held. Without dipping in details, we should assume Globalization as something that simply exist, understand it and try to leverage positive value from it. Technologies are considered among three main powers that shape the world and taking into consideration some deviation, we can assume that this is true. Technologies originally associated within a behavioural framework of Western cultures reached their peak of consumption and very often lead to financial losses and failures. However, the problems and losses from the over-usage of technologies could be decreased if we share it partially with a Developing world. Third World countries are suffering from the lack of up-to date technologies that could help them to leverage the wealth hidden in their natural resources to become richer and consequently to solve many of their internal problems such as poverty, low level of literacy, poor health service and sanitary issues, hunger or rights inequality. In addition, by bringing or assisting to bring and adopt modern technologies it is possible to intensify our knowledge of existing technologies and invent some new or more productive ways of using (“We … underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten years”, - Bill Gates). Development is tightly linked to Globalization issue that stands behind some concept of transformation from one condition to another. As long as each country has its own historical, geographical and cultural issues, the understanding of the term Development and the main theories that stand behind it becomes very important as long as we can identify or invent country-specific strategies to stimulate it. The term is often met along with exploitation concerns, and reality shows that it may have place. However, as long as cooperation and moving together to a better and more prospering world is favourable for all participating parties (countries), we should change our attitude to the term and consider it to be a sort of stimulation or a help that eventually can bring success to international cooperation and lead to better living. Technology Transfer is a phenomenon commonly met now especially as long as more and more international NGOs (e.g. Geekcorps) operate in the sphere. Technology Transfer is a complex question that addresses such spheres as technologies themselves, culture and behaviour and of course in today’s dependant world issues of Globalization and Development. In this assignment, the case study of the Technology Transfer for building the Environmental Information Network in Ghana is researched in the context of Globalization, ICT and Development and its evaluation and essential conclusions are made. Case background overview A brief outlook of what is a current development of Ghana and what problems this country faces that could be addressed to be solved with a help of ICT follows. 44.8% of Ghana's population of 19.9 million earns less than US$1 a day (2001). The GDP per capita is US$239 (2000) and the country is heavily indebted as it is said in a report of World Bank (1). Ghana and its citizens rely mostly on their national resources what is a common situation for African countries, but Ghana is considered to be relatively stable country and a good place to make a business. Apart from its sandy beaches, Ghana is famous for its tropical forests the 75% percents of which have been destroyed for the last several decades. This and several other factors influenced environment very much and some major changes and climatic events such as flooding, loss of topsoil and a loss of species diversity became to appear. To be able to observe and study these environmental changes, exchange knowledge and ideas on their concerns more efficiently a joint project of The International Institute of Communication and Development (IICD), The Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) took place. The project addresses the problem of improving data mining, data exchange, knowledge management and sharing processes on environmental issues within the whole country by using ICT and under supervision of two mentioned above local institutions. Although, Ghana has two main intuitions that collect necessary data and do researches on the issues: FORIG and EPA (is one of the oldest in Africa) the data gathering process is too old-fashioned and no knowledge sharing system between the agency and the institute existed. Before the implementation of the Environmental Information Network to access some information or to conduct research one scientist had to make a way of 450 km to another institution to collect data to continue his scientific investigation further. Being not accessible to the general public and consequently this data resulted in no changes in attitude and behaviour of business sector that is in charge of mentioned above environment problems. Main stakeholders To provide the solution The Environmental Information Network (EIN) Project was implemented. The EIN Project of Ghana uses ICT to link the databases of two national environmental agencies. The database is publicly available for free use. Local and international researchers, government agencies and other environmental organizations can use its information to support decision-making, intervention strategies, and awareness campaigns about environmental protection, and they can also contribute to this knowledge pool (IICD, par. 2). Apart from mentioned in the previous paragraph stakeholders there are decision-makers, consultants, students, private companies and the general public (IICD, par.22), that are also influenced by the project and involved in it directly or indirectly. Decision makers being representatives of authorities or private companies can greatly benefit from using this system and can be able to make more environmentally friendly decisions. Now, before making decision manager can access environmental data to investigate whether this activity will be environmentally safe or not. Consultants play very important role in making decisions as long as they are experts and their judgments are often taken as a ‘final word’. They provide recommendations for decision makers. In case these recommendations are based on mistaken information, results could be disastrous. If they have an access to the up-to-date environment they can make more well thought decision recommendations leading to more sustainable activities. Students are also important stakeholders. Those who are involved in programmes focused on environment issues can use EIN data to support their diploma. In addition, now they have more up-to-date data what means that they can study with better quality and after graduation they will not need additional training to be able to contribute on their workplace. Private companies represent a vital part of economy of any country. As mentioned above mostly in African countries foreign direct investments are made into raw material, mining or logging what being done without taking into consideration environment conditions and relationship between actions and anticipated results. This leads to some serious environment problems. Having access to environment information database companies can run more environmentally friendly business. Government is responsible for the wellbeing of citizens. In African countries governments try to attract foreign investors to raise money for its operations and further plans. Usually governments of countries from this region can bring its natural resources or environment as a sacrifice to raise at least some money. This kind of policy finally might lead to the situation when African countries have nothing to offer to their foreign partners. Having access to the EIN database government and its agencies can run more environmentally sustainable policy. Finally, researchers and scientists involved in sciences about environment among key stakeholders .With a help of new system, they were able to access valuable information, exchange it or share ideas to make more sophisticated researches. Technology transfer case as a solution to specific problems The project was launched in July 1999 as a response to unsolved communication problem within the environment research field in Ghana. It appeared to be an example of implementation of INFOTERRA bibliographic database. This is the global environmental information exchange network of the United Nations Environment Programme. “The network operates through a system of government-designated national focal points which at present number 177. An INFOTERRA national focal point is essentially a national environmental information centre usually located in the ministry or agency responsible for environmental protection. The primary function of each centre is to provide a national environmental information service (link to the website)” (UNEP-Infoterra, par.1). Access is granted via website that also serve as a place for sharing information, ideas and thought in forms of reports, sending message from one user to another etc. “Important documents and records related to environmental management were scanned into an electronic database that can be accessed via local computer networks that connect the agencies' offices. Researchers from the two agencies are also linked by telephone and e-mail, and connected to the World Wide Web to give them access to international research” (IICD, par. 19). While project was initiated by highly interested and primary stakeholders (scientists) it had no real difficulties with implementation in terms of legal boundaries or bureaucracy. However, such issues as a lack of ICT awareness and poor computer skills in addition to unreliable power and internet connection took place. To overcome them a plan for moving from dial-up connection to radio-system in the nearest future and essential training of in-house information managers to work with the website and electronic information services was held. In addition, despite the fact that the project is beneficial for all parties it is not enough funded. The project was considered being rather successful as reported by its coordinator Agnes Adjabeng. Three very important issues were taken into consideration that led to a success of this ICT transfer (general rules of any technology adoption). The technology brought had real usefulness for its users (now they didn’t have to travel long distances from one institution to another to collect necessary data and could have more up-to-date information by exchanging electronic messages within the system). In addition, the system was considered to be easy to use (as Agnes Adjabeng mentioned “it was seen as an integrated part of the work of the EPA, and not as an add-on” (IICD, par. 14)) and to eliminate a possible lack of knowledge the necessary training was held. Lastly, participating parties were collecting feedback and sharing experiences concerning the system to make it more useful. The project from the ICT, Globalization and Development perspectives This case refers to a Hyperglobalists perspective of Globalization. As it is meant by their ideas Globalization is an inevitable development and cannot be resisted by human intervention and Increased integration and spread of capitalism brings widespread benefits and prosperity as it is presented by Ohme in 1990. At this example, it is clearly seen that the project appeared as a response to an unsolved environment problem raised by the Globalization and unsustainable international trade. As mentioned above Ghanian authorities tried to limit or control these activities, but they failed and lost about 75% of their tropical forest. Now the focus shifted from direct prevention to creating environmental awareness and a necessary ICT structure was build to support this idea. Taking into consideration the fact that the project was build not internally, but with a great support (technical and financial) of IICD and with implementation of widely adopted practices and technologies referred to capitalistic countries and capitalism in general we can assume that the idea that capitalism might have a positive influence and lead prosperity is applicable. Despite it might sound controversially, we should understand that as any activity capitalism and its spreading in form of Globalization can and brings prosperity. When it considers many other factors and especially an idea of Sustainable Development as it is seen in our case (if we refer to IICD cooperation with Ghanian agencies and institutions as a technical intervention of capitalism to Ghanian environment management sphere) it brings positive results. Globalization and ICT as we discussed on lectures, ICT does not exist independently, because ICT is also considered to be one of those catalysts of Globalization (according to Neoliberalism perspective of Globalization and consequent role of ICT in this context). While increasing the speed of communication and transactions and enabling business to run in a time-mode 24/7, decreasing the price of international trade tremendously ICT in context of Globalization has one more important feature. With a growth of ICT awareness, agile methods of software development and extensive Open Source moment it becomes rather easy even for poor countries or small organisations to incorporate top-notch technologies to reach and accelerate their success. In the case of EIN we see that it was built on a high-quality software library provided by UNEP that is leased freely to local environment agencies. Alike initiatives emerge in ICT as a results of Globalization that leads to an increased need in the interchange of information and in greater need of fast and reliable information systems that enhance communication and knowledge sharing. I stick to the conception of ICT and Development that states that ICT acts as a facilitator or enabler of social and economic development by improving the efficiency of developing countries industrial infrastructure, enhancing overall economic performance and strengthen competitive capacities in the global market, “modernisation of industrial societies” and bringing the development gap through organisational development. As seen from our case the implemented project was considered being successful within the sphere of environmental management, which is tightly linked to lots of industries involved in manufacturing, mining and international trade. By providing better environment information to government and private sector Ghanian environment network will lead to better management decisions and consequently to more profitable operations with less losses and better effects on environment (more sustainable). This will boost up the level of attractiveness of particular industries or the country in general for foreign investors that can channel their efforts into supporting one of fast developing industries in Ghana. With a help of ICT we observe how ‘modernisation’ of the environment management industry in Ghana takes place and that it brings very good results for all involved stakeholders. Lastly, as we could understand from the case of EIN, networking and joint activities were rare because of poor ICT support, but with its help it became possible for several stakeholder access the same data, improve the quality of information and conduct joint awareness promotional activities to stimulate sustainable development of the region, so eventually the organisational development was reached. Conclusion To sum up, the case researched shows how such issues as Globalization, Development and ICT influence the Technology Transfer from developed to developing countries. Things that deserve a special attention in Technology Transfer are a clear evaluation of problem and forthcoming tasks to solve it, choosing and adopting technology that is easy to use and has a real usefulness, using feedback to improve the quality of adoption, ensuring the ownership of the project (finding really strong supporters that will work on the project and represent one of highly interested stakeholders). Finally, having a good plan and executing it step by step plays a very important role in going from concepts and agreements to real actions. In this assignment I decided to stick to those prospective that sees Globalization an ICT in relationship to Development as enablers that help to bring advanced knowledge and technologies from developed to developing countries to open up a whole new world of opportunities of international cooperation and to stimulate their internal growth, development and wellbeing of their citizens. References Mugabe, John. "FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, R&D AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN AFRICA: An Overview of Policies and Practices.", 2004 Ridderstrale, Jonas, and Kjell Nordstrom. Funky Business Forever How to Enjoy Capitalism (Financial Times). New York: Financial Times Management, 2008. "About UNEP-Infoterra." -- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Home page --. Web. URL: http://www.unep.org/infoterra/overview.htm [Accessed 13 Dec. 2009] "Bill Gates Quotes - eQuotes - A Famous Quotes Wiki." Welcome to eQuotes! - eQuotes - A Famous Quotes Wiki. Web. URL: http://equotes.wetpaint.com/page/Bill+Gates+Quotes [13 Dec. 2009] "Environmental Information Network of Ghana | bridges.org." Bridges.org | It's not about the technology, it's about the people. Web. URL: http://www.bridges.org/case_studies/348#ftn5 [13 Dec. 2009] Appendix Case study. Environment Information Network in Ghana I. Overview Initiative: The Environmental Information Network (EIN) Project of Ghana uses ICT to link the databases of two national environmental agencies. The database is publicly available for free use. Local and international researchers, government agencies and other environmental organisations can use its information to support decision-making, intervention strategies, and awareness campaigns about environmental protection, and they can also contribute to this knowledge pool. Implemented by:The Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG). Funding or financial model: The International Institute of Communication and Development (IICD) provided equipment and training in web development. The Ghanaian Government provides grants to EPA that fund the salaries, allowances and basic operational costs of the project. Timeframe: The EIN Project was the result of roundtable discussions between IICD and the Internet Society of Ghana in 1998, where EPA highlighted the need for a centralised database of environmental information for Ghana. The project was launched in July 1999. Local context: In its Vision 2020 strategy, the Government of Ghana sets out its hopes for the country to be among the middle ranking developed nations in 2020. This will be no easy task. 44.8% of Ghana's population of 19.9 million earns less than US$1 a day (2001)[1]. The GDP per capita is US$239 (2000)[2] and the country is heavily indebted. Ghanaians have always relied on the country's abundant natural resources to provide them with a livelihood. However, in the process of exploiting these resources to meet socio-economic needs, adequate care has not been taken to guard against their depletion. Although Ghana has over 15,000 km of tropical rain forest, today this area represents just 25% of Ghana's original rain forest area. The main reasons for deforestation and concomitant desertification have been commercial logging, shifting cultivation, and mining. Loss of Ghana's rain forests not only leads to flooding, loss of topsoil and a loss of species diversity, but will also impact on the whole region as deforestation is associated with global warming. The development problem/obstacle addressed: The EPA realised that information relevant to environmental management was available in many government departments, but that it was scattered and unsystematically managed. Ironically, various local environmental agencies were connecting with international information-sharing groups, but they did not have ready access to each other's data and experiences, neither did staff from different agencies communicate or collaborate on a frequent basis. Each agency had its own libraries and researchers, and they had to travel to different libraries to perform basic searches. This situation hampered the quality of environmental research and also prevented Ghana from developing a unified strategy to protect the environment. How ICT is used to overcome the problem:As part of the EIN Project, librarians systemised bibliography entries from EPA and FORIG's libraries, scanned documents and records and uploaded these onto an electronic database. The EPA central office's Local Area Network (LAN)[3] was connected to the Internet, EPA and FORIG were connected by telephone and e-mail, and the EPA's ten regional offices were connected to the unified database via a Wide Area Network (WAN)[4]. EPA and FORIG also established their own website. Selected staff from the two agencies received extensive training to help them manage the in-house environmental information database. The EIN project now enables partner organisations to access information from each other's databases at the click of a mouse. It has reduced costs because traveling time and expenses have been cut out of the equation. The project improved the quality of data used as well as the speed at which it can be retrieved. As a result, the quality of EPA and FORIG's research has improved and the two agencies are now able to take on larger and more sophisticated research projects. Furthermore, the network provides access to international sources and facilitates collaboration between researchers and agencies. The EIN Project benefits all sectors of the Ghanaian economy since it provides up-to-date information on the environment for industry, commerce, and management for research and other purposes. Next steps: There are still some minor problems in the system that need to be sorted out. For example, the computer in the EPA library designated for public use is broken; clients cannot search the database themselves, but have to rely on librarians to do this; and a more detailed customer satisfaction and impact assessment is needed. Fortunately, EPA is planning to fix and expand its laboratory so that the public can have better access to these electronic resources. This initiative will also have a bigger impact if it links up with more agencies such as the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), but it will need to develop the necessary capacity in those agencies to make the network run smoothly. The next phase of the EIN Project will focus on upgrading information services at the regional centres and the development of the same facilities at the partner organisation, FORIG. Geographical area targeted: Ghana, with international potential. II. Gauging Real Impact This section considers whether and how the EIN Project 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's 7 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-for-Development Initiatives are used here as a framework to highlight what the EIN Project has done well. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-for-Development Initiatives Implement and disseminate best practice.The EIN project builds partly upon a INFOTERRA[5]bibliographic database. EPA is sharing details about its project via the web with other institutions and researchers. The Ghanaian EPA is one of the oldest environmental agencies in Africa and has assisted a number of other African countries to establish environmental management programmes. By sharing project details with African countries that have a similar historical and developmental background, the EPA helps them to avoid reinventing the wheel. Ensure ownership, get local buy-in, find a champion. The project was designed and implemented by its primary stakeholders -- the research staff. From the start of the project, EPA and FORIG displayed a strong level of commitment and involvement. Administrative directors readily accepted the ideas behind the EIN Project and gave the institutional support needed to make the project succeed. Do a needs assessment.The project was based on needs expressed at a round-table discussion of stakeholders. FORIG also conducted an extensive needs assessment among its researchers to establish what they wanted from such a network. Set concrete goals and take small achievable steps. A proposal for the Environmental Information Network, tabled in September 1998, set out the initial ideas for what was needed. In February 1999, a five-year-agreement was signed between the IICD and EPA, which specified the steps to fully develop the EIN Project. The development of the Project has systematically moved forward, starting with the migration of existing information to electronic formats for use with the database, then connecting partners and making the database widely accessible. The EIN Project became operational in August 1999. More work is needed, but a clear strategy for next steps is set out. Critically evaluate efforts, report back to clients and supporters, and adapt as needed. The pilot phase of the project - in which the infrastructure for the network was laid down - was evaluated by IICD after the first year and found to be a success. Address key external challenges.The project deals with a range of problems -- from congested telephone lines to bureaucratic red tape and a general lack of ICT awareness. An unstable power supply and an expensive, unreliable Internet connection also pose major obstacles. EPA and FORIG switched to a radio-link system to avoid these problems. Updating computers also proves to be very expensive because most of the equipment has to be imported. Make it sustainable. The EPA is trying to ensure sustainability of the project by investing a lot of time and money in training in-house information managers to upgrade the website and electronic information services. At the moment some revenue is created by providing photocopier services and charging for online services. They hope to raise more funds by offering tailor-made services to get more people to use the network. III. Lessons Learned We invited Agnes Adjabeng, project coordinator of the EIN Project, to share her views on the EIN project's 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: "On a technical level, the most important lessons that we learnt were that it is important to: acquire some knowledge about the equipment to be purchased; know what equipment and products are available and what their prices are before drawing up a budget; have training in product and equipment specification. From a management perspective, I think the EIN project has been successful, because it was seen as an integrated part of the work of the EPA, and not as an add-on. To make the project succeed, the skills of various staff members were drawn in. Regular meetings were also held between EPA and our main partner, FORIG, to exchange information and share our experiences about the project." IV. The Story This section presents a narrative description of the EIN project that highlights why this use of ICT for development is particularly interesting. Describing Ghana's Environmental Information Network sounds bookish and a lot less glamorous than Dian Fossey's adventures in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist".However, it is hoped that the impact of Ghana's environmental network will eventually have a more lasting impact. The Environmental Information Network (EIN) has electronically linked the databases of two key environmental agencies in Ghana: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- one of the oldest environmental agencies in Africa -- and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) -- which deals extensively with deforestation issues but has also been mandated by the Ghanaian Government to do research into forest products. Important documents and records related to environmental management were scanned into an electronic database that can be accessed via local computer networks that connect the agencies' offices. Researchers from the two agencies are also linked by telephone and e-mail, and connected to the World Wide Web to give them access to international research. The need for well-supported environmental management reached critical proportions in Ghana during the 1990's. Ghana had already lost most of its tropical rain forest over the last decade. Commercial logging, mining, and shifting cultivation have eaten away 75% of the original rain forest. Although the country has implemented a ban on log exporting, roads into the forest made by miners and commercial loggers have opened up previously inaccessible areas. This led to an increase in the bush meat trade. Of particular concern is the trade in large apes, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, both of which are in danger of becoming extinct. Deforestation has also led to a decrease in species diversity, which could mean that plants that might have some medicinal value might be lost even before they have been discovered. The loss of forest topsoil -- which can take over thousand of years to accumulate -- can cause disastrous flooding because there is no soil to soak up rain water. The EIN has gone a long way to boost environmental management in Ghana. Although government agencies within Ghana gathered environmental information for their particular purposes, previously the information was held within each agency and was not easily shared. Information resources were not systematically managed, and collaboration between staff members of the two agencies was limited. When researchers from FORIG and EPA wanted to access each other's libraries, they had to travel 450 km. Once at the other's library, they had to spend a lot of time making notes as the books they consulted were not issued on a lending basis. Today, researchers from the two agencies access each other's databases at the click of a button. Because they can communicate with each other via e-mail, they are in more regular contact. Taken together, these factors have not only improved the quality of environmental research in Ghana, but have also helped the environmental agencies to work together on a more unified strategy to save the environment. It is not only researchers that are benefiting from EIN, but also decision-makers, consultants, students, private companies and the general public. The EIN database is accessible through ten regional EPA offices, which enables widespread access to the information. This gives local people and community leaders the opportunity to input their knowledge about the environmental situation in their area into the system by sending up-to-date information to the network via telephones, fax or e-mail from the regional offices. Involving community leaders in environmental management has been an important step, since they represent the level of government closest to the people and are best placed to reflect local concerns and implement practical action programmes. The impact of deforestation is seriously jeopardizing the future of the country, especially since in 1995 tourism surpassed the timber industry to become the fourth largest generator of foreign currency in Ghana. The implementation of EIN is central to preventing the destruction of Ghana's natural resources and developing them in a sustainable way. Perhaps linking environmental researchers and librarians computer networks sounds somewhat geekish, but if one bears in mind that increasing their effectiveness could prevent the deforestation of Ghana -- and help to slow down global warming -- geeks suddenly become hip. [1] ICT at a glance: Ghana. World Bank (2003). [2] Basic indicators, International Telecommunications Union (2001) [3] A Local Area Network is a communications network that is usually contained within a building or a complex. It is made up of servers, workstations, a network operating system and a communications link. [4] A Wide Area Network is a communications network that covers a wide geographic area, such as state or country. [5] INFOTERRA is the global environmental information exchange network of the United Nations Environment Programme. The network operates through a system of government-designated national focal points which at present number 177. An INFOTERRA national focal point is essentially a national environmental information centre usually located in the ministry or agency responsible for environmental protection. The primary function of each centre is to provide a national environmental information service. Read More