W O R L D
B A N K
W O R K I N G
Rural Informatization in China Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang Asheeta Bhavnani Nagy K. Hanna Kaoru Kimura Randeep Sudan
THE WORLD BANK
P A P E R
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W O R L D
B A N K
W O R K I N G
P A P E R
RuralInformatization inChina ChristineZhenWeiQiang AsheetaBhavnani NagyK.Hanna KaoruKimura RandeepSudan
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Copyright©2009 TheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/TheWorldBank 1818HStreet,N.W. Washington,D.C.20433,U.S.A. Allrightsreserved ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica FirstPrinting:June2009 Printedonrecycledpaper 12345 12111009 WorldBankWorkingPapersarepublishedtocommunicatetheresultsoftheBank’swork tothedevelopmentcommunitywiththeleastpossibledelay.Themanuscriptofthispaper thereforehasnotbeenpreparedinaccordancewiththeproceduresappropriatetoformally edited texts. Some sources cited in this paper may be informal documents that are not readilyavailable. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for ReconstructionandDevelopment/TheWorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthose oftheExecutiveDirectorsofTheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent. TheWorldBankdoesnotguaranteetheaccuracyofthedataincludedinthiswork.The boundaries,colors,denominations,andotherinformationshownonanymapinthiswork do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank of the legal status of any territoryortheendorsementoracceptanceofsuchboundaries. The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission promptly to reproduce portionsofthework. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers,MA01923,USA,Tel:9787508400,Fax:9787504470,www.copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressedtotheOfficeofthePublisher,TheWorldBank,1818HStreetNW,Washington, DC20433,USA,Fax:2025222422,email:
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Contents Foreword ..................................................................................................................................... v 1.Introduction............................................................................................................................ 1 Notes..................................................................................................................................... 2 2.DevelopmentofChina’sRuralInformationInfrastructure .......................................... 3 FixedLineTelephony......................................................................................................... 6 MobileTelephony ............................................................................................................... 6 RadioandTelevision .......................................................................................................... 7 Internet ................................................................................................................................. 7 Notes................................................................................................................................... 10 3.RuralInformatizationInitiativesandOrganizationalModels................................... 11 KeyRuralInformatizationActorsandInitiatives........................................................... 11 OrganizationalModelsforRuralInformatization.......................................................... 14 Notes................................................................................................................................... 21 4.LessonsfromInternationalExperiences ........................................................................ 22 GovernmentandDonordrivenInitiativesandSustainability.................................. 22 PrivateSectorParticipation ............................................................................................. 24 TheAppealoftheFranchiseModel ............................................................................... 25 HybridOrganizationalModels....................................................................................... 28 5.ChallengesforRuralInformatizationinChina............................................................. 30 LackofaCoherentStrategy............................................................................................. 30 WeakCoordinationacrossMinistriesandIntegrationattheProvincialLevel........ 30 UnsustainableBusinessModelsandOverrelianceonGovernmentFinancing ...... 32 LackofDemandDriven,LocallyRelevantInformationResources........................... 32 LowLevelsofPublicAwarenessandCapacityBuilding............................................ 33 WeakLinkstoDomesticICTIndustryandResearchandDevelopmentforRural Applications ............................................................................................................... 34 LackofSystematicLearningandImpactEvaluation................................................... 34 6.Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 35 FormulateaComprehensiveandCoherentStrategy................................................... 35 SupportInnovativeBusinessModels............................................................................. 36 ConsolidateandShareResources................................................................................... 37 RaisePublicAwarenessandBuildCapacity................................................................. 38 DevelopIntermediaryInstitutionsandNetworks ....................................................... 38 EnsureLearning,Monitoring,andEvaluation ............................................................. 39 iii
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Contents
7.Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 40 References................................................................................................................................. 42 Appendixes............................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix1.CentralGovernmentStrategiesandInitiativesforRural Informatization ............................................................................................................ 45 Notes................................................................................................................................... 51 Appendix2.AnalysisofEighteenPilotProjectsinChina........................................... 52 Appendix3.ImpactEvaluation:Rationale,DefinitionsandFrameworkforRural InformatizationPilots.................................................................................................. 54 Note .................................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix4.AFrameworkforEvaluationofEighteenPilotProjects ....................... 59 Tables Table2.1.InformationInfrastructureCoverageinChina,2007 .......................................... 6 Table3.1.RuralInformatizationInitiativesbyCentralMinistriesandAgencies ............. 11 Table3.2.RuralInformatizationProblemsandAttemptedSolutions................................ 15 TableA.3.1.AFrameworktoEvaluateProjectImpact....................................................... 57 TableA.3.2.IndicatorstoAssessProjectImpact ................................................................. 58 Figures Figure2.1.OwnershipofTelevisioninUrbanandRuralHouseholds,1990–2006 .......... 7 Figure2.2.InternetPenetrationinUrbanandRuralChina,2005–07................................. 8 Figure2.3.PersonalComputerOwnershipinUrbanandRuralHouseholds,1999– 2006 ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Figure2.4.PlaceofInternetAccess,2007 ............................................................................... 9 Figure3.1.KeyElementsofRuralInformatizationPilotInitiatives ................................... 15 Figure5.1.PopulationandInvestmentSegmentationinChina ....................................... 31 FigureA.3.1.DevelopingPerformanceandImpactIndicators......................................... 56 Boxes Box2.1.CentralGovernmentStrategiesforRuralInformatization,2001toPresent ....... 5 Box3.1.GovernmentModel .................................................................................................. 16 Box3.2.TelecommunicationsProviderModel.................................................................... 17 Box3.3.ProfessionalAssociation/CooperativeModel ....................................................... 18 Box3.4.Franchise/EntrepreneurialModel........................................................................... 19 Box3.5.PrivateSectorModel ................................................................................................ 20 Box4.1.PublicProgramsofAccessCentersinChile ......................................................... 23 Box4.2.EChoupal:AnEvolvingInfrastructureforRuralTransformation ................... 25 Box4.3.CDI:ASocialFranchiseTargetingDisadvantagedUrbanYouth ...................... 28 Box4.4.GyandootPrograminIndia .................................................................................... 29
Foreword
O
verthelastdecade,informatization—thetransformationofaneconomyandsociety throughtheeffectivedeploymentofinformationandcommunicationtechnologies inbusiness,social,andpublicfunctions—hasbeenasignificantphenomenoninChina. Launched in the coastal urban areas, the process of informatization has rapidly expanded to the inner rural areas, where over half of the country’s population lives. Thismeansthatover700millionpreviouslyunservedruralconsumerscannowaccess publicservicesandinformation. TheGovernmentofChinacontinuestoadvancetheinformatizationprocessaspart of its strategy to reduce rural poverty and improve the living conditions of farmers. Finding sustainable models that can be scaled will be critical for China to achieve equitabledevelopmentacrossregions,andtoreducetheruralurbandivide. The Government of China and the World Bank share a long history of collaboration. It is my hope that this working paper will serve to deepen the understanding of the role of informatization in meeting China’s economic and social needs, particularly with regards to improving livelihoods and creating opportunities fortheruralpopulation.Wealsohopethattheexperienceandlessonsdiscussedhere willbeusefultoothercountries. I would like to express our most sincere thanks to the Advisory Committee for StateInformationinChinaforitsdedicatedsupportthroughoutthepreparationofthis study. MohsenA.Khalil Director,GlobalInformationandCommunication TechnologiesDepartment TheWorldBankGroup
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CHAPTER1
Introduction
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hina’s recent economic growth has expanded industrialization and urbanization, upgraded consumption, increased social mobility, and initiated a shift from an economybasedonagriculturetoonebasedonindustryandservices.Still,morethan halfofChina’speoplestillliveinruralareas—whereaverageincomepercapitaisless than a third of the urban average1, a gap that is among the largest in the world. Reducingthesedifferencesiscriticaltobuildingaharmonious,inclusivesociety. In its 11th FiveYear Plan (covering 2006–2011), China has adopted a new development paradigm that emphasizes the building of a Harmonious Society (he xie she hui) with more balanced development across regions. The new development paradigm adopts a “scientific view of the development process” that emphasizes sustainable growth and “peoplecentered.” Accordingly, the government has substantially increased its commitment to propoor, prorural programs. This new approach is reflected in numerous official statements and many new programs introducedinrecentyears. Thegovernmentisexploringnewwaysofreducingruralpovertyandimproving thelivingconditionsoffarmers.UntilrecentlyChina’spovertyalleviationeffortshad focused on tackling absolute poverty, but with attention now being turned toward relative poverty reduction and narrowing the ruralurban income divide, informatization2—defined as the transformation of an economy and society driven by informationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT)—isincreasinglybeingexploredas awayofhelpingpoorpeople. Ruralpopulationshavedramaticallyincreasedtheirdemandfornewtechnologies, policies,andmarketinformation,andobtainingusefulinformationinatimelymanner has become critical to the rural economy and society. With the arrival of the informationage,themarketeconomyinruralareashasbeengrowing,andcompetition in the expanding economy necessitates access to information—especially in agriculture,whichisparticularly reliant oninformation.ICTisbeingperceivedasan effectivetoolfordisseminatinginformationresourceswidelyandcosteffectively. This report draws from background research conducted by the Advisory CommitteeforStateInformatization,andattemptstoprovideanoverviewofChina’s rural ICT development primarily in the past 15 years. The report first describes the statusofChina’sruralinformatizationinfrastructure.ItthenreviewsexistingruralICT initiatives in China and summarizes them by organizational models. International examples are included to draw lessons from. Finally, the challenges of rural informatizationareexamined,andpolicyrecommendationsidentifiedtoaddressthem. 1
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Notes
Chinaurbanruralincomegapcontinuestowiden http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINPEK1715020080124 2 Theterm“informatisation”wascoinedbySimonNoraandAlainMincintheirpublication L’Informatisationdelasociété:RapportàM.lePrésidentdelaRépubliquewhichwastranslatedin Englishin1980asTheComputerizationofSociety:AreporttothePresidentofFrance.However,inan articlepublishedin1987—”TheInformatisationofSociety”inEvolutionofanInformationSociety, editedbyA.E.Cawkell(London:ASLIB)—Mincpreferredtouseinformatisationandnot computerization.ThispublicationusestheAmericanizedspelling,“informatization”and italicizesallgeneralusagesasaborrowed“foreign”word. 1
CHAPTER2
DevelopmentofChina’sRural InformationInfrastructure
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hinahasidentifiedruralinformatizationaskeytoachievingnationwidegrowthand improving people’s capacity for participating in new economic domains. In addition to specific informatization goals in the 11th Five Year Plan, the related deployment of strategies such as the State Informatization Development Strategy, 2006–2020 underscore the importance the government has accorded to rural informatization.Thusthegrowingdigitalgapbetweenruralandurbanareashasbeena mounting area of concern, encouraging the development of numerous policies and initiativestopromoteruralinformatizationandbetterequipallcitizensforparticipation inthenewglobalorder. KeydevelopmentobjectivesofruralinformatizationinChinainclude: ɶ Catching up with more advanced regions. Informatization could facilitate contacts and exchanges between China’s central and western regions and more developed regions, allowing farmers and agrobusinesses to obtain technologiesandmarketinformationthatenablethemtomakefulluseoftheir comparative advantages in developing new products and increasing trade, market share, and ultimately incomes. Furthermore, leading agrobusinesses in developed regions can show small and lowvalue industries in less advancedregionshowtoimprovetheirmanagementandtechnologicalskills andmarketcompetitiveness,reducingregionalgaps. ɶ Integrating and modernizing the rural market economy. Most rural enterprises in rural China are small and private. Given their isolation and weak financial foundation, the market economy in rural areas remains underdeveloped. Better rural information infrastructure can provide market information, communication channels, and financial resources to farmers and rural enterprises,enablingthesekeyplayersintheruraleconomytoentermarkets andincreasetheirdiversificationandcompetitiveness.Suchinfrastructurecan do so by facilitating better farming techniques, helping to choose crops to plantinresponsetomarketinformation,improvingproductionand resource management (for example, through geographic information systems), and reducingmarketingcostsandexploitationbyintermediaries. ɶ Strengthening delivery of social and public services. Government information support systems should aim to capture timely, accurate, comprehensive data 3
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ɶ
ɶ
ɶ
on local economies and social activities. One approach to improving public service delivery is to integrate information on rural economies, science and technology,education,health,socialprotection,andotherareas.Theresulting commoninfrastructureanddatabasescanthenbesharedacrossministriesand regionsinsupportofruralservicedelivery. Augmenting income and nonagricultural employment through diversification and increased productivity. With information, farmers are better equipped to make important decisions and learn about diversified employment opportunities. With the growing dependence on the services sector, rural economies could benefitfromdiversifyingintoprovidinglocalICTenabledextensionservices. Increasing the quality and relevance of information and the human capacity of the rural population. Access to relevant information can transform economic opportunities and improve livelihoods for rural households—especially the poorpopulationandyoungpeople.Ruralinformatizationnotonlydirectaffects economic development, but it also brings in modern ideas and forward looking mindsets from more advanced regions. This can pave the way for transformative ideas and beliefs, increasing rural, social, and cultural capacitiesinruralareas. Enabling participation in formulating agricultural policies and strategies. National development strategies and policies try to involve key stakeholders and the broader public. But it is not easy to involve organizations that represent the rural poor. In recent years, ICT has been used to engage thousands of rural people in developing countries to deliberate policies. The spread of ICT in rural areas makes this type of participatory approach more feasible for dialogueonagriculturalpolicy.
The Chinese government has been promoting rural informatization since the mid 1970s. This process has fallen into three stages. During the first stage, from the mid 1970stotheearly1990s,theinitialconceptofagriculturalinformatizationemergedfrom theplannedeconomy’srequirementsforagriculturalstatistics.Inthe1980scomputers begantobeintroduced,butitwasnotuntiltheearly1990sthatinformatizationgrew. During the second stage, from the early 1990s to 2000, computerization of agriculturaldatawasintroducedandseveralsystemsweredevelopedaspartofefforts toestablishandimprovethesocialistmarketeconomicsystem.In1992theMinistryof Agriculture issued a plan to strengthen the rural economy’s information system. In addition to promoting rural economic development, construction began on an agriculturalinformationsystem.Networksdevelopedrapidlyandagricultureentered a fast track for informatization, with scattered information becoming more networked. In1994anewdepartmentwassetupthroughtheinstitutionalreformoftheMinistry ofAgriculture,andeveryprovincecreatedaninformationdepartmentforagriculture. During the third stage, since 2001, the government has attached even more importance to informatization, taking it to a new level, as Box 2.1. Rapid progress has been made in improving services (from simple oneway delivery of government informationorservicestotwoway,interactivedelivery),content(fromtheproduction of basic statistics to comprehensive information on production, markets, and technology),andservicemodels(fromsimple,traditionalservicemodelsdeliveredby
Rural Informatization in China
5
individual government departments to innovative partnerships cutting across departments, the private sector, and civil society). With opening markets, nascent efforts are being made to expedite informatization, supported by partnerships and greater investments by the government, telecommunications companies, and the domesticprivatesector. Box 2.1. Central Government Strategies for Rural Informatization, 2001 to Present
In 2001 implementation began on the 10th Five-Year Plan of Action for rural market information services. In 2003 a “rural economic information release calendar” was introduced as the main system for disseminating agricultural information, supported by two national conferences. These initiatives had positive impacts inside and outside the agricultural system, leading to a surge in the provision of information systems. In 2006 the 11th National Economic and Social Development Five-Year Plan proposed to “integrate agriculture-related information resources, strengthen the rural economic information application system construction, promote agriculture service organization and mechanism innovation, encourage and guide farmers to develop different types of specialized cooperative economic organizations and improve the organization of agriculture.” The related deployment of agriculture informatization in the State Informatization Development Strategy, 2006–2020 (issued in 2006 by General Office of the CPC Central Committee and General Office of the State Council1) aims “to use the public network with a variety of access methods and affordable prices for farmers, improve rural network coverage, integrate agricultural information resources, standardize and complete the public information intermediary services, build the urban-rural information service system in a concerted manner, provide farmers with appropriate information applications such as market, science and technology, education, healthcare, etc. and advocate a reasonable and orderly flow of surplus rural labor.” In 2007 the Ministry of Agriculture proposed the Overall Framework for National Agriculture and Rural Informatization Construction, 2007–2015. The strategic goal of this framework is to greatly improve agricultural and rural integrated information infrastructure; enhance modern agriculture, rural public services, and social management; fully develop information service organizations at the township and village levels; and gradually complete a sustainable development mechanism for agricultural and rural informatization—which would fulfill the development needs of modern agriculture and the construction of a new socialist countryside. Sources: Ministry of Agriculture Web sites: http://agri.gov.cn/gdxw/t20071207_933887.htm http://www.agri.gov.cn/xztz/t20071129_929804.htm
With the increasing priority accorded to informatization by the Chinese government, numerous initiatives by the government and by telecom providers have resultedinasteadyincreaseinthecoverageofinformationinfrastructure—including fixedlinetelephony,mobiletelephony,radioandtelevision,andtheInternetasseenin Table 2.1. Such initiatives provide an adequate foundation for informatization, especiallyinruralareas.
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Table 2.1. Information Infrastructure Coverage in China, 2007
Category
Coverage
Year Referenced
Source
Fixed line telephony
• 99.5 percent of administrative villages covered • 29 provinces covered (all administrative villages)
2007 (Lit Review paper)
Ministry of Information Industry: Rural Informatization construction column
Mobile telephony
• China Mobile’s rural information network to improve services to 800 million farmers
Initiated in 2006
China Daily online
Radio and television
• 117,000 “blind” administrative villages covered (those with electricity but no telecommunications) • 100,000 “blind” villages with more than 50 households covered • 15,000 “back to blind” (villages that had once, but lost telecom service) villages repaired
End of June 2006 (Lit Review paper)
State Administration of Radio, Film and Television: related statistics
Internet
• 97 percent of townships and villages have Internet coverage • 92 percent of townships and towns have broadband coverage • Government aims to provide every village Internet access by 2010 • Initiatives under way for fiber optics to reach every village and household
2008
2
Ministry of Information Industry, China Daily online
Fixed Line Telephony The Ministry of Information Industry has been active in encouraging the spread of fixedlinetelephonyunderitsinitiativetoextendtelephonecoveragetoeveryvillage. Under this project, in 2007 the six main telecommunications providers shared obligations based on geographic divisions and extended telephone services to 3,759 administrative villages that previously had no access. Today 99.5 percent of administrativevillageshavefixedlinecoverage.
Mobile Telephony By 2007 China Mobile launched a rural information network in 20063 in which it has invested350millionRMB(equivalentofUS$51million)Thecompanywillenhancethis networkthroughfurtherconstructioninChongqing,turning itfromthecenter ofthe westernregionintothenationalcenter,andraisethenetwork’soperationsupporting ability to promote its sustainable development. By 2009 China Mobile plan to invest 450 million RMB (equivalent of US$66 million) to optimize the functions of the network,whichoffersbetterservicesto800millionfarmersacrossChina.
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Radio and Television Efforts to extend radio and television coverage have been led by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, which in 2002 launched a project to extendtelecommunicationstoeveryvillageaspartofthe10thFiveYearPlan.ByJune 2006 investment in covering administrative villages totaled about 3.64 billion RMB (US$532 million). This project has reached about 117,000 administrative villages with electricity but no telecommunications—known as “blind” villages—and repaired services in 15,000 “back to the blind” villages (those had had telecommunication services once, but later lost the services) providing nearly 100 million farmers with accesstoradioandtelevision.Asaresultruralownershipofpersonaltelevisionshas steadilyincreased,reaching89percentofhouseholds in2006(Figure2.1).
Figure 2.1. Ownership of Television in Urban and Rural Households, 1990–2006
160 per 100 households
140 134.8
120
116.6
100 89.79
80 60
89.43 84.08
59.04 48.74
40 20 0
137.43
16.92 4.72 1990
1995
2000
2005
2006
year Urban
Rural
Source:NationalBureauofStatistics.2007.
Internet China’s Internet market is migrating from narrowband to broadband access. China TelecomandChinaNetcom,thetwomainfixedlineoperators,havelaidoutplansfor extending broadband access under an initiative to reach every household with fiber optics and started to replace copper cables. China Netcom will invest 15 billion RMB (US$2.2 Billion) to replace the copper cables with fiber optics in the new network, whichwilllaunchin2008andisexpectedtobecompletedinthreetofiveyears(Sina 2007).
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In2008ChinaNetcomplannedtoimplementthisinitiativeinthemediumsizeand large cities of 10 selected provinces (regions, metropolitans) in northern China, the company’s territory. Henan, Shandong, Tianjin have already begun implementing a pilotprojecttoreacheveryvillagewithfiberoptics. The number of broadband users in China has grown rapidly in recent years. According to data from the China Internet Network Information Center, the country has210millionInternetusersbytheendof2007—laggingtheUnitedStatesbyjust5 million. At that time 78 percent of China’s Internet users were broadband users (CNNIC2008). Still,significantdifferencesremainbetweenurbanandruralInternetdevelopment. Bytheendof2007therewere157millionurbanInternetusersinChina,accountingfor 27 percent of the urban population. By contrast, the 53 million rural Internet users accountedforjust7percentoftheruralpopulation(Figure2.2). Figure 2.2. Internet Penetration in Urban and Rural China, 2005–07
30% 27.0% 25% 20.2% 20%
16.9%
21.6%
18.0%
15% 10% 5.1% 5%
2.6%
3.0%
7.0%
3.1%
0% 2005.12
2006.6
2006.12 Urban
2007.6
2007.12
Rural
Source:CNNIC2007,2008.
Internetaccessdependsonownershipofpersonalcomputers(PCs).In2000about 10 percent of urban Chinese households owned a PC, compared with less than 0.5 percentofruralhouseholds.By2005thatgaphadwidened(Figure2.3).Accesscharges are one of the main reasons for lack of Internet access (CNNIC 2008). Internet access costsaverage900RMBayearperhousehold.GiventhatChina’spercapitaincomeis still very low—especially in rural areas, at about 3,600 RMB a year—rural household accesstotheInternetisunlikelytoexpandanytimesoon.
Rural Informatization in China
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Figure 2.3. Personal Computer Ownership in Urban and Rural Households, 1999–2006
per 100 households
50
47.2 41.5
40 33.1
30
27.8 20.6
20 13.3
10
9.7
5.9 1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2.1
1.9
1.4
1.1
0.7
0.5
0
2004
2005
2.7 2006
Year Urban
Rural
Source:NationalBureauofStatistics.2007.
About54percentofruralInternetusersaccessitfromInternetcafes—averyhigh sharerelativetothenationalaverageofusersaccessingtheInternetfromInternetcafes (33.9percent).Lowerruralincomes4explainthelowerpossessionofhomecomputers inruralareas(Figure2.4).
Figure 2.4. Place of Internet Access, 2007
80% 67.3% 60%
55.2%
40%
53.9%
33.9% 24.3%
20%
13.7%
0% Home
Internet Café National average
Work
Rural area
Source:CNNIC2008.
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Thereisalsoalargegapinconnectiontimes,withruralusersaveraging13.7hours a week compared with 20 hours a week for urban users. Because of their shorter connection times, rural Internet users focus on basic applications such as email and instant messaging, and tend not to make full use of more advanced and integrated applicationssuchasInternetnewsandeservices(includingonlinebanking,shopping, and stock exchanges). That disparity may widen the information gap between urban andruralareaseventhoughbasicvoiceinfrastructureinruralareashasimprovedover the past decade. Thus, analyzing the public access business model in rural areas is crucialintermsofInternetdevelopmentanddeployment.
Notes
www.chinaembassy.org/eng/xw/t251756.htm http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/200802/10/content_6447433.htm 3 http://www.chinadaily.net/bizchina/200803/03/content_6502654.htm 4 Accordingto2006censusbytheNationalBureauofStatistics,percapitaincomeinruralareas was4140RMB(US$580)peryear,whichisathirdofincomesinurbanareas. 1 2
CHAPTER3
RuralInformatizationInitiatives andOrganizationalModels
G
iven the priority that China’s government has placed on building the socialist countryside, a growing range of actors have become involved in rural informatization.Theseactivitieshaveinvolvedanarrayoforganizationalmodels—and, tosucceed,shoulddrawonthewiderangeofrelatedinternationalexperiences.
Key Rural Informatization Actors and Initiatives Government agencies
Many government ministries and agencies at all levels (from central to local) are involved in rural informatization projects and are pursuing similar goals. But these efforts are pursued under each organization’s individual mandate and with little apparent coordination (Table 3.1). Every ministry has initiated its own informatization program, such as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Golden Agriculture Project and the Ministry of Culture’s National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project. Other keyplayersincludetheMinistriesofCommerce,Education,InformationIndustry,and Science and Technology (see Appendix 1). Agencies with primary policy and coordination functions have also engaged in national and provincial pilot projects, including the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, National Development Reform Commission, State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development,andMinistryofFinance. Table 3.1. Rural Informatization Initiatives by Central Ministries and Agencies Ministry/Agency
Mandate
Key Projects
Year(s)
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC)
China’s central strategic body, with members selected by election. The committee’s main focus is improving agricultural productivity and increasing the income of farmers.
Modern Distance Learning of National Party Cadres in Rural Areas Project
2003– 2006
(Tablecontinuesonnextpage)
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Table 3.1 (continued) Ministry/Agency
Mandate
Key Projects
Year(s)
Ministry of Agriculture
First player to launch rural informatization projects to improve the agricultural and rural integrated information platform, and adopt informatization to support modern agriculture, rural public service, and social management.
Three in One (Telephone, Television, and Computer) Agriculture Information b Services Project
2005
Golden Agriculture Project
2007
Overall Framework of National Agriculture and Rural Informatization, 2007–2015, a and pilot projects
2007
Responsible for formulating development strategies, guidelines and policies of domestic and foreign trade, investment, and international c economic cooperation
Thousands of Villages and Townships Project
2005
Xinfu Project (Commercial information services system for the countryside)
2006
In charge of public libraries and overall culture activities.
National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project
2002
Comprehensive Culture Station Project
2006– 2010
Ministry of Commerce
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Education
Central government agency under the State Council, responsible for China’s educational undertakings and d language work
Distance learning project in rural primary and secondary schools
2003
Ministry of Finance
Formulates and implements strategies, policies and medium-and-long-term development plans and reform programs of public finance and taxation; participates in macroeconomic policy making; provides policy advice on macroeconomic e regulation
National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project (In collaboration with Ministry of Culture)
2002
Distance learning project in rural primary and secondary schools (In collaboration with Ministry of Education)
2003
Extend Telephone Coverage f to Every Village Project
2004– 2005
Rural Comprehensive Agriculture Informatization Service Pilot Project
2006
State Agricultural Science and Technology Park Development Program
2007
“Spark” Agricultural Science and Technology 110 g Information Services Project
2005– 2010
Ministry of Information Industry
Ministry of Science and Technology
Focuses on building network infrastructure, expanding telecommunications coverage in rural areas, and promoting information technology applications in agriculture. Provides science and technology information for rural residents.
(Tablecontinuesonnextpage)
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Table 3.1 (continued) Ministry/Agency
Mandate
Key Projects
Year(s)
National Development Reform Commission
Macroeconomic management agency under the State Council, which studies and formulates policies for economic and social development, maintains a balance of economic aggregates and guides the overall economic system h restructuring
Pilot Project for Rural Informatization
Under development
State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television
In charge of regulating the broadcasting industry and administering radio spectrum for broadcasting.
Extend Broadcasting (TV, and Radio) Coverage to Every i Village Project
2006–2010 (phase 2)
State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development
A deliberative and coordinating organ, tasked with organizing investigation and subsequent research; formulating guidelines, policies and plans for developing the economy in backward areas; coordinating the efforts to tackle the key issues arising from development initiatives; supervising, inspecting development projects and facilitating the exchange of j lessons acquired
Pilot Project for Rural Informatization in 1,000 Villages
Under development
Source:Authorsanalysis. Notes: a.http://www.agri.gov.cn/jhgb/t20080321_1029943.htm b.http://www.agri.gov.cn/jhgb/t20080321_1029944.htm c.http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/mission.shtml d.http://www.moe.edu.cn/english/ministry_f.htm e.http://www.mof.gov.cn/english/english.htm# f.http://www.miit.gov.cn/col/col4586/ g.http://www.most.gov.cn/zfwj/zfwj2004/zf04wj/zf04bfw/200412/t20041228_31393.htm h.http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/brief/default.htm i.http://news.xinhuanet.com/misc/200703/06/content_5806935.htm j.http://en.cpad.gov.cn/organ/index.html
In addition to centrally driven programs, every province considers rural informatizationanimportantpartoflocalsocioeconomicdevelopmentplans. Telecommunications providers
Chinadoesnothaveauniversalaccesspolicyfortelecommunications,suchasafund forfinancinginfrastructure expansionin underservedandunservedareas.Aspartof complementarygoalstoassumesocialobligationsanddevelopruralmarkets,China’s telecommunicationsoperatorsactivelyparticipateinexpandingruralinformatization.In 2004,theMinistryofInformationIndustryinitiatedaprojecttomaketelephoneservices available to all villages, requiring the six main stateowned telecommunications
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providers1 to share universal access obligations based on geographic divisions. These operatorsincreasinglyviewruralinformatizationasastrategicmove,asurbanmarkets reachsaturation. Private information technology firms
Multinational corporations like Intel and Microsoft also play a role in rural informatization—particularly in promoting innovation and research and development (R&D) in partnership with domestic public and private actors. Intel, for example, is interestedinbuildingbusinessinruralChina.Ithastworuralprojects:ajointventure to build a “farmer PC” and a partnership to provide computers and Internet access throughruralchainstores. ThefarmerPC,adaptedtomeetthelowcostsandsimpleneedsoffarmers,isbuilt locally in a joint venture with two local companies. Research on farmer needs is conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Information Industry. The rural chain storeprojectisdoneinpartnershipwithlocalprovidersanddeliversICT,training,and information services to farmers through standardized stores in several provinces (discussed further in the next section). In addition, Microsoft has supported not only the creation of 30 community technology learning centers, working with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and sometimes local governments in 14 provinces and conducting outreach to disadvantaged groups, also rural computing initiatives.InXinjiang,Microsoftprovideddigitalliteracycontentandtraininginlibraries andInternetCafesacrossthearea.2Althoughthesepilotsarerelativelysmall,theyhavethe potentialofprovidingopportunitiesforR&Dandaccesstoglobalbestpractices. Nongovernmental organizations and professional cooperatives
NGOs take bottomup approaches to rural informatization, typically targeting the poorest rural areas. For example, the Poverty Alleviation and Development Association of China launched the Village Net Project in December 2006, and has already set up three pilot projects in Yanggao County of Shanxi Province, a typical underdeveloped agricultural production area; Wuyishan City of Fujian Province, whichhasrepresentedthecountylevelcitywithfeaturedeconomy;andPengjieTown inTaizhouCityofZhejiangProvince,whichistherepresentativeofmoredeveloped areas.
Organizational Models for Rural Informatization Agrowingnumberofpilotprojectshaveemergedinrecentyearsunderthedirection oftheactorsnotedabove—workingindividuallyorinpartnershipwithothermembers engaged in rural ICT development efforts—to address the problems of rural informatization in China using innovative service offerings and business models. Key elementsofthebusinessmodelsforthesepilotprojectsaredescribedinTable3.2.See alsoFigure3.1.
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Table 3.2. Rural Informatization Problems and Attempted Solutions Problem
Attempted Solutions
Poor residents and limited affordability of ICT access
Shared usage and service access points such as telecenters—for example, information stations that serve large numbers of potential users at low or no access cost
Limited sustainability of funding and excess reliance on government support
Diversified funding, with a mix of government, private sector, telecom carrier, and other sources
Low ICT penetration
Varied connectivity options to address last mile needs and user preferences
Unmet local information needs (such as agricultural information for farmers, education for youth, and health care guidance)
Efforts to develop and integrate domestic and international information resources, improve information gathering channels, and increase timely content supply
Poor maintenance of ICT initiatives, limiting their sustainability
Better operation, management and maintenance
Limited ICT skills, experience or awareness
Public awareness initiatives and efforts to generate community acceptance—for example, through information agents and training of information service teams to form rural information service networks and extend coverage of information services to grassroots levels
Inadequate efforts to tailor initiatives to user needs, often top-down in nature
Efforts to collect user feedback and evaluations of initiatives to make offerings more relevant
Figure 3.1. Key Elements of Rural Informatization Pilot Initiatives - ADSL Broadband - Satellite - SMS, voice (call center) - Telecom/computing bundle
Connectivity
- Government - Telecom carriers - Private sector - PPPs
- End user surveys - Impact evaluations
Funding
Feedback & Evaluation
Shared Usage Access Points
Content Supply
Community Acceptance
- Government generated and aggregated - Information Services Vendor - Locally/user generated - Local intermediaries - Information agents - Training programs
Management & Operation
- Entrepreneurs - Government staff - Professional cooperatives
These rural informatization pilots range from fully governmentinitiated and financedinitiativestothoseinvolvingpartnershipswithschools,culturalcenters,and rural cooperatives. A sample of 18 pilots spanning provinces across China has been analyzed in some depth (Appendix 2), within a framework that encompasses the elements mentioned above. The discussion that follows provides an overview of the variousorganizationalmodelsfortheseprojects.
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Government-led model
Thismodelaimstoimproveinformationandserviceaccessamongruralconsumers andimprovetheconditionofruralfarmers.Inrecentyears,asprovinceshavebegun to attach more importance to informatization, local governments have set up public access points to expand information and service access among rural consumers and raise the living standards of rural farmers. Most of these centers provide the basic requirements of Internet public access points—that is, a house, a computer, a special line linked to the Internet, and management and service systems. In addition, information services targeted at rural consumers are being developed and offered throughtheseaccesspoints. Box 3.1. Government Model Business Model Breakdown 1. Funding: x Capital: Fully government financed x Operating: Government-subsidized free access, with fees levied for some entertainment services 2. Connectivity: Basic Internet, with some projects offering call center advisory services and SMS services targeted at farmers as well. 3. Content supply: Generated and aggregated by government agencies. Projects offer a range of information services targeted at rural consumers, usually rural farmers, as well as distance education offerings. 4. Management and operations: Stations are usually staffed with one or two fulltime or part-time assistants. 5. Community acceptance: Rural information agents are recruited and trained to encourage use of ICT resources (the Ministry of Agriculture has trained 200,000 such agents). 6. Feedback and evaluation: No feedback or evaluation.
Example: Ningxia Provincial Government Ningxia’s provincial government plans to finish building information service stations in its 2,332 administrative villages by August 2008. Key features of Ningxia’s rural informatization construction include the sharing and integration of resources. Ningxia has established a unified provincial platform that combines into one agricultural information services, tele-education services, National Cultural Information Resources, digital libraries, rural television networks, and other network service applications. To avoid redundant investments, all the service terminals are integrated in the new rural information service stations. Ningxia addresses funding and economies of scale issues by using government guidance and society participation, and by replacing subsidies with awards. Since September 2007 the province’s rural informatization services have released more than 10,000 pieces of information on supply and demand for agricultural products. And the network has made more than 80 million RMB in online sales of agricultural products, offered 3,000 sessions of Internet films for farmers, and 2,500 sessions of Internet training for Party members.
Overall Assessment Strengths
Weaknesses
x
x x
x x x
Links to other public programs, information resources Public good, development focus Reaches the poor and targets the broadest swath of rural consumers Invests in community acceptance and capacity building
x x x
Sustainability—depends on public funding Slow response to diverse contexts and opportunities Weak incentives for quality service and accountability. No monitoring and evaluation Duplication among departments Market distortions from subsidies
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Telecommunications provider model
This model aims to develop new users of telecommunication services in less saturatedruralareas.EveryChinesetelecommunicationsfirmhasinitiatedprograms to construct rural public access points that, in many cases, include information and service offerings. This model involves government partnerships in terms of financing andgeneralsupport,becauseinsomecasesthelocationsofvillageinformationservice stations are determined by local governments, telecommunication companies, and village committees—using existing buildings of village committees and other public placesasmuchaspossible.
Box 3.2. Telecommunications Provider Model Business Model Breakdown 1. Funding: x Capital: Telecom carrier x Operating: Carrier-financed operating costs; free broadband access from local governments; feebased entertainment services 2. Connectivity: Basic Internet, ADSL broadband. 3. Content supply: Provided by telecom carrier directly or in some cases through hired information services vendor. Carriers cooperate with others in the information service chain to develop relevant information websites for farmers, connect with experts, and so on. 4. Management and operations: Staff at these service stations are also telecommunications business agents, and receive fees or other incentives from telecom providers. 5. Community acceptance: Staffed service points to help new and non-users; training offered. 6. Feedback and evaluation: No feedback or evaluation.
Examples: x
x x
China Telecom piloted projects in Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces and has launched a nationwide informatization demonstration project to build 1,000 township-level and 10,000 village-level information demonstration pilots. China Unicom has created new agricultural information workstations. China Mobile has set up agricultural information and communication service stations and will further enhance its rural information network. It has invested 350 million RMB to build the rural information network, and by 2009 plans to invest another 450 million RMB to increase the functions and operation-supporting ability of the platform and improve services for China’s 800 million farmers.
Overall Assessment Strengths
Weaknesses
x
x
x
Expands telecom services in underserved areas Government partnership, with subsidy only for free broadband access
x
Smaller development impact—limited efforts to provide relevant content. Limited community buy-in and no evaluation mechanism.
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Professional association/cooperative model
This model aims to improve rural production and the rural supply chain for agricultural commodities. Given their small scale and high vulnerability, farmer householdsfacemanydifficultiesinproducingandmarketingtheirproducts.Thusit is inevitable for scattered farmers under the market economic system to organize themselves to face market risks together. An important organizational form is a farmers’ professional cooperative or association, which plays an active role in agricultural and rural informatization. Some professional cooperatives are now equippedwithcomputersandofferInternetservices.Farmerswhopayamembership feegetaccesstotheInternetandreceiveinformationservicesandtechnicaltraining.
Box 3.3. Professional Association/Cooperative Model Business Model Breakdown 1. Funding: x Capital: Government subsidy x Operating: Membership fees, shares of profits 2. Connectivity: Basic Internet, SMS, and voice services 3. Content supply: Developed and maintained by association staff, targeting specific member information needs. 4. Management and operations: Professional association management 5. Community acceptance: Niche target audience of cooperative farmers; training also offered. 6. Feedback and evaluation: Service enhancements based on user feedback.
Example: Panggezhuang Watermelon Professional Cooperative, Daxing District, Beijing The Panggezhuang Watermelon Production and Marketing Cooperative was set up as early as 1997, but now utilizes modern ICT to organize farmer households to produce watermelon according to orders. The cooperative relies on an internal management information system, product tracking system, and production and implementation system to more efficiently plant and produce the necessary quantity of watermelon. It also has a computer classroom through which it offers agricultural training. The cooperative has also explored effective ways of increasing production, such as through agricultural messages and diaries, quality tracking, and so on. The cooperative plays an important role in leading farmers to the market and increasing their revenue.
Overall Assessment Strengths
Weaknesses
x
x
x x
High potential impact on targeted users (cooperative farmers); community centered Operators have a strong incentive to maintain and improve services because they are dependent on member fees Mobilizes local resources and local content
Targets a niche audience of users, which limits its development impact on the broader range of rural citizens with more diverse information needs
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Franchise/entrepreneurial model
This model promotes standardized “chain stores” with basic information services and encourages entrepreneurship among rural citizens. Local entrepreneurs can establish information center franchises or “farmer shops” with investment support fromlocalgovernments,privatefirms,and/ortelecomproviders,equippingthemwith computers, printers, copiers, scanners, and other technology that enables residents to accessneededinformationandservices. Box 3.4. Franchise/Entrepreneurial Model Business Model Breakdown 1. Funding: x Capital: Government subsidy for the standardization of farmer shops and for the purchase of computers and broadband access. Telecom providers, rural credit cooperatives, and local agricultural associations often provide combined loans to farmers to cover the costs of computers. x Operating: Commercial fees, store sales. 2. Connectivity: ADSL broadband or telecom bundle that includes hardware, broadband, and software systems. 3. Content supply: From packaged telecom bundle maintained by information services vendor. 4. Management and operations: Franchise owner. 5. Community acceptance: Staffed service points also offer training. Telecom bundle often has a television output through which information and entertainment programs are broadcast to villagers. 6. Feedback and evaluation: Limited feedback and evaluation.
Example: Intel, Sichuan Telecom, and Ministry of Commerce The franchise model has been used under the Ministry of Commerce’s Thousand Villages Market Project, an initiative that brought together a private sector actor (Intel) and a telecom carrier (Sichuan Telecom). To combat obstacles related to costs, connections, computer literacy, and lack of content and application, Intel and Sichuan Telecom encouraged manufacturers to develop low-cost computers that could still meet farmers’ needs. These computers provided all needed functions as well as built-in ADSL ports, multisoftware platforms, and user-friendly features. Farmers could post advertisements, track market information, and search for information about issues such as plant growing and pest control. The all-in-one package from Sichuan Telecom cost chain store owners a one-time fee of 800 RMB and a monthly fee of 80 RMB over a three-year contract term. In addition, Sichuan Telecom introduced a leasing company to subsidize computer terminals, which was a great help in getting the project started. In less than a year Sichuan Telecom has installed more than 5,000 computers.
Overall Assessment Strengths
Weaknesses
x
x
x x
Exploits economies of scope and scale— has a network effect, with one-farmer store encouraging several more, generating a rural information network at the grassroots level. High sustainability Encourages innovation and diversification of services
x
Dependent on franchise financial resources for startup, and franchiser orientation and capacity to train franchisees May require startup subsidies
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Private sector model: informatization experience centers
This model aims to develop the rural ICT market while fulfilling corporate and socialresponsibilityrequirements.Tosupportthesegoals,somedomesticenterprises actively participate in agricultural informatization pilots. A typical initiative is the informatization experience center set up in Guangdong in 2003, when the province launched a fiveyear informatization project in its mountain areas. The government invested 35 million RMB a year to promote the informatization development of 51 mountain counties. From the start the project relied on the marketbased model of publicprivate cooperation and used the informatization experience centers as vehicles to attract strong enterprises to participate in this project together. The project has attractedenterprisessuchasChinaTelecom,Lenovo,andTCL.Today60percentofthe informatization experience centers in Guangdong’s towns and villages use the public privatecooperationmodel. Box 3.5. Private Sector Model Business Model Breakdown 1. Funding: x Capital: Private x Operating: Partial government subsidy, in some cases for broadband costs; store sales and after-sales services of computer products 2. Connectivity: Basic Internet 3. Content supply: Various rural information services—not limited to specific content. 4. Management and operations: Professional store management. 5. Community acceptance: Free informatization training services may be offered to improve acceptance. 6. Feedback and evaluation: No apparent feedback or evaluation.
Example: Lenovo’s Informatization Experience Centers in Guangdong In 2007 Lenovo signed an agreement with the Information Industry Department of Guangdong province to build up 300 county- and town-level rural informatization experience centers and stations, train 50,000 rural information assistants and farmers over the next three years, enhance the information knowledge of local farmers, and popularize rural informatization applications. Lenovo will design, develop, and produce computer terminals and products to satisfy rural demands, set up corresponding applications, and offer services to farmers. In addition, it will build 300 informatization experience centers in Guangdong that offer one-stop information services. Lenovo will also open 500 shops of its own in Guangdong to publicize and provide services and to offer training, experience, and other services to farmers together with the province’s Information Industry Department. Finally, Lenovo will strengthen the commercial networks of villages and small towns, initially building about 500 sales agents in Guangdong and then delivering after-sale services to 10,000–30,000 administrative villages.
Overall Assessment Strengths
Weaknesses
x
x
x x x x
No or limited financial burden on public sector Improved accountability Demonstration effects Innovate new services and businesses Facilitates moving to value added services such as e-commerce and microfinance
x x x
The development impact and sustainability of such service centers is uncertain Weak links to other government services and databases Limited reach to the poorest rural people and regions Sole focus on commercial services
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Notes
ChinaTelecom,ChinaNetcom,ChinaMobile,ChinaUnicom,ChinaRailcom,andChina Satcom. 2 http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/may08/0529upchina.mspx. 1
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CHAPTER4
Lessonsfrom InternationalExperiences
S
haredaccesspointshavebecomethedominantmodelforprovidingICTservicesto poorruralpeopleindevelopingcountries.Effortstocreatesharedaccesscentersare evolvingintoaninternationalmovement—oneofparticularimportanceandrelevance totheconditionsindevelopingcountries.Therehavebeensomesuccessesatthepilot level but many failures in scaling up these centers, broadening their impact, and achievingsustainability. Many countries, developing and developed, are facing common challenges with shared access points and experimenting with multiple business models in search of longtermimpactandsustainability,particularlyinpoorandruralareas.Forexample, Canadadevelopedpublicaccesspointsearlyon,reflectingitsextensiveruralareasand commitment to avoid a digital divide. Brazil, India, and many other developing countries with large rural populations and diverse territories have also pursued multipurpose programs to deliver both government and private services over the Internetandsharedpublic accesspoints. Chinacanlearn muchfromtheseefforts.In turn, China’s experiences can be captured and shared with the international community.
Government- and Donor-driven Initiatives and Sustainability International experiences indicate that sustainability remains a key concern in shared access initiatives, particularly for governmentled models. Most public centers that werelaunchedinthefirstwaveofgovernmentanddonordriveninitiativeshavenot been financially sustainable without ongoing government or external funding. This many not be a problem if public support is affordable and justifiable in terms of developmentpriorities,andifinstitutionalandsocialsustainabilityaresecured.These shared access centers can be viewed as a public good—like education, health, and water and transportation systems—and may have legitimate claim for continuous governmentordonorsupport(seeBox4.1).
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Box 4.1. Public Programs of Access Centers in Chile Chile is a vast land of great geographical diversity. Most of Chile’s 16 million inhabitants live in cities like the capital, Santiago, but a significant percentage live in remote rural regions with little access to the outside world. In the past 10 years, three different public programs have been implemented. A network of 70–80 youth telecenters was established. Infocenters (“nfocentros”) run by microentrepreneurs were established throughout the country. Those that are still running often belong to civil society networks such as the Asociacíon de Telecentros Activos de Chile (ATACH), demonstrating the importance of networking among telecenter operators. The latest government project, “200 Barrios,” is also going to be implemented through ATACH. BiblioRedes, funded in part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (from 2002 to 2005) and in part by Chile’s municipal governments, is perhaps the most successful of the three. The main objective of this project is to give Chile’s residents—70 percent of whom did not know how to use a computer in 2002—the technology access and skills they need to succeed in the new digital world. In just a few years, BiblioRedes has made remarkable progress toward that vision. Between 2002 and 2005, the project established more than 370 Internet access points with more than 2,000 public access computers in municipal libraries and provided computer literacy training to more than 200,000 people. During the first year of operation alone, library use increased 53 percent among adults and 28 percent among children. The users felt that they had greater access to useful information that improved their daily lives. Most importantly, the project has enabled residents of remote communities to connect and communicate with the outside world.
How Chileans say BiblioRedes has affected them They have greater access to computers and the Internet now.
88%
Computers and Internet access will help them in their daily lives.
78%
They are more informed than they were before.
77%
Computers will improve the quality of life for all Chileans.
96%
The rollout of information technology to Chile’s public libraries was not without its challenges. Due to the extreme geographical isolation of some libraries, the project had to install satellite Internet connections in one third of the libraries. Perhaps the biggest challenge was the huge discrepancy in connectivity costs among various communities. Unfortunately, the poorest communities often had the highest costs. This challenge was overcome with the creation of a national Digital Equity Fund to subsidize the cost of Internet connections in poorer communities. There was also understandable fear among many Chileans about using technology for the first time. The BiblioRedes project overcame this fear with creative communications and outreach programs. The project also focused on delivering high-quality training. Training materials were provided to all libraries and a Help Desk to provide technical support to library staff via a toll-free telephone hotline, e-mail, or instant messaging was established. The project also developed guides and Web site courses for users who wanted to learn at their own pace. The free computer training resources have been invaluable. Beneficiaries included users who were in their 80s and finished their first computer course through this project. Starting in 2006, BiblioRedes became an established government program, which means its budget is entirely financed with government funds. Various Chilean municipalities have been motivated by the achievements of the BiblioRedes project to make additional investments in their public libraries. Many libraries are renovating, moving to new buildings, and hiring new staff—all enticements to draw in more patrons. BiblioRedes also has received funding from private institutions and enterprises to carry out specific projects. Source: http://connection.aed.org/main.htm; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2008; authors’ analysis.
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The challenge with the public goods approach is that there are no implicit mechanismsconnectingthesupplyandqualityofservicestocommunitydemand;and it is often used as an excuse for poor management and planning. Without financial incentives to perform well, management of public access centers can become unresponsive to community needs. Subsidized centers may also create market distortions and prevent commercial enterprises from entering the field. Furthermore, beyondtheinitialcapitalinvestment,therearesignificantongoingoperationalcoststo maintain public internet access, including connectivity, maintenance, training, and periodic hardware and software upgrades. Thus many countries have recently opted forincreasedprivatesectorparticipationindevelopmentofsharedaccesscenters.
Private Sector Participation Innovative mechanisms can encourage private sector participation and improve the sustainability of access initiatives. For example, governments can raise money to develop public access centers by creating universal access funds that channel a percentage of income from telecommunications operators. Some Latin American governments have narrowed the access gap by providing “smart subsidies” to privately owned telecenters using this approach. Because the level of demand for telecenter services in rural and disadvantaged communities is often lower than that requiredforfinancialsustainability,smartsubsidiesaimtocoverthedifferencewhile still encouraging private investment, competition, and entrepreneurship in service provision. Underthisscenariothegovernmentspecifiesminimumservicerequirementsfora certainperiodandallocatesthesubsidytothelowestbidder.Actualdisbursement of thesubsidyislinkedtopredefinedperformanceindicators.Smartsubsidieshavebeen demonstratedasacosteffectivewayofencouragingprovisionofbasicICTservicesin disadvantaged communities. For example, Canada’s community access program helped establish 8,000 telecenters by mobilizing civil society and awarding grants to telecenterinitiativesledbyNGOsthatagreedtoprovidecertainlevelsofserviceandto matchgrantfundingwithlocalresources(Proenza2002). Private sector models for rural ICT development can benefit from government involvement—especiallyintermsofbuildingthecapacityofthepublicaccesscenters, manyofwhichlackcustomerserviceandmarketingexperiencesuitedtotheneedsof poorruralpeople.Thestatecanalsoprovidecostsharing,relevantcontent,channelits services through the centers, and stimulate the development of Internet content providers. The centers in the Akshaya project in Kerala each took on approximately 1,000learnersandcollectedtheequivalentofUS$3.26perlearnerforprovidingabasic computer course developed by the state’s IT mission. The local government covered part of the cost (US$2.79), as did the learners (US$0.47). In about a year, the private entrepreneurs had recovered their initial investment. Subsequently eGovernment serviceshavebeencontributingtopartoftherevenuesforprivateoperators. Still,publicaccesscentersshouldbefreetochangetheirservicepackagesbeyond theminimumagreedrequirementsforsmartsubsidies.Butthecommercialmodelhas itsdownside:itoftenfocusesoncommercialservicesandtendstohavelimitedsocial anddevelopmentimpacts.ICTeducationandvocationaltraining,ehealth,andsimilar services may have low commercial appeal for entrepreneurs in poor regions. One of
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the biggest challenges for the commercial model is to find an ownership and management structure with the benefits of both worlds—the social impact and developmentfocusofthegovernmentorNGO,andtheflexibilityandfinancialviability.
The Appeal of the Franchise Model Franchiseapproachesappearmostpromisingforaugmentingthesustainabilityofthe government and NGOled model, as well as the development impact of the commercial model. In this approach the umbrella organization or support institution (franchiser) may be a public or private organization or a publicprivate partnership. The franchiser’s role is to set standards for technology and services. Franchisees— private companies or community organizations operating public access centers— complywiththosestandardsaspartoftheirlicensingagreementswiththefranchiser. Support from the franchiser can take many forms, including training, content, and service development, technical support, special telecommunications access rates, and revenuesharingarrangementsforprovisionofegovernmentandebusinessservices. Forpublicledfranchiseprograms,thissupportmaybeintheformofsmartsubsidies. TheCommitteeforDemocratizationofInformationTechnology,aBrazilianNGO, has pioneered a social franchise approach to provide access to ICT and develop marketableskillsandcommunityleadersamongpoorurbanyouth.Thecommittee— which obtains financing from partnerships with the government and the private sector—works with communities to develop information technology and citizenship schools that are managed by community members and focuses on ICT themes important to the community. The committee provides schools with necessary startup resources,butschoolsmustgenerateresourcestosustaintheiractivitiesthroughfees. Thisisessentiallyasocialfranchisemodelthattargetsdisadvantagedurbanyouth,and hasproventobereplicable. EChoupal is an interesting example of a privateled franchise model that has createdavastnetworkofruralkiosksreaching3.5millionfarmersin31,000villagesin sixIndianstates.Itprovidesaccesstoagriculturalinformation,aggregatesdemandfor farminputs,helpssellproducefromfarmers’doorsteps,andreducestransactioncosts andwastefulintermediationtofarmers,amongotherachievements(Box4.2). Box 4.2. E-Choupal: An Evolving Infrastructure for Rural Transformation Agriculture accounts for the livelihoods of 66 percent of India’s population and 23 percent of GDP, and most of the country’s poor people live in rural areas. Any remedy to opportunity asymmetries must provide farmers with both knowledge of opportunities and abilities to pursue them. The eChoupal initiative began by deploying ICT to reengineer procurement of soya—a fundamental source of Indian diet and food security—from rural India. Before e-Choupal was introduced, most marketing of produce went through traders and government-mandated marketplaces controlled by brokers or commission agents. These agents controlled inbound logistics, information on sale pricing and timing, inspection and grading processes, auction practices, bagging and weighing, and, ultimately, payments and outbound logistics. Every step in the marketing system involved inefficiencies, inequities, and information asymmetries between farmers, intermediaries, and buyers. The market was created, manipulated, and managed by the agents. (Box continues on next page)
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Box 4.2 (continued) This setup led the Indian Tobacco Company (ITC)—a multibillion-dollar firm with a diversified presence in commodities, agribusiness, and agricultural trade—to reengineer the entire value chain by deploying e-Choupal. The initiative enabled the company to break agents’ stranglehold over the process and communicate directly with farmers, extract value chain efficiencies, improve risk management, and leverage ICT to maintain international competitiveness. E-Choupals were created to act as e-commerce hubs and social gathering places. Each has just one computer with an Internet connection and is located in selected villages to minimize travel distances for farmers and maximize traffic to the center. Each is coordinated by a local farmer recruited from the community served. The Indian Tobacco Company selects each coordinator based on criteria that engender village trust and trains him in basic business skills. The coordinator (farmer) receives a commission for every transaction processed through the local eChoupal. At the same time, the old commission agents have been co-opted into the new system by allowing them to profit from value-added logistical services. Virtual vertical integration is served by continuous flows of information between e-Choupals and the Indian Tobacco Company—initiated by the local coordinators. The company keeps revenue flowing through e-Choupals by intelligently sequencing purchases of produce and sales of agricultural inputs year-round. The e-Choupal process has transformed the traditional system, providing substantial gains to both farmers and the firm. It allows farmers to access nearby information outlets, as well as external pricing indicators and global trends. It also introduces efficiencies and transparencies in weighing and transaction durations. In addition, the Indian Tobacco Company gains in disintermediation savings, quality control, risk management, and long-term supplier relationships with its farmers. The e-Choupal model provides inaccessible villages with windows to the world, with broad social impact. It provides access to a system for large-scale, low-cost dissemination of knowledge. Its website provides weather information at the district level and agricultural best practices from agricultural research centers and universities. In addition, the ITC conducts lab testing and provides customized feedback to farmers on how to improve the quality and yield of their crops. Moreover, children are using computers for schoolwork and villagers are accessing global knowledge on agriculture. E-Choupal has enabled farmers to become sources of innovation, deriving products and services that the Indian Tobacco Company can use to improve their operations. E-Choupal also provides an alternative channel for the distribution of goods and services in rural India—providing an ICT infrastructure that the company can use to enhance customer knowledge, market intelligence, cross-selling, and business decision making. The Indian Tobacco Company proposes to partner with financial institutions to improve access to credit by monitoring credit risks, reducing transaction and administrative costs in servicing rural markets, and tailoring financial products to rural India. Future generations of e-Choupals are expected to evolve into a two-way exchange of goods and services between rural India and the world. One wave is to move to higher-value crops such as wheat, where the grade of the grain determines its end use and price premium. A second wave will cover perishables and address food safety concerns, because the Indian Tobacco Company can set standards and trace quality and so command traceability premiums. A further wave would bring knowledge of customers and of the business, company-deployed infrastructure, and an organization of processes and partners, to deliver value-added services to rural India. An ambitious vision would extend to sourcing IT-enabled services from rural India—such as telemedicine, ecotourism, and traditional crafts. Source: Adapted from Prahalad 2005, pp. 319–357.
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Transnational franchise models are also emerging to provide crosscountry experienceswithfranchises.OneRoofisapioneeringmodelofsuchafranchisestartedin Mexico,withafocusontheneedsoflowincomeindividuals.Itisanonprofitorganization thatismovingtoabusinessorforprofitenterprisetosecurescaleandselfsustainability. OneRoof’sroleistohelplocalpartnersscaleupgoodprogramsandachievegreater impactinchanginghowessentialservicesaredeliveredtotheworld’sruralpoorpeople.It develops and shares a delivery platform that provides rural communities with essential services, including ICT/Internet services, education, financial services, health, energy, cleanwater,sanitation,agriculturaltechnologies,andemploymentgeneration. OneRoofcollaborateswithlocalpartnersandlocalcommunitiestosearchforthebest entrepreneursineachvillagewiththehighestdesireofimprovingthecommunity’s livesbythepowerofrunningasuccessfulbusiness.Inturn,theiroperatorsand franchisees,whohavemetrigorouscriteriaforcontent,localquality,andbusiness integrity,areencouragedtolearnfromtheirclientsandcocreateservices.Theirservice pricingstrategiesaretailoredtoservethepoor.Theyalsobrokertomobilizefundingso thatcertainservicescanbepaidfromthirdpartiesorsubsidized. OneRoof’s overall strategy for making public access centers selfreliant and financially sustainable is to provide a large variety of products and services. Each of them should answer local demand at the right quality and price. Within the areas under the OneRoof model, it is believed that there is plenty of room for new service development. OneRoof works with companies in codeveloping new market opportunitiesinruralareas. OneRoof does not rely on government handouts or subsidies, is covering operational costs from fees for services, and has been able to scale up in Mexico. It currentlyhas10storesopenforbusinessinIndia’sTamilNadustate,andexpectedto extend to other countries. It receives some donations from multinationals and foundations. Although it is not yet tested everywhere, and still striving for financial sustainability,itisapromisingmodel. Another more established transnational franchise example is the Comitê para Democratização da Informática (Committee for Democratization of Information Technology, or CDI) in Brazil (see Box 4.3). CDI is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that has pioneered bringing ICT to underprivileged groups in Brazil. ThroughitsInformationTechnologyandCitizenship(EscoladeInformaticaeCidadania, or EIC) schools—the first was established in 1995, CDI develops educational and vocational programs in Brazil and throughout the world to integrate marginalized groups,especiallychildrenandyouth,intotheircommunities.Themodelhasproven tobereplicable—atleastundersimilarcircumstances.
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Box 4.3. CDI: A Social Franchise Targeting Disadvantaged Urban Youth CDI obtains financial resources for its projects through partnerships with government and the private sector and through funding from national and international organizations such as Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), Microsoft, Xerox, Exxon, Starmedia Foundation, IBM, AVINA Foundation, Global Partnerships, and others. Each EIC is a result of a partnership between CDI and the community, typically via a community center or some other social organization active in the community. Communities prepare a project proposal detailing why they want the EIC and how they will use the computers. Setting up a new CDI requires a community to demonstrate a certain level of organizational readiness, including links to private sector and other institutions within the community as well as its own resources. Once a community is selected as a site for an EIC school, CDI helps with the initial organization of the school (hardware, software, wiring, training, etc.) and provides technical, pedagogical, and administrative assistance. The community is responsible for EIC management and maintenance. Each school has a coordinator who maintains contact with CDI and makes sure that the EIC is well integrated into other community activities. Each school also has two or three teachers who receive training in basic computer skills and pedagogy and attend periodic staff development workshops to learn about new tools and discuss common challenges. CDI provides schools with everything necessary for start-up. Beyond this initial investment, the EICs must generate resources to sustain their activities. To do this, schools charge US$5– US$15/month for a three-hour per-week course. Each school is equipped with five computers and can train 10 students per session, yielding revenues of about US$500–US$800/month. This amount typically covers EIC expenses. Students who cannot afford to pay can help with EIC activities (cleaning, maintenance, etc.). EICs offer classes in basic computer skills as well as some more advanced skills, such as Internet (browsing, e-mail, and web page development), database development, computer graphics, and hardware maintenance. Training, consisting of introductory classes and word processing, is also offered to community members outside of normal school hours. All materials used by CDI integrate computer literacy with other themes relevant to the community with a focus on democracy and citizenship. Source: Fillip and Foote 2007.
Currentlythereare840EICSchoolsin19Brazilianstatesandeightcountries(e.g. Japan, Colombia, Uruguay, and Mexico). It tends to target underprivileged youths in urbanareas,soitsapplicabilityisyettoseeinmoreruralareasfacingadifferentrange of challenges. But it could serve as a model for public centers targeting migrants at townshiplevelinChina.
Hybrid Organizational Models Inthecontextofscalinguptonationalprograms,coveringabroadrangeofareaswith varyingereadinessandmarketmaturity,aflexibleapproachormultiplemodelsmay be needed—as was adopted in the Gyandoot program (see Box 4.4). Many programs aremovingtoamiddlegroundbetweenpurelycommercialandpurelysubsidizedmodels, or to hybrid organizational models—social enterprise approaches—that combine social objectiveswithamarketapproach.Thesocialenterprisemodeltriestobalancesocialneeds andeconomicrealitiestomaximizebothsustainabilityanddevelopmentimpact.
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Box 4.4. Gyandoot Program in India India’s Gyandoot program is a government-to-citizen service delivery portal and multipurpose telekiosk that provides ICT-enabled services to poor rural areas. It is a hybrid model involving significant government leadership, local government involvement, and private sector participation through local entrepreneurs. There are two organizational models: one led by village committees and the other by local entrepreneurs. In the village model, committees invest in providing the physical space and hardware. Kiosk operators are selected from three nominees proposed by the community. Operators are not paid a salary, but given 10 percent of their earnings to the village. District councils train nominees. In the entrepreneur model, local entrepreneurs register as owners, assume all expenses, and pay licensing fees. But the top-down approach used in this program has led to limited fit of the services offered and limited involvement by NGOs and community organizations. Services did not attract popular demand among the rural poor, leading to sustainability problems. Drishtee, a private sector-led initiative, is trying to scale up Gyandoot to the national level, adding and adapting services and transforming the model in the process. Drishtee has shown encouraging results. The main difference may be the more flexible approach to service provision. Drishtee positions itself not as a rural service provider, but as a platform for integrating and delivering a wide range of services to Indian villagers. The initiative offers its network platform to any service provider that wants to market its services in rural India. Intranets between villages and district centers provide access to various services, including online land records and registration, applications for income and domicile certificates, market information on cereal crops, and government health and education benefits. Source: Fillip and Foote 2007; and authors’ analysis.
Whatever organizational model is chosen, evidence suggests that public access centersaremosteffectivewhentheyarerunandmanagedbylocalentrepreneursand communities, as opposed to donors and central government agencies (Proenza 2002). OnevariationistocombineNGOorgovernmentownershipwiththeprivatesectorin daytoday management of centers. This organizational model has been used in Hungariantelecenters,manyofwhichareownedbycivilsocietyorganizations,hosted by local governments, and operated as private companies (Wormland and Gaspar 2003). The primary role of governments and donors should be to help create an enabling policy and institutional environment for various models to become sustainable.
CHAPTER5
ChallengesforRural InformatizationinChina Lack of a Coherent Strategy RuralinformatizationinChinalacksanoverallstrategyandintegratedapproach.Thisis not surprising given the country’s size and diversity and the need to involve many stakeholders.Totheircredit,manyministriesandprovinceshavetakenownershipof the informatization agenda and initiated their own programs. But, lacking a coherent strategy and coordination mechanisms at the national and provincial levels, these programsdonotbenefitfromanoverallsenseofprioritiesandthusoptimalallocation ofresources.Thereareno mechanismstoensurecomplementaritiesandbuildonthe comparativeadvantagesamongthevariousministries. Lacking a coherent strategy, centrally funded programs do not take into account the diverse geographic and socioeconomic conditions of rural China. Varying geographic conditions in rural areas pose a challenge to uniform standards and regionalprograms.Thusitisimportanttosegmenttheruralmarketandtakedifferent implementation approaches for each. For example, the frontier of private investment covers segments—such as urban high and mediumincome, and increasingly rural high and mediumincome—that could be attractive for private investment or innovative privateprivate partnerships (Figure 5.1). At the same time, a national strategy needs to direct public resources to financially less viable and less attractive ruralandnearrurallowincomesegments,wherelowpopulationdensity,nonexistent infrastructure,andlowliteracymaynotresultinfinanciallysustainableprojects.
Weak Coordination across Ministries and Integration at the Provincial Level Given China’s scale, diversity, and multiplicity of stakeholders, challenges of duplications and inconsistencies are bound to arise. But the phenomenon of each ministryoreachprovincedoingthingsitsownwayhasledtoduplicatedeffortsand wasted resources. Redundant investments and scattered resources raise serious problems of affordability, sustainability, and scalability. No policy and institutional mechanismsareinplacetoraiseawareness,overcomeinterdepartmentalrivalries,and fosterclosecoordinationandcollaborationatanyadministrativelevel.
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Figure 5.1. Population and Investment Segmentation in China Income
Frontier of private investment
High Next attractive market for private investment
Public investment and PPP initiatives High
Low Remote
Rural
Near urban
Urban
Density / network utility
Source:WorldBank2006.
SuccessfulruralICTdevelopmentprogramsrequirecollaborationandpartnership amongstakeholders.Thusspecificmeasuresareneededtoraiseawareness,overcome interdepartmental rivalries, foster close collaboration, and provide incentives for horizontal resource sharing and network integration. A March 2008 government reorganization—establishing a new Ministry of Industry and Informatization that incorporates several ICTrelated agencies—aims to eliminate overlapping responsibilities, improve coordination, and realize economies of scale in this cross cutting area. Whether the new ministry can achieve these goals will be determined onlybythepassageoftime. In addition to centrally driven programs, every province considers rural informatization a crucial element of local socioeconomic development. Collaboration practices vary by province. In one province a government department in charge of monitoring the safety of roads, bridges, and utility infrastructure had to pay another department a lot of money to acquire electronic maps and management information system updates. This contrasts with another province where the Department of Industry and Commerce (in charge of issuing business licenses and registration) and theTaxBureaudecidedtoshareinformationonregisteredcompanies.Theagreement led to better enterprise management and increased tax collections. This collaboration wasbasedongoodrelationshipsbetweenthesetwounits,notaspartofastructured process established at all levels of government. In addition to the establishment of a crossfunctionaldepartmenttopromotecollaborativeactions,newpoliciesonaccessto government and public information are urgently needed to ensure proper sharing of informationamonggovernmentdepartments,fortheinterestsofthegeneralpublic.
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Unsustainable Business Models and Over-reliance on Government Financing The Chinese government does not want farmers to bear the brunt of the financial burden required to access needed information. The business models used for delivering content and services rely heavily on government subsidies. Thus the long term operations of such services in townships and villages often depend on local governments’continuedfinancialsupport—anunsustainablefinancialburden. Various business models need to be explored to support the government’s long term informatization goals. Government agencies are looking at new models for providing services, with the goal of providing some support rather than complete subsidization.Partnershipswithdomesticenterprisesarealsobeingpursued.China’s large telecom providers are keen to increase their coverage in rural areas as urban markets reach saturation. An example is Chongqing, where the government signed a profit sharing agreement giving 40 percent of profits to the telecom carrier and 60 percenttotheDepartmentofAgricultureofChongqing. Rural informatization initiatives have had a narrow focus, with limited service offerings focusing primarily on agriculture—undermining their sustainability. Most informationserviceprovidersprovideonlysingleinformationandlowlevelservices, which cannot satisfy the practical demands of farmers and directly affect the overall sustainability of the initiative. There is little acquisition of global knowledge and experience in providing sustainable, shared access to ICT (as with multipurpose telecenters)andadaptingthesemodelstoChina’sdiverseruralareas. Some examples such as Grameen and nLogue (Fillip and Foote 2007) are enlightening because they leverage existing telecommunications networks and maximizetheirefficiencybyprovidingawiderangeofservices.Suchpublicandsocial services make the economic case for deploying ICT networks in rural areas more possible and compelling. Furthermore, additional services can be delivered that otherwisewouldnotbepossible(suchasruraleducation). Maintenanceandoperationofserviceshavealsoprovenproblematic.Manylocal governments have invested in hardware and equipment projects, but failed to make adequate arrangements for maintenance. As a result such projects often go to waste. Similarly, pilots by foreign donors and multinational corporations often suffer from lackofattentiontoongoingupgradingandmaintenance.Thechallengeistoconsider the lifecycle of ICT products. If sustainable mechanisms are not in place for regular upgradingofsystems,initialinvestmentswillbeineffective.
Lack of Demand-Driven, Locally Relevant Information Resources Content has always been a key challenge in China’s rural informatization efforts. Though many information resources have been developed in recent years, farmers oftencannotfindurgentlyneededinformation.Amongthereasons: ɶ Lack of practical, localized content. There is a lack of relevant, contextualized information on the Internet for farmers. With no substantive discussions of local examples, farmers do not believe in abstract solutions and have little motivationtoadoptthem.
Rural Informatization in China
ɶ ɶ ɶ
ɶ ɶ ɶ
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Limited efforts to assess local needs or to involve stakeholders in participatory processestodefinetheirinformationneeds. Weak capacity for collecting and disseminating information resources and developingregionspecificandcustomizedinformationservices. Informationisdistributedinadisorderlywayandisdifficulttosearch.Thereisno mechanism for integrating agriculturerelated information resources. Agricultural information resources are scattered, distributed in every department,province,city,andevenenterprise. Narrowly focused agricultural content, with little diversification to other ICT enabledruralservicessuchasruraleducationandruralfinance. Farmers prefer to get information through information agents or intermediaries, ratherthanthroughtheirowndirectsearchontheInternet. Weak integration of informatization programs with locally driven community developmentinitiatives.
Low Levels of Public Awareness and Capacity Building Community acceptance of new technologies needs to be encouraged with capacity building. The Ministry of Information Industry has implemented several projects to extendtelephonyinruralareas.Thoughthiswasasimplegoal,theministryfoundthat people in isolated areas do not have a strong demand for communications and that theiruseofbasicphoneservicedidnotincrease.Thusthekeychallengesaretoraise awareness,mobilizedemand,andeducatepotentialbeneficiariesaboutthebenefitsof telephony—and so ensure adequate returns and maximum impact from such investments. Because Internet literacy is often similarly lacking, the Ministry of Information IndustryhasfocusedondeliveringInternetaccesstoalltowns.Butinsomepoorand rural areas the Internet is considered a luxury, and efforts are needed to ensure that users have the training needed to use computers. Such training is more complicated thantrainingintheuseoftelephony,andhelpsexplainwhynonusersoftheInternet requiremoreextensiveawarenessandtraining(CNNIC2008).Moreeffectivemeasures should be made to encourage these nonusers. In addition, grassroots party administratorsoftendonotfullycomprehendthepotentialbenefitsofinformatization. Low Internet literacy is a major challenge to deriving tangible benefits and real impacts from rural informatization programs. Thus programs should include well designed services, easy to use interfaces, and public access points where professional helpisavailable.Achievinglongtermsustainabilitywilldependonlocalpartnerships, handson training of local IT technicians, and services that are in real demand from farmers and local businesses. Shared access models can aggregate demand for informationservices. Awarding telecenter operation rights to local IT technicians—using, for example, thefranchisemodel—canprovideincentivestolocaltechniciansandentrepreneursto stay in the area. In addition, training should be developed in partnership with local governments and NGOs. This approach is particularly suitable in China, where provincial governments have dedicated informatization departments to perform such tasks.
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Weak Links to Domestic ICT Industry and Research and Development for Rural Applications China’s ICT industry is supported by the Ministry of Information Industry and the MinistryofScienceandTechnology,whichhaveinitiatedafewprojectstoencourage the development of innovative, localized rural informatization services and products. More efforts are needed to promote the development of ICT applications tailored to agricultural and rural development, and to extend IT knowledge to rural areas. The central government should formulate policies that promote IT use and services for agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. The Ministry of Information Industry is already shiftingitsfocusfrombuildinginfrastructuretodevelopingICTapplications.Butitis still gathering information on best practices in R&D to support rural application and diffusion. The lack of maturity in technology offerings limits agricultural transformation. Althoughtechnologiessuchaswebsitedevelopmentandplatformestablishmenthave matured; IT for agricultural production is inadequate and unable to transform traditional agriculture. Yet China is home to a major ICT industry with substantial technological, export, and competitive capabilities. These capabilities have yet to be tapped to meet the challenges of modernizing the rural sector. Thus it is essential to engage the domestic ICT industry, NGOs, and other partners in practical R&D to modernize agriculture, adapt new technologies to rural conditions, and develop affordableandsustainablesolutionstoenhancethequalityofrurallife.
Lack of Systematic Learning and Impact Evaluation As a large and diverse country, China presents a laboratory for innovation and learning about different business models, technologies, services, and partnerships. Substantialresourcesarebeinginvestedinruralinformatization,yetevidenceislacking on how these investments are affecting growth, employment, and poverty reduction. Mostinitiativesarepiloted,thenscaledupwithoutthebenefitofclearevidenceasto whether they are achieving their goals. Without common frameworks for monitoring and evaluation, and institutional mechanisms to promote learning and share experiences, resources are wasted with similar operational models attempted again andagain. Monitoring and evaluation are crucial to coordination, collaboration, learning, adaptation, and resource sharing. Yet they are often neglected in many countries, including China. For example, redundancies and waste arising from the lack of a monitoring and evaluation plan were observed in the Cultural Information Resource Sharing Project—a nationwide project aimed at scaling up the communications networkandenrichingnationalnetworkstoshareculturalinformation.Bytheendof 2007 the project had built more than 8,000 subcenters. But misunderstanding of the project’sgoalsandtheabsenceofaunifiedstandardandimplementationplanresulted inextensiveredundantconstruction.
CHAPTER6
Recommendations
D
evelopingcountriesfacecommonchallengesinprovidingaffordableICTservices inruralareas.GeographicallysparsepopulationsraisethecostsofrollingoutICT infrastructure. At the same time, low rural income levels make investments less attractiveforICTserviceproviders.Asnoted,thescaleanddiversityofChinaandits ruralpopulationalsoposeuniquechallenges. Based on this preliminary study of rural informatization development efforts in China,combinedwithlessonsfromaroundtheworld,thefollowingpriorityareasare recommendedfordevelopingruralinformatization.
Formulate a Comprehensive and Coherent Strategy Formulate a coherent strategy for rural informatization that promotes regional differentiation,resourcesharing,innovation,partnershipsamongministriesandthe privatesector,andstrengtheningoftheentiresystem. Chinashoulddrawonitsownrichexperiencesandthoseoftheglobalcommunity toscaleupandmaximizetheimpactofinformatizationonruraldevelopment.Asafirst step, China needs to take stock of its experiences and devise a shared vision and strategyforthenextphase.Suchastrategymaystartbysegmentingtheruralmarket in terms of ereadiness or connectivity, remoteness, eliteracy, and socioeconomic development. Levels of subsidies and business models can then be tailored to these differentiated segments or local environments. The success or failure of various business models and informatization initiatives depends on the local context, so these assessmentsareessentialtotailoringnationalprograms,servicemodels,andsubsidies tothesebroadlydifferentiatedlocalcontexts. Akeyissuethatthestrategymustaddressistheneedtoreachpoorpeopleinrural areas. As the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development acknowledges, rural ICT programs have focused on building basic infrastructure and bridging the connectivity divide between rural and urban areas. They have also focused on relatively developed rural areas and those with certain skills. But using ICT for rural development is not the same as using ICT for poverty reduction. If poorly designed, rural informatization can even widen the connectivity divide. Thus the strategy should aim to define basic approaches for reaching remote regionsandpoorcommunitiesandfarmersthroughtargetedsubsidies,vouchers,low cost technologies, information intermediaries, community development, and capacity building. The proposed strategy should also address enabling policies and governance mechanisms that encourage joint investments in infrastructure, the development of 35
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commondatabasesandgovernmentwideenterprisearchitecture,andissuesofprivacy andsecuritytopromotetrustinegovernmentservices.Itshoulddefineclearrolesand responsibilities for central ministries, provincial governments, and other stakeholders topromotejointinvestmentsinanduseofcommoninformationinfrastructureandto exploit comparative advantages and complementarities among the various stakeholders. Theproposedruralinformatizationstrategyshouldalsotakeintoaccountgrowing urbanization, particularly the significant migration of rural people from villages to townships and adjacent cities. This shift will have implications for the locations and servicesofinformationaccesscenters.Manyoftheclientsofthesecenterswillbeless sophisticated and may require infomediaries and different mixes of services. These targetgroupsmayalsorequiretrainingineliteracyandsupportinsearchingforoff farm employment opportunities. These population and employment shifts and the corresponding changes in client and service mixes will also have implications for the sustainabilityandimpactofthedifferentbusinessmodelsadoptedbyaccesscentersin receiving townships and periurban areas. These implications should be anticipated andplannedfor.Atthesametime,theinformatizationprogramshouldbeagile,flexible, and sufficiently decentralized and learningoriented to remain responsive to the changingruralcontext. The proposed strategy should also balance current topdown, centrally driven approaches to rural informatization with bottomup initiatives that promote local ownership, innovation, adaptation, and learning. It should start with assessments of local information needs to emphasize the development of demanddriven services. It shouldensurelearningfromthediversemodels pilotedsofarandbuildonthemost promising ones. And it should emphasize partnerships with the local ICT industry, telecommunications operators, community organizations, agriculture extension services,cooperatives,professionalassociations,academicinstitutions,andthemedia. Thetownshipistheoptimallevelofintegrationfornationalprograms.Thisisthe level where bottomup efforts are linked to topdown programs and where capacity building and monitoring and evaluation can be promoted. The township should become the locus for coordination, collaboration, local content development, and ICT integrationwithregionaldevelopmentstrategiesandprograms.
Support Innovative Business Models Supportinnovativebusinessmodelsforpublicaccessservicecenterstoreducerural urbangapsanddevelopmoreaffordable,scalable,sustainableapproachestoservice delivery—drawingonlocalandinternationalexperiences. Accessisthekeytosuccessfulruralinformatization.PublicfacilitieswithICTaccess are needed for people without access at home, school, or work—a common phenomenon in China’s rural areas. Although various ministries have established manypublicaccesspoints—suchasculturalstations,ruralinformationservicestations, and informatization experience centers—most are heavily dependent on government subsidies and are not sustainable. Moreover, rural areas often lack the subscriber densitytomakeICTdeploymenteconomicallyviablefortheprivatesectortoinveston itsown.ThemainchallengeisensuringruralICTaccesswithoutimposingafinancial burdenonpoorpeople.
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Important global trends and lessons are accumulating in this area. One trend is toward moving from purely bottomup pilots and organic models to the use of programmaticapproachesandintermediaryinstitutionsforscalinguptothestateand national levels. Countries are also moving from singlepurpose, governmentdriven modelstopublicprivatepartnerships,multipurposetelecenters,andmultiplebusiness models. Countries are learning that different models can serve different contexts and different development needs. In principle, the model follows the purpose. Countries are also learning how critical monitoring and evaluation are to the effective selection and use of business and institutional models and to the adaptation or innovation of these models to fit changing priorities, socioeconomic contexts, and communications technologies. A few developing countries have seen the emergence of innovative business modelsinvolvingpublicprivatepartnerships.Theyuseprivatesectorcontributionsto: ɶ Providebasicpublicaccessforfreeoralmostfree. ɶ Generateandmaintainrelevant,demanddrivencontent. ɶ AdaptICTtoprovideaffordableandmaintainableproducts. ɶ Providetrainingandcapacitybuildingforruralresidents. Theseapproaches,amongothers,easetheburdenongovernmenttofullyfinance suchinitiativesandcanbeadaptedtotheChinesecontext. InternationalexperiencessuggestthatengagingNGOs,communities,andtargeted usergroups(suchasruralyouthorwomen)canalsopromotecommunitylearningand innovationinserviceandbusinessmodels.SomeNGOshaveusedthefranchisemodel and been able to achieve scale. Some have engaged in community development and reachedouttothepoorestintheruralareasandothervulnerablegroups.Somehave partnered with the private sector, ICT multinationals, foundations, and donors. The national strategy should accommodate these diverse models and encourage local hybrids.
Consolidate and Share Resources Consolidate and share information resources and aggregate service offerings to supportmultipurposeservicecentersandonestopshops. Manygovernmentprojectshavebeeninitiatedwiththegoalofprovidingneeded information and services for rural consumers. “Golden” projects that offer access to keygovernmentservices(tax,registration,payments),coupledwithdistancelearning and initiatives providing agricultural information, would offer a basket of services relevant to rural users and encourage the longterm sustainability of service centers. International experiences indicate that aggregation of services at the access or service center level may produce sufficient income for these multipurpose centers to become financiallysustainableinmanyruralcontexts. Aggregation of government information and services at onestop shops can also reduce the transaction costs for farmers and rural enterprises when dealing with variousgovernmentdepartmentsthroughasinglewindow.Suchcentersmayalsobe abletoprovidecrosssubsidiesbetweenthemostprofitable,highdemandservicesand
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newservicesthatmayrequiredemandmobilization,marketdevelopment,orcapacity buildingforthepoor. InChinadevelopingsuchcomprehensivepublicserviceplatformsatthetownship or village levels—to consolidate these government efforts—would be a step toward betterserviceofferingsandgovernmentcoordination.
Raise Public Awareness and Build Capacity Raisepublicawarenessandbuildcapacityatalllevels—particularlytheprovincial level. Efforts to raise awareness and build capacity building must span many levels: policymakersandadministratorsofdepartmentssuchastheministriesofagriculture, commerce, and information industry; provincial decision makers and administrators; managers, owners, and entrepreneurs of individual service centers; central and local contentandserviceproviders;ruralcommunitiesandfarmergroups;ruralcommercial and agriculturerelated enterprises; professional cooperatives of farmers and professional associations; and ICT technical staff and information intermediaries. The poorest,mostremoteareasmaybetargetedforspeciallytailoredawarenesscampaigns andInternetliteracy. Centermanagersandentrepreneursareattheheartofensuringsustainabilityand impact through selecting and adapting appropriate services and content, developing viable business plans, mobilizing resources, developing the market, and building partnerships with various sources for content and support services. Telecenter networksaroundtheworldandvariouseducationalinstitutionshavebeendeveloping trainingprogramstailoredtotheselocalpioneers.Indiahasdevelopedaconsortiumof partners, including NASSCOM Foundation and WorldCorps, to develop common training modules covering entrepreneurship, community development, grassroots marketing,servicedevelopment,andinfomediaryskills. Capacity building should also cover traditional and potential information intermediaries.Inruralareaswhereliteracy(includingITliteracy)islow,thegrowing sophistication of ICT tools and Internet search methods may intimidate users. Increasingly, ICT intermediaries (or “agents of change”)—such as head farmers, agriculture product associations, and NGOs—are actively involved in providing information,explanations,anddemonstrationstoruralpopulations.
Develop Intermediary Institutions and Networks Develop intermediary institutions and networks to develop local content and services, train center managers and local entrepreneurs, promote partnerships, provide technical support for operations and maintenance, and share experiences andresourcesamongcenters. Intermediaryorsupportinstitutionscanhelpsupportindividualservicecentersas well as groups of them to exploit economies of scale and scope. These networks, associations, and support institutions can offer common services and daytoday support for business management, technical troubleshooting, product and content development, and the like. A common thread is that these intermediary institutions work with the centers to make them more effective, sustainable, and valuable to the
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communities they serve. In China such horizontal and grassroots networks have not been encouraged because most initiatives have been vertical and supply driven, and localcentershavebeenlookingupwardandnotlocallyorregionallyfordirectionand support. LibraryinstitutionssuchastheChinaSocietyforLibraryScienceandtheNational LibraryofChinaareoneexampleofexistinginstitutionalstructuresthatmightsupport thedevelopmentandcoordinationofrelevantlocalcontentorprofessionaltrainingfor telecentermanagerstoserveasinformationintermediaries. These networks and support institutions can also provide training, mentoring, support,andcoachingonmanagementissues,andaboutservicesandtechniquesused inothercenters.Peerlearningandknowledgesharingshouldbeacriticalfeatureofthe new strategy. These networks can also provide peersupport email lists, onsite maintenance, and monitoring and evaluation services. Finally, these networks may provideadvocacyandpolicyrelatedactivities,andthusprovidevaluablefeedbackto provincial and central policymakers and ongoing support to rural informatization efforts.
Ensure Learning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Ensure learning, monitoring, and evaluation mechanisms are integrated in the programdesignandimplementation.Theirabsencecanresultinmisunderstanding ofprogramgoalsamongimplementers,pooroutcomes,and,insomecases,failureto meettheprogramgoals.Effortsshouldbemadetoraiseawarenessandunderstanding oftheimportanceofmonitoringandevaluation,withrelevantinputfrom,andtraining provided to, all potential users of the system. The results of evaluation should be shared broadly among all stakeholders to ensure for learning, accountability, and sustainability.Itcanbeespeciallyvaluabletosharefailures. A learning, monitoring, and evaluation culture in which data and information guide decisionmaking in rural informatization is critical to assessing impact and sustainability.Inthisculture,usingdatatoinformstrategydevelopmentandsetgoals and targets is the first step. Tracking progress toward outcomes and impactand ongoingrefinementandadjustmentofstrategiesandprogramsisthenextimportant piece. Finally, assessment of the difference that strategies and programs in terms of their benefits to people and communities, and sharing that learning among stakeholders,isessentialforefficientandeffectiveinvestmentsininformatizationwith deepandlongtermimpact. Thus China’s informatization strategy should invest in learning and research, monitoring and evaluation, reflection and sharing of knowledge and experiences. When designing ICT strategies and programs, governments and businesses should bear in mind that informatization is not the ultimate goal, but an enabling tool for achieving economic growth and alleviating poverty. Thus it is important for governmentsandbusinessestodefinethegoalsthatneedtobeachievedaswellasthe indicators and measures of progress. Otherwise, there is a danger that ICT development programs could be abandoned once the original hype is over. A monitoringandevaluationframeworkisproposedinAppendix3toassesstheimpacts experiencedinpilotinformatizationprojects,andtheirpotentialforscalingup.
CHAPTER7
Conclusions
P
roviding public access points for information services is a particularly critical element for rural informatization. They are needed for people without access at home,school,orwork.China’sgovernmentshouldconsiderawidescaleprogramthat would ensure access to relevant information resources and essential services— includingtrainingandassistance—throughanetworkofpublicfacilities. Althoughvariousgovernmentministrieshavebuiltupmanypublicaccesspoints such as cultural stations, rural information service stations, and informatization “experience” centers through their own projects, most are heavily dependent on government subsidies and suffer from low sustainability. In addition, rural areas in China often lack the subscriber density to make ICT deployment economically viable for private investment. The key issue is how to ensure that rural ICT projects eventuallygeneratereasonablereturnstocoveratleasttheiroperatingcosts(afterone offinitialcapitalinvestments). InnovativebusinessmodelshaveemergedinvolvingPPPsinsomedevelopingand developed countries. They use private sector contributions to provide basic public accessforfreeornearlyfree,generateandmaintainrelevant,demanddrivencontent, adaptICTtoprovideaffordableandmaintainableproducts,andprovidetrainingand capacitybuildingforruralresidents.Theseapproaches,amongothers,easetheburden ongovernmentforfullyfinancingsuch initiativesandcanbeadaptedtotheChinese context. InternationalexperiencesalsosuggestthatengagingNGOsandlocalcommunities or targeted user groups (such as women or rural youth) can promote community learning and innovation in services and business models. Some NGOs have used the franchise model and been able to achieve scale. Some have engaged in community developmentandreachedouttothepoorestgroupsinruralareasandothervulnerable groups. Still others have partnered with the private sector, multinational ICT organizations, foundations, and aid agencies. China’s rural informatization strategy shouldaccommodatethesediversemodelsandencouragelocalhybrids. Many government projects in China have already been initiated with the goal of providing needed information and services for rural consumers. The Golden projects offer access to key government services (tax, registration, payments, and so on), coupled with ongoing distance education and initiatives providing agricultural information,offeravarietyofservicesrelevanttoruralusers.Aggregatinggovernment information and services at onestop shops can reduce transaction costs for farmers andruralenterprises.Suchcentersmayalsobeabletoprovidecrosssubsidiesbetween themostprofitable,highdemandservicesandnewservicesthatmayrequiredemand 40
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mobilization, market development, or capacity building for the poor. In China the development of such comprehensive public service platforms at the township or village level would be a step toward improving service offerings and government coordination.
References
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Intel.2007.CaseStudy:“InnovativeSolutionforITDeliveryinRuralChina.” ———. 2008. Intel World Ahead Program presentation: Innovation Around the World: TechnologyMetabolismIndexandChinaRuralPCProgram. Intel&MinistryofInformationIndustry.2006.Jointresearchonruralinformationneedsin HenanProvince.October. Li, Daoliang. 2004. “Revelations of Foreign Agriculture and Rural Informatization.” PresentedatChinaInformatizationPromotingMeeting.January9,2004,Beijing. Liaoning Working Program of Agricultural Information Resource Integration. 2007. http://law.baidu.com/pages/chinalawinfo/1692/40/eb277af7a674a3711a698ff118f5 9fec_0.html. Liu, Lvyin. 2007. “A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Agriculture Informatization Construction. Research on Informatization.” Information TechnologyResearch(NationalInformationCenter):14. Liu,Shihong.2005.“AgricultureInformationTechnologyandRuralInformatization.” Beijing.China.ChinaAgricultureScienceandTechnologyPublishingHouse. Ma, Weibin. 2005. “Research on the Current Situation of Spiritual and Cultural Life of Hometown Farmers.” Website of special topic on social practice, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology University http://54youth.nwsuaf.edu.cn/shijian/. Markless, S. and Streatfield, D.R. 2006. Evaluating the Impact of your Library. London: FACET. MinistryofAgriculture.2001.“10thFiveyearPlan.”Municipal,No.[2001]16. ———.2006.ChinaAgricultureYearbook2006. ———. Main Website of Jinnong Project. http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/ zhuanti/283749.htm. ———. 2007. “The Overall Framework of National Agriculture and Rural Informatization Construction (2007–2015).” http://www.agri.gov.cn/xztz/t2007 1129_929804.htm. ———.RelevantInformationfromAgricultureInformatizationConstructionColumn. http://www.agri.gov.cn/ztzl/xxgzjyjl/. MinistryofCulture.NationalCulturalInformationResourcesSharingProjectwebsite: http://www.ndcnc.gov.cn. MinistryofEducation.Moderndistancelearningprojectinruralprimaryandsecondary schools. Website. http://www.deres.org.cn/derscn/portal2/SearchAction.do? method=index. Ministry of Information Industry. Information Technology Benefiting Agriculture Project.Website.http://www.miit.gov.cn. ———. 2006. “Promoting the Application of Information Technology and the Construction of a New Socialist Countryside.” Electronic and Information ProductsManagementDepartment.28November.http://www.miit.gov.cn. NationalBureauofStatistics.2007.ChinaStatisticalYearbook2006. NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission). 2006. “The outline of the 11th Fiveyear Plan for national Economy and Social Development.” http://www.gov.cn/ztzl/200603/16/content_228841.htm.
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Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Finance. 2007. “Notice on the Construction of PublicCommercialInformationServiceSystem.”http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2007 09/25/content_760808.htm. Ministry of Information Industry. 2006. “Opinions on Rural Information comprehensive information services pilot project.” http://www.dianzinet.com/ news/D7/file/22089.html. Prahalad, C.K. 2005. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Upper Saddle River NJ: WhartonSchoolPublishing.Pennsylvania,UnitedStates. Proenza,Francisco.2002.“EForAll:ApovertyReductionStrategyfortheInformation Age” Report. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). http://www. eForAll.org/publications.php. SichuanInformationIndustryDepartment.Website.http://www.scit.gov.cn. TheStateAdministrationofRadio,FilmandTelevision.http://www.sarft.gov.cn. SinaWebsite.http://www.it.com.cn/f/news/0711/9/505163.htm. State Council Informatization Office. 2008. “Research on the Construction and OperationMechanismofNonprofitInformationResources.”Mimeo. Wang, Angen. 2005. “Let Farmers Benefit from Informatization.” Sichuan. http://www.scol.com.cn. Wang, Taihua. 2006. “Extend Telecommunication to Every Village in the New Era.” Speech at the national Conference of Television and Telephone. October 16, Beijing. Wormland,TomandGaspar,Matyas.2003.“HungarianTelecottages.”InConnectedfor Development. New York: United Nations Information and Communications TechnologiesTaskForce,pp191–198. World Bank. 2006. “China ICT Level and Investment Needs Assessment Survey.” WorldBank,Washington,DC. Xie, Ding. 2006. “System reform and innovation in the Agriculture Informatization Constructionmanagement.”JournalofCentralChinaNormalUniversity’sGraduate School,Issue1. Zhao, Xiaohong. 2006. “The Construction of a New Countryside Needs Servicetype Agriculture Egovernment.” China Egovernment Website. November 29. http://www.egov.org.cn/. Zhao,Yanlan.2007.“OnProblemsinAgricultureInformatizationintheNewSituation andCountermeasures.”Sci/TechInformationDevelopment&Economy32:pp84. Zhu, Jinzhou. 2007. “Using information technology to stimulate the construction of newruralareas.”CTTLnet,June27.Website.http://www.cnii.com.cn/20070520/ ca418124.htm.
Appendixes Appendix 1. Central Government Strategies and Initiatives for Rural Informatization Ministry of Information Industry Year
Strategy/Policy Statements
2006
“Suggestion on Promoting the Construction of the New Socialist Countryside”
Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made x
2007
1. Extend Telephone Coverage to Every Village Project x Extend telephone coverage to every village x Speed up the construction of village Internet connections 2. Initiative to Promote IT Applications in Agriculture x Guide the ICT industry in developing appropriate agricultural IT products and systems to serve “three-dimensional rural issues” (i.e farmers, countryside and agriculture) and promote agricultural modernization
x
3. Rural Comprehensive Agriculture Informatization Services Pilot Projects x Develop affordable, easy to use information terminals and corresponding information systems for farmers x Integrate information resources of agriculture-related departments, scientific research institutes, and colleges to develop “threedimensional rural issues” related to local information x Form a market mechanism for rural comprehensive information services involving domestic enterprises x Provide training and promote the application of informatization in rural areas
x
20012005
2005
45
x x
x
x
x
99.5 percent of administrative villages have telephone coverage More than 97 percent of townships and villages have Internet access 92 percent of townships and villages have broadband access “Farmer computers” developed in collaboration with Haier and Intel. National organization of computer and IT application “multiplier plan” resulted in 113 agriculture-related projects with total investment of around 1.7 billion RMB. Direct economic benefit was more than 110 billion RMB The pilot projects in Anhui Province yielded substantial economic impacts. Xuanzhou District built a comprehensive information platform that provides timely agricultural information to prevent the paddy rice disease-carrying insect, saving 22,000 tons of food and 1,400 tons of cotton. Jingde County stabilized the poultry production during SARS by disseminating useful information through TV broadcasting after receiving inquiry telephone calls at the information center. New agricultural technologies, also broadcast on TV increased annual farmer income by 3.1 million yuan.
http://www.tzag.gov.cn/documents/ docdetail.asp?documentid=134382& sub_menuid=101 http://www.mxwz.com/yxcz/inside.aspx?xl =%B4%F3%C1%AC&NewsId=100041
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Ministry of Agriculture Year
Strategy/Policy Statements
2007
Overall Framework of National Agriculture and Rural Informatization (2007–2015) x Greatly improve agricultural and rural integrated information infrastructure management x Develop information service organizations at township and village levels x Complete a sustainable development mechanism for agricultural and rural informatization, to meet the needs of modern agriculture and the construction of a new socialist countryside
2001
10th Five-Year Plan: Action of Rural Market Information Service1 x Enlarge the rural market information dissemination dynamics by providing timely and accurate information to the farmers in all levels (province, city, county, major villages) x Establish the rural information service platform x Set up interactive Intranet and website to stimulate comprehensive information exchange among all stakeholders (province, city, county, village, etc.) x Strengthen the capacity of the rural information services by providing the adequate training
Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
2007
1. Pilot Projects: Overall Framework of National Agriculture and Rural Informatization (2007–2015)2 x Build stations in 100,000 villages, providing 1 million village officers and 10 million farmers with Internet access x Extend the agricultural information services network to more than 90 percent of administrative villages x Train one or two rural information assistants in every administrative village
Progress Made x Listed in local development plans, and funding provided by local finance bureaus or self-collected. x Ministry of Agriculture is piloting information service stations in all new countryside construction demonstration villages. http://www.gov.cn/ztzl/yzn/content_ 479462.htm
2007
2. “Jinnong” Project (“Golden” egovernment project) x Establish three major application systems, for agriculture monitoring and warning, agricultural market information, and rural market service the technology information services x Develop and integrate domestic and international information resources x Standardize criteria and regulations; train information service teams
x Construction period of the project is ongoing, from August 2007 to July 2009
2005
3. Three in One (Telephone, TV, and Computer) Agriculture Information Service Pilot Project x Extend information services to “the last mile” through computer (Internet information services), telephone (advisory call centers), and TV (local TV broadcasted agricultural information programs) x Establish a long-term mechanism to provide timely, accurate agricultural information services
x Ministry of Agriculture provides the equipment, software, and support for the pilot areas of every province x Central government funds 10 million RMB a year
Rural Informatization in China
2005
47
4. Demonstration Project for Extending Agricultural Science and Technology to Every Rural Household x Promote agricultural science and technology to households in 100 pilot counties
x Formed a network of experts and a technical instruction and service system x Promoted 20 kinds of technologies x Provided technical instruction to 92,000 demonstration households x Ministry of Agriculture is using IT to develop rural economy e-map
5. Rural Market Information Service Action Plan
x Agricultural information service organizations set up in 97 percent of districts (cities) and 80 percent of counties x Agricultural information service stations set up in 64 percent of villages and towns x More than 200,000 rural information assistants trained
2001– 2006
State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
1. Extend Telecommunications Coverage to Every Village Project x Extend telephone coverage to every village
x Investment for administrative villages totaled 3.6 billion RMB x About 117,000 administrative villages with electricity but no telecom (“blind” villages) covered x About 100,000 natural blind villages with more than 50 households covered x 15,000 villages that were “back to the blind” were repaired x Provided nearly 100 million farmers with access to radio and TV
19982006
Ministry of Science and Technology Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
2. “Spark” Agricultural Science and Technology 110 Information Services Project (Spark 110) x Provide farmers with agriculture technology services through a lowcost ICT platform, based on collaboration between the government science and technology sector and the telecommunications sector x Integrate information resources with a service hotline
x Set up more than 23 unified regional hotlines, covering more than 900 counties and 7,500 towns and townships x Governments in more than 20 provinces have set up cooperative relations with local agricultural universities, institutes, or research agencies
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Ministry of Culture Year
2002
2006– 10
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
1. National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project x With Ministry of Finance, digitally process and integrate China’s cultural resources x Share digitized cultural resources nationwide
x Central authorities have invested 903million RMB, while local investment totaled more than 700 million RMB. x Resources total about 60 terabytes (1 terabyte is equivalent to 250,000 ebooks or 926 hour-long videos) x 6,700 centers and basic service stops completed at all levels
2. Comprehensive Culture Station Project x Implemented with State Development and Reform Commission x Sets up rural comprehensive culture stations in all villages and towns countrywide, and trains cultural laborers x Develops a sound, effective rural culture management system x Improves rural public culture service skills by 2010
x The funding has been provided by special project subsidy by the central government, as well as funding from local finance bureaus, or self collected. x In 2007, the central government has invested 100 million RMB for piloting. http://www.china.com.cn/culture/zhuanti/0 7ggwhfubg/200712/21/content_9416225.htm
Ministry of Education Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
2003
1. Modern Distance Learning Project in Rural Primary and Secondary Schools x Implemented with State Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance x Covered by local governments and subsidized by central based on regional development x Each rural junior high school equipped with a 30-computer classroom and a multimedia classroom with CD players and satellite teaching posts. Each post needs an average investment of 150,000 RMB.
x By end of 2006, established call centers to support services in rural primary and secondary schools x Improved education quality and contributed to sharing of resources in rural areas x More than 100 million students in central and western rural areas have benefited
Rural Informatization in China
49
Ministry of Commerce Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
2006
1. Rural Commercial Information Service Project x Set up rural commercial information service stations in 10,000 villages x Train 10,000 farmers to use the Internet and improve their ability to incorporate supply and demand information in their business x Establish an information resources system, with special databases on agricultural products and commercial information for farmers
x The New Countryside Commercial Website was launched in August 2006. It organized 6 times online trading. About 5 billion tons of agricultural products, worth 10.9 billion RMB, were traded. x Rural commercial information service stations were piloted in one county in each of 20 provinces.
2005
2. Thousands of Villages and Townships Project x The project aimed to establish 25,000 “rural shops” from 2005 to 2007 as extensions of the urban commercial distribution network (e.g. chain stores and supermarkets). This modern rural the information network can improve rural consumption environment and meet production and living demands by rural population.
x 160,000 “rural shops” and 480 extensions of urban commercial distribution network were subsidized by the government in 2005 and 2006.
Year
Strategy/Policy Statements
2006– 2010
1. 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development x Proposed strengthening agriculture service systems, promoting agricultural technology, and building production safety standards. Also proposed integrating agriculturerelated information resources, strengthening construction of the rural economic information application system, promoting agricultural service organizations and mechanism innovation, encouraging and guiding farmers in developing specialized economic cooperatives, and improving the organization of agriculture.
2007
2. Opinions of the Committee and the State Council on Developing Modern Agriculture and Promoting the Construction of a New Socialist Countryside x Made clear that informatization is one of the three main goals for agriculture, along with mechanization and irrigation.
2007
3. 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China x Set modernized agriculture and a reinvigorated rural economy as primary tasks. Proposed to strengthen rural infrastructure, improve rural markets and agriculture service systems, and promote advances in agriculture-related science and technology to increase agricultural production capacity.
2006
4.2006–2020, State Informatization Development Strategy x Proposed to “use the public network with a variety of access methods and affordable prices for farmers, improve rural network coverage, integrate agricultural information resources, standardize and complete the public information intermediary services, build urban-rural information service system in a concerted manner, provide farmers with the applicable information services such as market, science and technology, education, health care etc, and advocate a reasonable and orderly flow of the surplus rural labor.”
Central Committee of Communist Party of China
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World Bank Working Paper
2006
5. Opinions of the Committee and the State Council on Promoting the Construction of a New Socialist Countryside x “Actively promote the construction of Agriculture Informatization, integrate and make full use of agriculture-related information resources, strengthen the information services of radio and television broadcasting and telecommunications in rural areas and focus on ‘Golden Agriculture’ project and comprehensive agriculture information service platform construction.”
2005
6. Opinions of the Committee and the State Council on Several Policies Relating to Intensifying Rural Work and Improving Agricultural Comprehensive Production Capacity x “Strengthen the construction of Agriculture Informatization.”
2005
7. Opinions of the Committee and the State Council on Intensifying Rural Cultural Construction x “Provide rural digital culture and information services”
Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made x
2003– 06
1. Modern Distance Learning of National Party Cadres in Rural Areas x Build an information services platform by 2010 with a batch of teaching resources for rural party members and peasants x Build a batch of terminal receiving posts, including satellite receiving, broadcast and television transmission, broadband set-topbox or P2P transmission, etc. (Rural party members’ activity rooms, rural middle and primary schools, etc are usually built up as receiving posts)
x x
Initiated with pilot experiments in three provinces, it will extend to nine provinces by 2008. Another 19 provinces will be covered by 2010. Provinces have built up 197,320 terminal receiving posts in villages and towns. 7,073 IP course-wares delivered. The IP information channel has sent 53.7 billion bytes of information. The teaching center website has published 22,678 pieces of information. The total click rate was around 4.4 million, and the daily visits were over 6,000.
National Development Reform Commission Year
Strategy/Policy Statements
2008
Document for Informatization for the New Rural Countryside
Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
Progress Made
2008
1. Pilot Project for Rural Informatization x Develop a public service platform that consolidates different government service offerings x Through innovative business models, pilot offerings in two or three provinces
x
Under development
Rural Informatization in China
State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development Year
Key Supporting Initiatives
2008
1. Pilot Project for Rural Informatization x Provide agricultural information on demand; help farmers integrate with national and global markets x Provide training for rural residents—such as distance education x Improve connectivity options, such as video telephony
Progress Made
x
Under development
Notes 1 2
http://news.xinhuanet.com/zhengfu/200109/30/content_84489.htm. http://www.agri.gov.cn/jhgb/t20080321_1029943.htm.
51
Appendix 2. Analysis of Eighteen Pilot Projects in China
Project Name
Organizational Model1
Informatization Experience Center 1000 Towns and 10,000 talents Baima Shop
Province
Province Category
Year Initiated
D
Guangdong
Eastern
2007
D
Gansu
Western
2002
Sichuan
Western
F
Shanxi
Central
Informatization Farmer Family Stores
F
Sichuan
Western
52
F Farmers Internet Café
Government Agency Supporter Local Information Industry Department
Ministry of Commerce
Other Institution Supported
Lenovo
Number of Generating services relevant offered2 content?
Content Generator/ Aggregator3
ICT Training offered?
Technology Channels offered
Public Awareness efforts?
Onsite service assistance?
Y
Y
Y
Y
3
Y
Y
Internet
2
Y
Y
Internet
Intel China Unicom
1
Internet
1
Internet
Intel
2007
Ministry of Commerce
1
Internet
2006
Local Agricultural Department
3
Y
G
SMS & Internet & Multimedia
Information Service Station
G
Shaanxi
Western
Rural Information Service Platform
G
Sichuan
Western
Local
4
Y
G
Local Agricultural Department
1
Y
G
Y
Internet & Voice
Rural Information Service System
G
Jiling
Central
Community Information Court
G
Shanghai
Eastern
2003
Local
4
Y
G
Y
Farmer Internet Bar
G
Ningxia
Western
2007
Local
7
Y
G
Y
Chongqing Hotline
G
Chongqing
Western
Local
2
Y
G
Internet
Internet & Video Internet & Video & Voice SMS & Voice
Y
Y
Y
Project Name
Organizational Model1
Province
Province Category
Government Agency Supporter
Other Institution Supported
E-Family
G
Gansu
Western
Local
Gansu Telecom
Jinta Model
G
Gansu
Western
G
Jiangxi
P Agricultural Products Association Henan Netcom
Rural Information Agent Panggezhuang Agri-Products Cooperative
53
Farmers Mail Box
Year Initiated
Number of Generating services relevant offered2 content?
Content Generator/ Aggregator3
ICT Training offered?
Technology Channels offered
Public Awareness efforts?
1
Y
G/U
SMS & Voice
Local
1
Y
G
Internet & Print
Y
Central
Local
1
Y
G
Internet & Print
Y
Beijing
Eastern
Local
4
Y
P
P
Gansu
Western
3
Y
P
Internet & Print
T
Henan
Central
Henan Telecom
5
Y
T
Internet
Eastern
Zheijang Mobile
4
Y
G
SMS & Internet
T
Zheijang
Local
Y
SMS & Internet
Notes: 1OrganizationalModelinclude:D(Domesticprivatesector);F(Franchise);G(Government);P(ProfessionalAssociation/Cooperative);T(TelecomProvider). 2Serviceofferedinclude:EducationalService;EntertainmentService;Agriculturalmarketexpansion&ecommerceservice;Supplymanagementservice(basing supplyondemand);Rural&agriculturalinformationservice/facilitatingconsultationwithexperts;eGovernmentservice;Employmentgenerationservice; Additionalcommercialservices(printing,faxing,multimediaservice,purchasing);Training. 3ContentGenerator/Aggregatorinclude:G(Government);P(ProfessionalAssociation);T(TelecomProvider);U(User).
Onsite service assistance?
Y
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World Bank Working Paper
Appendix 3. Impact Evaluation: Rationale, Definitions and Framework for Rural Informatization Pilots Rationale
Monitoring and evaluation are essential components of informatization initiatives, providing needed information to project implementers on a project’s success in achieving its development goals and alerting them to potential complications in implementation. When people evaluate ICTbased services they usually focus on functionality, access,orusersatisfaction.Thistranslatesintosuchquestionsas“Hasthetechnology beeninstalledandisitworkingproperly?”;“Isaccesstoelectronicinformationbeing providedforawiderrangeofpeople?”or“Aredifferentgroupsofpeoplehappywith theservicetheyaregetting?” Thesetypesofinformationareusefulbuttheydonottellyou: ɶ Aretheservicesprovidedmakinganyrealdifferencetotheusers? ɶ Are the communities changing as a direct or indirect result of the services provided? ɶ Is there any difference in the implementing organisation as a result of providingtheseservices? Impact evaluation focuses on answering these questions, and can inform key stakeholders ɶ Strategistsandpolicymakers: • IfICTbasedservicescontributetoachievingprogramgoals • If the services make any real difference to communities and to reducing poverty • Iftheservicesprovidevalueformoney • What can be done, and how, to be more effective in meeting program goals • How to make evidencebased decisions about scaling and replicating programs ɶ ManagersofICTbasedservices: • Iftheyaremeetingtheirgoalsandobjectives • Iftheyaremakingeffectiveuseofresources(time,money,expertise) • Iftheservicesmakeanyrealdifferencetoindividuals,totheircommunity ortotheorganisationsprovidingtheservices • Ifthereareany(goodorbad)consequencesthattheydidnotexpect • Whattheycandotoimprovehowtheymeettheirgoalsandobjectives • Evidenceforadvocacytoengagesupportfromkeystakeholders. ɶ ProvidersofICTbasedservice: • Iftheyaremeetingtheirobjectives • Iftheyneedtoadaptoradjustwhattheyareprovidingandhow
Rural Informatization in China
• •
55
Iftheservicemakesanyrealdifferencetousers Whattheycandotoimproveanddeveloptheservice
Impactplanningandassessmentshouldbeanintegralpartofanyprogramwitha goalofsocialchange.Withoutit,programsruntheriskofengaginginlotsofactivity andprovidingnewserviceswithoutmakingadifferencetopeople’slives. Definitions
Impact—canbedefinedasanyeffectofaservice/projectorinitiativeonanindividual, group,organisationorcommunity.Thiseffect: ɶ maybepositiveornegative ɶ maybeintendedoraccidental ɶ may affect service providers, service managers, users/customers or other people The impact can show itself in individual cases or through more generally discerniblechanges,suchasshiftsin: ɶ economic circumstancesofa region orlocalitye.g.morejobsavailable,reduction inlocalpoverty ɶ educational and other outcomes e.g. skills acquired; educational attainment; levelsofknowledge ɶ qualityoflifee.g.selfconfidence;socialinclusion;workorsocialprospects Impact assessment—is collecting, analysing and reporting evidence to show whether the service makes any difference to people, groups, organisations or communities. (Impactassessmentissometimescalledimpactevaluation.) Program goals—the overarching stated purposes of the program and/or of the organisations providing the ICTbased services (e.g. to reduce poverty in the communitiesservedbytheorganisations). Objectives—refinement of the program goals into more specifically achievable terms, usuallyexpressedaswhatcanbeachievedinone,threeorfiveyears. Thechartbelowshowstheplanningprocessthatunderpinsimpactevaluation.It begins with the impact aims and indicators and then shows two parallel lines of activitydecidingon: ɶ What infrastructure need to be put in place to meet the aims and what activitieswillhelprealisetheaims; ɶ What indicators of impact linked to your aims and on output and process indicators to ensure that your activities are helping you move toward your aims.
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World Bank Working Paper
Figure A.3.1. Developing Performance and Impact Indicators Overall purpose/mission
Aims/objectives What are you trying to achieve? Areas where service is trying to make a difference (not activities)
Outcomes/impact/achievement indicators/success criteria How will you know if you are making a difference?
Service Infrastructure Output/service performance indicators Processes that contribute to realising the aims/objectives including activities and capacity building
Review your indicators
Process/performance indicators
Baseline data Collected to ascertain where the service is now
Targets Grounded in baseline data
Implement and monitor
Source:Markless,S.andStreatfield,D.R.2006.
Rural Informatization in China
57
Examples of Evaluation Framework
OneexampleofhowimpactevaluationhasbeenappliedtoinformatizationistheReal Access/RealImpactframeworkdevelopedinSouthAfrica.Thisframeworksetsoutthe determiningfactorsinwhetherthereisrealaccesstoICTthatgoesbeyondcomputers and connections so that technology use makes a real impact on socioeconomic development.1 If the overall mission of a rural informatization project is to improve the living standard of rural farmers, a framework to evaluate the impact might look like the examplebelow.
Table A.3.1. A Framework to Evaluate Project Impact Impact aim
Impact objectives
Activity/ processes
Impact indicators
To improve living standards of rural farmers
Increased rural productivity
Computers installed
Reduced direct costs through use of on-line administration
Experts recruited to develop local content Local staff trained in ICT Local staff run ICT courses for local farmers
Increased trade/sales Increased capacity for participating in new economic domains
Farmers use Internet services for timely and relevant information to help increase quality and yield
Local staff competent and confident to give ICT support to farmers
More relevant local content available
Proportion of farmers completing ICT courses
Increased computer and internet skills amongst farmers Increased access to computers and the internet
Level of sales Training materials and strategies developed
Farmers develop new products Farmers develop knowledge of prospective customers
Farmers access credit/ financial resources on-line
Outcomes
Farmers diversify production
Levels of interest in new business development
Outputs
Farmers’ cooperatives are convinced to support farmers’ use of ICT
Evidence presented to farmers about new business development
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World Bank Working Paper
For the pilot projects highlighted in Appendix 2, the following are some of the indicators that could be pursued, to assess impact, a framework is proposed for evaluatingtheirimpactaswellastheirsustainabilityandreadinessforscalingup.
Table A.3.2. Indicators to Assess Project Impact Impact Category
High-level Indicators
User satisfaction with services
Reduced direct costs (such as travel time, service delivery time, bribe payment) More and better-quality services (such as single-window access, convenience, quality of problem resolution0 Demand driven (such as feedback mechanism)
Economic impact
Income generation Job opportunities Disaster prevention/mitigation
Social impact
Better-informed population (for example, on health and education) Improved governance and transparency More social networks and participation in community activities
Sustainability
Level of subsidy required (fully funded, partial funding) Timeframe of subsidy(throughout project life vs. initial stages) Revenue sources Capital costs required (such as for infrastructure building) Degree of scaling up experienced
Note 1
http://www.bridges.org/publications/94.
Rural Informatization in China
59
Appendix 4. A Framework for Evaluation of Eighteen Pilot Projects User Satisfaction of Services
Project Name
Economic Impact
Social Impact
Sustainability of Service
Builds Increased Service Service Income Employ awareness/ Level of Add’l Project Centers/ ImproveMore genement interest in Public Loan/ User scaled Access 1 2 ment? services? ration? generation? ICT? Subsidy Grant? fees ? up? Points?
Panggezhuang AgriProducts Cooperative
Y
n/a
Information Service Station
Y
F
Y
Rural Information Service Platform
F
Y
Henan Netcom
P
Baima Shop
Y
Informatization Experience Center Rural Information Service System
Y L&G3
P Y
Y
C
Y Y
F
Farmer Internet Bar
Y
Chongqing Hotline
A/C
F
Community Information Court Y
Y
1000 Towns and 10,000 talents
C
F
Y
N Y
Y A
F
Agricultural Products Association
Y
P
M/P
Farmers Internet Café
Y
n/a
A
Y
A
Y
Informatization Farmer Family Stores
Y
Rural Information Agent Farmers Mail Box
Y Y
Y
P
Loan4
F P
A
Notes: 1Levelofpublicsubsidyinclude:F(Fully);P(Partially);N(Nosubsidy). 2Userfeesinclude:A(AccessfeestousetheInternet,SMS,voiceservice);C(Commercialservicefees,e.g. printing,faxing,multimedia,etc);M(Membershipchargesforregularservices,e.g.professional cooperatives);P(Profitpercentage);andcombinationsofeach. 3Loansprovidedbyruralcreditcooperatives,localagriculturalassociations;GrantfromIntelforfarmer computers. 4ChinaTelecom,ruralcreditcooperatives,localagriculturalassociation.
Y
A/M
F Y
Y Y
F
E-Family Jinta Model
P
Eco-Audit Environmental Benefits Statement TheWorldBankiscommittedtopreservingEndangeredForestsandnaturalresources. WeprintWorldBankWorkingPapersandCountryStudiesonpostconsumerrecycled paper, processed chlorine free. The World Bank has formally agreed to follow the recommended standards for paper usage set by Green Press Initiative—a nonprofit program supporting publishers in using fiber that is not sourced from Endangered Forests.Formoreinformation,visitwww.greenpressinitiative.org. In2008,theprintingofthesebooksonrecycledpapersavedthefollowing:
Trees*
SolidWaste
Water
NetGreenhouse Gases
TotalEnergy
355
16,663
129,550
31,256
247mil.
*40feetin heightand 6–8inchesin diameter
Pounds
Gallons
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Rural Informatization in China is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank’s ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. China’s recent economic growth has expanded industrialization and urbanization, upgraded consumption, increased social mobility, and initiated a shift from an agricultural-based economy to one based on services and industry. However, more than half of China’s population still lives in rural areas, where the average per capital income is less than a third of the urban average. The government of China has increased its commitment to rural development and poverty-reduction programs, with attention to narrowing the rural-urban divide. Informatization—defined as the transformation of an economy and society driven by information and communications technology (ICT)—is increasingly being explored as a way of helping poor people. Rural Informatization in China presents an overview and in-depth analysis of rural ICT initiatives in China. This study reviews the present-day status of China’s rural informatization infrastructure, examines and summarizes by organizational model the key initiatives in the past decade, and provides policy recommendations to address current challenges. Case studies of different financing models of rural ICT initiatives from China and other countries are included. World Bank Working Papers are available individually or on standing order. This World Bank Working Paper series is also available by subscription to the World Bank e-Library (www.worldbank.org/newelibrary).
ISBN 978-0-8213-8018-5 THE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 USA Telephone: 202 473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail:
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SKU 18018
