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Millennium Villages Project
(reading material by Robert Kozma:
http://robertkozma.com/images/kozma_millennium_villages_report.pdf)
November 29, 2006
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The reading material was not directly related to education, but more
focused on communication and kiosks in the developing world. 

An important question is how much relative value there is in the
providing of information (as compared to the value of other
initiatives that could be undertaken given the same financial
resources).  The question could be phrased as "Is information a
panacea?" or "Is information a social good?" 

The latter question does not have a clear answer on a practical level
that can be empirically proven.  There are more theoretical arguments
in support of this.  The author of the material advocates the view
that information access is an end in itself, and it represents a
good. 

Projects in Uganda (and elsewhere) have, however, shown that
information is not perceived as a good by all stakeholders.
Governments, or entities with strong economic incentives routinely aim
to control and even restrict access to information.  In Uganda, the
availability of market price information led to violence from the
middle men, who were thus cut out frmo their profitable enterprises. 

One of the strengths of the paper is putting connectivity at the
end. The situation discussed in the material is for Africa -- which
provides a very different connectivity model: in Africa connectivity
is by satellite mostly while in India it's mostly by fiber.  Satellite
connectivity is incredibly expensive to get (yet). 

The paper hinted at the standard problem of scaling the project up. It
seemed (from the paper) that the manager's role is essential at the
lower levels of deployments.  Therefore, the incentives for managers
will be extremely important for the success of projects like this. 

Another big question is how the project (and its components) would be
made self-sustainable.  The cost of upkeep can be tremendous, and it
can't be relied solely on NGOs and government organizations. There
have been many unsuccessful projects that included deploying kiosks.
Among the successful ones, some in India revolved around kiosks
coupled with Internet cafes and being situated in more affluent areas
(where people would pay for the Internet cafes).  The same setup was
not as successful in poorer areas though. 

Even in relatively poor countries, something that people are willing
to pay for is education -- to increase their employability.  Success
stories along this model are known in Cambodia, Kenya, and other
developing countries.  Courses that people would pay money for are
training courses (in Excel, etc.), language courses (English,
French). 

Other paying services that can help offset costs of upkeep are
photography and astrology (India).  Some of these would necessarily be
cultural-specific and they are also obviously manager-specific (i.e.,
depending on the ideas and motivations of the local manager). 

Community radio stations are another idea for communication and
disseminating information.  (InterNews is an NGO that operates around
the world, setting up community radio stations.) 

Information technology tends to be more successful when it overlays
the usual ways in which people communicate and do business.  The
cultural and social patterns that pre-exist are an important
determinant in the success of any such missions (and IT
"interventions"). 

In some communities community radio and phone service are the medium
for finding information: people would call in and ask questions live
on the community radio, which everyone in the village hears, and
people who have the information would respond again by calling the
community radio with answers.  An important aspect would be who
controls the community radios in this case, including whether their
mission is aligned with the needs of the local people listening (e.g.,
women's issues). 

The question is far from being confined to technology only.  There are
issues of power and social structures involved (as mentioned above). A
simple example is the cell phone proliferation in African countries,
where the telephone monopoly (and the long waits and bribes involved
in getting a land line) led people to buy cell phones, even though the
cost of calls was high (but the other bureaucratic problems were
non-existent). 

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