2049 File InfoDev E Rdnss RPT Rev11May05

E-Ready for What?
E-Readiness in Developing Countries: Current Status and

Prospects toward the Millennium Development Goals
Prepared for infoDev
bridges.org
11 May 2005
For more information contact:

Teresa Peters
Executive director, bridges.org
PO Box 715, Cape Town 8000

South Africa
+27 (0) 21 465 9313
(Fax) +27 (0) 21 465 5917
policy@bridges.org
www.bridges.org
E-Ready for What? E-Readiness in Developing Countries and the MDGs 2
bridges.org, 11 May 2005
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Information for Development Program

The World Bank
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Email infodev@worldbank.org
www.infodev.org
Table of contents
Copyright statement................................................................................................. 2
Executive summary .................................................................................................. 5
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 12
Acronyms used in this report ................................................................................. 13
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 14
2 Background ...................................................................................................... 16
2.1 E-readiness assessment as a tool for ICT-based development ............................... 16
2.1.1 What do e-readiness assessments actually do?..........................................................16
2.1.2 E-readiness assessment: who’s done what, where, and how? ......................................18
2.2 About the infoDev e-readiness initiative................................................................. 18
2.2.1 E-readiness assessment grants ...............................................................................19
2.2.2 E-readiness resources: Facilitation Center, toolkit, and guide ......................................20
2.3 Overview of the Millennium Development Goals..................................................... 21
2.3.1 The role for ICT in MDG strategies...........................................................................22
3 Study of the infoDev e-readiness initiative ....................................................... 24
4 Findings of the study ........................................................................................ 27
4.1 Overview of infoDev-supported assessment reports .............................................. 27
4.1.1 Who assessed what: authors and objectives .............................................................27
4.1.2 How assessments were conducted: tools and methodologies used................................28
4.2 Key findings and recommendations of the infoDev-supported assessments........... 32
4.2.1 Measuring physical access to ICT ............................................................................32
4.2.2 Considering whether ICT is appropriate to local conditions ..........................................36
4.2.3 Gauging the affordability of ICT in the local context ...................................................38
4.2.4 Determining whether ICT capacity and training is available .........................................40
4.2.5 Checking availability of locally relevant content and services .......................................46
4.2.6 Determining whether ICT is integrated into peoples’ lives ...........................................49
4.2.7 Considering socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use .................................................51
4.2.8 Examining the legal and regulatory environment for ICT use .......................................52
4.2.9 Looking at security and whether people trust ICT ......................................................57
4.2.10 Examining the use of ICT in business ...................................................................59
4.2.11 Understanding the macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use ............................64
4.2.12 Gauging the government's role in driving e-readiness .............................................66
4.3 Outcomes from the infoDev-supported assessment processes ............................... 69
4.4 Key external challenges faced in the assessments ................................................. 74
4.5 Overall project management and implementation of assessments ......................... 77
5 Analysis and discussion .................................................................................... 83
5.1 Use of e-readiness assessments: content and measurements ............................... 83
5.2 Usefulness of e-readiness assessments: outputs and benefits .............................. 87
5.3 The assessment process: management and implementation ................................. 88
5.4 Linking e-readiness strategies and the MDGs: opportunities and obstacles............ 90
6 Concluding remarks .......................................................................................... 93
Annex 1. Case studies on grantee countries’ e-readiness assessment processes .. 95

Case study: Belarus ......................................................................................................... 95
Case study: Bulgaria ...................................................................................................... 100
Case study: Costa Rica ................................................................................................... 108
Case study: Estonia........................................................................................................ 113
Case study: Jamaica....................................................................................................... 120
Case study: Kenya.......................................................................................................... 128
Case study: Panama....................................................................................................... 135
Case study: Philippines .................................................................................................. 141
Case study: Romania ..................................................................................................... 146
Case study: Russia ......................................................................................................... 155
Case study: Tanzania ..................................................................................................... 163
Case study: Trinidad and Tobago ................................................................................... 169
Case study: Uganda ....................................................................................................... 175
Annex 2. Overview of the e-readiness assessment process .................................182
Annex 3. Comparison of e-readiness assessment tools .......................................189
Comparing e-readiness assessment tools: which is best and why?................................. 191
The main e-readiness assessment tools currently used .................................................. 197
e-Readiness tools comparison tables .............................................................................. 206
Annex 4. Beyond e-readiness: digital divide assessments ...................................210
Annex 5. E-readiness assessments: Who’s done what, and where? ......................214
Annex 6. Background on Y2K and e-readiness .....................................................220
Annex 7. RFP for infoDev e-readiness assessment grants ....................................225
Annex 8. RFP for the infoDev e-readiness Facilitation Center...............................229
Annex 9. Study questionnaire for grantee countries.............................................234
Annex 10: Study interview questions and discussion points .................................241
Annex 11: MDG targets and indicators ..................................................................244
Annex 12: List of references on e-readiness and MDGs .........................................246
Executive summary
Background
During the last decade, many leaders in government, business, and social organizations
around the globe have considered how best to harness the power of information and
communication technology (ICT) for development. E-readiness assessments are meant to
guide development efforts by providing benchmarks for comparison and gauging progress.
Several e-readiness initiatives have been launched to help developing countries in this area,
and numerous e-readiness assessment tools have been created and used by different groups,
each looking at various aspects of ICT, society, and the economy.
However, the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments is increasingly questioned, as

many in the field consider whether these initiatives really help decision-makers or they are
just a waste of time and money. Perhaps most important is the criticism from those working
at ground level who find the focus on e-readiness to be a distraction from more critical
development issues like health, education and environment: these detractors ask, "e-ready
for what?" The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may offer one answer. The MDGs, set
out in 2000 as part of the Millennium Declaration, set clear targets for reducing poverty,
hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by
2015. The MDGs, and the strong political will that backs them, have effectively placed
development at the heart of the global agenda through the next decade.
There are a few initiatives underway that look at measuring the impact of ICT on the MDGs.
Although there appears to be some degree of collaboration among the various actors in this
area, so far there is a lack of consensus on indicators and measurement. And, while a few
have started to talk about the need for connecting ICT-based e-strategies with more concrete
development goals, none have offered guidelines for how to do this. Adapting the concept of
"e-readiness" and using it to frame strategies to tackle specific social and economic targets
may offer a mechanism to help developing countries put ICT to work toward the MDGs.
The infoDev e-readiness initiative

To explore this idea further, the World Bank Information for Development Program (infoDev)
put its e-readiness assessment initiative under examination. Building on the Y2K initiative,
infoDev became a major funder in the area of e-readiness assessment during 2001-2003.
InfoDev awarded grants averaging US$50,000 to developing countries to support them in
conducting ICT infrastructure and e-readiness assessments and developing action plans. The
funding was directed toward: (i) putting together multi-sector country e-readiness teams, (ii)
customizing methodologies tailored to address country’s own needs, (iii) implementing the
first assessments, and (iv) putting in place a firm foundation for long term e-development
action plans. Grantees were expected to produce the e-readiness assessment report, an ICT-
based strategy, and an ICT national action plan. Since the inception of the program, infoDev
has awarded a total of 21 grants, including 9 grants to some of the poorest countries of the
world. To foster best practice in the e-readiness field, infoDev also supported the production
and dissemination of key e-readiness assessment resources. A grant was awarded in 2002 to
GeoSINC International to establish an e-readiness Facilitation Center that would provide
organizational and technical assistance to country grantees.
This study
The overall objective for this study is to provide an overview of e-readiness assessments in
developing and emerging countries by focusing on the activities and outcomes of the infoDev
e-readiness initiative. Based on the findings, the study explores possible ways to move
forward the e-readiness agenda in the developing world, looking into the potential linkages
between e-readiness action plans and the MDGs. To gauge the use and usefulness of e-
readiness assessments and consider whether and how e-readiness strategies can be targeted
toward the Millennium Development Goals, bridges.org looked at four key questions:
⇒ What did the infoDev-supported e-readiness assessments measure?
⇒ Have the e-readiness assessment processes improved these countries’ e-readiness and
brought related socio-economic benefits, and were the assessments sufficient to target
the use of ICT toward broader development goals? If not, why not?
⇒ How effective were the e-readiness assessment processes themselves in terms of project
management, implementation, and support?
⇒ How can infoDev (and other e-readiness initiatives) improve or adjust an approach to ICT-
based development that aligns e-readiness strategies with the MDGs?
As part of the foundation for the study, 13 case studies were conducted on country e-
readiness assessments funded by infoDev. The study also considered how the entire infoDev-
supported assessment process was conducted and the resulting strategies and outputs.
Bridges.org framed this study by using a concept it has coined as "Real Access/Real Impact”,
which looks at whether and how ICT-based development approaches lead to concrete
improvements in people's lives.
The study involved three groups of stakeholders: the country government agencies and
grantees, the assessment teams, and the infoDev e-readiness team. Information was
collected from background documents and reports, questionnaires, field visits, workshops,
and country interviews. This report and the attached Annexes (which include the 13 case
studies) constitute the deliverables for this study.
It should be noted that when the country assessment teams embarked on their work, there
was no stated objective for them to consider development goals specifically. This discussion
and analysis is not intended to criticize grantees for failing to achieve something that they
never planned to do. However, looking at the assessments through the lens of the Real
Access criteria is a means of critiquing what has been done in the infoDev program, with an
aim to identify opportunities for using ICT to make a Real Impact on people's lives and help
developing countries put ICT to use to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Findings of this study
Who assessed what: authors and objectives

The infoDev grants were awarded to government departments and agencies, and non-profit
organizations in the respective countries. The governments of the grantee countries were
involved in executing the assessments, albeit to varying degrees. The definitions of "e-
readiness" used vary in scope, so the assessments measured e-readiness in different ways.
Most took a general view of e-readiness as the extent to which the country is prepared to
integrate into the global information society/networked world/digital economy. For some, the
objective of the assessment was only to evaluate the country’s level of e-readiness, however
defined. Beyond this, there were four main objectives cited: informing policy, collecting
baseline statistics for benchmarking, promoting and publicizing the country’s e-readiness, and
improving e-readiness of a specific sector.
How assessments were conducted: tools and methodologies used

The majority of the assessments used the Harvard University Center for International
Development’s (CID) Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries
as recommended by the GeoSinc Facilitation Center. Most countries adapted the model to suit
their specific context, or incorporated elements from other assessment tools. Many
assessments started with a review of relevant literature on e-readiness, including previous
assessments. Where appropriate, the reports referenced or incorporated the results of
previous and parallel efforts in the area. A number of assessment teams used centrally-
available statistics as secondary data to inform their report. The assessment teams’
approaches varied in the extent of and methodologies for primary data collection. The data
collection tools mostly used included questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The
assessments involved and consulted a wide range of stakeholders, including variety of NGOs,
Internet service providers (ISPs), higher education and training institutions, government
departments and Ministries, national science councils, experts, businesses, and associations.
Only a few assessment teams addressed the issue of bias in their methodology, data
collection, or interpretation of results.
Key findings and recommendations of the infoDev-supported assessments

In terms of gauging whether and how countries have achieved Real Access to ICT, the reports
measured the following:
Physical access to ICT: Most assessments calculated fixed-line and mobile teledensity, and
Internet access, but other ICT infrastructure was looked at less intensely. However,
sometimes even the most basic indicators do not give a full view on the real local situation
affecting the availability of ICT. For example, Africa's "cell phone revolution" is widely
celebrated because penetration is high, yet the majority of people cannot afford to make a
call.1 And again, each assessment measured even basic indicators in different ways, so
country comparison is difficult if not impossible.
Appropriateness of ICT: Only a few assessments considered whether the ICT that is
available is appropriate to local conditions, or which ICT might be most appropriate for future
rollout. Most e-readiness approaches were too broad to assess appropriate technologies in
specific contexts. Exceptions include those assessments that conducted case studies on
certain industries or areas (such as banking or mobile services), where they looked in-depth
at specific contexts, and recommended appropriate technologies (such as wireless or cable
Internet access) for reaching particular goals.
Affordability of ICT in the local context: Despite significant variations in local economic
conditions and prices, all assessments found that most ICT access and use is prohibitively
expensive for the majority of people and organizations. Many country reports cited cost as
the greatest obstacle to widespread access and use of ICT.
ICT capacity and training: Overall the assessments treated the use of ICT in education as a
critical issue; however, few reports covered the sector thoroughly. Most looked at how many
schools have computers and Internet access, and the general conclusion is that numbers are
too low. Only a few assessments considered the computer skills of teachers, the use of ICT in
higher education, or university degree programs offering ICT training, and again the general
conclusion is that numbers are too low. While some reports included information on available
training opportunities, almost none provided critical analysis of their effectiveness, or detailed
how ICT is integrated into learning programs. Few assessments considered the country's
literacy levels or the education system as a whole, or the impact these have on ICT uptake.
Availability of locally relevant content and services: Some assessments looked at the
numbers of locally produced and/or hosted websites and a few looked at language. Although
most were biased in their focus on web-based content, exceptions looked at the availability
1
Many people maintain only the minimal service so they can receive calls on their cell phones (which costs nothing).
Calls are generally made at public pay phones.
and use of content communicated via other, more ubiquitous, ICT-based media. Most of the
assessments covered e-commerce and e-government services. Fewer considered other
content and services critical for social development goals, such as e-health or e-learning.
Although many assessments identified the need for more locally relevant content and
services, only a minority suggested the means for improving the situation.
Integration of ICT into peoples’ lives: Very few reports looked at how ICT was integrated
into people's lives, whether the use of ICT was an additional burden (such as the need to
travel long distances to access telecentre services), or whether it reduced a burden (for
example by improving work efficiencies). A few assessments explored how and why people
used ICT in their daily lives (such as email for corresponding with family) or work.
Socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use: Inequalities in ICT access and use throughout
society were considered by most assessments, albeit in varying degrees of detail. A few
assessments considered socio-cultural factors that affect ICT access and use, specifically
looking at geography, age, gender and economic status. One action plan included promoting
the use of ICT by disabled persons. Those that compared the e-readiness of rural and urban
areas found evidence of digital divides within the country. Similarly, every assessment that
looked at age found that young people are far more prolific users of ICT (although most
looked at Internet access only). The findings on access to ICT by gender varied between
countries.
Legal and regulatory environment for ICT use: All assessments considered the
liberalization of telecommunications an important issue, and concluded that liberalizing this
sector helped (or would help) to reduce telecommunications costs. Some also considered
whether a national e-strategy or ICT policy was in place, and looked at the role of an
independent regulator. Others commented on areas where ICT policies are generally lacking,
notably related to e-commerce, privacy, security and intellectual property. Only a few reports
gave a comprehensive overview of the legal frameworks affecting the use of ICT.
Security and peoples' trust in ICT: People will not embrace the use of ICT if they do not
trust it in terms of privacy, data protection, information security, or cybercrime. But few
assessments considered whether people trust ICT or how user confidence affects ICT use in
the country. Those that did looked predominantly at e-commerce transactions, including
notably consumer protection issues. Some countries indicated that they intend to investigate
e-justice and cybercrime issues, which could be considered an outcome of the assessment,
but it was not actually considered as part of the assessment. Issues around political
corruption, transparency, and democracy were considered by a few reports.
Use of ICT in business: All of the assessments looked to some extent at the access to and
use of ICT in business. One country focused solely on SMEs. Another looked exclusively at
electronic payments in the financial sector, with a strong focus on banks. Others indicated
that the government intends to look in more detail at SMEs, and some have already started.
Most assessments looked at how many businesses are using computers and the Internet; the
number of local businesses with websites; e-commerce; hardware and software development
and the local ICT sector, but none measured whether or how ICT affects businesses'
efficiency or productivity.
Macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use: Some reports considered

macroeconomic factors, covering issues such as competitiveness rankings with other
countries, the contribution of the ICT sector to GDP, expenditure on ICT-based research and
development, ICT creating and/or replacing jobs, export of ICT-related products and services,
and state, civil society and private sector partnerships. The ICT industry, investment
environment, and taxation issues were examined in some reports. A few reports offered ideas
for promoting the acquisition of ICT by government.
Government's role in driving e-readiness: Governments were usually involved in the

assessments, and most of the reports described the governments' active involvement and
political will in this area. Very few reports provided statistics for actual government
expenditure on ICT. Some assessments mentioned or provided summaries of major public-
initiated and/or funded initiatives, while others made suggestions for establishing them. Very
few critically analyzed the impact of already existing government initiatives. All of the
assessments that mentioned public-private partnerships were in agreement about their
benefits.
Analysis and discussion
Use of e-readiness assessments: content and measurements

Although GeoSINC International established a Facilitation Centre and produced documents to
guide the grantees in their e-readiness assessments, grantees were given complete discretion
in choosing and using assessment methodologies, and presenting the results. Each report was
presented in a unique way. Reports generally described what ICT is available -- sometimes
within a limited context, such as e-commerce -- but they generally failed to illustrate the
extent to which ICT is not available in local settings. No assessments measured the impact
(or gauge the potential impact) of ICT. Some reports were more critical than others of the
government's role in fostering (or hindering) the use of technology and development of ICT
infrastructure
The following opportunities for improving content and measurements in e-readiness

assessments were identified:
⇒ Provide more information on assessment tools and how to use them comprehensively
within the local context.
⇒ Focus on ICT as a development tool.
⇒ Measure ICT use and impact.
⇒ Treat economic and social goals as interdependent.
⇒ Use standard measurements and ICT indicators to make comparison possible.
⇒ Refine and standardize data collection processes for benchmarking.
⇒ Leave benchmarking to the benchmarkers and focus on deeper analysis.
⇒ Create national clearinghouse databases of all available data.
Usefulness of e-readiness assessments: outputs and benefits

The significant effort and resources expended in conducting e-readiness assessments is only
worth it if the e-readiness process leads directly to concrete positive change in the country.
Although most assessments provided some level of action plan, however loosely defined, only
a few were comprehensive. Most provided high-level recommendations without specific next
steps for action. And overall, the reports have not been used enough. Nevertheless, in many
cases the e-readiness assessments provided networking opportunities for experts and
institutions that led to beneficial connections between stakeholders. Some assessments
formed a foundation for further research.
The following opportunities for improving outputs and benefits from e-readiness assessments
were identified:
⇒ Provide guidance on how to influence change.
⇒ Treat the assessment and action plans as a starting point.
⇒ Do not proceed without government involvement and commitment.
⇒ Ensure ownership of the process by key decision-makers and champions.
⇒ Focus action plans on a particular sector.
⇒ Set out action plans with specific tasks and timeframes.
The assessment process: management and implementation

The wide range in quality of the infoDev-supported assessments could be put down to the
experience of the assessment teams; but it also seems to be related in large part to the
varying levels of effectiveness of project management and implementation across the
program as a whole. While best practice principles for e-readiness assessments are widely
available, they could have been put to better use to inform the rollout of this initiative.
Finding the balance between affording grantees independence in the assessment process and
providing sufficient support proved to be a challenge for infoDev. Communication between
infoDev, the governments and other grantees, the assessment teams, and stakeholders broke
down frequently, and at various levels. A lack of institutional memory was a problem both at
the country level, where government officials left their jobs and took all knowledge of the
assessment with them, as well as at infoDev, where staff turnover also resulted in
shortcomings of institutional knowledge about the program and grantees.
The following opportunities for improving project management and implementation were
identified:
⇒ Provide more detailed guidelines on processes.
⇒ Strike a balance between providing sufficient support and affording independence in the
process.
⇒ Institutionalize knowledge about the e-readiness processes.
⇒ No matter how enticing the opportunity, do not duplicate.
⇒ Communicate, communicate, communicate with funders and clients.
⇒ Target funding more directly to country project needs.
Linking e-readiness strategies and the MDGs: opportunities and obstacles

The infoDev-supported e-readiness assessments in and of themselves were insufficient to
target the use of ICT toward broader development goals, much less the MDGs specifically.
However, that was not a stated objective of the e-readiness initiative for either infoDev or the
assessment teams. Nonetheless, this case study analysis has formed a useful basis for
exploring whether -– and if so, how -– e-readiness can be harnessed for reaching the MDGs.
It is obvious that ICT needs to be integrated into efforts working towards the MDGs. Are the
MDGs the best goals for e-readiness? It depends on the country and the context.
The following opportunities for expanding the relevance of e-readiness assessments and
action plans to the MDGs were identified:
⇒ Begin with the Goals.
⇒ Link e-readiness indicators with development goals.
⇒ Be context specific and think local.

⇒ Incorporate ICT approaches into sector-specific national policies (like health and
education).
⇒ Focus at the level of microeconomics, as well as the macro.
⇒ Emphasize regional cooperation and integration needs.
⇒ Address negative effects ICT integration may have.
⇒ Be realistic.
Conclusions
The link between ICT and the MDGs translates meaningfully into the e-readiness arena. While
being e-ready is certainly desirable, the question "e-ready for what?" hangs in the air. The
MDGs provide much-needed compass points for e-readiness assessment efforts. Can
assessments be used to help countries get e-ready to tackle the MDGs? Yes. But the focus
needs to move on from "how much bandwidth?" to "how much bandwidth is needed for
remote diagnosis to reduce child mortality?"
InfoDev is in a good position to build upon the lessons learned through its e-readiness
flagship initiative. But the work involving e-readiness assessments and e-strategies needs to
incorporate elements that will help enable developing countries to use ICT as part of
concrete steps to tackle the MDGs.
There is a lot to be done, a lot of change and learning to be assimilated, and many
opportunities to be explored and embraced. It is important that we build upon previous work
and draw together current efforts in the field of e-readiness. And then we can begin to work
towards becoming e-ready for reaching the MDGs.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the e-readiness assessment teams in the countries that participated in
the study, including the many academics, Ministers and other civil servants, and the staff of
the various organizations and departments who took time out of their busy schedules to
provide information for this report. We especially appreciate the input received from the
organizations and departments visited, including: The Applied Research and Communications
(ARC) Fund, Bulgaria; PRAXIS center for policy studies, Estonia; the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Romania; the Tanzanian Commission
for Science and Technology (COSTECH); Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications,
Uganda and the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Kenya. Finally, we would like to thank the
infoDev staff members who assisted with the research process and provided input to this
report.
This report was funded by a grant from infoDev.

Acronyms used in this report

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
Automated teller machines (ATMs)
Bulgarian E-readiness Assessment Model (BEAM)
Business-to-business (B2B)
Business-to-consumer (B2C)
Computer System Policy Project (CSPP)
Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) for Tanzania
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
Electronic funds transfer (EFT)
European Union (EU)
Free and open source software (FOSS)
Harvard University Center for International Development (CID)
Information and communications technology (ICT)
Information technology (IT)
Intellectual property rights (IPR)
International Development Association (IDA)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Internet service provider (ISP)
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC) of Romania
National Electronic System (NES) of Romania
National Institute of Statistics (NIS) of Romania
National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) of Costa Rica
Networked Readiness Index (NRI)
Non-governmental organization (NGO)
Non-profit organization (NPO)
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Personal computer (PC)
Point of presence (POP)
Research and development (R&D)
Rural Connectivity Development Fund (RCDF) of Uganda
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Ugandan Communications Commission (UCC)
United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Wireless fidelity (WiFi)
World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
1 Introduction
During the last decade, many leaders in government, business, and social organizations
around the globe have considered how best to harness the power of information and
communication technology (ICT) for development. Experts have pointed out that in order for
developing countries to put ICT to effective use, they must first be "e-ready" in terms of ICT
infrastructure, the accessibility of ICT to the population, and the legal and regulatory
framework. Developing-country leaders have been urged to use e-readiness assessment to
measure and plan for ICT integration, focus efforts from within, and identify areas where
external aid is required. Several e-readiness initiatives have been launched to help developing
countries in this area, and numerous e-readiness assessment tools have been created and
used by different groups, each looking at various aspects of ICT, society, and the economy.
However, the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments is increasingly questioned, as

many in the field consider whether these initiatives really help decision-makers or they are
just a waste of time and money. Proponents maintain that the true value of assessment can
only be achieved once baseline measurements are obtained and studies are repeated over
time to map progress. However, others argue that the processes behind e-readiness
assessments are flawed, results are rarely used in practice, and there is already too much
duplication of effort. Some simply say that the field of e-readiness is "over", because the
world's attention is moving away from the so-called "digital divide" to focus on other issues;
but it is not clear where that leaves countries that are not near to being e-ready. Perhaps
most important is the criticism from those working at ground level who find the focus on e-
readiness to be a distraction from more critical development issues like health, education and
environment: these detractors ask, "e-ready for what?"
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may offer one answer. The MDGs, set out in 2000
as part of the Millennium Declaration, set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease,
illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by 2015. During the
lead-up to the 2003 World Summit on Information Society, the attention of the development
community focused on ICT, and a range of papers considered the role of ICT in pursuit of the
MDGs. The general consensus is that effective ICT use is an essential part of any strategy to
tackle the MDGs. But evidence suggests that so far ICT has failed to deliver on its potential
for social and economic development, and that the ambitious MDGs will remain out of reach
until ICT makes a real impact toward these goals. Moreover, there are grave concerns among
experts that time is slipping by and drastic measures are required immediately if the MDGs
are to be achieved. Similar refrains are heard time and again: better strategies and effective
implementation are needed urgently, but the lack of clear indicators and baseline data makes
measurement and monitoring difficult.
There is an abundance of organizations in the strategy-formulation game, with specialists in

everything from broad "poverty reduction strategies", to those focused on sector-specific
approaches. While a few have started to talk about the need for connecting ICT-based e-
strategies with more concrete development goals, none have offered guidelines for how to do
this. Little has been done to merge them in practice and too often ICT policies and projects
are treated as a stand-alone silo, separate from development targets in areas like healthcare,
education, and environment. But adapting the concept of "e-readiness" and using it to frame
strategies to tackle specific social and economic targets may offer a mechanism to help
developing countries put ICT to work toward the MDGs.
To explore this idea further, the Information for Development Program (infoDev) put its e-
readiness assessment initiative under examination. InfoDev has been involved in this field
since 2001, funding projects to develop e-readiness assessment guidelines and conduct
country assessments. In 2003, infoDev awarded bridges.org a grant to carry out an
independent study of existing e-readiness initiatives with a focus on infoDev's portfolio. The
overall goal of the study was to take a wide-angle view of the field of e-readiness: reflect on
previous work and consider whether it has been useful overall, and identify opportunities for
targeting future efforts on the MDGs. In addition to significant background research on e-
readiness generally and a review of country reports, information was collected from the
infoDev-supported country assessment teams through a questionnaire, as well as workshops
and interviews held in six grantee countries.
This report is the result. The Background section looks generally at e-readiness assessments
in developing countries, describes infoDev's e-readiness initiative, and provides an overview
of current thinking on the MDGs. The objectives and methodology that frame the review of
infoDev-supported efforts are described in the next section. The Findings section focuses on
13 infoDev-supported country assessments, summarizing what they measured and whether
the assessment processes improved the countries’ e-readiness and brought related socio-
economic benefits. This section also looks as how effective the e-readiness assessment
processes were in terms of project management, implementation, and support. The
Discussion section highlights key findings and looks at how infoDev (and other e-readiness
initiatives) could improve or adjust an approach to ICT-based development that aligns e-
readiness strategies with the MDGs. The final section identifies opportunities and makes
recommendations for infoDev’s future efforts in the field. The Annexes to this report provide a
more detailed case study of each of the 13 country assessments examined, as well as further
background information on e-readiness assessment and related issues, and other information
relevant to this study.
The intended audience for this report includes infoDev, its investors and staff members, and
participating organizations in the grantee countries. It is also intended as a reference to
decision-makers working in the area of ICT and development more broadly.
2 Background
2.1 E-readiness assessment as a tool for ICT-based development
ICT is a key weapon in the war against world poverty. When used properly, it offers
tremendous potential to empower people in developing countries to overcome development
obstacles; to address the most important social problems they face; and to strengthen
communities, democratic institutions, a free press, and local economies. But in order for a
country to gain the benefits offered by ICT, technology must be implemented and used
effectively across society and the economy. Moreover, countries face the threat of being left
behind if they do not address the growing digital divides both between and within countries.
Many developing country leaders have embraced ICT as an engine for growth and
development to help their nations, and they are driving the necessary changes to make that
happen. However, translating a grand vision into practical steps that fit the local context, and
then executing it effectively, is often easier said than done. Decision-makers need to know
where the country currently stands in terms of ICT availability and use, so they can plan
toward their goals. Governments and development aid professionals often frame this
discussion in terms of "e-readiness", or how ready a country is to gain the benefits offered by
ICT in terms of policy, infrastructure and ground-level initiatives. An e-readiness process
based on an objective assessment that leads to sound e-strategies can offer a path for
converting good intentions into planned action that brings real changes to people's lives.
2.1.1 What do e-readiness assessments actually do?

E-readiness assessments are meant to guide development efforts by providing benchmarks
for comparison and gauging progress. They can also be a useful tool for judging the impact of
ICT, to replace exaggerated claims and anecdotal evidence with concrete data. Decision-
makers need to understand the implications of the information collected in an assessment
and map out a detailed e-strategy with an action plan for improving e-readiness. And the
action plan then needs to be implemented, the most difficult part by far. So assessments are
only one part of an e-readiness process that generally comprises four steps: (1) clarifying
national goals and choosing an appropriate assessment tool; (2) conducting the e-readiness
assessment; (3) developing a detailed action plan; and (4) implementing the plan. Annex 2
gives a more comprehensive overview of the e-readiness assessment process.
A range of assessment tools have been developed to measure a country or economy’s e-

readiness. Choosing the right assessment tool depends on the user’s goals. The kinds of
goals that are usually addressed by e-readiness assessment tools include:
Gauging the readiness of a particular company or group of companies to participate in e-
commerce;
Assessing a country’s preparedness for e-commerce;
Assessing the current level of technology in a region as a basis to forecast future
technology levels;
Providing a quick, rough gauge of technology use in a particular area;
Understanding the relative roles of political, economic and social factors affecting ICT
growth and use;
Understanding why particular countries progress differently; and
Assessing the effects of ICT on the lives of real people, and considering how widely the
technology is really being used.
The tools use widely varying definitions for e-readiness and different methods of
measurement; and the assessment reports vary considerably in the topics covered, level of
detail, and results. The earliest approaches to e-readiness assessment engendered a narrow
view of the role of ICT, assuming a fixed, one-size-fits-all set of requirements regardless of
the local context. First generation e-readiness tools essentially render ICT the goal, and
exclusively measure ICT adoption, integration, and use. More recent thinking on e-readiness
assessment has broadened the concepts to look further and wider at more meaningful goals
within the local context, for which ICT is merely a means to the end. Annex 3 provides a
comprehensive comparison of the e-readiness assessment tools currently used. Generally, the
assessment tools cover one or more of the following topics:
Physical infrastructure – the telecommunications infrastructure, including teledensity
(usually the number of telephones per 100 people) and Internet access, bandwidth,
pricing, and reliability;
ICT use - levels of use throughout society, including homes, businesses, schools, and
government;
Human capacity – literacy, ICT skill levels, and vocational training;
Policy environment – the legal and regulatory environment affecting ICT sector and ICT
use, including telecommunications policy, trade policy, e-commerce taxation, universal
service provisions, consumer protection, and privacy; and
ICT economy – the size of ICT sector.
The assessment tools most frequently used for national e-readiness studies can be roughly
categorized into two groups: those that measure predominantly e-economy issues and those
concerned with broader e-society issues. The e-economy assessments tend to focus on basic
infrastructure (network and teledensity), and a nation’s readiness for ICT-based business or
economic growth; for example, some of the most prominent e-readiness tools target short-
term e-commerce growth or foreign investment. The less common e-society assessments
look at the overall ability of society to benefit from ICT; sometimes these are referred to as
"digital divide" assessments, because they take a broad view on both the current and
potential use of ICT by business, government, social programs and individuals. See Annex 4
for an overview of this approach to e-readiness assessment.
E-readiness assessment tools are presented as ready-to-use questionnaires, case study

formats, and third party surveys and reports that outline broad approaches. Assessments
generally gather information and measure country indicators through one or more of the
following methodologies:
Questionnaires use a set of direct questions to collect information on ICT and policy;
Statistical methods mathematically analyze ICT and policy data on the country;
Best practices incorporate experiences from and comparisons with other countries; and
Historical analyses use unique political, economic, and social events to explain or forecast
ICT use in the country.
Results of the assessments vary in presentation and whether they are descriptive, diagnostic,
or proscriptive. Although some assessment reports provide only a ranking on the issues
covered, many others make recommendations on how countries should improve their e-
readiness to be able to benefit from ICT.
2.1.2 E-readiness assessment: who’s done what, where, and how?

A plethora of e-readiness assessment projects have been completed, are underway, or are
planned. Despite the fact that governments, international bodies, and the private sector have
stated intentions to coordinate work on the digital divide and avoid duplication of effort, e-
readiness work is still largely uncoordinated and frequently duplicative. Unfortunately, many
of the assessment results are not publicly available or easily accessible, and there is no
central listing for such assessments. In some cases, assessments are proprietary to the
company or organization that conducts them, and the results are published for sale at prices
that can be quite high. Sometimes only the government agency or organization that
commissions the assessment gets the results and they are either not published, or not well-
publicized.
There is significant duplication of effort in some countries, while others are devoid of useful
data:
A total of 1506 e-readiness assessments have now been conducted.
A total of 188 countries have been assessed by at least one tool.
68 countries have been assessed between five and ten times by different organizations,
while a further 69 countries have been assessed over ten times.
Only four countries have never been assessed: North Korea, Tuvalu, Monaco and Nauru.
Annex 5 provides more information on where e-readiness assessments have been done and
with which tool.2 However, there are four caveats. First, not all of the assessments that have
been conducted are included here, since many are not publicly available or are not known
about. Second, no two assessments are exactly alike; each has a different goal and measures
different data. Third, global competitiveness reports, that rank numerous countries, have
been included. These are not country-specific e-readiness assessments conducted as the
basis for e-strategies, although they are useful for strategy in that countries can learn from
those ranked both higher and alongside themselves in specific areas contributing to e-
readiness. Finally, some of the assessments have been repeated intentionally, with a baseline
study being replicated over time to map progress.
2.2 About the infoDev e-readiness initiative

InfoDev’s work with developing countries on the Year 2000 problem, or "Y2K", formed the
foundation for its e-readiness work. InfoDev’s overall Y2K strategy helped governments in
developing countries and transition economies create and manage contingency plans for the
Y2K problem. InfoDev provided grants, information and technical assistance, and a
methodology for country-level Y2K risk assessments. As an outcome of the Y2K efforts,
national information technology (IT) coordination agencies were established in many
countries to deal with IT policies, regulations and infrastructure planning and procurement.
They also raised awareness of the usefulness of a reliable IT infrastructure in improving the
work of government, business and other organizations.
The Y2K processes represented the first time that IT infrastructure, policy, and human
resources were considered together in the development of national strategies, which led to
more holistic thinking about ICT generally. Many important lessons were learned, and much
2
In compiling the data on e-readiness assessments, the goal is not to judge one assessment over another, or to
diminish the value of work that has already been done. Rather it is to provide a resource to policy-makers and others
who want to use e-readiness assessment results to plan for the integration of technologies in society, and to
organizations that are considering new assessments. It is hoped that this information will have the effect of
eliminating duplication, making better use of scarce resources and helping decision-makers to move beyond
assessment to planned action.
of the structures and processes implemented for Y2K readiness have laid the groundwork for
national efforts in e-readiness. Annex 6 provides more information on the Y2K problem,
infoDev's activities in this area, and the outcomes and lessons learned.
2.2.1 E-readiness assessment grants

Building on the Y2K initiative, infoDev became a major funder in the area of e-readiness
assessment during 2001-2003. InfoDev awarded grants averaging US$50,000 to developing
countries to support them in conducting ICT infrastructure and e-readiness assessments and
developing action plans. The funding was directed toward: (i) putting together multi-sector
country e-readiness teams, (ii) customizing methodologies tailored to address country’s own
needs, (iii) implementing the first assessments, and (iv) putting in place a firm foundation for
long term e-development action plans. Generally the assessments were to:
Be carried out by a government organization or its designee with the ability to facilitate
communications among all relevant ministries with responsibility for ICT policy, planning,
and implementation;
Use a methodology based on established best practices, tailored to identify strategic
opportunities for progress and key obstacles/bottlenecks that must be removed in the
country, with special attention to the policy framework and the availability of qualified
human resources;
Involve a coordinating group within the government to promote consistent and
coordinated policies across government;
Involve key stakeholders, both public and private, with industry and civil society
participants to advise the government on appropriate policies and programs to promote
ICT development.
Grantees were expected to produce the e-readiness assessment report, an ICT-based

strategy, and an ICT national action plan. Since the inception of the program, infoDev has
awarded a total of 21 grants, including 9 grants to some of the poorest countries of the world
(as set out below).3
Grants awarded under the infoDev e-readiness initiative

Region Total number of Number of Total number of Number of grants
requests for requests from the grants approved approved to the
grants poorest countries poorest countries
(IDA countries)4 (IDA countries)
Sub. Saharan Africa 15 15 3 3
Latin America 13 2 5 1
Middle East and North Africa 3 0 0 0
Eastern Europe and Central Asia 20 4 7 1
East and South Asia 17 9 5 4
Facilitation Center 13 1
Global IT Readiness Reports 2 2
Monitoring the Digital divide 1 1
Total 81 30 21 9
(Source: infoDev Flyer, October 2003)
3
A proportion of the grants were specifically earmarked to help some of the poorest countries. This was determined
according to International Development Association (IDA) ratings for countries that are considered low and middle-
income based on per capita income and ability to borrow on market terms.
4
As noted above, the poorest countries were determined according to IDA ratings based on financial status.
Annex 7 provides more information on the study criteria and required deliverables for the
infoDev-supported ICT infrastructure and e-readiness assessment grants.
2.2.2 E-readiness resources: Facilitation Center, toolkit, and guide

To foster best practice in the e-readiness field, infoDev also supported the production and
dissemination of key e-readiness assessment resources. A grant was awarded in 2002 to
GeoSINC International to establish an e-readiness Facilitation Center that would provide
organizational and technical assistance to country grantees.5 The aims of the Facilitation
Center were to:
Develop and disseminate a toolkit including a catalog of existing assessment
methodologies, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each for addressing varying
needs and situations, an indicative outline of the process to be followed, and templates of
reports;
Develop best practices on coordination and partnerships, based on experience conducting
similar assessments (and ultimately amplifying the understanding of best practices from
the experience of the infoDev assessment grantees), in a variety of countries;
Share these "best practices" and successes, especially focusing on solutions to improve
national ICT infrastructure related to e-government, e-commerce, and e-learning;
Assist grantees in mastering assessment methodologies and in the development of ICT
infrastructure and e-readiness action plans; and
Develop an outline of what elements need to be addressed in a typical national ICT
infrastructure and e-readiness action plan.
The Facilitation Center website was intended to provide practical support to grantee countries
(although the website is no longer functional). In addition, GeoSINC International created a
guide on conducting an e-readiness assessment and developing and implementing a national
ICT action plan in developing countries. The guide consists of four sections:
(1) Taking steps to bridge the digital divide. This section provides background information,
defines various concepts and presents a general approach to e-readiness and the
development of a strategic framework. It outlines the three main documents that country
grantees are to produce, and highlights the need for a coordinating committee and
responsible agency to take ownership of the e-readiness process.
(2) Conducting an e-readiness assessment. This section reviews various assessment
methodologies and tools. It highlights the need for clearly defining the assessment goals
before choosing one toolkit over another.
(3) Defining an e-readiness action plan. This section outlines the elements that need to be
addressed in a typical national ICT and e-readiness action plan, including: establishing an
access and connectivity program; training, education and public awareness programs;
government and public administration leadership; business and private sector involvement;
and society development.
(4) Implementing a national e-readiness action plan. Finally, the guide sets out approaches
and tools for governments to use to achieve conditions favorable for the development and
use of ICT to implement the plan. The guide explains the relationship between the
assessment report, the strategy, and the action plan, as follows:
5
Geomar International and SINC joined forces to establish the Facilitation Center. Geomar International
(http://www.geomar.fr/) is a multidisciplinary development consultancy and SINC, now AVANCE Network Services
(http://www.avance.info/), offers services including network services, architecture resources, infrastructure audits,
knowledge transfer and operational support.
GeoSINC's guide to e-readiness assessments, strategies and action plans
2.3 Overview of the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are concrete targets for tackling the developing world's
most critical problems by the year 2015. The turn of the century provided an opportunity for
reflection on the current status of social and economic development: but the benchmarking
exercise turned out to be a wake-up call for global leaders who had to recognize the alarming
lack of progress, especially with regard to poverty alleviation. It was agreed at the highest
levels of the public and private sectors that a more strategic approach was needed in order to
improve the situation over the next century. As a result, the MDGs were adopted by 189
nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments at the United Nations Millennium
Summit in September 2000.
The MDGs, and the strong political will that backs them, have effectively placed development
at the heart of the global agenda through the next decade. The eight goals (set out below)
are accompanied by targets that set priorities, and indicators that measure progress towards
them. Annex 11 provides the complete set of goals, targets and indicators. The first seven
goals are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms, and progress in each area affects the
others. The eighth -– a global partnership for development -– is intended as a means for
achieving the other goals, and its targets include: developing transparent and non-
discriminatory trade and financial systems; debt relief and cancellation; providing essential
drugs in developing countries; creating decent and productive work for youth; and availing
the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technology.
Millennium Development Goals
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Experts maintain that achieving the MDGs will require more focus on development outcomes
and less on inputs, as well as effective measures of national progress towards the goals and
targets. The MDGs establish yardsticks for monitoring results, not just for developing
countries, but for the developed countries that fund development programs and the
multilateral institutions that help countries implement them. In this way, the MDGs also
address the tension between developing countries that want aid (but which have legitimate
concerns about how it is delivered and the strings that often come attached), and developed
countries that want to help (but which are frequently disappointed by the lack of concrete
results and measurable impact.)
Leaders in the public and private sectors have optimistically lined up to help developing
countries achieve the MDGs, but experts warn that if significant steps are not taken
immediately to implement vital reforms and get adequate external support in the places that
need it most, it may already be too late. In the meantime, every major international
organization is putting in its two-cents on the MDGs, from the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Oxfam, and many, many others.
Even the private sector has chimed in, via organizations like the World Economic Forum
(WEF) and through public-private partnerships with governments. There are too many
initiatives aimed at the MDGs to mention here; however Annex 12 provides a list of
references to MDG-related activities that can serve as a starting point for more on current
thinking and the work underway.
2.3.1 The role for ICT in MDG strategies

The usefulness of ICT for framing development efforts toward the MDGs has also been
highlighted by many organizations, especially prior to the 2003 World Summit on the
Information Society. Even more on this topic can be expected in the run-up to the second
part of the WSIS, to be held in December 2005 in Tunis. Annex 12 also lists a number of
reports specifically looking at the need and potential for ICT as part of efforts toward the
MDGs.
MDG Number 8 calls for a focus on partnerships with the private sector to "ensure that the
benefits of new technologies, especially ICT... are available to all". Critics argue that efforts
simply promoting the spread of technology or bridging the digital divide are ineffective, and
insufficient to make progress towards the key targets. However, there is general consensus
on the importance of harnessing ICT for the MDGs more broadly, with agreement that ICT-
based approaches need to be mainstreamed and applied to each MDG. Yet, while there is an
abundance of well-reasoned arguments explaining why ICT is an essential tool for reaching
the MDGs, there are few efforts to identify what is actually being done or disseminate best
practices learned from ground-level initiatives that are using ICT to tackle one or more of the
MDGs. InfoDev's publication on ICT for Development: Contributing to the Millennium
Development Goals (2003) is a start; it features infoDev-funded initiatives harnessing ICT
toward one or more of the MDGs.6 However, it does not look at the actual impact that such
initiatives have had on the lives of their beneficiaries.
There are a few initiatives underway that look at measuring the impact of ICT on the MDGs.
Although there appears to be some degree of collaboration among the various actors in this
area, so far there is a lack of consensus on indicators and measurement. Notable efforts
include:
The UN ICT Task Force's Working Party on ICT indicators and MDG mapping is leading
efforts to measure ICT deployment and uptake across the globe.7 It is developing a
conceptual framework and matrix to define the role that ICT can play in the overall
development agenda. The analysis uses the MDGs as a starting point and maps ICT
against each goal. The matrix –- which maps at three levels: macro, system and individual
-– is intended to serve as a key instrument for countries to monitor progress in achieving
the MDGs by leveraging ICT applications in key areas of human development. This is still in
development and indicators have not yet been agreed.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Partnership on Measuring ICT for
Development aims to build on the different initiatives looking at the availability and
measurement of ICT indicators at the regional and international levels.8
The WSIS Secretariat's Plan of Action (to be achieved by 2015) draws from the MDGs in its
list of targets for improving connectivity and ICT access. 9 The Plan seeks to connect a
number of entities using ICT, including community centers; universities, colleges,
secondary and primary schools; scientific and research centers; health centers and
hospitals; public libraries, cultural centers and museums; and local and central
government departments.
6
http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/ict/resources.nsf/0/4b6fa1c490ea367d85256e750061182e/$FILE/CaseStudies.pdf
7
http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/showdoc.pl?area=mdgm
8
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/partnership/
9
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html
3 Study of the infoDev e-readiness initiative

The overall objective for this study is to provide an overview of e-readiness assessments in
developing and emerging countries by focusing on the activities and outcomes of the infoDev
e-readiness initiative. Based on the findings, the study explores possible ways to move
forward the e-readiness agenda in the developing world, looking into the potential linkages
between e-readiness action plans and the MDGs. As part of the foundation for the study, 13
case studies were conducted on country e-readiness assessments funded by infoDev. To
gauge the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments and consider whether and how e-
readiness strategies can be targeted toward the Millennium Development Goals, bridges.org
looked at four key questions:
⇒ What did the infoDev-supported e-readiness assessments measure?
⇒ Have the e-readiness assessment processes improved these countries’ e-readiness and
brought related socio-economic benefits, and were the assessments sufficient to target
the use of ICT toward broader development goals? If not, why not?
⇒ How effective were the e-readiness assessment processes themselves in terms of project
management, implementation, and support?
⇒ How can infoDev (and other e-readiness initiatives) improve or adjust an approach to ICT-
based development that aligns e-readiness strategies with the MDGs?
Framing this study with the Real Access/Real Impact framework

It is impossible to gauge the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments by merely
looking at the reports that are published; it is necessary to also consider how the entire
assessment process was conducted and the resulting strategies and outputs. Bridges.org
framed this study by using a concept it has coined as "Real Access/Real Impact (RA/RI)”,
which looks at whether and how the assessments led to concrete improvements in people's
lives. The idea is that, computers and connections will mean nothing to people in developing
countries if they do not use it effectively because it is not appropriate to their needs; they
cannot afford to use it; technical support is unavailable; there are laws that limit its use; or
other prohibitive factors. Therefore, in order for ICT to have a real impact on social and
economic development, people in developing countries need to have real access to it. The
RA/RI framework is useful for examining all levels of ICT-for-development efforts, and its
holistic approach to the use of ICT easily translates to the e-readiness arena.
The Real Access/Real Impact criteria used to shape this study looked at whether and how the
assessments: measured physical access to ICT; considered the appropriateness of ICT to
local conditions; gauged the affordability of ICT in the local context; determined the
availability of ICT capacity and training; determined the extent to which ICT is integrated into
peoples’ lives and work; considered socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use; looked at how
people's confidence in ICT affects their use; examined the legal and regulatory environment
for ICT use; looked at the use of ICT in business; understood the macro-economic
environment affecting ICT use; and gauged the government's political will to drive change.
The study also took into consideration how the infoDev e-readiness initiatives and the
assessments themselves were conducted, in particular where project management had an
effect on the usefulness of the e-readiness processes.
Information collection
The study was intended to look in depth at 15 of the 21 country assessments supported by
infoDev, however it was only possible to collect sufficient information for 13 of them to be
covered adequately (more on this issue is included in the Findings section, below). InfoDev
supplied contact details and an introduction for bridges.org in the countries covered. The
study involved three groups of stakeholders:
Government agencies and country grantees: those government ministries or agencies,
and other country grantees, that gave oversight to the e-readiness assessment process;
Assessment teams: the group that actually conducted the e-readiness assessment,
whether a business, consultant, nonprofit organization, government department, or
consortium;
infoDev e-readiness team; those involved in the e-readiness initiative and Facilitation
Center.
Information was collected from background documents and reports, questionnaires, field
visits, workshops, and country interviews, as described below:
Background documents: Background information was collected primarily from infoDev

reports. Information on the infoDev e-readiness initiative, its history, objectives and
structure were reviewed. Other e-readiness assessments, action plans, and papers on e-
strategies, Y2K, and the MDGs also informed this report. Annex 12 includes a list of
references for background materials on these topics.
InfoDev-supported assessment reports and action plans: The e-readiness reports and
action plans of 17 infoDev-supported assessments were reviewed, and 13 of them were
looked at in-depth including the rationale behind them, methodologies used, key findings,
and recommendations.
Questionnaires: A questionnaire was drafted in consultation with infoDev to collect
information from the grantee countries. The bridges.org Real Access / Real Impact and 8
Habits frameworks were used to frame the questionnaires, to gain insight into how each
country experienced the assessment process, as well as to gather information on outputs,
outcomes, lessons learned, and other results from country assessments. The
questionnaire collected the following kinds of information:
o Outputs from e-readiness assessment process, including whether the assessment
report was published, has web presence, involved public meetings;
o Outcomes from the e-readiness assessment, including action plans ,e-strategies,
changes in policy, projects, capacity-building, etc.;
o Relationship between the grantees and infoDev in terms of support;
o Experience of grantees and their partners in conducing assessments;
o Participation of stakeholders in data collection, analysis and report-writing processes;
o Linkages between the assessments undertaken and socio and economic development.
The objectives of the beneficiaries, their impact on institutional capacity, policy
changes and follow-up activities that emerged as a result of the assessments;
o Linkages (if any) between e-strategy to wider development strategies such as Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers and the Millennium Development Goals.
The questionnaire is provided in Annex 9. Bridges.org distributed the questionnaire, liaised
with grantees, gathered responses, and collated and analyzed the results; and
questionnaires were completed by the assessment team leader in the grantee countries
that participated in the study.
Field visits, country interviews and workshops: During November-December 2004, six
grantee countries were visited: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Bulgaria, Estonia, and Romania.
Interviews and workshops were conducted with relevant government departments, the
assessment teams, and other relevant stakeholders, including authors of the e-readiness
assessments, e-strategies, and development strategies. The workshops investigated

various approaches in the use of ICT for alleviating poverty, and discussed the options for
mainstreaming ICT into general development strategies. An unstructured approach was
used in the interviews, where the interviewer used guiding questions and core concepts to
start, but the questions were open and the conversation was allowed to move freely
toward any direction of interest that came up. This method was used to explore broad
topics and allow the respondents to focus on the issues that mattered the most to them.
The interview questions and discussion points are provided in Annex 10.
Study deliverables: the report and case studies

This report and the attached Annexes constitute the deliverables for this study. Annex 1
comprises the full set of 13 case studies prepared, each structured within a common template
to enable comparison. The case studies include a description of the country assessments
reviewed, and summaries of key findings, impacts, issues, and lessons learned. Each case
study also illustrates how each country has addressed the Real Access/Real Impact criteria,
and whether progress has been made in the use of ICT to achieve the MDGs.
Limitations of this study

The depth of information gathered from different countries to inform this study varies widely.
Of the 21 grantee countries with e-readiness assessments funded by infoDev, the study team
only received assessment reports for 17, and were able to make contact with only 13 of the
assessment teams. The answers given in the questionnaires varied considerably in terms of
detail and breadth. Considerable information was collected from the six countries visited as
part of the study, and as a result the study is sometimes weighted towards the experiences of
these countries. It was not possible to interview anyone from the Facilitation Center.
Information collection was negatively affected by an overall lack of institutional knowledge of
the e-readiness assessment processes in many of the organizations involved, in large part
due to changes in personnel during the life of the initiative, both in the assessment teams of
grantee countries and at infoDev.
4 Findings of the study

4.1 Overview of infoDev-supported assessment reports
4.1.1 Who assessed what: authors and objectives

Grantees and The infoDev grants were awarded to non-profit organizations (NPOs) and government departments and
authors agencies in the recipient countries. The governments of the grantee countries were involved in executing the
assessments, albeit to varying degrees. Where government departments were the grant recipients,
independent and external consultants were usually commissioned to conduct the research and author the
reports. The Panama and Philippines assessments were compiled by teams based largely at universities. The
Kenya, Romania and Uganda Governments commissioned commercial consulting firms, as did the Central Bank
of Trinidad and Tobago. In Belarus and Tanzania, the grantees were government agencies or science councils
that conducted the assessments themselves. In Bulgaria, Estonia, Costa Rica and Russia, the grantees were
NPOs that worked independently but engaged with the government.
E-readiness The definitions of "e-readiness" used vary in scope, so the assessments measured e-readiness in different
definitions used ways. Most took a general view of e-readiness as the extent to which the country is prepared to integrate into
the global information society/networked world/digital economy. However, some were more specific. For
example, the Philippines’ definition is limited to the country’s infrastructure and institutions, while the Trinidad
and Tobago assessment focused purely on the nation’s ability to conduct electronic payments. Although the
Kenyan report defines e-readiness in the context of the economy, the report actually covers other areas as
well.
Objectives of The grantee countries' objectives for assessing e-readiness are almost as varied as the definitions used. Some
the of the assessment reports (Tanzania, Kenya and Romania) do not specify any objectives for conducting the
assessments assessment beyond evaluating the country’s level of e-readiness, however defined. Among other country
reports, there were four main objectives cited:
Informing policy. Some expressed the need for the assessment to inform policy deliberations and analysis.
Most of these sought to identify gaps and barriers to the uptake of ICT. For example, a goal for the Belarus
assessment was pinpointing factors that hinder ICT development, and informing the development of the
National Action Plan for introducing ICT for socio-economic development of the country. Estonia’s intentions
included "giving an explanation why some choices and decisions have led to certain developments".
Uganda aimed to suggest cost-effective, affordable, sustainable means of enhancing the country’s e-
readiness.
Collecting baseline statistics for benchmarking. Most of the assessment teams in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria,
Estonia and Romania) were interested in compiling comparative data for benchmarking their countries’ e-
readiness against others and measuring their progress toward requirements mandated for European Union
(EU) accession countries. (Estonia joined the EU in 2004 and Romania and Bulgaria are working towards EU
membership in 2007.) Romania, Estonia and Jamaica sought to lay the groundwork for future studies, and
for monitoring and evaluating their countries’ e-readiness progress over time.
Promoting and publicizing the country’s e-readiness. Bulgaria aimed to leverage the report as a
promotional tool, to publicize the country’s performance and leadership potential with respect to ICT as
compared with other countries in the infoDev initiative. It was also hoped that the assessment would
demonstrate the potential for private investment and donor-funded activities to increase ICT access.
Improving e-readiness of a specific sector. Some reports had more specific goals beyond assessing the
country's general e-readiness. The Philippines and Estonian efforts produced a general assessment as a
starting point, followed by focused studies on specific sectors of the economy and society. Trinidad and
Tobago's assessment was exclusively concerned with building infrastructure and capacity for implementing
electronic payment services.
4.1.2 How assessments were conducted: tools and methodologies used

Assessment tool The countries were given complete latitude to choose an assessment tool and methodology and use it
and according to their needs. The GeoSINC Facilitation Center recommended the Harvard University Center for
methodology International Development (CID) guide, Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries,
used
and this was used by the majority of assessment teams.10 CID’s Guide measures 19 different categories,
covering the availability, speed, and quality of network access; use of ICT in schools, workplace, economy,
government, and everyday life; ICT policy (telecommunications and trade); ICT training programs; and
diversity of organizations and relevant content online. For more information on this and other assessment
tools, see Annex 3.
Advantages of the CID Guide that were noted by grantees include its focus on both society and economy, as
well as its flexibility for allowing modification without compromising comparability. Further, the way it sets out
the concept of e-readiness is in line with that of infoDev, the Facilitation Center, and the various assessment
teams. Although the CID Guide framed the approach of various assessments, most countries adapted the
model to suit their specific context, or incorporated elements from other assessment tools. For example, India
used CID’s Guide, but incorporated aspects of the Computer System Policy Project (CSPP) and the Networked
10
Although only 13 case studies were completed as part of this study (on the countries from which a completed questionnaire could be obtained), 17 of the 21
assessment reports produced under the infoDev e-readiness initiative were reviewed as part of this study. A total of 13 out of the 17 reports used the CID guide.
Readiness Index (NRI) tools; Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus and Estonia incorporated the Guide’s approach with
at least some of the eEurope indicators11. Tanzania included aspects of McConnell International's e-readiness
assessment criteria as well as the SAITIS Baseline Studies.
Trinidad and Tobago used EpayCom’s self-developed method for engaging clients and managing projects, the
"Payment Highway" methodology.
In some reports the assessment tool used is not sufficiently explained or described. For example:
The Tanzania assessment is vague about its objectives and the assessment tool utilized.
The Kyrgyz Republic explains that their methodology was generated under the headings identified in
bridges.org’s Comparison of E-Readiness Assessment Tools (2002). However, the report specifies that
details for the methodology are not provided because of the "commercial value" of the information.
Others mention CID's Guide as the primary tool framing the methodology yet neglect to calculate any
scores or rankings. In some of these reports (e.g. Panama), the extent to which the Guide appears to have
been applied is reflected only in the report's headings, which follow the tool's categories.
On the other hand, others included detailed explanations of the methodologies used:
The Uganda report is one of the clearest in terms of the use of the CID’s Guide, and it illustrates explicitly
how the scores were calculated for each measure.
The Philippines’ macro- and micro-assessment reports also include thorough descriptions of the
methodology.
The Bulgaria report explains in detail the process for qualitative assessment under each CID category, as
well as the quantitative calculation of e-readiness indices for the NRI and the e-Readiness Bulgarian
Assessment Model (BEAM).
The Russian report explains that extra measures were needed for the assessment, because the commonly
used methodologies for assessing e-readiness focus on measurements of ICT infrastructure as a basis for
making assumptions about ICT use. In Russia this connection cannot be made: ICT is widely available in
government, business and education, but a relatively small number of people are actually using it. So extra
measurements and indicators for human capacity and the business climate were added. More up-to-date
parameters (commonly used in international practice) were also included, to allow comparison with EU
countries.
11
The eEurope program has the intention to make the European Union a dynamic knowledge-based economy with improved employment and social cohesion by
2010. For more information see: http://www.e-europestandards.org/.
None of the reports include examples of the questionnaires or interview schedules used in data collection. The
Tanzanian team sent the study team samples of questionnaires and interview schedules used in the various
focus groups.
Some assessment teams pointed to the inapplicability of certain international measurements to developing
countries, especially where the usual e-readiness indicators can only be fully understood within the context of
the country's unique circumstances. For example, Bulgaria fares well in international comparisons of the
number of telephone lines, but this does not translate into reality on the ground because the network switches
are unable to handle the traffic, and as a result the telecommunications system frequently fails. The team
found it difficult to strike a balance between using international indicators and ensuring local relevance of the
findings.
Literature Many assessments started with a review of relevant literature on e-readiness, including previous assessments.
review, previous Where appropriate, the reports referenced or incorporated the results of previous and parallel efforts in the
assessments, area. Notable examples include:
and secondary
data The Philippines’ macro assessment consolidates and links previous assessments to create a comprehensive
overview, within which it situates more detailed micro assessments.
Estonia is similarly prolific in citing previous work on e-readiness relevant to its assessment.
The Tanzanian assessment included a review of ICT-related newspaper articles, which resulted in an
informative overview of the extent to which ICT features in the press.
Panama linked the assessment findings with previous assessments, presenting the current status of the
country in relation to earlier results.
A number of assessment teams used centrally-available statistics as secondary data to inform their report,
such as:
In establishing its NRI, Belarus included data from the World Bank, the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) and the Business Software Alliance.
Bulgaria collected statistics and other data from the National Statistics Institute, various government
Ministries, Internet service providers (ISPs), the annual reports of major telecommunications companies,
and other surveys.
The Jamaican team analyzed companies’ financial statements, and consulted public regulatory and planning
institutions. It was one of the few to survey community-based organizations and institutions, which were
selected as representative of various locations (urban/rural), age, gender, income, economic status, etc.
The Romanian report garnered data from a variety of sources, including the National Institute of Statistics
(NIS), the National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC), ITU, the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the EU.
Primary data The assessment teams’ approaches varied in the extent of and methodologies for primary data collection. The
collection data collection tools mostly used included questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. For example:
The Jamaica assessment surveyed over 500 citizens and 300 small businesses from five major town
centers across the island. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in the public and private
sectors as well as in non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Belarus used an online poll, and questionnaires were completed by various stakeholders.
The National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) of Costa Rica included a module on ICT in its Year 2000
survey, and UNIMER Research International was contracted to carry out two surveys looking at the level of
Internet access and use by youth and adults in 2001.12 In its survey of adults, UNIMER surveyed 1198
Costa Ricans using a pre-codified questionnaire. A telephone survey, with a structured, closed-response
questionnaire was used to survey 504 young people.
The Philippines assessment surveyed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through questionnaires,
interviews and focus group discussions. The team also held facilitated group discussions and interviews
with key stakeholders from each sector. The discussions tackled issues affecting ICT deployment,
penetration and use.
In Estonia, surveys with up to 1000 citizens were conducted by a local research consultancy.
Tanzania held focus groups discussions which were comprised of experts and interest groups in the
respective sector, and utilized structured questionnaires and interviews.
The Russian assessment team conducted three original surveys: a survey of 2510 working-age people from
17 regions; a survey of schoolmasters and the heads of higher education institutions in 380 schools and
200 universities using the eEurope questionnaire; and a survey of 1000 schoolteachers and 600 university
lecturers to assess the use of ICT in teaching, using a questionnaire similar to that for the eEurope
monitoring program.
Stakeholder The assessments involved and consulted a wide range of stakeholders. A variety of NGOs, ISPs, higher
consultation education and training institutions, government departments and ministries, national science councils, experts,
businesses, and associations were consulted, and their views informed the various assessments. For example:
The Tanzanian and Ugandan assessments were notably focused on the public sector, and as such, they
12
The report does not provide the full name for UNIMER.
involved stakeholders predominantly within government.

An external panel of individuals from various stakeholder groups was involved in the Jamaican assessment
process, in the interests of preventing bias and ensuring the validity of the results.
The Ministry of Transport and Communication in Bulgaria reported that the country assessment involved a
broad consultation process with all major stakeholders in ICT.
For the Philippines assessment, 13 semiconductors and electronics firms, 34 garments companies, 58
furniture SMEs, and 87 processed fruit companies were surveyed and interviewed. Survey questionnaires
were administered to those responsible for each company's management, ICT development, and business
operations. Facilitated group discussions and interviews were conducted with key informants from each
sector, selected with assistance from trade associations and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Known biases Few assessment teams addressed the issue of bias in their methodology, data collection, or interpretation of
results. Exceptions include:
The Panama assessment team acknowledged that a bias in opinions from questionnaire respondents and
interviewees may have skewed the data collected.
To reduce the potential for skewed findings, the Jamaican team used two separate panels to conduct the
assessment. The team of consultants who worked on the project formed an internal panel, and an external
panel was comprised of individuals representing a diverse set of stakeholder groups. This external panel
was selected from academia, business, the public sector, civil society and the ICT sector, and encouraged
to set aside particular interests toward the greater goal.
The Romanians highlighted the tendency for e-readiness assessments to present the country’s situation in
a positive light in order to attract foreign direct investment and international donors. They sought to
alleviate this kind of bias by using an independent consultant to conduct and author the assessment report.
4.2 Key findings and recommendations of the infoDev-supported assessments
4.2.1 Measuring physical access to ICT

Basic Many assessments identified the poor state of basic telecommunications infrastructure as a major barrier to
communications Internet connectivity. Two point specifically to the need for upgraded telecommunications infrastructure,
infrastructure services and maintenance:
The Romanian National Action Plan calls for infrastructure interoperability and standardization of
information infrastructure, enforcement of regulatory measures for universal service in electronic
communications, and a network of info-kiosks.

The Jamaican report highlights problems caused by the poor quality of service from the fixed-line
telecommunications operator, including service and maintenance delays, unavailability of parts, lengthy
response time, and misleading advertisements for ICT.
Teledensity Almost every assessment reported fixed-line teledensity (the number of telephones per 1000 people) and
(fixed-line and mobile penetration statistics. However, some provided statistics that were not fully explained, such as
mobile) percentages that do not say what the percentages actually refer to. Most assessments focused only on the
availability of ICT (such as how many phone lines there are) without putting it in the context of the local
situation (such as by explaining how many people those lines serve out of a total number of people), which
makes the full picture difficult to see and compare. A few considered the number of people for whom ICT is
entirely unavailable, such as those in rural areas, which is another way to look at physical access to ICT. The
range of findings include:
Jamaica has 16.6 fixed-line telephones and 19.2 mobile phones per 100 inhabitants.
58% of Romanian households have fixed-line telephones. There is a long waiting period for new line
installation (an average of 2.71 years) and reports of faults in the lines are common.
Teledensity in Tanzania has improved over the past few years, with rapid increases for cellular phones;
fixed-line penetration has remained low (0.53 per 100 people in the countryside, and 5 per 100 in Dar es
Salaam).
The telephone network in Uganda is accessible to about 50% of the population. There are approximately
0.25 fixed-line telephones per 100 people and mobile penetration is approximately 2.74 per 100. Growth in
mobiles continues at over 130%. (Uganda was the third country -- after Cambodia and Finland -- where
mobile teledensity exceeded fixed-line teledensity.) However, combined teledensity (fixed-line and mobile)
is still less than 3 per 100 people.
The Russian report defines "teledensity" as the number of fixed-line subscribers per 200 citizens, and gives
a teledensity figure of 25.6% for the country, describing a steady trend of yearly increases. Over 70% of
the country has cellular network coverage, and the number of subscribers for 2004 is expected to be on a
par with European averages.
Following the deregulation of the Philippines' telecommunications market, teledensity rose from 4.66 per
100 people in 1996 to 9.05 per 100 in 2000.
There are 248,489 active fixed-line telephones and 834,032 mobile connections in Panama. Mobile
telephony has seen the greatest growth in the telecommunications market. Mobile network coverage has
reached about 81% of the population and 32% of the nation's geography. Although dial-up Internet access
is available in Panama City and other urban areas, people in some rural areas are forced to pay for long-
distance calls for Internet access.
18% of Bulgarians use mobile phones.
60% of Estonians have access to mobile telephony.
Fixed-line teledensity in Kenya is currently at 1.01% while mobile lines are at 3.03%.
Teledensity in Belarus amounts to 30.44 fixed-line telephones per 100 people, while mobile wireless
penetration amounts only to 4.3%.
54% of Costa Ricans have fixed-line telephones, but only 11% have mobile phones.
Mobile telephony is pervasive in Trinidad and Tobago, with 250,000 subscribers.
Only the Tanzanian assessment looked at the availability of public phones, although the report points out that
mobile telephony is reducing the importance of public telephones.
Internet access Most reports detailed the extent of Internet access; however, the way the findings were reported varied
widely across the countries. In various reports Internet use figures were given as a percentage of the
population and/or households with Internet access, number of ISP subscribers, and/or number of people using
public access points. For example:
In Estonia, 40% of the population has Internet access, while 49% of the population has never used a
computer before.
The growth rate of Internet users in Jamaica is considered to be slow, with only 70,000 subscribers. The
report claims that the rate is likely to accelerate with the increases in public awareness, infrastructure and
competition among ISPs.
The Philippines' growing use of telephony was not matched with increasing access to the Internet. Only
2.6% of the population has Internet access, and of this more than half are located in metropolitan Manila
and are from the middle and upper-income classes. This was attributed to the monopoly in
telecommunications rendering Internet access prohibitively expensive.
In Trinidad and Tobago there are approximately 70,000 households with personal computers (PCs), of
which 50,000 have Internet access.
12% of Costa Rican households have a PC, but only 3.4% have Internet access. A survey found that 77%
of Costa Ricans over the age of 18 have never used the Internet.
The number of PCs in Panama is estimated to be 200,000, with an additional 60,000 sold each year. About
80% of people with PCs and Internet access reside in the capital. Panama is very well-positioned in terms
of the international Internet backbone, enjoying direct access to seven undersea cables, which enables the
local development of high quality, low-cost services. Panama has also benefited from the first cooperative
Internet exchange point in Latin America.
A few assessments also described the availability and effectiveness of ISPs; for example:
Costa Rica attributes the low incidence of Internet access to the fact that the country had only one ISP at
the time of the study.
In Russia over 2800 licenses for data communications and 3800 licenses for voice were issued as of
February 2003. There are now over 850 ISPs in Russia, some holding both types of licenses.
Most reports recognized and highlighted the need for increased public access to the Internet. The availability of
public Internet access points was considered by Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia Uganda, Panama and
Tanzania. Highlights include:
In Uganda, the Rural Connectivity Development Fund (RCDF) was established to enable access to ICT in
rural areas. The Fund is supported by 1% tax levied on all telecommunications companies. It is to be used
to establish Internet points of presence (POPs), multi-purpose telecenters, and Internet cafes in the
countryside.
The Russian Ministry of Communications and Computerization estimated that there is one public access
point per approximately 100,000 citizens.
Cyber cafes and public access points are very popular in Panama due to the high cost of private Internet
access. There are a variety of Internet services available in Panama City at reasonable prices. An Infoplaza
project -- which is a nationwide initiative -- has 54 subsidized community access centers that are run by
local partners on a non-profit basis. There is a plan to expand these to about hundred centers and they
offer high quality public access and services for fees of US$0.25 to US$1 per hour. They are reported to
reach about 82% of students and less affluent users. The number of users at 39 Infoplaza centers is
estimated at over 8000, but financing this initiative is proving to be a challenge.
Television, radio Few assessments covered access to other ICT beyond telephony, computers and the Internet. Those that did
and other kinds include Bulgaria, Romania and Jamaica (which considered access to cable television), and Costa Rica (which
of ICT reported that 84% of Costa Rican households have televisions). Only Romania reported access to radios, with
111.8 radio sets per 100 households.
As the Trinidad and Tobago assessment was concerned primarily with electronic payments, its survey of banks
found that most have telebanking, fax connections, automated teller machines (ATMs) and an electronic funds
transfer (EFT) switch. "Green fields", or areas without access to electronic payment services, are found nearly
everywhere in the country. However, it was noted that this is not necessarily a negative situation, since it can
be easier to implement new solutions where there are no legacy systems that have to be replaced.
4.2.2 Considering whether ICT is appropriate to local conditions

Appropriateness The speed and quality of telephone and Internet connections and services were considered by many
of ICT assessments. Several concluded that outdated technology is hindering e-readiness. For example:
infrastructure
Bulgaria concluded that analogue phone lines are preventing progress.
Belarus used an online poll to find out whether respondents were pleased with the speed of their Internet
connection (74% of 489 surveyed said "no").
In Romania, increased digitization of fixed-line telephony, national extension of the fiber optic network,
complete coverage of mobile telephony, and the availability of the latest technologies have led to a
significant increase in the quality and speed of voice and data transmission.
Other reports highlighted the appropriateness of mobile telephony in particular, as an ICT infrastructure upon
which social and economic development could be built. For example:
The Tanzania and Uganda reports identified the promise offered by the mobile industry for rural outreach.
Given the far higher penetration of mobile phones than computers in homes in Trinidad and Tobago, mobile
commerce (m-commerce) is considered a suitable vehicle for development. However, m-commerce
initiatives are limited by the current unavailability of global system for mobile communications (GSM) and
general packet radio service (GPRS) services.
Internet access Some e-readiness processes looked into alternative access technologies that might help countries "leap-frog"
alternatives development obstacles, and pointed to options that hold promise for overcoming infrastructure deficiencies,
including notably wireless and satellite technologies. The availability of wireless and cable Internet access was
assessed by a few. Most found scant evidence of the presence of wireless access, but some reports
recommended wireless networks as a way to increase and improve access:
The Jamaica assessment found no evidence of wireless Internet access on the island. The report
recommends accelerated roll-out of broadband technologies to facilitate wireless connectivity to the
Internet, especially in rural areas. The fact that several cable operators have recently been issued with
licenses for providing Internet services is expected to be a boost for under-served rural areas without
telephone lines where neither dial-up nor digital subscriber lines are available. The authors point out that
the extent of penetration for Internet access alternatives would be determined by the level of interest, ICT
literacy, and price.
The Tanzania assessment similarly notes that increasing wireless connectivity would help bypass problems
of physical infrastructure.
The Uganda report advocates for improving access to communication facilities using low-cost wireless
fidelity (WiFi) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technologies. It recommends setting up a WiFi / VoIP
Metropolitan Area Network in Kampala to provide all government offices with internal communications and
data networking services. It points out that the same technology can also be used to improve access
schools, small businesses, regional government and individuals.
The Kenyan report recommends the use of digital wireless local loop to improve the quality of the local
access network.
As much of the Costa Rican population has access to electricity and color televisions, the Government there
is investigating the use of Internet connectivity carried over power cables, as a means of providing
universal access to ICT for citizens.
Availability and A few reports looked at the availability and cost of electricity, but overall they recognized it as an obstacle for
cost of ICT uptake, including:
electricity
The Ugandan assessment found that electricity reaches only 4.5% of the population. The report concludes
that Internet connectivity in rural areas is almost inconceivable since only 2% of rural households have an
electricity connection, and villagers have to walk an average of 2km to reach a phone.
The Jamaican report also identified power shortage and the price per kWh as a main obstacle to
connectivity. It recommends the prioritization of reliable electricity infrastructure to meet e-readiness
objectives.
The Tanzania report found that the costs of electricity are very high and not regionally competitive.
On the other hand, the Costa Rican report pointed out the benefits that come with 94% of households having
electricity.
The Jamaican and Ugandan assessments also looked at appropriate power alternatives. The Ugandan
Government is exploring the use of solar power as a cheap alternative, especially in areas where it is difficult
to extend the conventional power grid.
Making ICT appropriate to local conditions. In a discussion with East African government officials about the key factors that
limit ICT uptake in their region, the practical realities of local conditions were highlighted as obstacles time and again. Lack of
electricity and problems with existing telecommunications infrastructure are some of the problems faced. But governments are
ready to get creative to find appropriate solutions. A Ugandan Government commissioner said, "given that some areas have been
unable to get connected to the national hydro-electricity grid, it is imperative to promote the use of solar energy because it is
cheap and can be made available in any part of the country." Similarly, a director of the Tanzanian Commission for Science and
Technology (COSTECH) said that "owing to the massive size of this country, there are so many infrastructural bottlenecks that
the only way out is to fund wireless connection."
4.2.3 Gauging the affordability of ICT in the local context

Communications Overall, the assessments found communications costs to be expensive. A few assessments compared their
costs country's telecommunications costs with other countries in the region. A few assessments (Uganda, Jamaica
and Costa Rica) compared their country's telecommunications costs with others in the region. The Russia
assessment concluded that telephone lines are affordable to the majority of citizens (costing on average only
US$4-5 per month), however, the country still has low teledensity.
To determine the affordability of access to and use of ICT, some assessments collected citizens’ opinions
regarding costs. For example, the majority of those surveyed in the Costa Rican study consider the telephone
service to be expensive.
A few reports provided information on the costs of mobile telephony:

The Kenyan report concluded that the high costs of mobile phones limits widespread uptake.
The Russian assessment described that mobile phone operators provide a wide range of payment schemes.
Average prices are in line with those in most developed countries and have made mobile telephony
available to a large number of people at least in the large cities, where incomes are higher. By 2004, it is
expected that 70% of Russian city dwellers will use mobile phones, but only 1% of the rural population.
However, all mobile phone equipment is imported, so prices are not expected to come down.
Cost of Internet Almost every assessment pointed to high costs of infrastructure, bandwidth and telephone charges as
access and use hindering access to and use of the Internet. Some reports (Bulgaria, Costa Rica and Tanzania) provided actual
costs of Internet access, while others went further by outlining reasons for fluctuating costs, and comparing
them with the region (Estonia and Jamaica):
Bulgaria identified ISP and telephone use charges, along with the price of modems, as deterrents to
widespread Internet use.

Affordable and rapid access to the Internet is the major objective of the access and connectivity program
outlined in the Romanian action plan.
The Tanzania report concludes that the high costs of infrastructure and access limit Internet use.
A lack of affordable connectivity is the main problem with Internet uptake identified by the Ugandan
assessment. The authors maintain that costs will continue to hamper the growth of communications in the
country, especially in the rural areas, and limit the e-readiness ratings of the country.
The Kenya report concludes that competition in provision of Internet and backbone services is needed to
ensure that Internet access in Kenya is more affordable.
60% of people in Belarus consider the local telephone call rates to be prohibitively expensive (compared to
the average salary) and this discourages extensive Internet use via local ISPs, including among those who
can afford Internet access.
Many Jamaicans cannot access ICT -- and the Internet in particular -- because costs are prohibitively high.
The report concludes that this is exacerbating the local digital divide, especially with the recent acceleration
in the number of new technologies entering the market, which only the well-off can afford.
Although Internet connectivity is available at fairly reasonable prices in Panama City and most urban areas
in the provinces, the combined prices of access, phone line and computer cost is too expensive for many
families, leading to the popularity of cybercafés and other public access points.
Costs of Hardware and software costs were considered by a few assessments, and overall they concluded that it is
hardware and prohibitively expensive for most people and organizations:
software
The Tanzania report notes that all ICT hardware and software in the country is imported, and that only a
small percentage of the population can afford it. The authors conclude that the government, private sector,
and international development partners should facilitate conditions to make equipment and related services
more affordable.
The Ugandan report similarly highlights the fact that hardware and software is too expensive for most
schools, government departments, individuals, and families.
None of the reports looked at the use of Free and open source software (FOSS).
Costs of e- Most reports did not provide an in-depth look at costs around providing and using various e-services. An
services exception is the Trinidad and Tobago assessment, which looked at the related costs to banks and financial
institutions for providing electronic payment services. The authors conclude that e-commerce projects must
make commercial sense, with costs recovered from customers. Fees and charges can be structured to drive
customers from expensive cash and paper-based transactions toward cheaper electronic transactions.
Electronic transactions are estimated to be one-tenth the cost of paper-based transactions, and Internet
transactions are one-tenth the cost of electronic transactions.
4.2.4 Determining whether ICT capacity and training is available

Basic literacy Few reports addressed the extent to which illiteracy acts as an obstacle to the widespread use of ICT, although
it is highlighted as an issue requiring attention by Jamaica.
By contrast, the Costa Rica assessment reports that the country has one of the highest literacy rates in the
world. Uganda’s high literacy rates (over 70%), almost 100% attendance in primary schools, and large
English-speaking population are cited as factors contributing to the country’s potential to exploit ICT for the
good of the country.
Education While ICT access and skills development opportunities at all levels of education are fundamental for improving
system e-literacy, general competence in other areas are just as important. However, only Jamaica analyzed the
quality of the country's education systems overall and its effect on ICT uptake. The report found that there is
generally low enrolment in secondary and tertiary education institutions, and concluded that poverty and
inequality are likely to persist if action is not taken to improve enrolment and graduation rates. Results for the
year 1999-2000 show low pass rates for subjects related to ICT (information technology, electronics,
mathematics, physics and English). The report concludes that this is likely to have adverse effects on the
number of students matriculating in computer sciences and the projected supply of essential and higher
occupational-level information technology skills.
ICT access in Most assessments provided statistics on the number of schools with computers, and while figures varied,
schools overall the reports concluded that the numbers are too low. Some also provided student-to-computer ratios,
while others described the level of Internet access using a variety of measures; and again, overall conclusions
indicated that ICT access in schools is sub-optimal:
While 75.8% of Belarusian schools are equipped with computers, 57.3% of these are considered to be
"outmoded". Citing insufficient state funding for upgrades, the Ministry of Education has appealed to the
public to help.
Bulgarian schools have an average of one PC per 66 students. The report found that the use of Internet in
education and science is only just above the average statistics for the country as a whole, and it
recommends a fast-track approach to incorporating ICT in secondary education.

The Jamaican assessment found that less than 1% of pupils have access to computers.
In Romania, there are 7.5 Internet-connected computers per 100 high-school students, and 1 per 100
primary school students.
The Ugandan assessment found that 61% of schools do not have electricity, let alone computers or Internet
access. Most have inadequate funds for computer and network equipment, and cannot meet the costs of
connectivity. The report notes that schools have inadequate staff to maintain computer equipment. The
Ugandan report found that low-cost, high-quality content for schools is unavailable.
Although 75% of Estonian schools have Internet connections, on average, schools have only three PCs per
100 pupils that are connected to the Internet.
In Kenya, there are only 575 telephone lines for over 17,000 schools. Over 80% of primary schools had
less than 5 computers, while the corresponding figure for secondary schools is 50%.
The Russian report has a strong focus on ICT in education, not least because national educational standards
have dropped in recent years, and the country has highlighted an urgent need to keep learners in school
longer and improve teaching. The Ministry of Education aims to get computers into all schools, but this has
been severely hampered by the lack of satisfactory infrastructure in the rural areas and a recent loss of
foreign funding.
In 2002 the Institutional Commission for the Internet For Everyone project in Panama was established by
the President together with other state agencies, and given a legislated mandate to provide Internet to all
public schools.
Use of ICT by The use of ICT by teachers is an important factor affecting the integration of ICT into schools and universities,
teachers and a few reports detailed ICT use or levels of e-literacy among teachers:
The Jamaica assessment found that most teachers are untrained in the use of computers.
The Ugandan report highlights the need for awareness among teachers and school administrators about the
power of ICT for enhancing education. The report notes that getting computers to schools is relatively easy;
it is putting them to effective use that is even more of a challenge.
In Kenya, there is limited knowledge and skills among teachers and lecturers on the use of ICT in
education, and low levels of use of desktop applications (such as word processors and spread sheets) by
teachers and lecturers, except in universities. However, the report finds that most schools have teachers or
lecturers with basic ICT literacy skills: 93.2% and in Nairobi and 67.2% outside of Nairobi. The report
recommends the introduction of short, in-service ICT courses in teacher training colleges and universities.
In Belarus, 60.3% of secondary schools have teachers’ with only basic levels of e-literacy.
The lack of motivation among teachers for using ICT in their classes was cited by the Russian report as an
obstacle to the introduction of ICT to schools. Teachers have little incentive to do learn ICT skills, are
poorly paid, and there is a lack of skilled ICT trainers to assist them. The Government has recognized the
need to retrain teachers and has plans to provide skilled trainers to do so, but unless these new training
programs are successful, it is likely that the existing computers will remain unused in many schools.
ICT access in A few assessments also covered access to ICT in places of higher learning:
universities
Bulgaria considered the level of Internet connection in its universities and found only one that offers
students free access to computer labs with Internet connections.
There are 12 Internet-connected computers per 100 university students in Romania.
33% of universities in Kenya have less than five computers.
Technical Technical training in schools and universities is an important indicator of the availability (or future availability)
training in of electronics engineers and technical support professionals across the country as a whole:
schools and
universities The Bulgarian report gave statistics on the number of people holding university degrees related to ICT:
186,000.
The Tanzania report identifies the need for the development of IT-related educational training. It suggests
the development and implementation of a training program for IT technicians that would provide in-
company support on hardware and software and application issues.
In Uganda, tertiary education of an international standard is available only in Kampala and a few selected
towns. While international ICT accreditation is available in Kampala, it is beyond the reach of the majority
of Ugandans due to its expense. The report suggests the development of education loan schemes to make
ICT training and other educational opportunities more affordable for students.
The Kenyan report suggests that "Centers of Excellence" in ICT teaching and learning should be established
in selected universities.
The Panama report recommends that ICT initiatives be linked to higher education reform more broadly, so
that enthusiasm for ICT and the benefits of the Internet help catalyze changes in teaching and research.
Integration of Some assessments looked beyond statistics on equipment in schools and explored the extent to which ICT is
ICT into the integrated into general curricula:
general
curriculum In Estonia, computer use in the classroom is limited, and with the exception of informatics, only 8% of
pupils use computers in non-computer-related classes, while 16% have never used computers in these
kinds of general classes.
The Bulgarian report indicates that education in that country is declining in quality. The authors insist that
unless schools and universities are wired to the Internet as a matter of urgency, and new curricula
developed that integrate ICT into the learning process, learners will be computer illiterate and perpetuate
the current problem of low e-readiness.
In Kenya, there is a lack of relevant, standardized professional curricula using ICT for education.
There is a move toward a more individually-orientated, practical ethos of teaching in Russia, and the use of
ICT is viewed as key to implementing this philosophy. Technology is gradually being incorporated into the
teaching process, but access to ICT in schools remains low relative to other European countries, and
especially in rural areas. However, teachers are generally unmotivated to include ICT in the curriculum (as
noted above).
ICT skills Some reports detail the availability of ICT and related skills development and training opportunities, including
development a few that made recommendations for building human resources capacity to leverage ICT:
training
opportunities About 565,000 Bulgarians have attended computer training courses.
The Philippines has the second highest number of training facilities for computer programming in Asia.
The Jamaica report recommends increasing the competence, skills and literacy level of the marginalized
majority, accelerating roll-out of ICT throughout formal and non-formal educational systems, encouraging
technological innovation, and promoting life-long learning.
Training centers exist only in two towns in Tanzania, but there is a proliferation of opportunities for
technical, programming and systems training for ICT technicians and professionals at the university level
and through private training institutions. The report recommends the provision of in-company first level
support to company employees on the use of hardware and software.
Availability of training opportunities for junior ICT personnel in Kenya is low, although some employers
offer in-house training.
There are currently only limited opportunities for training in ICT skills development in Belarus.
The Trinidad and Tobago assessment suggests the implementation of a management awareness program
for ICT in financial institutions across the country. It states that strategic thinkers need to be exposed to
current developments, and recommends that skills transfer becomes a component of all projects, whereby
suppliers are required, contractually, to provide the requisite skills training as part of each project. The
report also suggests that the International Computer Driver's License (ICDL) should be integrated into
school and college curricula, as well as training programs, and that all government personnel in
departments targeted for computerization should undergo training for the ICDL.
In Romania, civil servants benefit from free IT training; it is compulsory that they obtain the ECDL
(European Computer Driving License).
Research In order to improve e-readiness, it is necessary for countries to conduct research and development (R&D)
using ICT and focused on ICT. Collaborative research by multiple stakeholders in these efforts will promote
wider relevance and applicability of the work. The use of ICT for research and development is not actively
addressed by most reports, but a few called for more research in the area of ICT, with an emphasis on national
data collection:
The Estonia report identifies the need to strengthen the collaboration of academic research institutions and
private companies.
The Bulgarian assessment mentions that the Internet is rarely used for education or research.
The Panama report urges businesses, organizations and R&D institutions to work together to promote ICT
uptake. Panama needs to improve its support of individuals and organizations (in the public and private
sectors and academia) that are capable of conducting high quality research relevant to ICT. The
Comptroller is a Government agency responsible for collecting (among other things) different types of data
relating to ICT. The report called for better methods for gathering information about ICT in Panama on an
ongoing basis.
A few reports considered the extent to which R&D capabilities and enabling environments foster or hinder
innovation:
The Jamaica report finds that there is a focus on applied rather than basic and exploratory research on ICT,
and new innovations in ICT are non-existent. This is reflected in the relative absence of patent applications.
The scarcity of innovation is partly owing to a lack of venture capital. The report suggests the development
of ICT clusters to enable the assembly of a critical mass of ICT skills, and foster competition, innovation
and creativity.
The Belarus report recommends that the government should support innovative projects and prospective
domestic research work in the area of ICT-related development.
The Estonia report identifies the need for a "real innovation strategy" to achieve the following concrete
goals: spend 1.5 percent of GDP on R&D in 2006; strengthen the collaboration of academic research
institutions and private companies; and give incentives to companies to increase their spending on R&D.
Availability of A country’s e-readiness is affected by the availability of a trained workforce that can effectively build,
trained maintain, develop, apply and use ICT in the workplace. The availability of a workforce that is sufficiently
workforce equipped with the necessary ICT skills is determined by a number of variables including training needs,
funding for training, and brain drain:
The Estonian report expressed a concern that vocational ICT training institutions are producing surplus
amounts of “advanced users”, but low numbers of IT specialists, engineers and programmers. The report
explains that this feeds a vicious circle of limited R&D and lack of innovation. It also points out that almost
all Estonian electronics companies have a shortage of ICT specialists with the appropriate tertiary
education.
Romania's tertiary education institutions produce a "sufficient" number of ICT specialists, although the fact
that they are concentrated in urban areas is a problem. This appears to be in contradiction to an item in the
national action plan that sets out the aim to create more institutions that produce ICT specialists. The
action plan suggests compensating for the lack of ICT specialists at the local level by creating a specialist
support group within the central administration to provide technical assistance.
The Jamaican report cites the inability of small IT companies to retain a critical mass of skills as a factor
that reduces their competitiveness. The report stresses that human resource development policies and
programs should be prioritized to facilitate and support the growth of a domestic ICT skills base, grounded
on an assessment of workplace skills and needs.
The Kenyan assessment found that, although there is adequate local capacity to train graduates, there
have been indications from the private sector that most ICT training does not match the industry needs and
requirements. The ICT workforce forms a small fraction of the total employees in the country, and ICT is
not widely used to support the core business of many organizations.
In Belarus, there is a dearth of ICT personnel, particularly programmers and ICT managers.
Approximately 186,000 people in Bulgaria hold college or university degrees related to ICT and about
565,000 have attended computer training courses. About 443,000 know how to use a computer through
self-training, formal training at the workplace, or have learned such skills from friends. The study concludes
that 16.2% of the adult population in Bulgaria is computer literate.
In Russia, a large number of people (especially in urban areas) are well educated and aware of ICT, but not
enough have the ICT skills to enable them to leverage their educational background and collectively move
toward an information society. Despite Russia producing among the highest numbers of science and
technology graduates in the world, there is a lack of skilled software programmers.
Many reports highlighted brain drain as a problem (including Belarus, Russia, Bulgaria, Philippines, and
Trinidad and Tobago). "Low salaries" is a common reason cited for this phenomenon. The Trinidad and
Tobago report recommends new projects that will attract skilled personnel to counteract the migration of
skilled individuals.
ICT skills, training and migration. In a discussion on the availability of ICT skills and training, the assessment teams in Kenya
and Uganda also pointed out the relationship this issue has with cross-border migration. A member of the Kenyan assessment
team explained that the country has teachers with ICT skills, but many of them are unemployed. "It is a waste of human
resources because the government has failed to utilize these teachers' skills for meaningful development. In fact, some of them
have now resorted to seeking jobs in neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania." Further on the topic of the migration of
ICT skilled individuals, the team said that the government's failure to use ICT to the expected levels has caused frustration
among the experts in the sector, which has also contributed to brain drain. A member of the Ugandan assessment team
described a different situation in that country, where "the fact that all the leading universities are offering high quality ICT skills
training has attracted many students from neighboring countries".
4.2.5 Checking availability of locally relevant content and services

National-level In considering the availability of locally relevant content and services that can be accessed through ICT, some
Internet content studies assessed the availability of local web content and hosting:
and website
hosting Belarus found that there are fewer than two domain names per 1000 inhabitants (as registered by local
businesses and institutions).
In Romania, there is limited availability of local online services. The number of websites featuring local
content has doubled between 2001 and 2003, although it is yet to meet the minimum level of developed
countries (20 sites/ 100 inhabitants). Most newspapers and magazines have Internet presence, with
shortened electronic versions of the current printed issues.
Some local websites are available in Uganda, although most contain only static content and are updated
infrequently.
About 27% of Kenyan websites are hosted locally.
Very few countries analyzed flows and directions of Internet traffic. An exception is the Belarus assessment,
which found that only 20% of Belarus content is accessed locally, while 80% comes from abroad. In Bulgaria,
on the other hand, there is more surfing of Bulgarian websites than others, even though there is a lack of
locally relevant content.
Content in other Most reports focused only on web-based content, and very few looked at the availability and use of content
national ICT- communicated via other, more ubiquitous, ICT-based media. Exceptions include:
based media
The Ugandan assessment found that the numerous FM radios have been leveraged by the government for
reaching out to the population and providing information on agricultural products.
In Russia, a government project was launched in 2003 to provide e-services focused on Russian culture, via
satellite. Its goals include the spread of Russian cultural content both domestically and overseas; high
speed Internet connections to cultural projects; and educational cultural materials provided by multi-media.
Language Some assessments provided statistics on local language websites:

There are a number of Tanzanian websites, but most are in English, with static content that is concerned
primarily with advertising. The national website is bilingual (English and Kiswahili). The assessment team
stressed the importance of addressing local issues by incorporating local languages in websites and moving
away from English.
In Uganda, many websites are available in local languages, as well as in English (the dominant web
languages spoken locally).
95% of the websites registered with the Belarus network are in Russian, while 10% are in Belarusian and
15% are bilingual.
E-government Most assessments describe the availability and (to a lesser degree) use of e-government services in the
country:
The Bulgarian Government has a few websites which provide some degree of interactivity, although this is
mostly limited to downloading forms. The assessment found that public administration websites are visited
by 4.3% of the population and about 6% of companies.
The Estonian Government was one of the first to develop a functioning e-government system. The report
identifies the need to establish convenient e-services for taxes, health issues, retirement benefits,
education and applications for permits and certificates.
The Jamaican assessment describes e-government to be in an early development stage. It recommends
implementing e-government projects in departments responsible for revenue generation, public policy
implementation, and service delivery.
In Romania, the National Electronic System (NES) was launched on September 2003 and is available at
www.e-guvernare.ro. It has functionality for five e-services and 164 forms are available for downloading. It
has been accessed 1.6 million times by approximately 50,000 visitors.
The e-government unit of Trinidad and Tobago offers no e-products or services as of yet, although there is
a goal to have an e-integrated public service and government intranet.
Availability of ICT facilities within the Kenyan Government is very low and transactions are currently paper-
based, although there are several websites that provide relevant data and some government publications.
The Kenyan report suggests that critical government institutions and departments should create
transactional websites, and that all departments should have intranets.
The Communications Without Borders program in Costa Rica involves the creation of a portal
(www.costarricense.cr) that has links to multiple e-government services, digital banking and training on
how to use email.
The first wave of interactive online e-government services is now available in Russia, but data needs to be
standardized across government departments for the programs to be effective. The report points out that if
e-government is to work, the lack of access to ICT in the regions must first be addressed.
In Panama, some municipal authorities use ICT to provide services to the population. Activities are spread
across a range of efforts aiming to modernize the administration of justice, combat corruption, and improve
public services. The E-Panama project (comprised of diverse representation including each branch of
government) is a mechanism for interaction between the government and citizens. It is also coordinating
government's integration of ICT and is concerned with the broader vision for ICT and government in the
21st century.
Social and A few reports looked at the extent to which relevant content is available for social or cultural development
cultural goals, including:
development
goals The Romanian report covers e-health issues. The action plan recommends the computerization of the
systems of the National Health Insurance Institution, the Ministry of Health, and related institutions. It also
suggests that broadband access be provided to hospitals and university clinics, emergency hospitals in
large towns, town hospitals and village health centers.
The Russian assessment was unique in its assertion that ICT should be used for promoting and supporting
Russian culture. It was felt to be important as "Russians identify strongly with their culture, and consider it
the main source of Russia's wealth". The strong national identity has resulted in a large program for
introducing ICT into arts and culture in Russia. This is intended to preserve Russian heritage, for example,
through the digitized archiving of museum and library information.
The action plan penned by the Romanian assessment team also calls for the contents of libraries, archives
and museums to be digitized, and theatres and other cultural institutions connected.
One assessments looked specifically at the use of ICT by government and civil society for development and
poverty alleviation:
Although there are 5000 community-based organizations and 200-300 NGOs in Jamaica, they use ICT
solely as support for routine office functions. The use of ICT for service delivery or as a mobilizing or
development tool has not been incorporated in the NGO sector, except for some environmental groups and
health services organizations.
Driving ICT use A few reports focused on the importance of locally relevant content and services for driving the use of ICT:
with relevant
content and The Tanzanian assessment suggests various strategies (such as competitions and prizes) that could be
services used to raise awareness of Swahili websites, and dynamic communications media such as eThinkTankTz.
The Jamaican assessment reports that one of the aims of the government's ICT procurement policy is to
award large contracts to local companies producing locally relevant content.
The Estonia report suggests motivating more widespread use of ICT through the provision of interesting
and essential content.
A rural communications fund has been established in Uganda, which is subsidizing services and developing
local content for Internet communications to rural areas.
4.2.6 Determining whether ICT is integrated into peoples’ lives

Use of ICT in A few assessments looked into instances of and reasons behind everyday ICT use:
everyday life
Bulgaria found that barely 3% of Internet users shop online, while 10% use the Internet to plan travel.
In Costa Rica, email is mainly used between friends and family, as opposed to business-to-business or
business-to-consumer communication.
Estonians use the Internet for the following reasons: email (70%); online searching (66%); occasional
surfing (62%); Internet banking (57%) and "reading about Estonian issues" (54%). Most use Internet at
their workplace (53%), at home (40%) or at school (29%). Most Estonians do not use the Internet for
shopping or working.
There are an estimated 125,000 regular Internet users in Uganda. 96% of them use the Internet from their
offices, schools or public browsing centers.
Computers have not been accepted as part of everyday life in Kenya, and most people who access
computers only do so at their workplace.
The Internet is used primarily for communication via email or chat in Panama.
Only 6% of adults in Russia use the Internet once a week and 10% use it monthly.
Public Some of the assessments looked at public perceptions and attitudes towards the importance and/or relevance
perception of of ICT:
the importance
and/or The Tanzania assessment identifies an urgent need for raising ICT awareness all over the country and at all
relevance of ICT levels. This was seen as the only way to ensure support and commitment to developing ICT and its use in
peoples’ daily activities. It found that general awareness of ICT in the country is driven by Internet cafes,
news media, tertiary institutions, business and organizations.
The authors of the Ugandan assessment recommend an awareness campaign targeted to the public, which
should include encouraging users and potential users to bring a positive attitude to ICT use. For example,
to embrace smart cards, people will have to change from their traditional physical money transactions and
adopt the card system. The report suggests that the population must be made aware that they can
purchase online (cheaply, quickly and conveniently). The assessment found Ugandans' attitudes towards
ICT are quite positive, and even older respondents had the impression that ICT use is both necessary and
inevitable.
The Bulgarian assessment rated its e-society index at a rather low 2.29, indicating that there is still limited
understanding of the real benefits associated with ICT, and even less direct experience. The report notes
that public perception of Internet use plays a major part in its adoption in schools, and that the use of
Internet in education and science is just above the average statistics for the country as a whole.
There are low levels of general public awareness of the benefits of ICT in Romania and specifically, e-
government services. The action plan proposes a national campaign to promote services offered by, and
benefits associated with, the NES, as well as the advantages for SMEs in using ICT.
Levels of awareness of the Internet are very low in Kenya, particularly in the rural areas and among SMEs.
The importance of ICT has been recognized by only a limited number of institutions in Kenya, including
ISPs, banks, large supermarket chains and universities.
The Jamaica report claims that limits in ICT access and use are constrained not so much by techno-fear as
by the limitation in knowledge, infrastructure, cost, technological competence and illiteracy. The authors
assert that a culture of information retention, rather than information sharing, stymies ICT growth.
4.2.7 Considering socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use

Geography All of the assessments that compared urban and rural areas’ e-readiness found evidence of a digital divide of
varying proportions:
The Panama report points out that the geographic and demographic challenges of the country are one of
the greatest barriers to overcoming rural disparities. Panama has an extremely dispersed population with
over 6000 villages of less than 50 villagers each, and over 4300 small communities of less than 2000
people. There are infrastructure limitations in the areas outside the capital due to lack of interest by the
private sector in servicing underserved areas, limited involvement by academia, and a lack of coherent
government strategy for integrating ICT into its development strategy.
The Russian report claims that many problems facing the country stem from the disparity between access
to ICT in the large cities and outlying regions where the infrastructure is poor and incomes are lower.
Teledensity is significantly different between Russian federal districts and rural areas. Until there is
affordable technology and the infrastructure to support it, computers and connections will remain largely
out of the reach of most rural inhabitants.
The Belarus assessment compared the number of fixed-line telephones in urban and rural areas, finding
teledensity weighted toward urban centers.
Bulgaria noted that fewer than 3% of its Internet users live in small towns (the rest are in larger cities in
the Sofia and Bourgas regions).
The Estonia report states that 88% of rural children have Internet access at school, but it does not detail
the extent.
Demographics Although not all assessments looked at gender equity in access to ICT, and those that did showed quite
different findings:
The Ugandan and Panama reports found overall gender equality in Internet use.
In Estonia, women were found to be more active users of the Internet than men.
The Tanzanian study found that women comprise only 33% of the country’s Internet users.
Most of the assessments that considered the age factor found that overall young people are more prolific
users of the Internet than older generations (including Belarus, Kenya, Uganda, Panama, Bulgaria and
Estonia). For example, 81% of Internet users in Estonia are under the age of 20.
Only the Romanian action plan looks at issues affecting disabled persons, mandating that accessibility
standards for ICT should be adopted, especially aimed at improving the social integration of disabled persons.
Economic status A few assessments looked at poverty levels, the extent to which economic status affects access to ICT, and/or
and poverty the use of ICT as a tool in the fight against poverty:
Although Internet access costs in Romania are low compared with the average within EU countries, there
are relatively low numbers of Internet users, owing to limited electronic commerce services, low levels of
average income and the relatively low number of computers in the majority of households.
The Belarusian elite use the Internet six times more than the general public.
69.3% of the Jamaican population in poverty lives in rural areas. To reach the poor, the Jamaican report
suggests an integrated community development and outreach program with ICT at its core. The aim would
be to increase the ICT skills and e-literacy of the marginalized majority of the population, accelerate the
roll-out of ICT throughout the education sector, and encourage technological innovation and life-long
learning.
Although completely focused on the e-readiness of specific sectors of SMEs, the Philippines assessment
cites levels of poverty, unemployment, population growth and availability of social services as issues
inevitably impacting upon e-readiness. Indeed, with SMEs providing over 60% of employment opportunities
in the country, the e-readiness of these enterprises is an important factor in poverty alleviation.
The Uganda report highlights government awareness of the need for appropriate information to be
available at all levels of society in order for the national development programs on poverty eradication,
decentralization, and involvement of the public in governance are to succeed.
Large state subsidies on telephone bills are available to minority groups in Russia.
4.2.8 Examining the legal and regulatory environment for ICT use
Liberalization of Most assessments reported the extent to which the telecommunications sector is liberalized. In many of the
telecoms sector countries where telecommunications is controlled by a state-owned monopoly, authors recommended
privatization (e.g. Belarus and Bulgaria).
Costa Rica is the only country in its region in which the government still has a monopoly in telephony and
Internet connectivity. While the report acknowledges that this factor could constitute an important
limitation for the country’s competitiveness and technological advance, it also points to the benefits of
Ministry of Science and Technology policies aiming to close the digital divide in "a timely and efficient
manner". However, the report concludes that "such policies would work even better in a competitive
regime". The Costa Rican report found that 75% of the population supports the revision of the
telecommunications sector's regulatory and legal frameworks and the opening up of the state-owned
telecom to private competition.
Following the deregulation of the Philippine's telecommunications market, teledensity rose from 4.66 in
1996 to 9.05 in 2000.
Romania has liberalized its telecommunications market.
Tanzania’s telecommunications sector is liberalized, with vigorous competition in the mobile sector.
Although the number of private telecommunications providers and operators in Uganda has been increasing
in recent years, as well as the number of subscribers, the exclusivity clause in the license of the two major
operators has hindered entry of new participants in the sector, affecting international bandwidth
infrastructure in particular.
In Kenya, the incumbent operator (Telkom Kenya) continues to enjoy monopoly over fixed lines, leased
lines, international gateway and services, commercial very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks and
Internet. However, several services have been liberalized, including mobile, value added services, paging,
public telephone, and VSAT services.
Although the Ministry of Communications in Bulgaria has declared intentions to implement a policy aimed at
liberalization of the telecommunications sector, there has been no action in this regard, and Beltelecom
remains a monopoly. The report maintains that, "the Ministry…is interested in restraining competitiveness."
The Trinidad and Tobago report indicates that the legal and regulatory framework for telecommunications
in that country, despite some negative perceptions, is moving in the right direction. According to the
Telecommunication Service of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), deregulation is underway, new service
providers will be in the market soon, and new, appropriate technologies are being implemented. However,
the report found that there is a lack of awareness and understanding of these developments beyond TSTT
itself.
The Panama telecommunications market is still in transition since the privatization of the national carrier.
This has introduced competition into some markets, the ultimate goal being a free market economy. VoIP is
now offered.
Regulatory Some reports noted the existence or lack of an independent telecommunications regulating body, and a few
environment for provided critical analysis of its activities, effectiveness, and the level to which it exercises its independence
telecoms sector from the government:
The Estonia assessment describes the telecommunications market and regulatory environment "to all
extents at the same level as Finland’s".
The Jamaica report highlights the importance of a coordinating, monitoring and standards generating
authority, independent of any department or ministry, to review and integrate the respective ICT plans;
provide guidance in negotiations in international fora; develop projects; and conduct the community
outreach and public awareness conferences, seminars, and meetings.
Tanzania has a regulator in place (the Tanzania Communications Commission).
While all Kenyan operators contribute toward provision of universal access, there is no regulation of
compliance, so universal service implementation is not effective and there are schools and hospitals without
telephones. The report maintains that the telecommunications regulator is going through a learning curve
towards effectively regulating the market. There is limited technical capacity within the regulatory body,
facing challenges like spectrum management, service quality monitoring policy, and policy instruments for
bringing under one regulatory regime the converging technologies of IT, telecommunications and
broadcasting. The report also notes that tariffs of leased lines for the period before expiry of monopoly
status of fixed network should be regulated.
The Assistant Commissioner for Transport and Communications described the Uganda Communications
Commission (UCC) as one of the most respected regulatory bodies in Africa. He proposed the
implementation of the national ICT policy and review of duopoly rules of telecommunications operations as
ways of streamlining its performance.
The establishment of an independent regulatory authority in Panama, together with the formulation a
charter of Panamanian Law and New Technologies Association (a non-profit organization dedicated to
supporting the understanding of the law as it relates to ICT), have led to basic improvements and
clarifications of the legal and business environments for ICT.
Intellectual A few assessment reports looked into issues related to intellectual property rights (IPR), but only at a
property rights superficial level:
The Jamaica report states that the country is on course in terms of IPR protection, although it emphasizes
the need to create regulatory frameworks to protect intellectual property.
The Russian report notes that Russians are largely unaware of IPR law, including little awareness of
copyright law and its affects on society.
Software piracy is identified as a significant problem in Russia, where it was rife until recently. The
government's commitment to observe international intellectual property law has had a limited impact so
far, with street vendors selling legal products alongside pirated versions.
Privacy and A few reports raised issues related to privacy or information security:
security
The Philippines assessment reported that there are no policies to address issues related to information
security, interconnection, or convergence.
In Romania, data security issues have been regulated to protect personal data and prevent free circulation
of such data. There are also laws on the processing of personal data and protection of privacy in the
telecommunications sector, as well as a law on electronic signatures. The national action plan outlines
various measures for preventing fraud and electronic crime, including implementing security measures
against hacker attacks. There are also plans to develop anti-virus software and secure electronic payment
systems, promote smart cards (for authentication and securing access to everything from pay phones to
medical services), and introduce security and encryption technologies in the local and central public
administration.
The Russian report notes that laws on data protection and the use of digital signatures are out of date in
Russia, and those specifically for e-commerce and the protection of personal data do not yet exist. It urges
that e-commerce will not become widespread in Russia until there are laws that support it and protect
people against cyber-crime.
The Panama report urges the government to consider integrating issues related to privacy, security and
intellectual property right into the ICT policy.
E-commerce Those assessments that considered e-commerce legislation looked mainly at issues around the circulation of
laws electronic documents and electronic signatures:
The Kenyan assessment found that there is no commerce law, nor national or regional e-commerce
platform in place.
The Philippines assessment found that the country is one of the few countries in Asia to enact an e-
commerce law.
The Uganda assessment reports that physical signatures are required on any legal document in Uganda.
As financial institutions in Trinidad and Tobago provide increasingly sophisticated Internet access to their
systems, a trusted center for digital signatures will be required.
National ICT Some reports outlined the country's progress in terms of developing or implementing a national ICT policy,
policy and/or while others made suggestions and/or recommendations for establishing or improving them:
e-strategy
A national ICT policy framework for Uganda has been put in place, and strategies for its implementation are
being formalized. The policy has been ratified by the government. Five institutions have been selected to
implement the strategy: the Ministry of Works (working on e-government), the Uganda Investment
Authority (e-commerce), Office of the President (e-information), and the Ministries of Education and Health
(e-education and e-health, respectively).
The Romanian report outlines in detail its national action plan or e-strategy.
The Tanzanian assessment found a growing consensus about the need for a national ICT policy. The
National Information and Communications Technologies Policy was published in 2003.
There is no published ICT policy in Russia, but there are two documents pending which aim to map out key
concepts for a national ICT strategy and related budgetary allocation for the next few years. They are the
Doctrine for Internet Security in the Russian Federation, 2000, which provides basic concepts on the
development of an information society in Russia, and the Electronic Russia (e-Russia) program, 2001-2002,
which promotes the uptake of ICT across society. One of the articulated goals is to help the Russian
software industry, especially in the development of tools for the public sector.
The Trinidad and Tobago report notes that the legal infrastructure required to support e-readiness is non-
existent. The mechanisms to start tackling this issue were discussed during an assessment team workshop.
The Panama report suggests the government refine and deepen existing national ICT strategies.
Other policies In describing the policy environments of the country, some assessment teams detailed important policies and
and laws that Acts already in existence that are related to ICT, while others identified areas where the lack of legislation is
affect ICT use effectively hindering access to and uptake of ICT:
The Estonian assessment describes the most important regulations influencing the developments of the
Estonian information society.
The Romanian assessment discusses many laws and Acts, from the law on universal service and rights of
users regarding electronic communication services and networks, to those concerned with e-commerce,
data security and privacy.
The Tanzanian report explained that some policies -- such as those forbidding the use of VoIP -– are
inhibiting the impact that ICT can have on Tanzania's development.
The Ugandan study found that the ICT trade liberalization policy has successfully doubled the number of
computers in Uganda.
The Kenyan report maintained that wireless local access to ISPs should be allowed. In addition, the report
suggested that even though tariffs on computing equipment were reduced, the lack of policies and laws to
enhance the electronic trade environment will continue to hinder the acquisition of end-user equipment.
In Costa Rica, several Bills have been presented to the Legislative Assembly towards creating an enabling
environment for ICT. One key Bill is the Government Bill on the Right of Access to the Internet (File
number 14.029), which aims to create the right legislative environment for development of the ISP sector,
especially in support of Internet access via cable and digital subscriber line (DSL).
The Russian report states that overall, legal and regulatory framework for dealing with the ICT sector is
inappropriate. Existing laws are out-dated, referring back to the early 1990s, and steps to update them are
extremely slow, hindered mostly by concerns over changes to tax law. New laws are considered in
isolation, with no reference to existing law. Changes in regulations surrounding ICT are near impossible to
keep up with, resulting in a chaotic system. By contrast, Russia's trade policy in the sphere of ICT is on a
par with other countries, with one important exception. The report describes the process of applying export
tariffs to software, in which these products are subjected to a lengthy inspection for compliance with
government licensing rules, as complicated and corrupt. This has created an environment that is not
conducive to the survival of ICT startups looking to export their products.
The Panama assessment calls for a universal access strategy and funding mechanism to address the
challenges of underserved markets.
Stakeholder A few reports looked at the levels and kinds of stakeholder engagement in policy-making processes:
engagement in
policy-making Although there are many private firms using ICT for various purposes in Uganda, the private sector does
processes not have a common platform for influencing ICT policy at a national or regional level.
In addition to participating in government-sponsored ICT initiatives, company executives in Panama often
dedicate significant amounts of their own time to a range of private efforts that broadly promote everything
from the integration of ICT in education, to informing policy-makers on business conditions, developing
joint marketing strategies, and preparing business for e-commerce.
Stakeholder engagement in policy-making processes. When asked about the extent to which the private sector engages in
ICT policy-making in Uganda, a member of the Ugandan assessment team said, "The private sector is not organized yet. The
country has many private firms but they do not speak with one voice. They have not taken up the issues affecting their
operations with either government or international organizations."
4.2.9 Looking at security and whether people trust ICT

Public trust in A few studies considered public perceptions of and trust in ICT use:
technology
The Costa Rica assessment recommends that a technical department be established to address factors that
discourage citizen’s use of the Internet, including viruses, hacker intrusion, author’s rights on the network
and electronic fraud.
The Trinidad and Tobago reflected on the issue, but without substantiating its arguments in concrete
findings. The report asserts that employees are generally resistant to change, particularly when they feel
threatened by new technology. It similarly states that the public at large is often suspicious and skeptical
about the actions and motives of banks and governments (particularly when banks act together). But it
does not explain what evidence these views are based on. It concludes that there needs to be effective
communication at every level, and recommends that an overall communications plan should be formulated,
and controlled centrally.
E-commerce A few assessments looked at the extent to which e-commerce transactions are secure and/or public
security and perceptions of security associated with electronic services:
consumers
The financial and commercial communities in Trinidad and Tobago are relatively small in terms of market
and geography, and the report concluded that trust is therefore not currently a major concern. But as
these markets become increasingly e-enabled, and open up to cross-border transactions, trust becomes
vital. The report identifies the need for stringent encryption and authentication capabilities.
The Russian report explains that the large shadow economy leads to distrust in ICT for business, especially
in the areas of e-commerce and business-to-business transactions.
Bulgaria found that lack of trust in the technology was a factor contributing to the low use of Internet for
banking and commerce.
The Romanian action plan notes that security of information systems in institutions, at a national or
regional level needs to be assessed.
Political Political openness, transparency and democracy were considered by a few reports:
openness,
transparency The Tanzania report recognizes the need for a common country information “gatekeeper”, and those
and democracy interviewed further identified the need for accurate, adequate and accessible information in the country.
The report maintains that access to standard tendering procedures for civil work contracts would pave the
way for transparency and fairness; and making submissions to judicial cases online can cut down the time
taken up to judge cases, and hence increase efficiency.
The Jamaican Government procurement policy for ICT has improved transparency through the National
Contracts Commission.
The Russian report describes corruption as endemic to business and government administration, and
highlights this as a factor hindering the growth of the ICT industry. Although a large number of software
"piraters" were arrested after the Ministry of Justice changed its position on IPR, the courts are not totally
independent of "executive bodies", and the report mentions that illegitimate court rulings are common in
Russia. Additionally, money laundering and illicit dealings in the stock of companies that are subject to a
hostile takeover have had a serious impact on the business climate –- all of which has affected the
approach to IPR and growth of the ICT sector.
4.2.10 Examining the use of ICT in business

Access to and While most countries looked at levels of infrastructure and access to ICT in businesses, each used a slightly
use of ICT different measure or qualified the measures in varying levels of detail:
among
businesses 75% of Estonian companies have at least one computer (50% have 1-3), and 89% of these have Internet
access. 35% of those companies with Internet access have their own homepage.
Belarus found that few offices have computers that are networked for file sharing.
In Bulgaria, only 7.3% of workplaces are computerized, less than 20% have intranets and only 12% are
connected to the Internet.
In Jamaica, 64% of small businesses do not have computers, while 88% of those that do have computers
are not connected to the Internet. 45% of medium-sized businesses have computers, 9% of which are
connected to the Internet.
Only 16% of employees have access to a networked PC in Kenya.
There were no statistics available for corporate use of computers and the Internet in Trinidad and Tobago.
About 71% of the organizations surveyed in Nairobi reported that they have a fax and telephone. However,
there are a small number of people within these organizations using these facilities. About 37% of
organizations reported that they have installed public pay phones for use by their employees on the
premises, and only 16% of employees have access to a networked PC.
Only 1% of Filipino businesses are online, and of these, application is limited to advertising and basic email
communication. Business-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B) transactions are very limited.
Only negligible e-business is conducted in Tanzania.
In Panama, professional managers and business owners were most likely to use the Internet, followed by
government employees and office workers.
While about 22% of the Kenyan workforce, particularly in Nairobi, is expected to use computers, only about
15% are current users.
Local businesses A number of assessments gauged business use of ICT by looking at whether local businesses have websites:
with websites
Most large Romanian companies have web presence through their own sites, while most small businesses
have presentation pages hosted by the chambers of commerce, business portals or free hosting sites.
9% of medium businesses in Jamaica have websites.
64% of firms surveyed in the Philippines assessment have a website (besides garments SMEs which did not
provide the relevant information).
The majority of Bulgarian company websites contain mostly static, basic information (limited to a company
profile, contact information and listing of products), which is rarely updated.
35% of Estonian companies with Internet access have their own homepage.
About 40% of the organizations surveyed in Nairobi, and 19% in other areas, have active websites. Most
have largely static content.
There are generally fewer than two domain names per 1000 inhabitants registered by local businesses and
institutions in Belarus.
Use of ICT by The reports covered the use of ICT by SMEs with varying degrees of detail:
small and
medium-sized The Philippines report was largely concerned with the use of ICT by SMEs in four sectors. The rationale
enterprise behind the Philippines assessment is that with SMEs representing the majority of firms in the Philippines
(SME) (99.61%) and providing 67% of the country's total employment, the levels of e-readiness of these engines
of growth is critical to inform efforts to enhance and increase their productivity. The report found the
electronics sector to be the most e-ready, with the highest penetration of ICT (the adoption of new
technologies results from pressures of competitiveness from large contracting firms), while the processed
fruit sector is the furthest behind due to the nature of an industry which has mostly small-scale producers
and simple production processes. Most SMEs in the Philippines are still unaware of the benefits of ICT. The
Philippines report suggests that SMEs, their trade associations, and the Philippines Government should
collaborate to promote awareness of the benefits of ICT. The authors describe how this can be achieved by
sharing knowledge and replicating best practice, and working together within sectors to develop business
models emphasizing the efficiency and economy of business operations enabled by ICT.
The report found that about two of three SMEs surveyed use ICT for manufacturing, sales, procurement,
process control, finance and accounting R&D. Approximately one out of three uses ICT for business and
strategic planning, customer service and personnel training.
The Jamaican assessment finds that most SMEs suffer from undeveloped IT-based business skills. It
suggests that support mechanisms are established to facilitate the transition and maturity of SMEs and
ensure that government procurement policies are consistent with their needs.
The Panama report established that there is active support for ICT uptake within the SME sector, and that
there are businesses in Panama that promote the use of e-commerce for business by SMEs.
E-commerce Most reports looked at the prevalence of e-commerce, and found it to be either non-existent, or at the most,
limited:
E-commerce via the Internet is rudimentary in Jamaica, where its growth is constrained. However, rapid
expansion in non-Internet e-commerce has taken place in recent years.
47% of Philippines firms sell products online, and for 89%, email is the most common form of
communicating with suppliers and customers. However, only 16% and 14% give and receive payment
online, respectively.
In Romania, electronic point-of-sale systems have been introduced not only at retailers but also in
government administration offices delivering services to the public. However, while electronic
communication infrastructure is the main factor influencing the development of e-commerce in Romania,
its uptake is affected by the business environment, skill levels of the users, the legal framework, quality of
services offered by local ISPs, and degree of acceptance of new technologies by the business community.
The limited presence of real e-commerce solutions limits the use of ICT in everyday life.
The Trinidad and Tobago report noted that there is a widely held view that the e-commerce market in that
country, especially for private individuals, is limited.
No transactions are carried out online in Uganda, and credit cards are not available. (Credit card facilities
were established in Uganda in July 2004, after the assessment was conducted).
In Kenya, there is a large network of point-of-sale terminals and merchants who accept credit cards for the
services rendered.
Although there are more than 200 "electronic shops" in Belarus (200 in Minsk and 19 in other regions), the
report explains that it is impossible to use credit cards or debit cards for payments.
A few reports also provided statistics on the prevalence of Internet banking amongst the population:
55% of banks in Belarus do not have a website; while 33% have websites that provide information only.
Only 4% of Belarusian banks offer transactional Internet banking.
The banks in Trinidad and Tobago offer websites for general information, limited e-banking facilities, and
telephone banking.
A few assessments looked at business-to-business e-commerce, but overall they found low integration of ICT
in this area (Bulgaria, Costa Rica and Kenya):
In Kenya, about 5% of the organizations interviewed had installed Internet-based business-to-business
applications (including e-banking). 56% of organizations reported that they accept orders via telephone
and fax. The Kenya report identified a need for raising awareness among business leaders on the strategic
benefits of using ICT in core operations, and the benefits of business-to-business commerce (such as
reduced cost of transactions). The report found evidence that high costs of digital leased lines are
discouraging business-to-business commerce activities.
The Ugandan report identified online fish and flower auctions as a feature that would enable Ugandan
producers to interact directly with the procurement sections of supermarkets in other countries, cutting out
middlemen and agencies and creating more wealth for Ugandan companies, including the small and
medium-sized ones.
Similarly, a few reports investigated business-to-consumer e-commerce, but again they found that it is used in
only limited ways:
83% of Estonians are not interested in shopping online.
Romanian virtual traders offer online product catalogs and functionality for placing orders online, but
payment still takes place by traditional methods.
Only 30% of the organizations surveyed in the Kenyan study reported using email for sales and marketing.
Hardware and A few country reports mentioned local hardware and software development, although none mentioned the use
software and/or development of open source software:
development
The Jamaica study found that there is no production of hardware in the country, while software production
is low and concerned mainly with adapting and localizing imported software.
Over 4800 companies in Romania develop software as their primary activity. The sector is represented
predominantly by small companies, mainly due to the tax advantages (where a profit-based tax of 25% is
replaced with an income tax of 1.5%).
Less than 50% of software in Kenya is locally developed. The report recommends that locally developed
software applications should be increased to comprise over 90% of the market. The Kenyan report
suggests that local business software and content development activities should be encouraged by creating
science parks (or ICT centers of excellence) and IT business incubator centers in Kenya. It also suggests
that the government should give tax incentives to entice foreign software development companies to work
with local programmers, and the local assembly of computers should be encouraged.
In Russia, obtaining a license for software export is so difficult that a number of software houses have
moved abroad where the restrictions do not impact so heavily on their business. Among those that remain,
there is a lack of innovation and motivation at top-level management, which was identified as a factor
holding back ICT business in that country. Nevertheless, the Russian software industry is slowly starting to
grow; and its main export destination is the USA. The total volume of personal computer PC sales is also
increasing and a number of manufacturers are now assembling PCs in Russia.
In Panama, some companies have converted their experience in working with national industries, such as
banking, to produce software and services for export.
ICT sector Businesses -- from small enterprises to multinational companies -- that sell equipment, applications and
services play an important role in increasing a country's e-readiness, and the benefits that come with it. Some
reports looked at the ICT sector in the country, including a few that did so in depth (notably Uganda):
There are an estimated 451 companies in the Estonian ICT sector. Most are very small, and the eight
largest companies make up 85% of turnover for the whole sector.
The Tanzanian report looked at the phenomenon of Internet cafes, and concluded that they are unlikely to
survive under current economic models. The report identifies a need for effective economic research and
guidance to operators.
In Kenya, there are about 1000 cyber cafes in Nairobi and other cities and major towns that are being
used by business people and young people.
There are currently six call centers operating in Panama, representing an estimated 5000 jobs and creating
significant entry-level employment.
The key providers of Internet access in Uganda are 16 ISPs and the two leading telecom operators. MTN
Uganda is synonymous with Uganda's telecommunications revolution. Five years after it began operations,
MTN has 416,000 subscribers and Ugandan call rates are among the lowest on the continent.
The Ugandan report recommends that the country tap into the lucrative call-center market by attracting
multinational companies to set up and invest in facilities in Uganda. It suggests that technology parks be
established to encourage private sector startups. It also suggests that infrastructure companies be invited
to set up masts, fiber optic trunks, and other infrastructure that could be leased by the major ICT players
for a fee.
4.2.11 Understanding the macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use

Macroeconomic None of the assessments gave comprehensive coverage to the broad macroeconomic issues that affect e-
context readiness, although the Jamaican and Bulgarian assessments considered most aspects. Overall, the reports
looked at the following issues:
Competitiveness rankings with other countries. Some countries (particularly those calculating or quoting
the NRI) provided competitiveness rankings. Estonia quoted its leading position among 49 countries in
terms of investment into telecommunications, as reported in the Global Competitiveness Report (WEF,
2002-2003).
Contribution of ICT sector to GDP. In Jamaica, the ICT sector’s contribution to GDP and impact on the
economy are marginal. This comes despite marked improvements in bandwidth capacity, an increase in
teledensity (both fixed-line and mobile telephones), extensive computerization within the financial sector,
and moves toward liberalization in the ICT sector. An identified goal of the Tanzanian assessment is to
inform the development of a strong ICT industry which contributes to sustainable economic growth, and
social and economic empowerment.
Expenditure on ICT. The Estonian report found that Estonians spend 5% of their income on
telecommunications, and 3% on IT. It points out that this is remarkable considering GDP per capita, which
at the time of writing (2001) was 4524.6 EUR.
Expenditure on research and development. Few assessments reported human and financial inputs into
R&D. The Estonian report identifies the need to give incentives to the companies to increase their spending
on research and development. Jamaica, similarly, finds that real research and innovation is minimal as
venture capital is not readily available, while funding for research and development is very limited and not
considered a priority by either the public or private sectors.
ICT creating/replacing jobs. The assertion that ICT is beneficial to economic progress and a generator of
employment comes along with the counter argument that technology which replaces people leads to job
loss. Few reports looked into this issue in depth, however, the Jamaica assessment underlines the
importance of supporting and facilitating the use of ICT in business, with a focus on creating employment
opportunities in the services, content and hardware sub-sectors.
Technology transfer and assimilation. A few assessments looked deeply into issues around technology
transfer. For example, Estonian companies, whether owned by local or international capital, are primarily
subcontractors to foreign corporations, and only a few of them are able to sell high-value added products
and services on their own. The Estonian report finds that technology is assimilated through imports, foreign
direct investment and imitation.
Progression towards a knowledge-based economy. Some of the reports promoted the aim to move their
country’s economy toward a knowledge-base. The Jamaica report identified the need to implement
measures and mechanisms for facilitating the country’s transformation from a traditional manufacturing
and agricultural economy to one that is information and knowledge-based. The report acknowledges that
this will require consideration of the appropriate organizational processes, structures, management systems
and practices, work processes, and partnerships.
Export of ICT-related products and services. The Jamaican assessment recommends that the country
develop a conscious export thrust based on e-commerce, to counter the brain drain and develop the local
economy. “High technology” is identified as the most important export sector in Costa Rica, reportedly due
to the focus on developing quality human resources and a zero import-tax policy on ICT, components of a
strategy to support the production of technology and knowledge-intensive goods and services.
State, civil society and private sector partnerships. Some reports underlined the importance of partnerships
for realizing common and linked socio-economic goals. The Jamaica assessment recommends broad-based
participation through capacity-building, and by prioritizing partnerships between the state, civil society and
private sectors, in order to make such a commitment worthwhile.
Foreign Most assessments looked at the levels of and need for foreign direct investment, including:
investment
Belarus identified the need for foreign direct investment for improving infrastructure and producing ICT for
export.
The Costa Rica assessment states that foreign direct investment represents up to 5% of GDP per year.
In Romania, the highest improvement of foreign direct investment was in the ICT sector, following the
granting of licenses for mobile telephony and the privatization of the fixed-line national operator. Foreign
companies have approximately 50% of the market share in the hardware industry.
Foreign direct investment flows in Jamaica have declined in recent years.
Taxation A few reports mentioned issues around taxation (besides those that reported whether import tax is charged on
ICT):
Some of the countries assessed have instituted a zero import-tax policy on ICT (Costa Rica and Romania).
There are no tax breaks available for companies in the ICT sector in Tanzania. But while business
regulations are generally cumbersome, ICT is not singled out except in a positive sense (including a zero-
rating for value-added tax). There are no particular restrictions on trade in ICT products in the sector.
Duties have been removed from computer and related accessories in Jamaica.
Tax on PC and other associated devices is close to 24% in Kenya. The Kenyan report suggests a reduction
in tax on ICT equipment and services to less than 10% (including duty and value-added tax).
The Tanzanian assessment found the taxation system cumbersome, costly to administer and "unfriendly"
towards small companies.
In Russia, taxes are high and they discourage innovation in ICT and development of the SME sector.
4.2.12 Gauging the government's role in driving e-readiness

Political will to Reports varied in their assessment of the government's political will. Some were more critical than others of
drive ICT-based the government’s role in fostering or hindering the use of technology and development of infrastructure:
development
The Belarus report states that “the Ministry of Communication maintains archaic regulations that hamper
the development of the Internet”, and that it should be re-structured and re-organized.
The Romanian Government is reportedly committed to increasing the use of ICT in Romania, within
government, for government service delivery, and by business and civil society. The Government has
created an inter-Ministerial working group to coordinate and implement activities intended to increase ICT
access and use. The Romanian report uses the term “digital culture gap” to describe the fundamentally
different environments of the central administration (the Ministries located in Bucharest) and their regional
and rural counter-parts. Romanian administration has been completely decentralized and processes are
being streamlined to reduce the number of middlemen. This creates situations where civil servants in small
rural offices, who often lack ICT skills (and sometimes even computers), are increasingly required to
interact electronically with well-resourced civil servants in the national capital.
The Ugandan assessment found both the government and the regulator keen to ensure equitable and
widespread growth of connectivity; in particular, the government intends to expand the ICT network into
hitherto unconnected areas considered unviable by the telecommunications carriers.
Political support for ICT has been sporadic across Russian government departments. The e-Russia program
has had a halting start, with competing, regional programs taking away some of the momentum. The
report states that a lack of coordination between government departments and general mismanagement
means the program is unlikely to succeed.
The Panama report describes that although there are complaints about the Panama Government's
ineffectiveness and lack of vision, there is significant activity and commitment on the part of numerous
government entities.
Acquisition and Many assessments provided information on the acquisition of, access to, and use of ICT in government:
use of ICT in
government 18% of Bulgarian government administration is computerized.
The Jamaican report recommends mandating the use of ICT in the public sector and extending the
modernization program to all levels of government.
Budgetary constraints for government spending on ICT for health, education and local administration are
limiting the uptake of Internet in the Romanian Government.
The Tanzania Government implemented an Integrated Financial Management System in 2001. About 28
districts are already connected, and plans are in place to connect all sub-treasuries. The report found a
generally low level of automation within the government departments owing to shortages of skills, money
and equipment.
Use of ICT in the Ugandan Government is limited to certain departments and staff. There has been no
effort towards ensuring standards or compatibility across systems, even within the same Ministries. Most
computers are not networked, most Ministries do not use email, and some key Ministries are without at
internal telephone system.
To make ICT more affordable for government departments, the report calls for improved procurement
processes (including equipment recommendations, an approved list of dealers, and bulk purchasing to
reduce costs and improve bargaining capability); centralization of information management systems,
databases and servers; and co-ordination of training and capacity-building efforts. The report identifies the
need for a body to coordinate all ICT related activities of the government, such as procurement,
maintenance of hardware and software, and creation of standards.
The Estonia report compared the government’s expenditure on ICT with other countries. It found that
despite resources allocated to ICT financing having grown almost 4 times between 1997 and 2003 (28.44
million EUR), its expenditures on ICT have been rather modest, compared with other countries that spend
2.5-4 % of the state budget on similar costs.
The Romanian report identified the high costs of mobile Internet access and budgetary constraints for
Government spending on ICT for health, education and local administration as factors limiting the uptake
of Internet in the government. The timeframes outlined in the e-strategy have proven difficult to comply
with, mainly owing to a lack of financial resources allocated for this purpose. This is especially the case for
local public administrations faced with the challenge of correlating and interconnecting local and central
databases.
The Government of Panama is using the Integrated System for Financial Management of Panama as part of
a long-term attempt to modernize the state finances.
Government ICT Some assessment reports provided summaries of major public-initiated and/or funded initiatives, including a
initiatives few that critically analyzed existing government initiatives. Others made suggestions for establishing them.
Most of the major projects in Estonia have been initiated by the public sector, including computerizing
schools and public administration, generating ID-card infrastructure, and developing e-services.
The Ugandan Government spearheaded the Rural Connectivity Development Fund (RCDF) to establish
Internet points of presence in all districts up to the lower units at the sub-counties.
The Kenyan report suggests that an advisory center should be established to help communities setup and
operate non-profit public computer labs in schools, libraries, and shopping centers.
The Panama report asserted that clear leadership in the country is lacking, demonstrated by the high
failure rate of ICT projects. The report described a situation where different government entities have
conflicting interests in the outcomes of these projects, and undercut one another.
Public-private All the assessments that mentioned public-private partnerships agree on their benefits:
partnerships
The Estonia assessment reports that since 2001, the private sector had been a moderate supporter of
information society developments, but public-private partnerships are starting to develop and have an
impact. The report recommends stronger co-operation of state institutions with one another and their
private sector counterparts to expedite national ICT projects such as an e-citizen portal and other electronic
services.
The Tanzania assessment found that there is political will for supporting the use of ICT and for cooperating
with the private sector to develop it. The report suggests aid to communities to help them build
partnerships, as licensing procedures hinder the entrepreneurial spirit of most prospective cafe owners. The
report offers examples of local industries and authorities engaging to build Internet cafes, and urges that
this be encouraged. It underlines that partnerships can foster more effective use of scarce resources. For
example, schools can form partnerships with local entrepreneurs who can install computers, Internet
connections and other ICT in schools.
Romania's action plan calls for the establishment of a system for periodical consultations government
Ministries, the Agency for Small and Medium Size Enterprises and Cooperation (ANIMMC), the Romanian
Association of Banks, and the National Bank of Romania to identify and monitor measures for stimulating e-
commerce.
The Ugandan report similarly favors the formation of more private-public partnerships.
Collaboration across organizations and sectors in Panama is lacking, despite stated interest, potential
mutual benefit, and overwhelming need.
4.3 Outcomes from the infoDev-supported assessment processes

Action plans Of the 13 infoDev-supported assessments reviewed as part of this study, seven included or were followed by
action plans. The format and level of detail in each varies widely. Some reports refer to broad
recommendations as "action plans", but in general these give only high-level guidance on policy. While some
outlined practical next steps, few provided specifics like timelines (some provided years, but few gave
months), assigned responsibilities, or estimated budget requirements. A few made suggestions for ground-
level initiatives.
The action plan set out in the Romanian report summarizes and builds upon the national action plan, which
was formally adopted by the government in December 2002. It then lists specific short-term action items
intended to enhance the impact of national plan. For example, it recommends assessing the costs
associated with measures in the national action plan, and mandating that each public institution adopt an
information society implementation action plan.
Because of the limited scope of the Trinidad and Tobago assessment, its recommendations and action plan
are far more specific than many others generated under the infoDev e-readiness initiative. It provides a
high-level overview of the various projects, responsible stakeholders (steering committee/ Central Bank of
Trinidad and Tobago/ Bankers Association) and a timeframe. For example, it proposes a detailed structure
for the e-commerce community of Trinidad and Tobago, recommending the formalization of existing
groups, and outlining a clearer set of responsibilities for each.
The Kenya action plan identifies critical issues, outlines objectives and succinctly describes a strategy for
reaching each. But although the action plan table includes columns for timeframes and assigning action
items, they are very broad. Timeframes are given in year estimates, and responsibilities are assigned to
"the Government of Kenya", or "the private sector".
The Belarus assessment report and action plan outlined ICT priorities for country, including improving
access and accessibility; encouraging ICT innovation; stimulating public interest; formulating a vision for
Belarus' information society; and understanding the place and role of the country in the global information
society. A few months following the publication of the report, UNDP Belarus and the House of
Representatives held a series of round-table discussions with the objective of identifying priorities and
critical points of ICT impact on the economy and society, and defining major barriers impeding ICT
development in Belarus. The round-table meetings reconfirmed the earlier findings by reaching very similar
conclusions.
The Costa Rica assessment states as an objective the identification of policies for the short- and medium-
term; however it fails to realize this objective, and provides only broad policy recommendations that could
apply to both the medium- and long-term.
The Ugandan report includes an action plan for taking the country’s e-readiness to the next level.
The Jamaican report includes the foundation for an action plan.

The Russian action plan is available from http://www.riocenter.ru (in Russian only).
The assessment processes in Estonia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Panama and the Philippines did not reach
the action plan stage of the e-readiness process. The recommendations in the Panama assessment are
described as "navigational considerations" rather than an action plan for government. The Philippines micro-
assessments each identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and provide practical information
for furthering competitiveness.
Informed policy- Although it is difficult to gauge the extent to which decisions and changes in ICT regulation followed directly
making from the findings and recommendations of the assessment reports, some of the assessments seem to have led
to positive change in the country:
Although the Bulgaria assessment was intended as a source of information for others and was not expected
to make recommendations or suggest policy actions, it nevertheless informed the government's
understanding of the issues and highlighted areas for intervention. The assessment informed Bulgaria's e-
government strategy, as well as a policy paper that outlines options for the development of ICT in Bulgaria,
both as a competitive industry and as a tool for socio-economic development. It also served to attract
international attention and increase pressure on the government to act, especially with regard to fulfilling
the e-Europe guidelines (for example, on telecommunications sector deregulation).
The Ugandan report has been utilized extensively to feed into policy and decision-making processes,
including the development of an e-government initiative, and the formation of the National Planning
Authority and the Information and Telecommunications Authority of Uganda.
The Trinidad and Tobago report has had a significant impact on government policy, and led to the
prioritization of e-commerce in the country.
Two key policy papers to be published in Estonia (Principles of the Estonian Information Policy for 2004 -
2006, and the Information Policy Action Plan for 2005, both still in draft form at the time of writing), were
informed by the assessment study. As was the Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of Estonia, published
in December 2003 by the European Commission in Brussels.13 The organization that led the assessment
was also twice invited to present the results and report on the situation in Estonia to inform the
development of the e-Europe action plan, and they provided input and comment based on the findings to
the Information Society section of the National Development Plan 2004-2006.
All of the outcomes following the Romanian report are linked to the eEurope action plan and eEurope 2005,
13
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/soc-incl/est_jim_en.pdf
and are effectively promoting the country's integration into the EU. The report and action plan have been
useful to policy-makers, mainly in the development of the Interoperability Framework draft law, which
focuses on definitions for a common standard of communication for government institutions.
The Tanzanian report fed into the national ICT policy-making process. The draft report is available on the
COSTECH website, and has been visited by many government, private sector and civil society groups for
various purposes.
Although the e-Belarus State program was adopted by the government before the assessment report was
published (December 2002), its design was informed by the draft assessment report data.
The Philippines report achieved its objective of informing the Department of Trade and Industry on
decisions for strategic interventions by government in the areas of ICT use by business and engagement in
e-commerce. The Secretary of Trade and Industry gave instructions based on the report's findings, and
current efforts seek to increase financial support and technical assistance to SMEs.
Research and Many reports filled gaps in available knowledge and data, and for some countries, the assessments were the
analysis impetus for further research and advocacy in the field of e-readiness:
The Romanian Ministry of Transport and Communications praised the assessment for having provided
knowledge and empirical data that proved to be particularly useful to the Ministry and other government
agencies in evaluating the country’s performance in the information society and identifying problem areas
where action is needed.
As part of the Belarus assessment, new software was developed to facilitate the use of three different
assessment tools. The result is a unique data source which provides rich insights into a range of Belarus'
ICT-related issues.
Authors of the Estonia report call for further research addressing the link between ICT and growth, quality
of work and social cohesion. The assessment was the basis for numerous subsequent reports concerned
with telecommunications and the Internet, human resources development, the regulatory framework and
public institutions.
In Bulgaria, a follow-up assessment was conducted to measure progress, it also adjusts the methodology
to include additional data sources and reflect recent changes.
The Costa Rica assessment team conducted a further study into specific issues raised in the report, such as
the high technology sector and an e-readiness assessment of Costa Rican public institutions.
The findings of the Tanzania assessment informed a number of surveys and studies conducted by the
German and Swedish development agencies, as well as a number of postgraduate theses.
The Belarus assessment laid the ground for subsequent work in the area, including a comprehensive map
of Belarus showing a detailed description of its ICT potential. There are plans for publishing a book (Digital
Divide in Belarus and How to Bridge it) based on the e-readiness report and action plan.
Information As the assessment teams carried out the work, they identified areas where information or knowledge
gaps identified regarding ICT is lacking:
The Jamaican report recommends the convergence of policy, coordination of institutions, and development
of appropriate methodologies and indicators for calculating and reporting economic performance, e-
commerce and the contribution of ICT to GDP. It also includes suggestions for qualitative and quantitative
indicators and targets to be included in the action plan for appraising progress.
Romania's action plan calls for the creation of a system to collect the indicators of information society
development, managed by National Institute of Statistics.
The Kenyan report suggests that a sociological survey of the use of ICT is needed, as well as research into
the contribution of ICT to trade.
The Trinidad and Tobago assessment team found that there was no clear vision of a desired state of e-
readiness for the country.
Capacity- The consolidation of a group of experts and institutions for further work in the area was an important outcome
building and of many of the assessments:
networking
In Bulgaria, the working group formed is still collaborating on the issues, and has developed lasting cross-
sector relationships with relevant stakeholders, including the government. They are thus quite influential in
determining the strategies and implementation of ICT policy.
Members of the working group that advised the Romanian assessment process represent institutions and
organizations that will continue to be sources of e-readiness information in that country. Discussions within
the working group revealed that representatives were not fully aware of the obligations incumbent upon
them in the implementation process, and the identification of this anomaly was important for consolidating,
agreeing upon, and framing expectations for moving forward.
Ensuring comprehensive knowledge transfer from the consultants to the key stakeholders in the steering
committee proved challenging for the Trinidad and Tobago assessment team, but they overcame this by
setting tight schedules for activities and frequent communication. A number of workshops were held to
build local capacity in the banking sector. These included a workshop dealing with legal issues to promote
awareness of the legal and regulatory framework as pertains to e-commerce; to map out the scope of work
in this area and the roles of actors; and to develop a set of tools for measuring the legal indicators
appropriate to the local environment. A risk management workshop was held to train the team on the
existing electronic payment facilities available, and to explore how improvements would impact on the
development of e-commerce. A "change and communication management" workshop was also held at the
request of the local team members.
Stakeholder By involving stakeholders in the assessment process, some assessments provided the basis for discussion and
involvement collaboration on the issues:
and awareness-
raising The Bulgarian assessment served to consolidate the national dialogue among government institutions,
private sector organizations and NGOs in promoting a common vision of ICT as a key driver for developing
Bulgaria into an information or knowledge-based society.
Most assessment processes involved stakeholders and other citizens following publication of the report, by
holding workshops or seminars, including the Philippines, Costa Rica, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago and
Tanzania.
Estonia publicized the report alongside an international awareness campaign.
The Belarus assessment report was presented to government officials and other stakeholders at a special
meeting in the National Academy of Sciences in Belarus. Other participants included representatives from
the World Bank, members of the grant team, journalists and invited specialists. The coordinator of the
assessment team also presented the study at the Information Society Development in Belarus seminar at
the Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies.
In the Philippines, the Small Enterprises Research and Development Foundation of the University of the
Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries have used the study's findings and recommendations in its
ongoing advocacy efforts.
Implementation A few of the e-readiness assessment processes instigated or informed ground-level implementation efforts:
of ICT-based
initiatives Following the Costa Rica report, e-literacy training conducted in primary schools received an additional
allocation of public resources, while the Minister of Economy implemented a program promoting the
adoption of ICT by SMEs, with the authors of the assessment report as the technical unit.
The Estonian Look@World Foundation was established in autumn 2000 by several Estonian banks,
telecommunications and IT companies as a major Internet training project, with the objective of radically
increasing the number of Internet users in Estonia. It provides, free of charge, basic computer and
Internet training for about 10% of Estonian adult population. The foundation’s activities were in line with
the assessment report’s recommendations. The assessment's results confirmed Look@World's initial
strategy on capacity-building as a relevant intervention to increase ICT use in Estonia.
In Romania, the World Bank collaborated with the authors of the report (Ministry of Communication and
Information Technology) to develop a comprehensive "knowledge economy" project that aims to bridge the
divide between rural and urban Romania, and provide e-government services, training, and infrastructure.
The project was recently funded and is moving ahead with an initial 300 communities.
In Tanzania, the World Bank and other agencies have supported the Public Sector Reform Exercise (PSRE)
to streamline public service operations.
4.4 Key external challenges faced in the assessments

Time and Many assessments reported that they were limited in their data collection due to resource constraints and
resource short timeframes:
constraints
Given the dearth of valid and reliable data required for a comprehensive assessment, the Romanian
assessment team reported that the available funding limited the level of detail that could be provided.
The assessment teams for Panama and Trinidad and Tobago felt that funding was inadequate for the
assessment and they were challenged to stay within the project budget.
The Jamaican assessment team felt that with more time there could have been greater stakeholder
engagement and the benefits of the study could have been promoted better, which may have led to a more
positive response.
In conducting the micro-assessments, the Philippines team faced challenges of time and resource
constraints. As a result, only four sectors were assessed.
The Kenyan assessment team mentioned that the government's cumbersome procurement systems led to
the project beginning later than anticipated.
Availability of Most assessment teams reported that they struggled to access sufficient reliable and valid data. In a few
data countries, the accuracy and reliability of some of the existing and official data was questioned. A variety of
different sources were compared in the interests of data reliability, but this often led to contradicting
information and findings, which were not explored or unpacked by any of the reports (probably due to
constraints in time and budget).
Information about the use of ICT in Bulgaria’s educational system is fragmented, and often simply
unavailable.
Available data for the Philippines macro-assessment was not optimally reliable or relevant, as most of the
existing e-readiness assessments provided only broad performance rankings and wide-ranging estimates.
Most benchmarks were based on American or European standards that may not be as relevant in the
developing country context.
There were no statistics available for corporate use of computers and the Internet in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Romanian assessment team reported that many of the indicators recommended by the European Union
were unquantifiable owing to the lack of credible data sources, and the identification of alternative and
additional data sources was time consuming. It became increasingly evident throughout the course of the
study that there were no mechanisms in place in public institutions and professional associations for the
collection and processing of data and information necessary to assess the country's information society
development stage, although there are some initiatives in the field. The assessment team recommends that
a system, managed by the National Institute of Statistics, be designed and created to collect the indicators
of information society development.
There are few information sites in Uganda, and even the Ugandan Communications Commission faces
difficulties trying to access data, most of which is outdated. Gathering information from SMEs and retail
ICT outlets proved to be particularly problematic.
The Russian report describes the various sources of data collected as somewhat unreliable and out-of-date,
yet goes on to use them. Further, many statistics are provided by surveys carried out by large,
international organizations (such as the IMF) back in 2000. The result is that certain aspects of the Russian
economy (and in particular several segments of the ICT sector such as the mobile telephony market) that
have changed radically since then were not captured in the report.
Responsiveness In some assessments, the lack of e-readiness and awareness of ICT was a hindrance in itself. Many survey
and capacity of respondents and interviewees did not understand the objectives or importance of the study, and as a result
those surveyed were unenthusiastic in their participation. Some were unable to provide information or opinions as they lacked
capacity to engage with some of the issues put to them. Others (notably in the private sector) were resistant
to diverging information they considered sensitive or confidential for competitiveness reasons. Bureaucratic
systems were a hindrance to the assessment process.
Although there were some exceptions in the public and private sectors, the Jamaicans experienced a
general reticence towards the assessment, and a reluctance to share information was prevalent especially
in the government bureaucracy. The business survey responses were also far lower than expected, even
taking into consideration the mail survey methodology of the business survey, and also in contrast to the
community surveys. The assessment team had to collect information with follow-up calls and in some cases
personal visits, which increased expenses.
The Philippines team also found a general lack of interest on the part of respondents. The team overcame
this by working with the trade associations, which were very helpful in coordinating some of the interviews.
A major challenge experienced by the Tanzania assessment team was successfully setting up appointments
with top government officials, especially the Permanent Secretaries.
Data collection was a challenge for the Kenya assessment, as institutions -– both public and private –-
were unwilling to provide detailed information. The low use of ICT in government institutions was also a
major challenge faced by the Kenyan assessment team. Many civil servants were unable to respond to the
technical issues put to them. The assessors found that many key respondents did not understand concepts
such as "bandwidth" and other technical aspects related to computer use.
Some private sector interviewees for the Panama assessment were resistant to offering information they
considered sensitive, which were nonetheless necessary to understand ICT markets and services.
Finding the right group of experts to carry out the research for the Costa Rican assessment proved difficult.
Sampling Representative sampling was a challenge for many assessments, which could indicate a lack of reliability in
complications some findings:
There are instances in some reports where the information provided contradicts that cited from secondary
sources; however the inconsistencies are not noted or addressed in the assessment reports.
There were no stated criteria for selecting regions for the Tanzanian study, but the assessment team went
directly to places where they expected to find useful information. As a result, far more data collection and
stakeholder input was collected from urban than rural areas.
Bulgaria’s methodology required a significant data collection effort that proved to be rather costly.
Because of the relatively small sample size of most surveys and original data collection in the Estonian
assessment, the results can differ from alternative studies. The assessment team felt that more
comprehensive surveys might be necessary to collect reliable data that can span the significant socio-
economic divides in a country like Estonia.
The Kenyans collected data exclusively in the country's major towns.
Political territory In some countries, the political environment was not optimal at the time assessments were conducted:
issues
The Philippines Government has unresolved issues relating to the organizational structure to lead the
promotion of ICT use. Focusing on SMEs enabled the project team to “steer clear of the conflict between
[government departments] as to who is the main proponent of ICT within the government structure.”
The changing political environment in Bulgaria following the general elections in June 2001 and the
appointment of the new Government in August 2001 affected the whole institutional environment for ICT
development. The project team overcame problems of uncertainty and lack of clarity on the part of
government counterparts by more closely involving business community representatives and international
donor agencies.
Balancing E-readiness assessments play an important role politically, both internally (for politicians) and externally (to
interests attract investment from donors and the private sector). The authors of the e-readiness reports found
themselves in a challenging position to fully describe the existing problems in order to inform policy that
addresses them, while at the same time ensuring that private sector investment in their countries is not
discouraged. Many assessment teams mentioned the tension between the need to present a candid portrayal
of the country's e-readiness while at the same time presenting the country in a favorable light in order to
attract foreign investment.
Some of the assessments that calculated e-readiness scores according to the CID Index appear a little
optimistic, and often the scores do not correlate with the situation as conveyed by the narrative text.
The Romanian assessment team sought to address these concerns by hiring an independent outside
consultant (rather than conducting the work wholly in-house) and combining a variety of independent data
sources (rather than relying on one source only).
4.5 Overall project management and implementation of assessments

Preventing The World Bank has funded e-readiness assessments during recent years through two programs: the infoDev
duplication: flagship e-readiness initiative (studied here) and the country Development Gateway program. InfoDev and the
InfoDev role Development Gateway are two different, separate entities. Although some of the assessments conducted
under the Development Gateway program were designed to specifically assess the feasibility of reaching
sustainability for the gateways themselves, others used methodologies very similar to the broader e-readiness
initiative of infoDev. In some cases, different organizations in the same countries were funded to conduct e-
readiness assessments under each of the World Bank-funded programs at around the same time; and
sometimes the two assessments were so closely aligned that even the country contacts and infoDev personnel
were unclear about the differences in the assessments and reports that were funded, respectively, by infoDev
and the Development Gateway. These include: Pakistan, India, Romania, Uganda, and Tanzania. In the
Kyrgyzstan Republic, the same author received to separate grants (under the Development Gateway and
infoDev e-readiness program, respectively) to compile two similar assessments on e-readiness. So, in effect,
there are cases where the World Bank funded duplicative e-readiness assessments through two separate and
distinct funding mechanisms: the infoDev e-readiness initiative and the Development Gateway.
Building on In the area of e-readiness, where duplication of effort is widespread, it is important that initiatives cite and
what has gone build on previous work. Some assessment teams seem to have done more homework than others to
before: understand and use the e-readiness assessments conducted previously in their country.
homework done
by country Among the assessment teams that cited and built upon previous assessments are Estonia, Panama,
assessment
Philippines and Tanzania. The assessment teams in Jamaica, Kenya, Costa Rica and Belarus were largely
teams
unaware of previous assessment work conducted.
Some reports cited establishing baseline data as an objective of the study, but then compared their results
with other studies, which would indicate that baseline data was already in existence.
Stakeholders in the Tanzania assessment expressed the need for a concrete mechanism that will ensure
continuity and sustainability of the existing efforts in the development of ICT in the country. There was a
call to have continuous needs assessments of ICT in the country because they are dynamic and can change
overnight.
The countries tracking progress towards the eEurope indicators noted that updated reports are required.
The Trinidad and Tobago report's narrow focus added value to the area, even though a government-funded
assessment using the CID Guide was conducted around the same time.
The Bulgarian assessment team collected significant amounts of data, which proved costly and time
consuming. However, the comprehensive data collection was considered by the assessment team to be a
strength of the report, as they felt it reduced the study's dependence on other peoples' work and allowed a
more detailed look at specific areas considered important. However, it is worth noting that there was
overlap between this report and an assessment conducted by Harvard University; both studies used the
same methodology and reports were published around the same time. That the findings are similar is an
indication of the validity of the respective reports, which were conducted independently of one another. Yet
this underlines the fact that while these efforts are all well intentioned, duplication in e-readiness
assessments continues. Bulgaria has been assessed a total of 14 times. The Bulgarian assessment team
reports that it attempted to make contact with the Harvard team that was conducting assessments in the
country around the same time; however, their attempts were unsuccessful. The team felt that infoDev
could play a role in bringing assessment teams together to pool resources and prevent duplication.
Ensuring Implementing the action plan requires that that the drivers and stakeholders in a country's e-readiness
ownership and process have a sense of ownership from the beginning. If actors do not know about or are uninterested in the
getting buy-in assessment, it is unlikely that they will take forward its recommendations and suggestions once the report is
done. For optimal impact, ownership needs to be ensured at three levels:
(i) Country ownership of the assessment reports and processes.

One respondent pointed out that the assessment team had the impression that the report "belongs" to
infoDev. They felt it should rather be "owned" by the country, and that the countries should be empowered
to take control of the work. "It feels like you are writing a report for a boss, and this influences the process
in terms of meeting the deadlines. InfoDev should empower people and countries to own the reports."
Many assessment teams highlighted the fact that the assessment tools provided by infoDev and the
GeoSINC Facilitation Center were not localized, and they were uncertain how to effectively accomplish this
process themselves.
Respondents said that infoDev focused on the way the grant money was spent and did not emphasize the
outputs.
(ii) Ownership of e-readiness process by decision-makers: coordinating and defining roles for driving the e-
readiness agenda. Overall, taking the e-readiness agenda forward relies on government involvement, and the
action plans will remain at a broad, conceptual level until this happens.
The Kenyan consultants experienced difficulties trying to share the findings of the study with the
government officials who commissioned them. They felt that many of the officials viewed the study as "just
another donor-initiated project in which they had no special interest." The report was produced without
government input, and there was no coordinated involvement within government for participation the
assessment. There was an apparent lack of coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry
of Transport and Communications regarding the roles of each in the assessment. Some of the officials
originally responsible for the project had moved on, and responsibility for the project was not handed over.
The assessment team recommended that the report be published and a workshop held to discuss its
findings and chart the way forward. But there appears to be some miscommunication between the
consultants and the government, as one government official reported that a stakeholders' workshop has
already taken place.
(iii) Stakeholder engagement and ownership of report results and processes.

The Romanian working group members were largely passive participants in the research effort, and
although they were consulted from time to time, they were not proactive in offering suggestions or
solutions. As the group did not provide the level of input initially anticipated, more responsibility for
designing the methodology and conducting original research fell to the consultant that was commissioned
for the assessment. However, engaging stakeholders did have other benefits, primarily in taking the results
forward.
Few assessments included civil society stakeholders in the process, notably to the exclusion of youth and
women's organizations.
The Facilitation The Facilitation Center and toolkit proved useful for some of the assessments, although others had already
Center and completed their work before the Center was established and the toolkit available. However, it did serve to link
toolkit many teams with CID’s assessment methodology.
The assessment teams in Belarus, Costa Rica and the Philippines found the Facilitation Center and
GeoSINC's toolkit useful for generating the assessment report and action plan.
The Philippines team found the resources made available by the Center particularly useful when beginning
its research.
The Bulgarian team noted that "the Facilitation Center took a rather long time to be established and was
practically of no help to this project."
The Estonian team indicated that it had "no contact [with the Facilitation Center] during the study. It was
not available during the study or the planning phase."
The Tanzania team referred to the toolkit often, and frequently sought technical advice from the Center.
Project support Country grantees were reticent to comment on the role of infoDev, and five of the 13 country assessments
from infoDev that were case studied did not answer the questions pertaining to the level of funder support beyond grant-
personnel making. One assessment team made critical comments in the responses to the questionnaire but was more
positive during the visits. Given the sensitivities around this issue, the information gleaned from the grantees
is provided here without identification of the source.
Regarding InfoDev's overall support: Five teams found infoDev's overall support was "just right", balanced
between offering support and affording the teams the independence they needed to conduct the process.
One team found infoDev useful at times, but not always available. Two teams reported insufficient support
from infoDev. Some teams noted in particular the usefulness of infoDev guidelines for submitting financial
reports on the grants. Some found communication with infoDev difficult, and said that although they
reported back and tried to engage infoDev, they did not always get a response.
In preparing the report: One team was given a great deal of support from infoDev. Four found infoDev's
support adequate. Three received very little support from infoDev.
In preparing the action plan: Six teams did not answer questions pertaining to infoDev's support in
producing the action plan. Four found infoDev's support adequate. One country got very little support from
infoDev in preparing the action plan. Two teams reported that they received no support whatsoever.
It appears not all of the country teams were aware of infoDev's outlines for generating reports or action
plans. Most respondents did not answer the question about the usefulness of these resources, and others
thought that it referred to outlines for reporting back to infoDev on the grant.
Positive feedback from the country grantees included: The assessment was the basis for developing other
Development Gateway initiatives. InfoDev provided guidelines for preparing financial reports. "They did not
object to the timeline being extended." "Before June 2004 there was good communication and
responsiveness. Feedback was received within two or three days, usually. There was a good partnership
with [infoDev staff members]" "We received valuable information and references for the project, and could
always get hold of the people in charge of helping us when needed, especially [infoDev staff members]."
"InfoDev provided continual feedback by conference calls and email, and made useful suggestions."
Negative feedback from the country grantees included: "Feedback was difficult to receive. They didn't
comment on the reports at all." "After June 2004 we experienced a huge problem with responsiveness,
which had a very negative impact on dissemination. The great potential for this report is wasted because
there was no response from infoDev. [We] did everything by the contract and infoDev dropped the ball."
Other issues of interest to infoDev: One of the grantees was not sure about the activities that infoDev
engages in and supports. Their impression was that infoDev's only activity is to benchmark countries.
Another questioned why infoDev has not used the results of the report in any of their publications. The
study team experienced significant difficulties in obtaining the information and assistance from infoDev
necessary to complete this report.
Disseminating Of the 13 assessments case studied for this study, five (Kenya, Panama, Tanzania, Uganda, Romania) have
results not yet published or disseminated the reports. While the reasons for this vary, the lack of resources is a
common theme.
The Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had to wait before receiving the
official "no objection" from infoDev -- a prerequisite for publication of the report. The assessment was
completed in December 2003, yet the final go-ahead was received only in December 2004. The report
results are now dated, and the assessment team feels that it is too late to disseminate the report as widely
as initially intended.
Although the Kenyan study was conducted in 2001 and the final draft of the report was completed in 2002,
the report is still yet to be published. According to one member of the assessment team, there are no
indications that the report has been used in any way by the government because those involved in the
assessment have moved on, and taken their interest and knowledge about the report with them. During
the study team's country visit, no government officials could be found who knew about the report, and it
was only available in hard copy (it seems that it no longer exists in an electronic version).
The Tanzanian assessment team reported that they are still waiting for the final tranche of funding from
infoDev to support dissemination of the report. As a result, the document has remained largely internal.
Some reports were widely disseminated both in print and via the web, including those of Costa Rica,
Estonia, and the Philippines. Some are available only in print or electronic versions.
While all of the assessment reports case studied are available in English, some are also available in local
languages: the Costa Rica and Panama reports are available in Spanish, while the Estonia report was
translated into Russian.
Critically None of the country assessments projects were evaluated independently, and none carried out internal
evaluating evaluations or impact assessments. However, through this study, infoDev has submitted itself to an
efforts and independent review that critically examines its efforts and those of its grantees. This document serves as a
reporting back
report back to infoDev's clients (the grantees) and funders.
to clients and
funders
Stakeholder involvement and ownership. When asked about the key factors needed to make an e-readiness assessment
successful, the Kenyan assessment team highlighted the importance of stakeholder involvement and ownership of the process.
One member of the assessment team said, "Involving more stakeholders in the processes around conducting and compiling the
assessments would mean more extensive ownership of the reports, findings and recommendations. It also lessens the likelihood
of reports disappearing from institutional memories as individuals move on to other posts and jobs."
5 Analysis and discussion

As noted in the description of this study provided in Section 3, bridges.org shaped its analysis
of the infoDev e-readiness program using its Real Access/Real Impact framework. This
provided a structure for comparison of the various assessment reports, and helped launch the
thinking about how to align e-readiness approaches with socio-economic development goals.
The broad, holistic framework served as a mechanism to study what has and has not been
measured by the assessments, specifically with development goals in mind.
However, it should be noted that when the assessment teams embarked on their work, there
was no stated objective for them to consider development goals specifically. Nor did the
infoDev initiative itself set up any criteria for (or against) a specific methodology. It is only in
retrospect that the need to link e-readiness with development has been identified.
Nonetheless, this study endeavors to gauge whether these assessments can be used to help
countries integrate ICT into social and economic development activities. This discussion and
analysis is not intended to criticize grantees for failing to achieve something that they never
planned to do. However, looking at the assessments through the lens of the Real Access
criteria is a means of critiquing what has been done in the infoDev program, with an aim to
identify opportunities for using ICT to make a Real Impact on people's lives and help
developing countries put ICT to use to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
5.1 Use of e-readiness assessments: content and measurements

Although GeoSINC International established a Facilitation Centre and produced documents to
guide the grantees in their e-readiness assessments, grantees were given complete discretion
in choosing and using assessment methodologies, and presenting the results. As a result, the
infoDev-supported assessment reports range widely in terms of content, focus and
presentation. Each defined e-readiness differently, making country comparisons difficult.
Although most assessments were based on the same underlying methodology (the Harvard
CID Guide) the tool is highly open to interpretation and was therefore applied in different
ways by each assessment team. In addition, most altered and added to the tool in different
ways, to better fit local contexts and priorities, so the kinds of measurements obtained vary
significantly. Furthermore, the sources of data differ considerably in terms of quality,
relevance, and how current they were, and many teams noted that data for certain indicators
could not be obtained.
Each report was presented in a unique way. Some were written as a narrative, focusing on
the political climate and history behind developments in ICT. Others presented statistics on
ICT indicators, but did not give insight into the implications for society. Some reports
provided commentary throughout, while others only gave analysis at the end; a few failed to
draw any conclusions from the findings presented. Reports generally described what ICT is
available -- sometimes within a limited context, such as e-commerce -- but they generally
failed to illustrate the extent to which ICT is not available in local settings. No assessments
measured the impact (or gauge the potential impact) of ICT.
Some reports were more critical than others of the government's role in fostering (or
hindering) the use of technology and development of ICT infrastructure. This seems to be
connected to the degree to which governments were involved in producing the assessments.
In general, the countries conducted e-readiness assessments to inform policy, collect baseline
statistics, promote the country, and improve e-readiness in certain sectors. A few mentioned
the specific goal of collecting data to compare themselves to other countries (for example, to
measure their position against EU Guidelines and in comparison to other countries that seek
to join the EU). This may explain why a few reports seem somewhat optimistic in the way
they score and describe the country's e-readiness.
In terms of whether and how countries have achieved Real Access to ICT, the reports
measured the following:
Physical access to ICT: Most assessments gauged fixed-line and mobile teledensity, and
Internet access, but other ICT infrastructure was looked at less intensely. However,
sometimes even the most basic indicators do not give a full view on the real local situation
affecting the availability of ICT. For example, Africa's "cell phone revolution" is widely
celebrated because penetration is high, yet the majority of people cannot afford to make a
call.14 And again, each assessment measured even basic indicators in different ways, so
country comparison is difficult if not impossible.
Appropriateness of ICT: Only a few assessments considered whether the ICT that is
available is appropriate to local conditions, or which ICT might be most appropriate for future
rollout. Most e-readiness approaches were too broad to assess appropriate technologies in
specific contexts. Exceptions include those assessments that conducted case studies on
certain industries or areas (such as banking or mobile services), where they looked in-depth
at specific contexts, and recommended appropriate technologies (such as wireless or cable
Internet access) for reaching particular goals.
Affordability of ICT in the local context: Despite significant variations in local economic
conditions and prices, all assessments found that most ICT access and use is prohibitively
expensive for the majority of people and organizations. Many country reports cited cost as
the greatest obstacle to widespread access and use of ICT.
ICT capacity and training: Overall the assessments treated the use of ICT in education as a
critical issue; however, few reports covered the sector thoroughly. Most looked at how many
schools have computers and Internet access, and the general conclusion is that numbers are
too low. Only a few assessments considered the computer skills of teachers, the use of ICT in
higher education, or university degree programs offering ICT training, and again the general
conclusion is that numbers are too low. While some reports included information on available
training opportunities, almost none provided critical analysis of their effectiveness, or detailed
how ICT is integrated into learning programs. Few assessments considered the country's
literacy levels or the education system as a whole, or the impact these have on ICT uptake.
Availability of locally relevant content and services: Some assessments looked at the
numbers of locally produced and/or hosted websites and a few looked at language. Although
most were biased in their focus on web-based content, exceptions looked at the availability
and use of content communicated via other, more ubiquitous, ICT-based media. Most of the
assessments covered e-commerce and e-government services. Fewer considered other
content and services critical for social development goals, such as e-health or e-learning.
Although many assessments identified the need for more locally relevant content and
services, only a minority suggested the means for improving the situation.
Integration of ICT into peoples’ lives: Very few reports looked at how ICT was integrated
into people's lives, whether the use of ICT was an additional burden (such as the need to
travel long distances to access telecentre services), or whether it reduced a burden (for
example by improving work efficiencies). A few assessments explored how and why people
used ICT in their daily lives (such as email for corresponding with family) or work.
14
Many people maintain only the minimal service so they can receive calls on their cell phones (which costs nothing).
Calls are generally made at public pay phones.
Socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use: Inequalities in ICT access and use throughout
society were considered by most assessments, albeit in varying degrees of detail. A few
assessments considered socio-cultural factors that affect ICT access and use, specifically
looking at geography, age, gender and economic status. One action plan included promoting
the use of ICT by disabled persons. Those that compared the e-readiness of rural and urban
areas found evidence of internal digital divides. Similarly, every assessment that looked at
age found that young people are far more prolific users of ICT (although most looked at
Internet access only). The findings on access to ICT by gender varied between countries.
Legal and regulatory environment for ICT use: All assessments considered the
liberalization of telecommunications an important issue, and concluded that liberalizing this
sector helped (or would help) to reduce telecommunications costs. Some also considered
whether a national e-strategy or ICT policy was in place, and looked at the role of an
independent regulator. Others commented on areas where ICT policies are generally lacking,
notably related to e-commerce, privacy, security and intellectual property. Only a few reports
gave a comprehensive overview of the legal frameworks affecting the use of ICT.
Security and peoples' trust in ICT: People will not embrace the use of ICT if they do not
trust it in terms of privacy, data protection, information security, or cybercrime. Few
assessments considered whether people trust ICT or how user confidence affects ICT use in
the country. Those that did looked predominantly at e-commerce transactions, including
notably consumer protection issues. Some countries indicated that they intend to investigate
e-justice and cybercrime issues, which could be considered an outcome of the assessment,
but it was not actually considered as part of the assessment. Issues around political
corruption, transparency, and democracy were considered by a few reports.
Use of ICT in business: All of the assessments looked at the access to and use of ICT in
business to some extent. One country focused solely on SMEs. Another looked exclusively at
electronic payments in the financial sector, with a strong focus on banks. Others indicated
that they intend to look in more detail at SMEs, and some have already started. They looked
at how many businesses are using computers and the Internet; the number of local
businesses with websites; e-commerce; hardware and software development and the local
ICT sector, but none measured whether or how ICT affects businesses' efficiency or
productivity.
Macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use: Some reports considered

macroeconomic factors, covering issues such as competitiveness rankings with other
countries, the contribution of the ICT sector to GDP, expenditure on ICT and R&D, ICT
creating and/or replacing jobs, export of ICT-related products and services, and state, civil
society and private sector partnerships. The ICT industry, investment environment, and
taxation issues were examined in some reports. A few reports offered ideas for promoting the
acquisition of ICT by government.
Government's role in driving e-readiness: Governments were usually involved in the

assessments, and most of the reports described the governments' active involvement and
political will in this area. Very few reports provided statistics for actual government
expenditure on ICT. Some assessments mentioned or provided summaries of major public-
initiated and/or funded initiatives, while others made suggestions for establishing them. Very
few critically analyzed the impact of already existing government initiatives. All of the
assessments that mentioned public-private partnerships appeared to be in agreement about
their benefits.
Opportunities for improving content and measurements in e-readiness assessments

⇒ Provide more information on assessment tools and how to use them
comprehensively within the local context. Many assessment teams noted a need for
more in-depth discussion of the available assessment tools and explanations of how they
can be adjusted to fit local environments. The e-readiness section of infoDev's website
only provides a starting point, and many mentioned that more references with links to
previous assessments done in grantee countries would help them to maximize the value
of the e-readiness process.
⇒ Focus on ICT as a development tool. Orienting e-readiness approaches with more
focus on ICT as a development tool would help shape the content of assessments, to take
them beyond mere data collection and deliver results targeted to concrete development
goals. Some assessment teams highlighted the need for more direction to help move the
conversation beyond talk of acquiring computers to a discussion of how ICT can be used
for development. Filling in gaps in the e-readiness measures most commonly used could
help. Many important measures are frequently ignored, such as appropriateness of ICT in
local contexts or public support for ICT use. For example, given the constraints to
widespread Internet access, collecting data on more ubiquitous communications
technologies (such as television and radio) would provide a base to illustrate how ICT can
be used for development.
⇒ Measure ICT use and impact. Countries seek to increase the use of ICT by people and
organizations in order to gain concrete benefits for the country. It follows that e-readiness
assessments must look beyond the availability of ICT and measure its use and impact at a
more granular level.
⇒ Treat economic and social goals as interdependent. Too often economic and social
goals are treated as separate issues. But economic-oriented goals are affected by and
must take into account more traditional social goals like health or literacy. Similarly, social
goals must incorporate business growth and the use of ICT as part of a larger vision,
towards broader benefits for people. Education is an excellent example of an issue that
affects all areas. Education is central to the development of e-ready human capital, which
is in turn an integral part of the growth of the local business sector and the
implementation of programs at ground-level. It is also a critical factor at the macro-
economic level, for instance where it influences investment decisions in developing
countries.
⇒ Use standard measurements and ICT indicators to make comparison possible.
Country comparisons are cited as a key value-add of e-readiness assessments, but the
comparability of assessments requires the use of consistent and more stringent
measurements. For comparison, the same methodology needs to be used by each
country, and indicators need to be standardized. But it is also important to find a balance
between the harmonization of indicators and respect for local differences, so that country-
specific context and nuance can come through in the results. For example, to get a real
view of cost comparisons in the local context, prices must be evaluated against GDP or
average income. The UN and ITU processes underway to develop standard ICT indicators
could provide valuable leadership in this area, especially if they do not duplicate or
contradict each other.
⇒ Refine and standardize data collection processes for benchmarking. Tracking
countries' progress over time is also often cited as a value-add of e-readiness
assessment. However, it requires reliable assessment replication and most studies are not
conducted with sufficient precision to allow them to be replicated to obtain comparable
results. If the aim is to benchmark, then this should drive the assessment at all levels --
from methodology and indicator design, to data collection and presentation of findings.
However, any such effort should also be sure to take into account the large number of
benchmarking activities already underway in the e-readiness arena to ensure there is no

duplication.
⇒ Leave benchmarking to the benchmarkers and focus on deeper analysis. The
competitiveness rankings of progress on broad e-readiness indicators are useful, but need
not be duplicated by various assessment efforts. Especially since looking at broad
statistics is only useful for benchmarking, and analysis of the underlying issues is needed
to fully understand the results of e-readiness assessments. For example, it would have
been beneficial to explore the reasons behind why people do not use the Internet; the
causes are likely to be different in each country, and each requires targeted strategies.
⇒ Create national clearinghouse databases of all available data. Data should be freely
and easily available to access and use. The data collected for these assessments, as well
as related efforts, needs to be made publicly available for future endeavors that require
such information. This would go far toward preventing expensive duplicative data
collection, as well as enable baseline comparisons.
5.2 Usefulness of e-readiness assessments: outputs and benefits

The significant effort and resources expended in conducting e-readiness assessments is only
worth it if the e-readiness process leads directly to concrete positive change in the country.
But little information about the real impact of e-readiness assessments is available. InfoDev’s
e-readiness initiative has generated a number of assessment reports (a few are still draft
versions, yet to be published), some of which led to action plans. But overall, the reports
have not been used enough. There is a risk that these e-readiness assessments will have little
or no impact in the countries, and that much of the work will not translate into much beyond
bound reports gathering dust in bookshelves.
Although most assessments provided some level of action plan, however loosely defined, only
a few were comprehensive. Most provided high-level recommendations without specific next
steps for action. Thus, while assessments promoted an understanding of ICT-related issues in
the country, in many cases there was no clear path outlined for taking it to the next stage.
Reasons given for this shortcoming include limited time and resources, and a lack of
government participation. The action plans that proved to be most useful tended to have
strong government engagement, and frequently they focused on one specific aspect of e-
readiness.
Nevertheless, in many cases the e-readiness assessments provided networking opportunities

for experts and institutions that led to beneficial connections between stakeholders. Some
assessments formed a foundation for further research. Some assessment processes served to
raise public awareness of the status of ICT in the country and the opportunities it can afford.
Some of the assessment reports were used to inform policy-making processes, meetings, and
conferences. However, it is difficult to judge whether the assessments led directly to changes
in ICT policy, as it is impossible to know whether some of the recommendations would have
been realized even without the assessment. The fact that most assessments were conducted
about two years ago means that some findings seem outdated; for example, many reports
highlight the problems of fixed-line telephony and benefits of wireless as new issues, but
these points are largely taken for granted now. But because policy-making is a slow and
complex process, the impact of many of the assessment processes analyzed in this study may
yet come to bear fruit.
Opportunities for improving outputs and benefits from e-readiness assessments

⇒ Provide guidance on how to influence change. Some of the infoDev-supported
grantees felt that information on ICT-related development in other countries would have
helped them make better use of the assessment outputs. Best practice examples outlining
how assessments were used to influence policy change in other country contexts, and
describing how action plans were implemented, would be useful learning tools for
governments with less experience in the field.
⇒ Treat the assessment and action plans as a starting point. Assessment efforts are
useful only when they lead to action plans and then implementation. It is this follow-on
stage which has real impact on the ground, and it is in implementation that developing
countries need most support from donors. The way the infoDev e-readiness program was
set up and grantee funding managed put the focus on the assessment and its output as
the end point, as opposed to a focus on broader outcomes that benefit society where the
assessment and action plan is seen as a starting point. The implementation of e-strategies
and action plans should also be monitored over time.
⇒ Do not proceed without government involvement and commitment. The most
comprehensive set of detailed recommendations, with realistic timelines and specific task
allocations, will go nowhere if there is not sufficient political will in government to commit
to implementing the strategy. The action plan must be developed with government
involvement and buy-in, to ensure the commitment of resources (financial and other) to
take it forward.
⇒ Ensure ownership of the process by key decision-makers and champions. The
involvement of a local champion with the power to make decisions and drive change is key
to moving an e-readiness process beyond talk to concrete action. If governments feel
disenfranchised by top-down projects that are viewed as just another donor-funded
initiative, assessments are doomed to failure. The person who takes ownership of the
process and responsibility for implementing the recommendations should be in a position
to assign tasks and timeframes.
⇒ Focus action plans on a particular sector. Focusing on a particular sector (such as
government, health, education, banking, SMEs) facilitates a heightened level of detail, and
the development of practical and context-specific action plans. Broad recommendations do
not work. The more focused on a particular sector that an assessment is, the more likely it
is to provide insight and direction that will be followed up with concrete steps.
⇒ Set out action plans with specific tasks and timeframes. It is important that the key
impediments to desired change are identified, along with the key groups, institutions and
tools that can best enable this change. Timetables, allocated responsibilities and
accountabilities need to be built into any action plan that is hoping to have an impact on
the MDGs.
5.3 The assessment process: management and implementation

The wide range in quality of the infoDev-supported assessments could be put down to the
experience of the assessment teams; but it also seems to be related in large part to the
varying levels of effectiveness of project management and implementation across the
program as a whole. While best practice principles for e-readiness assessments are widely
available, they could have been put to better use to inform the roll-out of this initiative. This
is evident at all levels of the e-readiness assessment process and the overall program itself --
from the organizations conducting the assessments, to the grantees and infoDev. Notably,
there was more duplication of effort than there should have been. Some assessments cited
and built on previous work, but in most cases the assessment teams were largely unaware of
other e-readiness assessments that had been (or were being) conducted in their country.
Some assessment teams put considerable time, energy and resources into adapting and
applying the assessment tools effectively. Although infoDev provided support and resources
through the Facilitation Centre, some of the assessment teams and participating governments
found it hard work to adapt the (somewhat intimidating) assessment tools to meet the needs
of their specific local context. Finding the balance between affording grantees independence
in the assessment process and providing sufficient support proved to be a challenge for
infoDev. Some had an impression that infoDev's approach was somewhat "top-heavy" and
rather paternalistic. On the other hand, country assessment teams were given carte blanche
regarding their choice of methodology and direction for the assessments, as well as the
processes around report compilation. Yet some of the teams would have welcomed more
support from infoDev.
Communication between infoDev, the governments and other grantees, the assessment
teams, and stakeholders broke down frequently, and at various levels. Some assessment
teams reported miscommunication between government and the grantee, which translated
into a lack of clarity about objectives and tasks. The teams reported difficulties in engaging
government officials and navigating government bureaucracy, which could indicate a lack of
understanding on the part of government itself as to the relevance of e-readiness and what
could be gained from the assessment. There were some complaints about difficulties in
communicating with infoDev personnel, who were unresponsive at various points during the
program.
A lack of institutional memory was a problem both at the country level, where government
officials left their jobs and took all knowledge of the assessment with them, as well as at
infoDev, where staff turnover also resulted in shortcomings of institutional knowledge about
the program and grantees. InfoDev has not closely followed the outcomes of the
assessments, and some countries claim they are still waiting for comments and input from
infoDev, including a few grantees which reported that they are still waiting for funding from
infoDev in order to publish their reports. The grantees and assessment teams gave mixed
feedback on the support provided by infoDev. Some assessment teams found that the grant
funding was insufficient to conduct the study as thoroughly as was needed.
Opportunities for improving project management and implementation

⇒ Provide more detailed guidelines on processes. More "how-to" resources would be
useful, with further detail about available assessment tools and the best way to use them,
as well as information about what has worked best for other countries. The infoDev-
supported assessment teams indicated that guidelines on practical steps were needed,
such as how to develop stakeholder networks to gain wider participation in the e-
readiness process.
⇒ Strike a balance between providing sufficient support and affording
independence in the process. If assessments and action plans are not designed,
created and carried out by countries themselves, the likelihood for effective follow-up is
questionable. However, if countries lack sufficient expertise and experience to draft
effective strategies, it is important that they have the opportunity to work with and learn
from those who can help. Some of the infoDev-supported assessments teams would have
clearly benefited from more assistance; a lack of clear goals and methodologies, and poor
report presentation limited the effect of the assessment.
⇒ Institutionalize knowledge about the e-readiness processes. The knowledge about
e-readiness grants, obligations, and deliverables should be institutionalized within the
responsible government departments or organizations. Institutionalizing the knowledge
will help to avoid cases where a single person has responsibility for the entire process, and
if they leave the job the project stalls. For example, new staff members need to be
informed about institutional responsibilities with respect to grants, and there should be
formal processes for storing reports and other outputs so they do not get lost in the
bureaucracy.
⇒ No matter how enticing the opportunity, do not duplicate. A commitment to aligning
efforts, building on previous work and collaborating where work is duplicative is essential
for e-readiness efforts to be worthwhile. Doing homework and linking up with
organizations and teams conducting similar work is key for preventing duplication, sharing
resources, and promoting more comprehensive assessments. Regional organizations
should provide leadership and coordination, and promote standardization.
⇒ Communicate, communicate, communicate with funders and clients. Better
communication among the grantees, their stakeholder groups, the assessment teams,
infoDev personnel, and the Facilitation Center would have gone a long way toward
addressing almost all of the project management and implementation problems
encountered as part of the infoDev e-readiness assessment initiative.
⇒ Target funding more directly to country project needs. Considering the wide range
in quality, use, and usefulness of the various assessments, it appears that some grantees
had more money than they really needed, while others indicated that they were limited in
what they could deliver because the grant was insufficient for their project needs. Funding
should be weighted according to the local context and the detailed plans set out in the
project proposal, both covering the assessment and the intended follow-up.
5.4 Linking e-readiness strategies and the MDGs: opportunities and obstacles
The infoDev-supported e-readiness assessments in and of themselves were insufficient to
target the use of ICT toward broader development goals, much less the MDGs specifically.
However, that was not a stated objective of the e-readiness initiative for either infoDev or the
assessment teams. Nonetheless, this case study analysis has formed a useful basis for
exploring whether -– and if so, how -– e-readiness can be harnessed for reaching the MDGs.
It is obvious that ICT needs to be integrated into efforts working towards the MDGs. And
recently that has been said again and again by a lot of smart people: every major
development aid organization, many civil society organizations, and some governments have
chimed in, especially leading up to the second phase of WSIS. The bottom line is that the
digital divide is not the point, progress towards socio-economic development is. ICT has real
impact only when it is addressing direct need. Countries need to assess and plan to become
e-ready to integrate ICT into solutions for healthcare, and to integrate ICT into plans for
education. The MDGs provide targets and indicators for some of the most important socio-
economic issues, and are thus a useful focus for efforts harnessing ICT.
Are the MDGs the best goals for e-readiness? It depends on the country and the context. The
MDGs were not seen as relevant to all of the countries that conducted assessments under this
initiative. For some countries, reaching the MDGs seems a distant and, in some cases,
impossible aspiration. For others, such as those with developed or emerging economies, they
are no longer priorities. The point is that e-readiness efforts should be informed by a
country's national development goals, and should have a strong focus on poverty alleviation
and socio-economic development.
Moreover, e-strategies that directly address the MDGs with realistic steps are more likely to
garner widespread support. While not everyone understands and agrees on the importance of
spending public money on ICT; a plan that clearly illustrates the use of ICT in addressing
poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, education and environmental sustainability would be more likely
to be welcomed.
Opportunities for expanding the relevance of e-readiness assessments and action plans to the
MDGs
⇒ Begin with the Goals. There should be no more assessment for assessment's sake. A
broader philosophy needs to be adopted, with a plan for what is to be achieved in the long
term. The first step should be to look at obstacles to MDGs, and then to determine how
information and communications, and effective ICT use, could help overcome them.
Assessing where the country is in terms of ICT-enabled development should be followed
with a strategy for integrating ICT into broader development programs, in a sustainable
way. Time and money should only be spent on ICT assessments and strategies when
integrated with these concrete development targets.
⇒ Link e-readiness indicators with development goals. There is evidently a need for an
assessment tool that goes beyond measuring e-readiness, to gauge the impact that being
e-ready is having on development goals. Work in this area should build on and leverage
the lessons learned from e-readiness. Some countries asked for more research on
demonstrated impact of ICT, but assessment teams need guidelines for harnessing ICT for
supporting "real" objectives, such as economic growth or better education. The focus
needs to be on the goals as opposed to the technologies so that implementation is use-
driven, as opposed to technology-driven.
⇒ Be context specific and think local. Every developing and emerging country is unique,
with its own distinctive set of challenges, needs, resources, and priorities. While the MDGs
are certainly useful targets for many countries, their relevance is not absolute. The
usefulness of assessing and improving e-readiness depends heavily on the economic,
social and institutional structures in which ICT use and development goals are embedded.
In order to ensure relevance, tapping ICT to tackle the MDGs must leverage local actors,
local content, and locally-identified initiatives and priorities.
⇒ Incorporate ICT approaches into sector-specific national policies (like health and
education). ICT-based approaches should be incorporated into the full range of sector-
specific national policies, from health, education and agriculture, to innovation and
research and development.
⇒ Focus at the level of microeconomics, as well as the macro. The focus and support
of science, technology and innovation policies in advanced industrialized countries has
been through micro-level approaches. By contrast, macroeconomic policy predominates in
the developing world, but this should change. A reorientation to appropriate technology
that can be used effectively in developing country contexts requires a paradigm shift. A
micro-level approach to ICT rollout -- with a focus on small, local, cheap and simple ICT
used at ground level -- is needed to make technology really work for concrete
development goals.
⇒ Emphasize regional cooperation and integration needs. Used effectively, ICT could
have substantial impact on regional cooperation and integration. By improving intra-
institutional communication, ICT can promote trade, financial cooperation and efficiency in
key sectors such as agriculture and education, by increasing a region's collective
bargaining positions, introducing compatible standards, and attracting investment.
⇒ Address negative effects ICT integration may have. While ICT offers phenomenal
advantages, its integration cannot be assumed to be universally positive for development.
Despite the hopeful signs that ICT will help with job creation, ICT can also cause job loss
through obsolescence, automation and disintermediation. It is important that e-strategies
balance these kinds of negative effects, for example by making provision for skills training
for those facing unemployment. None of the MDGs can be achieved if people cannot work
for a living. This highlights the role of companies in creating jobs.
⇒ Be realistic. Although the MDGs set ambitious targets, every national strategy should
clearly define targets that are within the country’s reach, and understand where
international support is required.
6 Concluding remarks
The last decade has seen growing awareness and hope about the potential that ICT can have
for development. Looking back at the plethora of activities in the field –- numerous policies,
ground-level initiatives, a World Summit and 1,506 e-readiness assessments later –- there is
insufficient hard evidence indicating the extent to which these efforts have had significant
impact on development. Anecdotal evidence abounds, the theory makes sense, and some
peoples’ lives and countries’ economies certainly have been changed by ICT. But have the
massive inputs actually been worthwhile in transforming the lives of those who need it most?
Most countries’ e-readiness has been assessed more than enough times; many have more
than one action plan or e-strategy, and these disparate and disconnected efforts are
duplicating each other and diluting impact. For e-readiness assessments to have an effect on
countries' socio-economic development, they need to be useful, and they need to be used.
But if ICT-driven efforts are actually going to improve a country's e-readiness, they need to
move to specifics. Strategic recommendations need to be broken down into specific
achievable task lists, with timeframes and deliverables.
It is time to stop identifying gaps and setting priorities at a high level. Anyone working in ICT
and development in the country will already know these things, and it is a waste of time and
money to keep writing papers and holding conferences that do these same things over and
over again. If e-readiness assessment is going to remain useful as a tool, it needs to become
far more focused and action-oriented. Action plans that say "capacity in ICT needs to be built
in year X by the Government and the Private sector" are essentially useless. Especially when
the plans have been drawn up by consultants without any input or buy-in from
representatives of the government or private sector in the country concerned.
The link between ICT and the MDGs translates meaningfully into the e-readiness arena. While
being e-ready is certainly desirable, the question "e-ready for what?" hangs in the air. The
MDGs provide much-needed compass points for e-readiness assessment efforts. Can
assessments be used to help countries get e-ready to tackle the MDGs? Yes. Concerns need
to move on from "how much bandwidth?" to "how much bandwidth is needed for remote
diagnosis to reduce child mortality?"
Socio-economic development goals such as the MDGs, rather than ICT infrastructure metrics,
should be adopted as targets to drive real change. And ICT development initiatives should
broaden the perspective of their efforts. Let us move on from the assumption that the digital
divide is the problem and that the best way to promote widespread access to ICT is to begin
with an e-readiness assessment. Looking through the lens of the MDGs and the Real Access /
Real Impact framework, practitioners seeking to harness ICT for development need to ask the
following questions:
(i) What are the problems?

(ii) What are the best ways to address them?
(iii) Can ICT play a part?
The ultimate measure of the value and impact of ICT is the difference it makes to the great
majority of people in developing countries who are living in poverty. The responsiveness of
government institutions, reduced disease and illiteracy, and gender equity are important
achievements to which the creative application of ICT can contribute. An approach based on
the Real Access criteria ensures that research, policy and ground-level initiatives harness ICT
in the best ways. It provides answers to the question of how to leverage ICT in working
towards the MDGs.
Moving on from traditional understandings of "e-readiness", assessment tools similarly need

to reflect a broader understanding of the complex, inter-related processes that result in
poverty, hunger, inequity and the digital divide. While e-readiness assessments and action
plans or e-strategies can provide a useful framework for informing and guiding efforts
focusing on ICT, the focus needs to be on expanding and mainstreaming ICT concerns and
opportunities across development. There should be no more assessment for assessment's
sake, and practitioners need to adopt a broader philosophy, and have a plan for what they
want to achieve in long-term.
InfoDev is in a good position to build upon the lessons learned through their e-readiness
flagship initiative. Their work involving e-readiness assessments and e-strategies needs to
incorporate elements that enabling developing countries to reach the MDGs.
There is a lot to be done, a lot of change and learning to be assimilated, and many
opportunities to be explored and embraced. It is important that we build upon previous work
and draw together current efforts in the field of e-readiness. And then we can begin to work
towards becoming e-ready for reaching the MDGs.
Annex 1. Case studies on grantee countries’ e-readiness

assessment processes
Thirteen case studies were drafted on the e-readiness assessment processes of the following
infoDev grantees: Belarus, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Estonia, Jamaica, Kenya, Panama,
Philippines, Romania, Russia, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda. Each of these case
studies is presented below.
Case study: Belarus

ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness Assessments in the Republic of
Belarus
I Overview
Date
The report was published in May 2003.
Authors
The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus authored this report with support from infoDev,
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the Belarusian
Information Fund.
Abstract
The report was drawn up to provide background information for the Government's national
action plan for information and communications technology (ICT). It shows that the cost of
Internet access in Belarus is prohibitive to the point of limiting the role that ICT plays in the
economy and society, and recommends that the state owned telecommunications company
be privatized. It argues this will bring down the cost of access and ensure that the poor state
of telecommunications infrastructure is upgraded (the second major barrier to connectivity).
The report is concise, thorough and based on a clear interpretation of e-readiness. It has had
significant impact on the State program on ICT. However, while it provides an excellent
overview of the problems faced by Belarus during its move towards e-readiness, it neglects to
examine the use of ICT in society in depth, and lacks a clear link with broader development
goals.
II Report summary
Rationale
The assessment aims to evaluate Belarus' "information infrastructure development and
readiness to integrate to the networked world." The study seeks to comprehensively assess
the Belarusian community's advancement in critical fields of ICT use, and to identify relevant
applications, as well as "weak points". The assessment team aims to consider e-readiness
within the context of strategic planning.
The assessment also serves as a basis for developing the National Action Plan for introducing
modern ICT solutions aimed at fostering socio-economic development of Belarus, and as a
guide for national and international organizations in the area of e-development.
Methodology
The assessment methodology is based mainly on Harvard University's Center for International
Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A guide for developing countries.
Additional data was collected and analyzed according to the Networked Readiness Index
(NRI) from the Global Information Technology (IT) Report, 2001-2002. A survey collected
data for indicators approved by the eEurope15 program. Additional data was gathered from
various sources, including an on-line poll, and questionnaires from representatives of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) working on issues of the information society, higher
education and training institutions, education departments, Internet service providers (ISPs),
and state administration bodies. To calculate the local NRI, data from a variety of sources
was combined, including the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
and the Business Software Alliance; completed questionnaires from the participants of the
Belarus Internet Forum, and Belarusian experts.
Key findings and recommendations

The defined NRI is 3.19, which ranks Belarus at 61 out of 76 countries according to the Global
IT Report.
CID Rankings
Network access: 2.4
Networked learning: 2.76
Networked society: 2.44
Networked economy: 1.97
Networked policy: 1.91
Measuring physical access to ICT

• The capital of the country (20% of the population) has reached the third stage, whereas
the regions and other areas are to be found in the second stage.
• Teledensity amounts to 30.44 main lines per 100 people (30.44%), while mobile wireless
penetration amounts only to 4.3%.
• Subscriptions of leased cable television services are not widespread at all.
• There is an urban/rural digital divide. For instance, in 2002, the number of main telephone
lines per 100 residents in urban Belarus was 35.8, while the corresponding figure for rural
areas was a mere 19.9.
• Minsk, the capital of Belarus where 20% of the population resides, has reached the third
stage of network access (based on the NRI), while other regions are at the second stage.
• The State needs to provide public access to the Internet.
Considering whether ICT is appropriate to local conditions

• 74.2% of 489 respondents to an online opinion poll asking, "Are you pleased with the
speed of your Internet connection?" answered "no".
• A range of alternative access technologies, including wireless, satellite and cable modem
(including integrated services digital network (ISDN) and asymmetric digital subscriber
line ADSL) hold promise for leapfrogging infrastructure deficiencies and should be
promoted.
Gauging the affordability of ICT in the local context

• 60% of the Belarusian community say the high rates for local telephone calls is high
enough (in respect to the average salary) to discourage extensive Internet use via local
ISPs, even among those who can afford Internet access.
15
The eEurope program has the intention to make the European Union a dynamic knowledge-based economy with
improved employment and social cohesion by 2010. For more information see: http://www.e-europestandards.org/
Determining whether ICT capacity and training is available

• The average Network Learning Component Index (according to the NRI methodology) is
2.76, although higher education institutions have reached the third level of e-readiness
development, while most schools are at the second level.
• 75.8% of schools are equipped with computers, but 57.3% of these are outdated and -- in
light of insufficient state budgets -- the Ministry of Education has appealed to the public to
provide funding for upgrades.
• Higher Education institutions are equipped enough to provide for "shift-by-shift training/
work"16.
• At 60.3% of secondary schools, teachers' e-literacy is confined to basic computer use.
• Opportunities for training in ICT skills development are limited.
• There is a dearth of ICT personnel, particularly programmers and ICT managers, and
"brain drain" is a problem due to low salaries.
• The Government should support innovative projects, and prospective domestic research
work and ICT developments.
Checking availability of locally relevant content and services

• Internet traffic ratio: 20% of Belarus Internet content is locally produced, while 80%
comes from abroad.
• 95% of the sites registered with the Belarusian network are in Russian, while 10% are in
Belarusian and 15 % are bilingual17.
• Although there are 219 "electronic shops" (200 in Minsk and 19 in other regions), it is
impossible to use credit cards or debit cards for payments.
• Belarus' e-government index (based on the NRI framework) is rated at 1.61, while that for
Minsk is 2.115.
• Although an e-Belarus Government website holds a great deal of information, the study
found no evidence of online interaction or mediation between citizens and government.
• Local networked information resources need to be developed.
Considering socio-cultural factors that affect ICT use

• 15% of the Belarusian adult population uses the Internet.
• The Belarusian elite use the Internet 6 times more than the general public.
• In terms of the Networked Society Index (part of the NRI framework), Minsk has reached
the third stage, while other regions are at the second.
Examining the legal and regulatory environment for ICT use

• Belarus is rated only at the first level of Networked Policy in the NRI.
• Beltelecom, part of the Ministry of Communications, is the only provider of Internet
communications beside academic ISP BASNET.
• Although the Ministry of Communications declared intentions to implement policy aimed at
liberalization of the telecommunications sector, there has been no action in this regard,
and Beltelecom remains a monopoly. The report maintains that "the Ministry…is interested
in restraining competitiveness", and recommends that Beltelecom should be privatized.
• While the legal basis for electronic business is being developed, with the law of electronic
documents and digital signatures adopted in 2000, the limited circulation of electronic
documents is precluding Belarus' e-commerce opportunities.
Looking at the use of ICT in business

• There are generally fewer than two domain names per 1000 inhabitants registered by
local businesses and institutions.
• Few offices have computers that are networked for internal file sharing and basic
16
This phrase is not explained in the report.
17
Although this adds up to 120%, the anomaly is not addressed in the report.
enterprise applications.
• 55% of Belarusian banks do not have a website, while 33% have websites that provide
information only. Only 4% of Belarusian banks are at the transactional level of Internet
banking.
• Business to business (B2B) e-commerce is largely rated as being at the second level of the
B2B e-commerce Index (part of the NRI).
Understanding the macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use

• Conditions need to be created for promoting the domestic high tech sector to enter world
markets.
• Foreign direct investment needs to be attracted for improving infrastructure and producing
ICT for export.
Gauging the government's and other stakeholders' political will to drive change
• The report claims that the Belarusian Government has an ambivalent attitude towards the
Internet, and that the Ministry of Communication maintains archaic regulations that
hamper the development of the Internet.
• The report recommends that the Ministry of Communications should be re-structured and
re-organized.
Outcomes
The assessment team produced an action plan following the assessment. The plan includes a
summary of sub-programs, including creating a sectoral business portal, ICT-competence
center, technology software development center and specialized IT-business incubator.
Although the e-Belarus State program -- The Republic of Belarus-headed Electronic Belarus
(e-Belarus) -- was adopted by the Government before the assessment report was published
(December 2002), it was informed by the draft assessment report data.
The assessment laid the ground for subsequent work in the area, including a comprehensive
map of Belarus showing a detailed description of its ICT potential. There are plans for
publishing a book: Digital Divide in Belarus and How to Bridge it, based on the e-readiness
report and the action plan.
The assessment report was presented to Belarusian Government officials and other
stakeholders at a special meeting in the National Academy of Sciences in Belarus. Other
participants were representatives from the World Bank, members of the grant team,
journalists and invited specialists. Dr U. V. Anishchanka, coordinator of the assessment team,
also presented the study at the Information Society Development in Belarus seminar at the
Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies.
Obstacles faced and lessons learned

The approach to assessing e-readiness with three tools proved demanding in terms of time,
labor and expenses, and required the development of new software. However, the result is a
unique data source which provides rich insights into a range of Belarus' ICT-related issues.
The questionnaire respondents indicated that extending the assessment to further include all
of the variables defined by the eEurope program would have yielded even more interesting
data and analyses. Besides these, the assessment team experienced no further internal or
external challenges.
III bridges.org feedback

This Belarus assessment uses a hybrid of methodologies to identify the country's e-readiness
status and those areas requiring prioritization for further work. The result is a textured
understanding of Belarus' e-readiness, and engenders numerous and insightful findings. The
report adequately highlights areas of need, and makes clear recommendations for addressing
these.
Taking into account that the assessment provided to the study team is a translation of the
original, it is nevertheless difficult to read in terms of its format and flow. The text sometimes
appears contradictory to information expressed graphically, as data from various sources is
presented without any exploration or interpretation of the sometimes quite significantly
different results. While the experts' estimation breakdown presented as a share of the total
amount of answers received provides insight and background to the findings, when these are
in apparent contradiction with the findings of other methods, the reader is more likely to be
confused that enlightened. For example, 60.9% of experts felt that "some local websites are
available although most carry static content and are updated infrequently"; while a separate
survey states 54% of respondents find that "many websites provide dynamic information on
local topics and are updated at least several times per week." The report made no attempt to
understand the possible reasons for these quite different findings, nor did it endeavor to
provide the reader with the authors' opinions regarding which statistic best represents the
state of Belarusian local web content.
Although the assessment managed to cover all of the other areas in the networked society
topic of the NRI framework, it failed to adequately consider the use (or lack thereof) of ICT by
society, most notably basic literacy, strategies on poverty reduction using ICT, and historical
issues affecting Belarus' e-readiness. While there is a great deal of emphasis on broader
access to ICT and its uses for e-government, e-commerce and education, the report fails to
even mention use of ICT for poverty alleviation or to support broader development goals;
neither does it mention any projects or programs that use ICT for addressing social problems.
The e-Readiness National Action Plan action plan is organized according to the main areas
defined by the strategic framework: access and connectivity; training and education;
government and public administration leadership; business sector and society development.
It identifies responsible bodies for each sub-program, provides timeframes and estimated
budgets. For example, sub-programs fall under five categories in the business sector section:
ICT and Internet related business restructuring -- creating an internationally competitive ICT
sector; development of e–commerce; information security of ICT infrastructure;
modernization of banking system ICT; and logistics improvement. It is recommended that the
entire action plan is uploaded onto the http://www.e-belarus.org website.
On 21 January 2004, the first series of round-table discussions organized by the UNDP
Belarus and the House of Representatives (lower chamber of the Belarusian parliament) took
place. Entitled, Informatization and Information Society in Belarus, and with the objective of
discussing Belarus' e-strategy, the participants identified priorities (improving access and
accessibility; encouraging ICT innovation; stimulating public interest; formulating a vision for
Belarus' information society; and understanding the place and role of the country in the
global information society), critical points of ICT impact on the economy and social life, and
defined major barriers impeding ICT development in Belarus. It is unclear why these activities
were repeated when the assessment report and action plan had already done these things.
Case study: Bulgaria
Bulgaria: ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment
I Overview
Date
Following the research period from July 2001 until January 2002, the report was published in
May 2002.
Authors
The report was published by the Applied Research and Communications (ARC) Fund. The
authors were Dinka Dinkova (ARC Fund), Dr Andrey Nonchev (Vitosha Research), Nikolay
Badinski (Arc Fund), Assen Totin (Bulgaria Online), Todor Yalamov (ARC Fund), Tihomir
Bezlov (Vitosha Research) and Dimitar Markov (Center for the Study of Democracy).
Abstract
A comprehensive analysis of the state of e-readiness in the country is presented within the
categories recommended in Harvard University Center for International Development's
(CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries: e-access, e-
society, e-learning and e-economy. The assessment is broad in its interpretation of the
categories, and expands the concept of e-economy to include e-business. The report is
framed within an inclusive definition of "e-readiness", stated below, and the project goal is to
provide "snap shots of Bulgaria's readiness".
Bulgaria has undergone a dramatic transition in the last fifteen years, and the information
and communications technology (ICT) sector appears to epitomize the complexity of that
change. The report describes a country with a rapidly changing ICT landscape. Bulgaria has a
population interested in ICT since the period when Bulgaria was a central player in
communications development and technology export. Yet Bulgarians lack the modern-day
skills for today's information society. The assessment finds that Bulgaria's progress is
hindered by archaic technology, such as analogue phone lines; outdated policy; and a
Government-run telecommunications company. It recommends a fast-track approach to
integrating ICT education in schools, transforming legislation, and the privatization of the
incumbent telecommunications operator. It suggests that without a change in legislation and
ownership, the provision of affordable and accessible telecommunications infrastructure to the
country's schools, universities, communities and workplaces will be greatly hindered. After
the original report was published, the incumbent telecommunications operator has been
privatized and an updated version of the report was published in 2004.
II Report summary
Rationale
The stated aims of the study are to assess the current state of ICT infrastructure and the
availability of Internet and ICT-related services in Bulgarian society, to identify key barriers
constraining faster uptake of ICT, and describe the opportunities afforded by ICT. The study
provides snap shots of Bulgaria's readiness for the new economy and a bench-marking tool
for monitoring progress over time, especially with regard to the recommendations defined in
the eEurope18 action plan.
18
The eEurope plan has the intention to make the European Union a dynamic knowledge-based economy with
improved employment and social cohesion by 2010. For more information see: http://www.e-europestandards.org/
The ultimate goal of the assessment is to assist the e-development stakeholders in Bulgaria
(e.g. policy-makers, international donor agencies, private sector organizations and others) in
formulating adequate policies that take advantage of ICT as a powerful enabler of economic
growth and competitiveness. The report also serves as an advocacy tool, sensitizing local
politicians and policy-makers on the importance of ICT for economic and social development;
and a promotional tool, publicizing Bulgaria's performance and leadership potential with
respect to ICT.
Methodology
The study's methodology draws on several internationally acknowledged e-readiness
methodologies. The Computer System Policy Project's (CSPP)'s Readiness Guide for Living in
the Networked World, Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC)'s E-Commerce Readiness
Assessment, Electronic Commerce Steering Group's E-commerce Readiness Assessment, and
Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries published by the
Center for International Development at Harvard University. The methodology adapts certain
aspects of these models (CID's Guide was the main tool used to frame the assessment's
approach), and takes into account the local environment. The assessment focuses on four
categories of e-readiness: access, society, education and economy. A detailed qualitative
assessment, which provides a narrative review in each category, is followed by quantitative
measures (e-readiness indicators), which look at things such as infrastructure availability and
cost.
Data was collected from:

• The National Statistical Institute;
• The Ministries of Transport and Communication, Economy and Education;
• Internet service providers (ISPs);
• The Annual Report of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC);
• The Annual Report of Mobikom and Mobiltel (mobile phone operators);
• Quantitative and qualitative surveys from research organizations Vitosha Research, BBSS,
Alfa Research and GFK;
• IDG Bulgaria;
• The Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies (BAIT);
• The European Survey of Information Society and;
• Expert assessments from the project task force group itself.
CID Rankings
e-Access: 4.00
e-Education: 4.27
e-Economy: 2.89
e-Society: 2.29

• The number of public switched telephone network (PSTN) lines has increased by about
25% in the last decade, now reaching teledensity of 37 lines per 100 people. All new lines
are digital.
• 18% of the population uses mobile phones, and one quarter of households possess at
least one mobile device.
• 15% of all Internet use is provided by public access points, such as Internet cafes and
community information centers.
• Most web users live in larger cities in the Sofia and Bourgas regions, fewer than 3% of
Internet users live in small towns.
• About 18% of public administration workplaces are computerized. 80-100% of these are
in regional authorities; 70-80% in ministries. On average, about 20% of computers in
public administration offices have Internet access, and less than 20% of the municipalities
are currently connected to the Internet.
• Only 7.3% of Bulgarian workplaces19 are computerized, less than 20% have Intranets, and
only 12% are connected to the Internet.
• Only 3.85% of employees have access to the Internet and it is used primarily for e-mail
communication.
• About 48% of households are reported to have access to cable television, with 3.3% of
these accessing the Internet via cable TV.

• Internet and telephone costs are prohibitively high for most Bulgarian Internet users. The
high price of modems is also a deterrent.
• In the past year and a half leading up to the survey, the average price for dial-up access
had dropped to 0.25 USD from 0.45 USD20 in mid-2000.
• 70% of the total expenses for Internet access are telecommunication costs. These are
expected to have changed with privatization, but this had not yet happened at the time of
writing the report.
• The authors urge the Government to address the prohibitively high cost of Internet access
by completing the liberalization of the telecommunications market, as the monopolistic
position enjoyed by the incumbent telecommunications operator slows technological
progress and keeps the prices of telecommunication services high21.

• Overall, the level of integration of ICT in education outscores other categories of e-
readiness (4.27). However, the situation remains unsatisfactory owing to a sharp decline
in public spending on education since 1990. Bulgarian education is also declining in quality
and unless schools and universities are wired to the Internet as a matter of urgency, and
new curricula developed that integrates ICT into the learning process, learners will grow to
be computer illiterate and perpetuate the current problem of low e-readiness.
• The report states the majority of Bulgarians has the technical capabilities and skills to
access and use the Internet (but only 10.4% of the population use the Internet).
• Information about the use of ICT in Bulgaria's educational system is fragmented and often
simply unavailable.
• The overall penetration of ICT in Bulgarian schools is relatively low. On average, Bulgarian
schools have one personal computer (PC) per 66 students.
• Penetration in Bulgarian universities and colleges is highly uneven. For example, the
American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) reports around 550 PCs for every 700 students,
while other universities have one computer for over 100 students. Only AUBG currently
offers its students free access to computer labs with Internet connections.
• Most Bulgarian universities are connected to the Internet but use is limited, and the
Internet is not used in teaching. With the exception of a few technical and engineering
schools, the Internet is rarely used for education or research, although almost all
universities have registered Internet sites.
• Approximately 186,000 people in the country hold college or university degrees related to
ICT and about 565,000 have attended computer training courses. About 443,000 know
19
It is unclear whether this refers exclusively to the private sector, or whether government, civil society and other
workplaces are also included.
20
The report does not explain whether this is the cost per minute or not.
21
Liberalization has since happened in early 2004.
how to use a computer through self-training, formal training at the workplace, or have
learned computer skills from friends. On this basis, computer literacy is estimated at
16.2% of the adult population.
• About 15% of jobs in Bulgaria require ICT skills.

• There is a lack of locally relevant content, but there are indications that a market for it
exists: Bulgarian language websites are more often the target of Internet users than
English ones.
• As of 11 March 2002, there are 1860 hosts in the ".bg" domain. In addition there are
about 2,500 Bulgarian sites under ".com", ".net", and ".org" domains and hundreds of
others which use free hosting services offered by Bulgarian portals.
• The majority of company websites contain mostly static, basic information (limited to a
company profile, contact information and listing of products), which is rarely updated.
• While in 1997 there were only two government websites, this number grew to 120 in
2001.
• A few websites (e.g. www.taxadmin.government.bg) provide some degree of interactivity,
mostly the possibility to download forms. Public administration websites are visited by a
small number of people – about 4.3% of the population and about 6% of companies.
Determining whether ICT is integrated into peoples' lives

• Computers and Internet are typically used in the workplace22 and public locations such as
Internet cafes and computer games clubs. Home Internet users and those accessing the
Web at educational institutions represent a smaller share.
• High cost, a perceived low level of security, and the lack of access, currently limit the use
of Internet for electronic banking and commerce.
• Barely 3% of Internet users in Bulgaria shop online, and 10% plan their travel using the
Internet.

• The majority of web users are young; half are between the age of 18 and 30, one quarter
is 31 to 40.
Looking at whether people trust ICT

• Main obstacles to e-commerce include a low level of trust and perceived security problems
and, until recently (at the time of writing the report), the lack of a clear legal environment
for electronic business. This situation changed with the enactment in May 2001 of an
electronic signatures law which recognizes digitally signed documents and contracts
concluded online as having the same validity as conventional instruments.

• Local efforts to produce hardware and software have mostly proven inefficient since the
move to a market economy after 1990. As a result few of the original software producers
continue to exist. This contributes to the high level of software piracy in Bulgaria23.
• So far, Bulgarian companies have been slow to integrate e-commerce into their corporate
strategies. Most e-ecommerce activities fall in the B2C area and there are very few B2B
transactions. However, these transactions are not purely electronic, as the Internet is
primarily used for processing orders while payment is done in a conventional manner --
upon delivery.
22
This seems to contradict an earlier finding that only 3.85% of employees have access to the Internet and it is used
primarily for e-mail communication.
23
The link between high levels of software piracy and low numbers of software producers is not further explained in
the report.

• The e-economy index is 2.89 and is below the aggregate e-readiness score for the
country.
• Increasing access to and use of ICT also boosts development in other areas of the society
or economy. The three main indicators of network access -- technology penetration,
access affordability and connectivity -- seem to be aiding the growth of the technology
industry.
• Sectors to have taken up ICT the most are the financial services sector and
telecommunications.
Gauging the government's political will to drive change

• Bulgaria is still at a relatively early stage of e-readiness, but the Government
acknowledges the importance of ICT for development and has demonstrated a strong
political will for supporting the active development of information technologies and high-
tech end products.
• Although Bulgaria is still at an early stage of conceptualizing the benefits and uses of e-
government, the country is already making efforts to implement pilot projects in the
field24.
• As a whole, the e-society index is low at 2.29. This means that there is still limited
understanding of the real benefits associated with ICT, and even less direct experience.
Outcomes
This assessment was the impetus for further related efforts. A key outcome is the
consolidation of a core group of experts and institutions involved in ICT policy analysis. This
has provided a solid groundwork for an extension of the e-readiness study, beyond that
covered by the infoDev grant.
The assessment findings were used to form an e-government strategy, as well as an issues
and policy paper entitled Information Technologies for Development (2001). This paper
outlines options for the development of ICT in Bulgaria, both as a competitive industry and as
a tool for socio-economic development.
Local stakeholders were engaged effectively. The report is an important resource for
monitoring and benchmarking the success of policy decisions aiming to support the
development of ICT in Bulgaria. The e-readiness document received very positive feedback
from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Coordination Center on Information,
Communication and Management Technologies (ICMT) at the Council of Ministers, the
Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies and others, including local and
international experts.
The assessment's methodology has been accepted by the Ministry of Transport and
Communication. In a letter sent to Mr. Vivek Chaudhry of the infoDev program, the Ministry
praised the project for having "filled a definite gap in the available knowledge and empirical
data on the degree to which ICT has penetrated various sectors of Bulgarian society,
economy, government, the education system and others… This information has proved to be
particularly useful to the Ministry, and other Government agencies … The e-readiness project
has also involved a broad consultation process with all major stakeholders in ICT in the
country. As such it has served to consolidate the national dialogue among government
24
Following the assessment, the Government has developed an e-government strategy, an issue and policy paper
on the role of ICT for development, and created administrative mechanisms to oversee the implementation of its e-
Government strategy.
institutions, private sector organizations and NGOs in promoting a common vision of ICT as a
key driver for developing Bulgaria into an information or knowledge-based society."
Although the assessment did not make specific recommendations, it outlined broad
suggestions for going forward in the areas of telecommunication costs and education. It
indirectly contributed to developments in both areas. First, as part of Bulgaria's efforts to
comply with eEurope targets, the assessment raised international attention of the regulated
telecommunications sector, and increased pressure to deregulate. This has helped to bring
down prices. Second, Government has made significant commitment to address the
shortcomings in education, as described in the report. Although the assessment cannot be
considered the major factor for these developments, it informed the Government's
understanding of the issues and helped identify focus areas for intervention.

The collection of data required by the comprehensive methodology turned out to be
significant and costly. Some of the indicator scales used were too broad, and unable to
capture incremental changes, or leaps, in the ICT environment. More dynamic indicators were
needed to capture more subtle signals, such as smaller shifts and/or early warnings. This
would allow progress to be registered more precisely on a year-to-year basis. Spending more
time to understand e-developments in other countries would also aid the interpretation of
Bulgaria's position in competitiveness rankings. The price of computers and mobile telephony
should have been included, in order to emphasize the impact of prohibitively high costs.
However, the fact that the research team collected significant amounts of data was also
considered a strength of the report. It was felt that this reduced the study's dependence on
other people's work and allowed a more detailed look at specific areas the team considered
important.
With regard to the study's objective to be comparable to assessments in other countries,

different ways of defining indicators between different methodologies were discovered. For
example, the indicator "age of Internet users" is measured differently, which makes
comparison difficult. Finding a balance between international harmonization of indicators and
ensuring local relevance can be difficult.
A main challenge had to do with the changing political environment in the country following
the general elections in June 2001 and the appointment of the new Government in August
2001. These political changes affected the whole institutional environment for ICT
development in Bulgaria. The project team overcame problems of uncertainty and lack of
clarity on the part of Government counterparts by more closely involving business community
representatives and international donor agencies.
The research team felt that the focus of infoDev's e-readiness program was too broad to
focus on specific social aspects of ICT use. They suggest that a good way to provide this in-
depth look at specific aspects is in the form of additional small reports, using this report as a
foundation.

Bulgaria has undergone a dramatic transition in the last fifteen years, and the ICT sector
appears to epitomize the complexity of that change. The aggregate indicators in this
assessment show that overall, Bulgaria is still relatively under-prepared to harness ICT for
achieving growth and competitiveness, enhancing the quality of its education system, or
improving the efficiency and transparency of Government. The report informed a policy paper
and the e-government strategy, and has played a role in bringing about changes in the
Bulgarian ICT landscape.
The Bulgarian e-readiness assessment model is a well thought out and appropriate reworking
of the Harvard guide for the specific environment. It could benefit from further work and
refinement, but is nonetheless a useful starting point for analyzing the infiltration of ICT into
all sectors of society. This report offers an excellent overview of the country's e-readiness in
terms of Internet access. However, it focuses largely on the Internet, and its use of the term
"ICT" is usually confined to the technologies related to Internet use. Given the low
penetration of computers and the many obstacles to widespread Internet access, focus on
more easily accessible and ubiquitous ICT (such as mobile phones, television and radio)
would benefit socio-economic development in the country.
The report explains that it does not intend to describe in detail the various technical aspects
of Internet use. Rather, it is concerned with attitudes of end users to problems related with
the speed and reliability of Internet connections. Public perception of Internet use plays a
major part in its adoption in schools, and the report notes that the use of Internet in
education and science is just above the average statistics for the country as a whole.
The country faces unique challenges in terms of having advanced infrastructure that is now
outdated. For example, a decade ago it had comparatively high density of phone lines in the
region, but they are analogue. Although a digital divide between regions is mentioned, the
report fails to detail where the infrastructure is concentrated. Where it mentions that
technology use in rural areas is minimal, it does not offer any details.
Literacy levels are an important factor affecting ICT use, although they are not sufficiently
covered in this assessment. However, the report features an interesting discussion on the
practicalities of education, describing a situation in which qualified teachers leave and
bureaucratic structures of the education system prevent the hiring of ICT experts25. The
report makes good suggestions for fostering innovation and change, and gives
recommendations targeted at preventing "brain drain".
The assessment clearly intends to be a source of information for others, rather than suggest
policy actions or develop analytical instruments itself. While it is laden with information and
facts -- and illustrated with a significant amount of graphs and pie charts -- not all of this is
summarized to indicate explicit findings and the report ends without concluding remarks. The
project result is an extensive report covering important areas of ICT use and drawing from a
range of sources, but more guidance to decision-makers about the implications of the findings
would be useful. Although there were no specific recommendations given in the paper, its
broad observations mention two key issues for attention (affordability of services and the
integration of ICT into education) and informed the Government's understanding of the issues
and focus areas for intervention.
NB: It is worth noting that there was overlap between this report and an assessment
conducted by Harvard University26. Both reports were published around the same time, and
used the same methodology. That the findings are similar is an indication of the validity of
the respective reports, which were conducted independently of one another. However, more
importantly, this underlines the fact that while these efforts are all well intentioned,
25
A policy of permanent employment in schools does not allow the involvement of instructors from outside the school
system.
26
Braliev, A. and Markovski, V. (2002) ".bg" in The Global Information Technology Report: Readiness for the
networked world. Center for International Deveopment, Harvard University.
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/profiles/Bulgaria.pdfhttp://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/profiles/Bulgaria.pdf
duplication in e-readiness assessments continues. The updated Who What Where

(bridges.org, Feb 2004) report finds that Bulgaria has been assessed a total of 14 times.
Case study: Costa Rica
Bridging the Digital Divide in Costa Rica: Access to and use of

information and communications technologies
I Overview
Dates
The grant period was between June 2001 and March 2003. The report was published in 2002.
Authors
The assessment was conducted by the Comisión Asesora en Alta Tecnología de Costa Rica
(CAATEC) together with the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (MCT). Ricardo Monge,
Executive Director CAATEC, and Federico Chacón, Coordinator of the Program
"Communication Without Borders" (CWB), authored the report.
Abstract
This assessment goes beyond the scope of many others in infoDev's e-readiness program in
that it takes a good look at "soft" issues, such as socio-economic factors and locally relevant
content, in addition to "hard" issues such as infrastructure and cost. It provides a valuable
overview of Costa Rica's digital divide and raised awareness of the importance of efforts to
bridge it.
The study aims to evaluate the magnitude of the digital divide in Costa Rica through analyses
of various demographic, economic and social variables. It seeks to identify policies for
adoption in the short and medium term, but was unsuccessful in reaching the "action plan"
stage. Despite this, additional resources were allocated to digital divide efforts in Costa Rica
as a result of the assessment, which was widely disseminated. It was the basis for numerous
subsequent reports on the digital divide in Costa Rica concerned with telecommunications and
the Internet, human resources development, innovation, the regulatory framework and public
institutions.
The assessment methodology is that recommended by GeoSINC International, and three

extensive surveys provided detailed, up-to-date and representative data on the use of
information and communications technology (ICT) by Costa Ricans. The assessment finds that
only 3.4 % of Costa Ricans have Internet access in their homes, although 84% of youths and
23% of adults have used the Internet at least once. The study recommends improvements in
local content production, development of the high technology sector, encouragement of
business to business (B2B) electronic transactions and communication, and liberalization of
the telecommunications market to reduce access costs.
II Report Summary
Rationale
The study aims to evaluate the magnitude of the digital divide in Costa Rica and comprises
analyses of various demographic, economic and social variables. The report seeks to identify
policies for adoption in the short and medium term, with the goal of "a single Costa Rica with
all its citizens connected to the Internet, living in a successful information society".
Methodology
The GeoSINC International (2002) e-Readiness Guide: How to Develop and Implement a
National e-Readiness Action Plan in Developing Countries frames the assessment’s
methodological approach, and also informs the report’s structure. GeoSINC International
recommends the Harvard University Center for International Development's (CID)’s
Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries. The Costa Rican
assessment follows this, as do most of the other assessments funded under the infoDev e-
readiness initiative. The National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) included a module on
ICT in its year 2000 household survey, and UNIMER27 Research International was contracted
to carry out two surveys looking at the level of Internet access and use by youth and adults
in 2001. In its survey of Adults, UNIMER surveyed 1198 Costa Ricans using a pre-codified
questionnaire. A telephonic survey, with a structured, closed-response questionnaire was
used to survey 504 youth. Both surveys were representative in their sampling with respect to
gender, level of education, socio-economic status and geographical location.

• 54% of Costa Ricans have fixed-line telephones; only 11% have mobile phones. 12% of
households have a computer but only 3.4% have Internet access.
• Most Internet access is via dial-up, but 12% of Internet users at home access it via cable
television.
• At 94%, almost all households have electricity and 84% have televisions.

• As much of the population has access to electricity and color televisions, the Government
is investigating the use of Internet connectivity carried over power cables, as a means of
providing universal access to ICT for its citizens.

• The telephone service is expensive, according to the opinions of those surveyed, and the
comparison with other countries in the region.
• Internet access cost was found to be competitive compared with other countries.

• Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, and there is a high rate of
digital literacy28. Despite this, a survey found that 77% of Costa Ricans over the age of 18
have never used the Internet.

• There are not enough Internet content providers (ICP) in Costa Rica, and the report
highlights this as a possible barrier to "intelligent use" of the Internet by Costa Ricans.
• The Communications Without Borders program involves the creation of a portal
(www.costarricense.cr) which has links to multiple e-government services29, digital
banking and training on how to use e-mail.

• Internet access is very low (only 3.4%) in Costa Rican households. However, Internet use
is much higher than would be expected; it is estimated that 84% of youths and 23% of
adults have used the Internet at least once in their lives.
27
The report does not provide the full name for UNIMER.
28
The report does not offer a definition of digital literacy.
29
The report does not provide more detail on these services.
• There is no evidence of intensive Internet use in the workplace by heads of households.

• Email is mainly used between friends and family, as opposed to B2B or business to
consumer (B2C) communication.

• The report defines the digital divide as "the differences associated with access to and use
of applications of ICT among individuals of a given country, or between different countries
or regions." It concludes that a digital divide in Costa Rica is evident between geographic
zones, as well as between adults and youths, and between groups of individuals with
different income and educational levels.
• The highest Internet usage is found in a younger group of adults with higher socio-
economic status and education, living in a metropolitan area30.
Looking at security and whether people trust ICT

• A technical department needs to be established to address elements discouraging citizen’s
use of the Internet, including viruses, hacker intrusion, author’s rights on the network and
electronic fraud.
Examining the legal and regulatory environment affecting ICT use

• The Central Government has a "Digital Agenda", which is aimed at tackling the digital
divide in Costa Rica from three different angles. The main goals of its three programs are
to increase the availability of Internet bandwidth, to businesses and households, while
reducing cost.
• Several bills have been presented to the Legislative Assembly towards creating a more
enabling ICT environment. One key bill is the "Government Bill on the Right of Access to
the Internet (File number 14.029)", which aims to create the right legislative environment
for development of the Internet service provider (ISP) sector, especially in support of
Internet access via cable -- primarily digital subscriber line (DSL).

• High technology31 is the most important export sector in Costa Rica. The reports finds that
this is due to the focus on developing quality human resources and a zero import tax
policy on ICT, components of a strategy to support the production of technology and
knowledge-intensive goods and services.
• Foreign direct investment, especially in the high technology sector, has been significant,
and represents up to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) per year.
• Costa Rica is the only country in the region in which the Government still has a monopoly
in telephony and Internet connectivity. While the authors acknowledge that this factor
could constitute an important limitation for the country’s competitiveness and
technological advance, they also point to the usefulness of the Ministry of Science and
Technology in creating policies for closing the digital divide "a timely and efficient
manner". However, the report concludes that "such policies would work even better in a
competitive regime".
Outcomes
Bridging The Digital Divide in Costa Rica: Access to and Use of ICT has been widely
disseminated by CAATEC, in print and on the Web, in English and Spanish. The report, along
with other papers based on the research, is available on http://www.caatec.org/ereadiness.
The report was well received by the new administration in the Costa Rican Government in
30
The report is not more specific about this group.
31
The report does not define "high technology".
2002, and has played a role in raising awareness of the digital divide and the importance of
efforts to bridge it. Various workshops were held with policymakers, including one carried out
with the support of the Government of Korea.
E-literacy training being conducted in primary schools received an additional allocation of

public resources because of the report, while the Minister of Economy implemented a
program promoting the adoption of ICT by SMEs, with CAATEC as the technical unit.
One of the most important outcomes of the e-readiness assessment is that it has identified
and brought together people interested in helping the country and its transition towards a
knowledge-based economy. This network of people and institutions currently heads efforts to
bridge the Costa Rican digital divide.

This study was conducted with a wide range of role players, brought together by a common
interest in e-readiness, a concept new to most. As the project developed, conflicts arose
regarding the state monopoly telecom, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). While
CAATEC and the MCT promoted liberalization of the market, the state owned company opted
to retain its monopoly. The partners had to ensure that their conflicting interests did not
affect the credibility of the project, and worked together to create a balanced report.
Finding the right group of experts to carry out the research proved difficult, while it proved
similarly challenging to access sufficient information and data. The team addressed these
external challenges and sourced additional funding from international organizations and local
companies to conduct specialized surveys.
The assessment team suggests that INEC should include in their annual household survey
the module of questions that enabled the study, in order to measure the efficacy of policies
trying to mitigate the digital divide. The team felt that securing sufficient resources to
continue designing a strategy and action plan following the assessment would have helped to
ensure that the policy recommendations were at least discussed by the Government
authorities.

Overall, this assessment provides a valuable overview of Costa Rica’s digital divide, and takes
a good look at "soft" issues, such as socio-economic factors and locally relevant content, as
well as "hard" ones such as infrastructure and cost of access. In this, it goes beyond the
scope of many other e-readiness assessments in the infoDev program.
The two surveys conducted by UNIMER contribute significant value. Together, they survey the
opinions of 1702 respondents across Costa Rica, sampling representatively across
geographical areas, gender, age and socio-economic status.
The report deals with issues of infrastructure and affordability. It also looks at socio-economic
factors affecting access to ICT such as income level and age. The section on content seeks to
unpack the reasons behind Costa Rican's use of ICT, or lack thereof, but although the main
purposes of Internet use are investigated, further investigation into the appropriateness and
level of integration of different technologies would better determine the extent to which ICT
fits into Costa Rican's daily lives.
Education and capacity issues are addressed, and the capacity of public and private
institutions to deliver private sector training courses, as well as the e-literacy program in
Costa Rican primary schools, are explored. Lifelong e-learning is identified as an important
application and reason for ensuring widespread Internet access.
While political will for addressing the digital divide is discussed in the context of programs and
efforts by the Ministries of Education and Science and Technology, the Presidency of the
Republic and others, there is lacking critical analysis of the impact of these initiatives. This
could be owing to these programs’ early status at the time of writing. The report deals only
superficially with those policies that contribute towards an enabling environment for ICT, and
provides balanced, as opposed to critical, commentary on policies that could be hindering
widespread ICT adoption.
Public support is discussed in the questionnaire completed by CAATEC. The authors make the
case that "several recent opinion polls by national newspapers found that about 75% of Costa
Ricans support the revision of the telecommunications sector's regulatory and legal
frameworks and the opening up of the state-owned telecom to private competition. Such
results would have been unthinkable only three years ago." While the involvement of
important role-players in conducting this assessment would certainly have contributed to
changing opinions regarding telecommunications regulation, the results of these opinion polls
cannot be attributed to the report alone.
Most findings are based on the INEC household survey, and the assessment lacks detailed
investigation of the role of ICT in Costa Rica’s economy. Although it is found that "few heads
of households use Internet at work", these findings may be skewed owing to the data’s
specificity to households, and the question posed exclusively to household heads. There is
mention of the importance of Costa Rica’s "high technology" sector, but this is not
substantiated with any accompanying data. These shortfalls have evidently been identified by
CAATEC, as further studies have been conducted in these areas.
The digital divide assessment is part of a larger, wider-reaching program called Costa Rica e-
Readiness, which seeks to enable the country’s successful transition to a knowledge-based
economy (or information society), which has a broad view of e-readiness and its relevance for
broader development goals. Two notable outputs following the original assessment are
Analysis of the Labor Market for the Costa Rican High Technology Sector and e-Readiness of
Costa Rican Public Institutions. The Costa Rican study did not aim to look at ICT use amongst
businesses of different sizes, so there is no information on ICT usage within the small and
medium enterprise (SME) sector. However, a project to collect this data was started by
CAATEC, with support from the Central American Secretariat for Economic Integration
(SIECA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Although the report states as an objective the identification of policies for the short- and
medium- term, it fails to realize this, and provides only broad policy recommendations that
could apply to both the medium- and long-term. The Costa Rican e-readiness program was
thus unsuccessful in establishing the "action plan" stage of the assessment, although this is
largely owing to lacking funds.
Case study: Estonia
ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness Assessment
I Overview
Date
The grant period was between 15 July 2002 and 30 June 2003. The report was published in
April 2003.
Authors
The project was coordinated by Tarmo Kalvet, director of Innovation Program at the PRAXIS
center for Policy Studies. Andre Krull, research fellow, was the project manager and author of
the report, with contributions from Prof. Rainer Kattel, Rain Rannu, Andres Juhkam and Katri
Kerem.
Abstract
Structured according to Harvard University's Center for International Development's (CID)'s
Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries, the Estonian
assessment is a lengthy and detailed, yet coherent discussion of the country's e-readiness.
Drawing heavily on previous work, the assessment discusses Estonia's network society,
network access, networked education, networked economy and networked government. The
report achieves its main objectives: it provides an overview of the latest developments in the
Estonian information and communications technology (ICT) sector; explains why certain
choices and decisions have led to specific developments; provides comparative data for
foreign experts and institutions; and draws attention to the main problems facing Estonian
ICT development in the future. The assessment was complemented by three case studies that
looked at specific aspects of e-readiness and the use of ICT in Estonia: mobile services,
Internet banking and a study focusing on the reasons for Estonia's internal digital divide. The
work has reportedly had a significant impact on policy-makers, and has been widely
disseminated through various media.
Estonia enjoys one of the highest Internet, mobile phones and personal computer (PC)
penetration rates in Central and Eastern Europe. 60% of Estonians have access to mobile
telephony, while Internet access is enjoyed by almost 40% of the population. Adoption rates
for Internet access have remained stagnant for the two years preceding the assessment, and
the assessment calls for further research addressing the link between ICT and economic
growth, quality of work and social cohesion.
II Report summary
Rationale
E-Readiness is defined as "the degree to which a society is prepared to participate in the
digital economy", based on the idea that the digital economy can help to build a better
society. The objective was to provide uniform coverage of "all the relevant aspects
contributing to the country's e-readiness" in order to lead to policy recommendations and
action plans. The report lists the following specific goals:
• Provide an overview of the latest developments in the Estonian ICT sector;

• explain why and how [was: some choices and]certain policy decisions have led to the
observed developments;
• compile comparative data for foreign experts and institutions on the current situation of
Estonian e-readiness and the level of ICT infrastructure; and
• Draw attention to the main problems facing Estonian ICT development in the future.
Additional goals include initiating a well-informed discussion on technological innovation and

related social aspects both on national and international levels and promoting dialog between
researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders on general technology and innovation
policy issues.
A separate objective was to draw out lessons learned and information that would be helpful
for other Eastern and Central European nations. Estonia had seen tremendous developments
in the ICT sector and PRAXIS considered the assessment an opportunity to share Estonian
experience with other countries at earlier stages of ICT adoption.
Methodology
The assessment is based on the most well-known international assessment models, with
Harvard University's Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the
Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries as the primary source. The
corresponding areas for assessment were thus network society, network access, networked
education, networked economy and networked government.
In addition, qualitative analysis provided the basis for comparison with other countries, while
case studies were conducted on Internet banking, m-services and the digital divide in Estonia.
The rationale behind the methodology design is that it enables a big picture overview of
Estonia's e-readiness while providing additional in-depth analysis of particular crucial issues.

• Estonia enjoys one of the highest Internet, mobile phones and PC penetration rates in
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 60% of Estonians have access to mobile telephony,
while Internet access is enjoyed by almost 40% of the population.
• 30% of the population has computers at home.
• While rural access is high (88% of rural children claim to have Internet access at school),
the role of the public sector in ensuring access outside of the cities is important, as urban
children tend to have Internet access at home, while rural children use it at school or at
the public library.
• According to EMOR E-Track survey, 49% of the population has never used computers
before.

• Estonians spend 5% of their income on telecommunications (3% on IT), which is
especially remarkable considering the low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
(4524.6 EUR in 2001).
• Comparatively, Internet costs are relatively lower than in other CEE countries. The
monthly fee for a dedicated Internet connection starts from 10 EUR, and ICT equipment
and services have become generally more affordable.

• Almost all (93%) children have Internet access at school, in their neighborhood or at
home. However, although 75% of schools have Internet connections, on average, schools
have only three PCs per 100 pupils connected to the Internet.
• The Tiger Leap program, launched by President Meri, has helped to bring computers into
education and made ICT popular among children. The program focuses on ICT
competencies, virtual learning, sustainable development of infrastructure, and
collaboration between the state, local governments, schools, parents and organizations.
However, its successful start has not been enough to achieve regionally competitive
penetration levels.
• Computer use to support learning is far from extensive, and with the exception of
informatics, only 8% of pupils on average use computers in different subject classes, while
16% have never used computers in subject classes at all.
• There is a concern that vocational ICT training institutions are producing surplus amounts
of "advanced users", but low numbers of IT specialists, engineers and programmers. This
feeds a vicious circle of limited research and development (R&D) and a lack of innovation.
• Almost all Estonian electronics companies have a shortage of ICT specialists with the
appropriate tertiary education.

• Most Estonians do not use the Internet for shopping or work.
• 83% of Estonians are not interested in shopping online.
• The Estonian Government was one of the first to develop a functioning e-government
system. By 2000, the e-government system enabled "paperless government sessions" and
participation in meetings from distant locations via Internet.
• Preconditions for a citizen-centered e-state and the development of the framework for
business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) services need to be
harnessed. These include the regulatory framework, infrastructure (Internet connections,
ID-cards, Public Key Infrastructure), the public sector's e-citizen portal project, and
capacity training by the Look@World Foundation. Convenient e-services for taxes, health
issues, retirement benefits, education and applying for permits and certificates need to be
established.

• Estonians use the Internet for the following main reasons: email (70%); online searching
(66%); occasional surfing (62%); Internet banking (57%) and "reading about Estonian
issues" (54%). Most use the Internet at their workplace (53%), at home (40%) or at
school (29%).
• 75% of companies have at least one computer (50% have 1-3), and 89% of these have
Internet access. 35% of those companies with Internet access have their own homepage.
• The Government needs to address the emerging issue of the digital divide, as the growth
of people using the Internet practically halted for almost 2 years in 1999-2001.

• Estonian women are more active users of the Internet than men, and 81% of Internet
users are under the age of 20, according to the Global e-commerce Report (2002).

• Estonia's liberalized telecommunications market and its well functioning regulatory
environment are at the same level as Finland's.
• The two most important policy documents influencing the developments of the Estonian
information society have been the Principles of Estonian Information Policy, passed in May
1998, and the Public Information Act, passed in November 2000. The latter has led to
several national programs and projects, the most extensive of which is the document
management program of government agencies, which in turn resulted in several other ICT
acts.
• A "real innovation strategy" is required, without which the report claims the Government
cannot achieve the goals of its so-called "no-policy policy": spending 1.5 percentage of
GDP on R&D in 2006; strengthening the collaboration of academic research institutions
and private companies; and giving incentives to the companies to increase their spending
on R&D.

• The main economic activities in Estonia are assembly, labor intensive manufacturing and
resource extraction. Technology is assimilated through imports, foreign direct investment
(FDI) and imitation.
• There are an estimated 451 companies in the Estonian ICT sector. Most are very small,
and the eight largest companies make up 85 % of turnover of the whole sector.
• Estonian companies, regardless of local or international ownership, are primarily
subcontractors to foreign corporations, and only a few of them are able to sell high-value
added products and services on their own.

• The World Economic Forum's (WEF)'s Global Competitiveness Report 2002-2003 puts
Estonia in the leading position of 49 countries in terms of investment into
telecommunications.
• Western European countries have invested heavily in Estonia's ICT sector.
• Most of the major projects, such as computerizing schools and public administration,
creating ID-card infrastructure and developing e-services, have been initiated by the
public sector.
• Despite a four-fold increase in Government resources allocated to ICT financing between
1997 and 2003 (28.44 million EUR), Estonia's expenditures on ICT have been rather
modest, compared with other countries that spend 2.5-4 % of the state budget on
technology.
• Since 2001, the private sector had been a moderate supporter of information society
developments, but public-private partnerships are starting to develop and have impact.
• Stronger co-operation of state institutions with one another and their private sector
counterparts would expedite national ICT projects such as the e-citizen portal and other
electronic services.
In its overall conclusion, the report suggests that Estonia should learn from the Nordic
countries, where success has been understood as the result of: the liberalization of the
telecommunications market; a well functioning regulatory environment; a high level of
national education; heavy R&D investments; good national dialog and cooperation between
all the players.
Outcomes
The assessment -- especially in combination with the digital divide case study -- has
reportedly had a powerful impact on policy-makers in highlighting the social impact of ICT in
Estonia for the first time. Further to this, there was apparently extensive reference to it in the
media.
The Principles of the Estonian Information Policy for 2004 - 2006, and the Information Policy
Action Plan for 2005, both still in draft form at the time of writing, were informed by the
research. As was the Joint Memorandum on Social Inclusion of Estonia32, published in
32
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/soc-incl/est_jim_en.pdf
December 2003 by the European Commission in Brussels. In order to address the growing
digital divide in Estonia as revealed by the report, PRAXIS organized an international
conference called eVoting – Social and Technological Challenges for Society in June 2003.
PRAXIS was also twice invited to present assessment results and report on the situation in
Estonia to inform the development of the eEurope action plan, and provided input and
comment based on the assessment to the Information Society section of the National
Development Plan 2004-1006.
Apparently, work on the digital divide in Estonia has had strong impact on the reformulation
of policy documents, and various private sector strategies. The assessment has put the issue
of e-readiness onto the map in Estonia. As all the materials were translated into English and
Russian as well, accompanied by an international awareness campaign, the research results
were studied with great interest by public policy-makers in other countries.
Finally, the Look@World Foundation was established in Autumn 2000 by several Estonian
banks, telecommunications and IT companies as a major Internet connectivity project, with
the objective of radically increasing the number of Internet users in Estonia. It provided, free
of charge, basic computer and Internet training for about 10% of Estonia's adult population.
The foundation's activities were in line with the results of the study. The assessment's
findings confirmed Look@World's initial strategy on capacity-building as a relevant
intervention to increase ICT use in Estonia.

Based on the experience of completing the assessment and case studies, the authors feel that
a focus on long-term strategies is more beneficial than the short-term infrastructure focus
frequently used in assessments, and encouraged the development of stronger linkages
between industrial and economic, and information society policy.
Because of the relatively small sample size of most surveys and including the original data
collection, the results are expected to differ from alternative studies -- and even between the
digital divide case study and the assessment small deviations were observed. More
comprehensive surveys might be necessary to collect reliable data that can span the
significant socio-economic divides in countries like Estonia.
The main challenge lies in moving from analysis of the problems to the implementation of
solutions. For example, the lack of ICT use by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is
relatively easy to diagnose, but it is difficult to develop the specific solutions that are needed
to enable these SMEs to become more efficient.
Analysis of underlying reasons is needed to understand some of the results of e-readiness

assessments. For example, the reasons as to why people do not use the Internet are different
in different countries. In Estonia the non-users fall into two groups, "passive users" who have
no interest to change their current ways and "blue collar users" who are older and lack
relevant skills and are uncomfortable to use ICT in public access points. These two groups will
respond to fundamentally different strategies, but a general e-readiness assessment would
have failed to bring out these differences. The assessment found a need for research into the
link between ICT and economic growth, quality of work and social cohesion.
Despite the many detailed findings of the assessment, the authors feel that the main
question, "how can ICT help?" still needs to be answered, and proof of the positive economic
and social impact of ICT is still missing. While many of the main socio-economic problems are
known in Estonia, more research and projects are needed to show whether ICT can help solve
them.

The report provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of Estonia's past, present and
future e-readiness. Although quite lengthy and very detailed, the report is a cohesive and
logically structured presentation of e-readiness information, and meets each of its stated
objectives.
The authors were aware that Estonia had been assessed four times before this assessment,
and that its e-readiness and ICT infrastructure capacity was evaluated in 1999-2000 by the
European Commission. The executive summary states that Estonia "has been previously
assessed by various e-readiness reports as one of the most successful adaptors and uptakers
of new communication technologies in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries." These
previous assessments are cited prolifically throughout the assessment.
The methodology is insufficiently explained, but appears to consist primarily of a literature

survey presented under the CID guide's headings, although there are no scores provided for
each category of e-readiness. And although most of the data in the report seems to have
been generated by other authors, research bodies and statistics institutions, a lot was
collected by EMOR, with input from PRAXIS. The researchers commendably refrained from
duplicating the previous work, yet the extent of the initiative's value-add is unclear, as the
"case studies of Internet banking, m-services and digital divide" are referred to only
sporadically and superficially in the report. These case studies are highlighted in the
methodology as augmenting the approach of the conventional e-readiness models with
qualitative data, but they were created as separate and independent documents. The
relationship between assessment and case studies could have been brought out more clearly
and data from one leveraged in the other.
The report features thorough descriptions of issues related to infrastructure, cost, patterns of
use and content. However, the data has been garnered from a variety of previous reports and
information sources, and in some instances appears contradictory. Quoting the EMOR E-Track
survey (2001), graphs indicate that 49% of the population between 15 and 74 years old has
never used a computer before. Although this appears potentially contradictory to other cited
statistics (for example, 93% of children have access to the Internet, 40% of the population is
online, and 30% own home computers) there is no attempt to explain or unpack these
potential anomalies in the report. During the country visit, it was established that the EMOR
survey used a small pool of people (1000), as resource constraints prevented fully
representative sampling. Another source for contradiction is the use of different
methodologies. This can also be seen as an opportunity, as it helps to identify areas that may
need more research.
The report clearly illustrates the Government's moderate financial support of e-readiness and
information society issues. Recent media about developments in Estonia's e-readiness
evidence increasing political will for improving access to and use of ICT. The Estonian
Government has gone so far as to consider Internet access a basic human right.
Estonia is clearly at a more developed level of e-readiness than most of the other countries in
the infodev program, but is facing significant problems in the years to come -- something that
is easily overlooked when faced with the modern city center of Tallinn and Estonia's media
image. The report addresses questions that are further along the e-readiness road than those
facing many other e-readiness assessment teams, and are evidently aware that a more in-
depth approach is required to inform the next steps. The analysis is often more probing and
forward-looking than assessment in less e-ready countries. For example, the report states,
"growing penetration rates do not show the quality and purpose of use. It is important to
analyze what people use the Internet for, do they use it for work or entertainment, do they
use e-government applications or do they shop online?…The state's readiness to provide
education compatible with the needs of information society and satisfying the needs for skills
in the corporate sector is more vital to the e-readiness than the number of mobile phones and
PCs". The assessment also identifies solutions include "creating motivation to use the Internet
(by providing interesting and essential content), overcoming individual barriers (providing
training, education and improving skills) and providing easier access (through telecom market
regulation and competition). On the other hand, the importance of the ability to sustain
growth cannot be overstated. There is not much reason in investing heavily into ICT, if the
society cannot keep up with the economic growth nor strengthen the social bondages by the
help of these investments."
Other developing countries can learn from Estonia's success. Main reasons the report
identifies for Estonia's fast development since regaining independence in 1991 are: its
proximity of technologically advanced Finland and Sweden; the large amount of FDI into
Estonian companies; a population with a high level of technical education (in the Soviet era
only hard sciences were ideologically free), and a large part of the population ready to
consume and adopt modern technology as part of their lifestyles.
However, despite the country's progress in e-readiness, there has been no real proof for how
ICT can help with the socio-economic issues that Estonia is facing. Estonia shows the largest
income disparity of all nine recent EU extension countries. This economic gap correlates with
a clear digital divide within the country, and the two need to be addressed simultaneously.
Developing countries should learn from this aspect of Estonia's experience as well, and
strategize to prevent similar problems. Focusing predominantly on e-readiness for economy
and industry, without affording sufficient resources and effort on addressing socio-economic
inequities is problematic. It means that ICT is harnessed to further enhance the lives of those
already privileged, while those on the other side of the digital divide become increasingly
disadvantaged.
It is of equal importance to ensure that a country leverages the positive elements of its e-
readiness or it faces the danger of falling behind in Innovation. Estonia is showing signs of
"primatization", a development towards activities that do not require high-level skills and add
very limited value. In light of the likely relocation of such activities to lower income
economies such as India and China, Estonia's future economic development hinges on its
ability to increase innovation. Estonia is currently at risk of remaining a sophisticated user of
ICT, but failing to become a leading innovator. Current e-government reports indicate that
other countries are developing e-government services at a faster pace than Estonia, and
especially other CEE countries are catching up quickly33.
The report identifies the need for strategic thinking about e-readiness and related issues.
Both the cited reasons for success and the identified approaches to improving the country's e-
readiness provide other developing countries, as well as Estonian policy-makers, with
valuable insight.
33
UN (2004) Global e-Government Readiness Report http://www.unpan.org/egovernment4.asp
Case study: Jamaica

Jamaica’s e-Readiness Assessment
I Overview
Dates
The grant period was between October 2001 and February 2003. The report was published in
2002.
Authors
Central IT Office (CITO), established by the Government of Jamaica, was the grantee. Allied
Research Associates conducted the assessment.
Abstract
The Jamaican e-readiness report comprises a broad-based assessment of the role of
information and communications technology (ICT) in society, but has a greater emphasis on
ICT capacity-building within the business sector. Through the lens of the Harvard University
Center for International Development's (CID)'s Guide, the assessment examines the technical
issues around developing ICT skills in the general population, and to a lesser extent, the
impact of foreign investment on the ICT sector. Government efforts to produce policy aimed
at supporting ICT projects and the SME sector are mentioned.
The poor economic climate in Jamaica is recognized as producing a large, internal digital
divide. The report predicts that this will worsen with the acceleration of new ICT imports that
only the rich can afford. Patterns of ICT uptake and use in society were studied to provide
information in support of the Government's development goals and to address this problem.
The report outlines where improvements can be made for bolstering the small, service-based
ICT industry that already exists and promoting the uptake of ICT by Jamaicans.
II Report Summary
Rationale
This e-readiness assessment is based on CID's Guide, which assesses community readiness
for the networked world. The assessment team modified the methodology, by removing and
adding to the list of indicators, to produce a methodology relevant to the socio-economic
circumstances of the country. The aim was to produce a report that would provide
information useful for helping the government achieve its development goals. The assessors
emphasize the desire to discover Jamaican's attitudes toward ICT and their patterns of use, it
states the need to get ICT into the hands of ordinary people and stimulate communication
between local communities, before focusing on external communication. This, it claims,
should be the focus of under-developed countries.
The report paints a picture of the economic landscape of Jamaica, the state of the ICT
industry and ICT use within business. ICT uptake is clearly held back by the impoverished
circumstances of a large number of Jamaicans, and a poor education system has been partly
responsible for this. Thus improving literacy levels, as a precursor to e-literacy, and
increasing ICT skills are recognized as key to the use of technology in society and its uptake
by small business.
Methodology
The assessment methodology is based mainly on the Harvard University Center for
International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A guide for
developing countries. The "Network access" category was renamed "ICT infrastructure", and
included connectivity as well as access. Terminology in the Guide was updated, for example,
"Networked learning" was referred to as "e-learning". Issues such as entrepreneurial
orientation34, risk taking, research and development (R&D) and employment, were given
priority in the e-economy assessment. In adopting this approach, the assessors sought to
ensure a contextually relevant assessment while maintaining comparability of the findings
with other countries.
The process was based on primary and secondary data collection and review. Over 500
citizens in civil society, from five major town centers across the island, and 300 small
business enterprises similarly distributed, were surveyed. Several interviews were conducted
with key informants in the public and private sectors as well as in the non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). Two panels conducted the assessment simultaneously: the first
internal panel comprised the team of consultants who worked on the project; the second
panel was a diverse group scattered across the Diaspora. This external assessment panel was
selected from the various stakeholder groups of academia, business, the public sector, civil
society and the ICT sector, but in order to avoid bias or attempts to advance personal or
group interests, individuals were not nominated by any group or organization. A "strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats" (SWOT) analysis of the ICT sector is also included in
this report.
In large part, data was gathered through interviews supplemented by analysis of company
financial statements (in the case of the private sector) and from public regulatory and
planning institutions (i.e. Fair Trading Commission, Office of Utility Regulations, Statistical
Institute of Jamaica, Jamaica Stock Exchange, etc.). Community-based institutions were
surveyed at selected towns throughout the country, designed to reflect the influence of
location (rural/urban), age, gender, income, economic status, age etc.
At Government level the Office of Prime Minister, the Ministries responsible for Education,
Industry, Technology, as well as the National Council on Science and Technology were
consulted. Banks, ICT companies, and manufacturing enterprises in the private sector, the
University of West Indies and the University of Technology were all consulted.
The assessment is concerned with the following categories: ICT infrastructure, e-learning, e-
society, e-economy and e-policy. The indicators to inform these include infrastructure
(access, connectivity, knowledge, hardware, software); technical quality of infrastructure;
social and cultural infrastructure; e-learning; propensity for risk-taking, entrepreneurship and
innovation; policy and regulatory framework (security, privacy, standards); e-economy; e-
business and e-commerce; e-government and service delivery; community infrastructure and
citizens’ participation; and ICT industry and economy.

• The main obstacle to connectivity is power shortage and the price of electricity per kWh.
Without reliable, adequate, continuous and price competitive power supply, the hopes of
development in the ICT sector are pipe dreams.
• Jamaica has a good telecommunications backbone with state-of-the-art technologies
provided by the dominant carrier. There is a large market for non-Internet e-commerce.
• Teledensity stands at 19.6 per 100 population; mobile penetration at 19.2. There are 4.8
computers and 2.7 Internet subscribers per 100 population.
• There are service and maintenance delays, parts are often unavailable, lengthy repair
34
There is no explanation as to what is meant by this.
times, delays in response time and misleading advertisements.

• 45 cable television licenses and four very small aperture terminal (VSAT) licenses have
been issued.
• There is no cable or wireless Internet or wireless data access available in Jamaica.
• The growth rate of Internet users has been slow, with only 70,000 subscribers logging on.
The report claims that the rate is likely to accelerate with the increases in public
awareness, infrastructure and competition among Internet service providers (ISPs).
• The report suggests Government should ensure that public and community access points,
kiosks and Internet cafes are made central to a strategy to promote public access to ICT.

• The development of a reliable electricity infrastructure needs to be prioritized, and
investigating alternative technologies to generate electricity is also under consideration.
• The fact that several cable operators have recently been issued with licenses for providing
Internet services should be a boost for under-served rural areas without telephone lines
where neither dial up nor digital subscriber lines are available. The extent of penetration
would be determined by the level of interest, IT literacy and price.
• Roll-out of broadband technologies must be accelerated, especially through wireless
connectivity to the Internet, especially in rural areas.

• Many Jamaicans cannot access technology -- and Internet access in particular -- because
the cost of Internet access is prohibitively high. This is exacerbating the local digital
divide, especially with the recent acceleration in the number of new technologies entering
the market, which only the well-off can afford.
• The average price for basic dial-up unlimited Internet access is around US$30 per month.
This compares with US$18 per month in North America, where technical support and
10mb for personal web hosting is included.
• Although duties have been removed from computer and related accessories, the costs are
still too high in a country where average incomes are low.
• The prices of mobile telephony were extraordinarily high, but with the Telecommunication
Act and introduction of competition, there has been a dramatic reduction in the price of
telecommunications services.

• 66% of all schools now have at least one computer, and the Government has partnered
with private companies and international organizations to get more computers into
schools.
• Most teachers do not have any computer training, and teacher training institutions are
under equipped. IT instructional courses are currently being introduced.
• Computer training for workers and use in adult education courses is at the low to
emerging stage.
• The Jamaican education system has had many problems, resulting in a high level of
illiteracy and unemployment. This has had a significant impact on the local digital divide
and attempts are being made to improve the system by, for example, increasing the
teacher–pupil ratio.
• Results for the year 1999-2000 show low pass rates for subjects related to ICT
(information technology, electronics, mathematics, physics and English.) This is likely to
have adverse effects on the number of students matriculating in computer sciences and
the projected supply of essential and higher occupational level IT skills.
• There is generally low enrolment in secondary and tertiary education institutions, and
poverty and inequality are likely to persist if action is not taken to improve enrolment and
graduation rates.
• There is little capital, or local capacity, to re-train people in up-to-date skills to produce a
critical mass of ICT expertise to take forward small business in ICT.
• The ICT industry is skill intensive, yet the current focus is on the lower occupational and
skill levels.
• Migration and "brain drain" have had their effect on the ICT labor market. This has led to
the issuing of work permits for various IT positions and the import of ICT skills.
• There is a focus on applied rather than basic and exploratory research on ICT, and new
innovations in ICT are non-existent. This is reflected in the relative absence of patent
applications.
• There are partnerships in education and training between international agencies, the
Ministry of Education and non-governmental organizations. There need to be significantly
expanded.
• Human resource development policies and programs should be prioritized to facilitate and
support the growth of a domestic ICT skills base. This should be based on an assessment
of workplace skills and needs.
• ICT clusters should be developed to enable the assembly of a critical mass of ICT skills,
foster competition, innovation and creativity.
• Jamaica needs investment in R&D, collaboration and partnerships between public and
private sectors, academia and the education system.

• An estimated 1000 Jamaican websites, promoting various industries and interests, exist.
• One of the aims of the Government's ICT procurement policy is to award large contracts
to local companies producing locally relevant content.
• E-Government projects should be established in departments generating revenue, public
policy implementation and service delivery.
• E-Commerce is rudimentary and its growth is constrained by the lack of diversification in
production; lack of investment in product development; lack of focus on niche markets;
and use of more appropriate marketing techniques. There is some prospect for growth in
e-commerce with the increase in knowledge, investment in call centers and roll out of
facilitators such as merchant accounts and Internet training sites.
• Although there are 5000 community-based organizations and 200-300 non-governmental
organizations in Jamaica, ICT is used solely as support for routine office functions. The use
of ICT for service delivery or as a mobilizing or development tool has not been
incorporated in the NGO sector besides in some environmental groups and health services
organizations.
Socio-cultural factors affecting ICT use

• ICT access and use are limited in Jamaican society because people have little technical
knowledge, the infrastructure does not yet extend to all people, costs are high, and there
is a low level of e-literacy. ICT growth is further held back by people not sharing
information freely.
• 69.3% of the population in poverty lives in rural areas.
• The ICT skills and e-literacy of the marginalized majority of the population need to be
increased, the roll-out of ICT throughout the education sector should accelerate, and
technological innovation and life-long learning must be encouraged.
• An integrated community development and outreach program with ICT as its core needs
to be developed.

• State policy is focused on telecommunications market liberalization, public investment in
call centers and establishing regulatory frameworks and institutions.
• Jamaica is on course in terms of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and ICT
market liberalization. But the report cautions that there is still a need to create an
enabling environment and regulatory frameworks that protect intellectual property and
facilitate e-commerce, "while avoiding waste, revenue loss and misuse of funds".
• There has to be a review and revision of several existing laws and drafting of new
legislation on several subjects, the most important being privacy, security, electronic
documents and consumer protection.
• The authors propose strengthening (if it exists) or establishing (if it does not) a
coordinating, monitoring and standards generating authority, independent of any
department or ministry to review and integrate the respective ICT plans; provide guidance
in negotiations in international fora; develop projects; and conduct the community
outreach and public awareness conferences, seminars and meetings.

• Most small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have insufficient ICT skills, largely due
to the number of experts that leave the country to seek work elsewhere. A lack of ICT
skills in some areas has resulted in the need to outsource from overseas. The Jamaican
Government recognizes that support mechanisms should be established to facilitate the
transition and maturity of SMEs.
• A survey of medium sized businesses showed that 45% have Internet access, 9% own a
website, and 5% intend to procure computers. A survey of small businesses found that 31
to 64% do not have a computer, and 88% of those who have computers have no Internet
access.
• The ICT sector is dominated by small businesses, yet no local companies produce
hardware. This includes the manufacture of computer chips, electronic components, or
transmission and line telephony equipment, as well as its assembly. There is some
software production, but it focuses on adapting and localizing imported software.
• Of the 34 ISP licenses that have been issued, only about eight companies are active.
• The report suggests starting initiatives to improve the investment and business
environment, to encourage, support and facilitate the use of ICT in business. Added to this
should be the creation of employment opportunities in the services, content and hardware
sub-sectors.
• The authors identify the need for ICT clusters that "enable the assembly of a critical mass
of ICT skills, foster competition, innovation and creativity, while hopefully guarding
against enclave development, detachment and complacency.35"
Understanding the macro-economic environment affecting ICT use

• Analysis of economic indicators reveals that unemployment and underemployment are
high; there are relatively high levels of basic and functional illiteracy, a marginally rising
poverty level and a high level of inequality.
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have declined.
• The ICT sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and impact on the economy
are marginal. This comes despite marked improvements in bandwidth capacity, an
increase in teledensity (both fixed-line and mobile telephones), extensive computerization
within the financial sector, and moves toward liberalization in the ICT sector.
• ICT research and innovation is minimal, as venture capital is not readily available. Funding
for R&D is very limited and not considered a priority by either the public or private
sectors.
• Only one ISP has received funding through collaboration with an international partner,
and many companies with licenses are yet to begin operating. The concentration of
market power in the hands of one dominant player is problematic.
• According to UNDP classifications, the Jamaican ICT industry is an adaptor of technology,
35
There is no further explanation of this assertion in the report.
rather than a leader in its development, and is described as "competently imitative rather
than innovative". The report agrees with the findings of an UNCTAD study that reported
Jamaica's ICT sector -- consisting largely of small, inexperienced companies -– as lacking
capacity specialization. The sector is volatile in nature, the industry growing in spurts, and
has not as yet achieved sustained growth (UNCTAD, Science, Technology, Innovation
Review, 1997).
• Measures and mechanisms need to be implemented to facilitate Jamaica’s transformation
from a traditional manufacturing and agricultural economy to one that is information and
knowledge-based.
• The ICT sector should be disaggregated as a separate category in the National Accounts,
in order to track its contribution to GDP more effectively.
• The report underlines the importance of converging policy, coordinating institutions and
developing appropriate methodologies and indicators for calculating and reporting
economic performance, e-commerce and the contribution of ICT to GDP.
Gauging the government's and other stakeholders' will to drive change

• The Government procurement policy for ICT has improved transparency through the
National Contracts Commission.
• Disparate ICT initiatives need to be coordinated in order to avoid the duplication of
activities. For example, partnerships in education and training between international
agencies, local private sector, the Ministry of Education and NGOs need to be expanded.
An integrated approach will enhance the effectiveness of projects and programs, thereby
freeing resources for other complementary development activities.
• The use of ICT in the public sector should be mandated, and the modernization program
needs to be expanded to all levels of Government.
Outcomes
The report was disseminated to stakeholders including all ministries and universities, the
Jamaican Computer Society, the Jamaica Bankers’ Association, the Jamaica Bar Association,
and ICT companies. The report was not published on the Web, but a booklet was published
(ISBN 976-610-479-4).
The respondent did not answer questions regarding outcomes resulting from the report’s
findings.

The assessment was conducted prior to the passage of the Access to Information Act, and
reluctance to sharing information was prevalent in the bureaucracy. Possible reasons for this,
as offered by the questionnaire respondents, include inter-agency competition, and
perceptions that publishing data may be a cause for criticism, or may impact on any
competitive advantage they have. Although there were some exceptions in the public sector
(notably in the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Prime Minister) and also in the
private sector, there was a general reticence towards the assessment. The view that the
adoption of technology can result in job losses was offered as a possible reason for this.
The business survey responses were far lower than expected, even taking into consideration
the methodology used. This was in contrast to the community surveys. The assessment team
had to conduct follow-up calls and in some cases personal visits, thereby increasing the need
for resources to complete the study. Internally, support from public sector ICT personnel was
described as "somewhat lukewarm". Extended timeframes for the project would have enabled
greater stakeholder engagement, and had time been set aside to promote the benefits of the
study, there may have been a more positive response.

Community development, which is the key to sustainable national development, requires the
focus of ICT on the enhancement activities that will improve living standards and reduce
poverty; generate growth, employment and equity. It does not require the distribution of IT
equipment and facilities for its own sake. The latter is likely to result in waste or excessive
use of IT for purposes unrelated to value added or productive endeavors. Jamaica’s e-
Readiness Assessment, CITO
In this assessment, a broad understanding of the potential of ICT for poverty alleviation, as
illustrated by this quote from the report, is couched within the objective achieving sustainable
development by generating economic growth through the ICT sector. While there is some
mention of the use of ICT for development (the assessment is one of the very few in the
infoDev initiative to look at the use of ICT by NGOs for mobilizing and service delivery), the
focus is on business, with an emphasis on foreign investment and business growth, especially
by SMEs. The assessment finds Jamaica at the point where the local ICT industry needs to be
promoted through Government support and investment, and identifies the urgent need for
continuing and improving skills development initiatives.
Ensuring both the quality and variety of the data collected was a challenge, owing to resource
and time constraints. Unlike most of the other assessments funded under the infoDev
program, the Jamaican e-readiness assessment team tried to address the problems of bias
inherent in CID's methodology, and had two independent panels ranking each category. While
the report is complete in terms of the collection, collation and presentation of baseline data
on the ICT sector, it is unclear how the various categories and indicators in the assessment
were pulled together to generate the overall E-Readiness index.
The report fulfils its objective of providing useful baseline data for future comparison, and
addresses issues of access, affordability and capacity and training at many levels. The data
contained in the many tables in the report is detailed, and the accompanying narrative paints
a picture of Jamaica's telecommunications environment, its macro- and socio-economic
situation, and its ICT industry. It includes a detailed costing structure for the various options
of Internet access services. The assessment places Jamaica in the early stages of ICT
development, and identifies a useful number of factors inhibiting its readiness. Discussion of
appropriate technologies for urban and rural Jamaica, and the legal and regulatory
frameworks identifies potential solutions for bridging Jamaica’s digital divide.
The report is very long, and in some parts feels somewhat disjointed. There is also some
repetition, and statements that require further explanation or substantiation. For example,
the report states that the "basic literacy rate" is 20%, while a table further in the report,
illiteracy for all Jamaica is put at 20.1%. The UNDP’s (2003) Human Development Report puts
adult literacy at 87.6%. The assessment puts "poverty" at 18.7%, but offers no definition of
poverty, or explanation of what this percentage means. The report is however one of the few
in the infoDev initiative that includes issues of basic literacy and poverty.
The report is clear in its definition of the digital divide, and reasons for why it should be
narrowed. The digital divide between Jamaica and developed countries is recognized, but
equally so is the divide within Jamaica itself, based on economic, demographic and
geographical factors. Issues as they relate to the disparities between urban and rural areas
are woven through the report, but it would have been useful to provide more analysis in this
regard, especially in considering future development plans.
Basic literacy, secondary and tertiary education, ICT skills development and related jobs are
covered in the section on e-learning - a major section of the assessment. Descriptions of the
available and required skills domains, and analysis of average salaries in both the public and
private sectors, highlight areas for improvement.
The SWOT analysis of the country's ICT industry is revealing, and will most likely prove useful
to policy-makers and decision-makers as it highlights the fiscal expenditure choices that have
to be made for transformation into a more productive economy. Although there is a section
on R&D expenditure, it is not accompanied by any statistics on actual expenditure by
Government, higher education, the private sector or civil society.
The report promotes Jamaica’s transformation from a traditional manufacturing and

agricultural to a knowledge-based global economy. Given the ratings the authors themselves
give the country’s level of e-readiness, it is unlikely that the ICT industry will expand
sufficiently or quickly enough or that the sector will be a panacea to the problem of poverty.
ICT needs to be mainstreamed and integrated into Jamaica’s other sectors, and has
significant potential to improve the key, existing industries of manufacturing and agriculture.
The report is focused on next steps, and includes the foundation for an action plan. Although
many of the recommendations appear primarily couched in policy concerns and without
timeframes for action, the completed questionnaire features a list of qualitative and
quantitative targets and indicators for appraising progress. This constitutes an appropriate
start for moving from assessment to action, and the authors themselves recommend that
qualitative and quantitative indicators and targets should be included in the action plan for
appraising progress.
Case study: Kenya

Kenya ICT Infrastructure and E- Readiness Assessment
I Overview
Dates
The report is yet to be published. The study was conducted in 2001 and the final draft was
finished in October 2002.
Authors
The assessment was carried out by the Department of Finance and Planning, IT sector
working members and a team from Netcom Information Systems, a private consultancy firm.
The team comprised the following people: Dr Timothy Waema (Team Leader, Netcom), Dr
Meoli Kashorda (IT-SWG, Quality Control), Mr Ezra Odhiambo (Netcom), Dr Maina
WaGichangi( Netcom), Mr Victor Kyalo (Netcom) and Dr Gerald Chenge (Netcom).
Abstract
The Kenyan e-readiness assessment uses the methodology of the Harvard Center for
International Development's (CID's) Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for
Developing Countries. Data was collected via questionnaire from all major towns in Kenya,
but it is not clear how many -- or whether any -- rural communities were surveyed. Most data
was collected from survey of the telecommunications industry, information and
communications technology (ICT) use within education and business, and the e-commerce
industry. But it does not investigate the socio-cultural factors that influence the uptake of ICT
by Kenyans, focusing primarily on market influences only, such as low teledensity and the
monopolistic activities of the incumbent telecommunications operator. Consequently, the
conclusions drawn throughout the report are minimal, with no indication of how the findings
on which they are based fit into the bigger picture of ICT uptake in Kenyan society. It follows
that the recommendations lack depth and it is likely they do not tell the Government anything
new.
The assessment was conducted by a private consultancy commissioned by the Kenyan

Government, but they do not appear to have received any support from the Government,
which impacted on the assessment. Further, they have not received any feedback after
submitting the report to the Ministry of Finance and Planning in 2002, and were not included
in a stakeholder meeting on the outcomes.
The recommendations section provides a strategy for each of the CID Guide's e-readiness
areas for assessment, with timeframes and assignment of Government agencies for each
task. Most of the recommendations are based around liberalization of the telecommunications
sector, awareness raising and education of business managers and teachers, and
improvements in teledensity. While useful in providing a high-level plan for sparking dialogue
and creating a more detailed strategy, it cannot work without full Government support, and
must first be supplemented with data on the socio-cultural factors that affect the uptake of
ICT by Kenyans.
II Report Summary
Rationale
E-readiness is defined by the Ministry of Finance and Planning as the "extent of the
application of technology in an economy". The authors of the report followed the CID Guide's
definition as "the degree to which community is prepared to participate in the Networked
World", which is gauged by assessing a community’s relative advancement in the areas that
are most critical for the adoption of ICT, and its most important applications.
The assessment's overall objectives were to measure the following elements of e-readiness:
• Infrastructure readiness;
• Capacity;
• Education; and
• Content development.
Methodology
Data was collected primarily through questionnaires, which were developed under the five
areas outlined by the Harvard Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for
the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries, and covers all 19 indicators in these
areas. Data was collected in all major towns in Kenya. The data was analyzed using Microsoft
Access and statistical software, as recommended by the CID's Guide. The report does not
say how many questionnaires were completed, but explains that they were formulated to look
at the following sectors: telecommunications operators and Internet service providers (ISPs),
ICT in education, and ICT in organizations.
Key findings and recommendations of report
CID Rankings
Network access36: 2.25
Networked economy: 2
Network policy: 4.5

• Fixed-line teledensity is currently standing at 1.01% while mobile lines are at 3.03%, but
these figures are skewed in favor of urban areas.
• The wired network is minimal in Kenya, especially outside Nairobi and in rural areas.
• Quality and services from the fixed network operator are very poor (e.g. time to get a new
fixed connection is too long, and time to repair faults runs into weeks).
• The percentage of schools with telephones is 81.35, 57.2% and 64.3% in Nairobi, outside
Nairobi and nationally respectively. Overall, there are 575 telephone lines for over 17,000
schools.
• Over 80% of primary schools had less than 5 computers, while the corresponding figures
for secondary schools and universities were about 50% and 33%, respectively.
• About 71% of the organizations surveyed in Nairobi reported that they have a fax and
telephone. However, there are a small number of people within these organizations that
are using these facilities.
• About 37% of organizations reported that they have installed public pay phones for use by
their employees in the premises.
• Only 16% of employees have access to a networked personal computer (PC).
• The number of Internet users is normal for the region, with services from 72 ISPs. Half
the bandwidth entering Kenya is via satellite. But Internet access by any means other that
dial-up is expensive, and similar to the rest of the continent, this is largely due to lack of
peering with neighboring countries.
36
These scores have been averaged for each category. The report only provides scores at the next level of
granularity (e.g. Network access = information infrastructure, Internet availability, network speed and quality,
hardware and software and service and support).
• There is some degree (low) of electronic transactions in some sectors, such as banking,
where payments are (salaries) are effected through the electronic funds transfer (EFT)
system.

• Digital wireless local loop should be used to improve the quality of the local access
network.
• Government should extend local access optical fiber network to all key buildings in all
major towns.

• High costs of Internet, mobile telephony, and fixed-line telephones limit the use of ICT.
• Market competition for Internet and backbone services would likely see lower prices in
Internet access.

• Education with ICT is at stage 2, with a limited number of teachers/lecturers using
computers.
• The importance of ICT has been recognized by a limited number of institutions such as the
banks, large supermarkets chains and universities.
• Desktop applications are seldom used by teachers and lectures, except in universities.
• Most schools have teachers or lectures that have basic ICT literacy skills: 93.2% and
67.2% in and outside Nairobi respectively.
• There is limited knowledge and skills among teachers and lecturers on the use of ICT in
education, and a lack of relevant standardized professional curricula.
• There are few training opportunities for junior ICT personnel.
• While there is adequate local capacity to train graduates, there is an indication from the
private sector that most ICT training does not match the requirements of industry.
Accordingly, some employers offer in-house ICT training.
• ICT training should be incorporated into teacher training.
• Centers of Excellence for ICT training should be established in selected universities.
• Professional bodies should be strengthened to regulate ICT education and training (e.g.
engineering or computer science institutions).
• The ICT workforce forms only a small fraction of the total employees in the country, and
ICT is not widely used to support the core business of many organizations.
• While about 22% of the workforce, particularly in Nairobi, is expected to use computers,
only about 15% are current users. 56% of organizations surveyed thought ICT was
strategic.
• Only 5% of the workforce comprises expatriates.
• There is limited knowledge and skills among teachers and lecturers on the use of ICT in
education, and a lack of relevant standardized professional curricula.
• Business leaders should be educated on strategic benefits of using ICT, and the benefits of
B2B commerce (e.g. reduced cost of transactions).

• About 40% of the organizations surveyed in Nairobi, and 19% in other areas, have active
websites.
• About 27% of local websites are hosted in Kenya.
• Up to 34% of the organizations reported that local web sites are regularly visited by
employees, but their own websites are not being accessed by clients.
• Although there is limited availability of commercial information, most of the leading
organizations with a web presence tend to be private sector organizations.
• There is no locally relevant educational content.
• A small level of online access to training does exist, though it is quite limited and the
report suggests that educational portals should be created.
• Less than 50% of software in Kenya is developed locally. It was recommended that the
Kenyan software industry should aim toward producing 90% of software in use.
• Less than 10% of hardware in Kenya is locally assembled. The action plan suggests that
this is improved to more than 50%.
• The availability of local e-learning courses is limited.
• There are several government web sites that provide relevant data and some government
publications.
• E–Commerce has not taken root as a means for conducting business in Kenya, and only
3% of websites support on-line transactions.
• There is a large network of point-of-sale terminals and merchants who accept credit cards.
• There are also about 60 000 credit card holders.
• Critical Government institutions and departments should create transactional websites,
and all departments should have intranets.
• Online support availability is still at its infancy though deployment seems to the on the
increase.

• Computers have not been accepted as part of every day life and most people who access
computers only do this at their workplace.
• Sociological research into the use of ICT should be conducted.
• An advisory center should be established to help communities setup and operate non
profit public computer labs in schools, libraries, and shopping centers in Kenya.
• There are about 1000 cyber cafes in Nairobi and other cities, as well as major towns in
which there are a large number of business people and the young people.
• In Nairobi, only 30% of the organizations surveyed reported using e-mail for sales and
marketing.

• Most Internet users are young people and professionals.

• The ICT sector has a regulator which is still learning how to work with the
telecommunications sector, but there have been several big changes in recent years. For
example, the mobile telephony and ISP markets have been liberalized and several
markets are experiencing increased competition.
• The incumbent operator, Telkom Kenya, will continue to enjoy a monopoly over fixed-
lines, leased lines, the international gateway, commercial VSAT networks and all Internet
nodes and backbones until 2004.
• All operators contribute towards universal access but are not regulated, which means
universal service implementation is not effective and there are still schools and hospitals
without telephones.
• Tariffs on leased lines should be regulated during the period prior to the monopoly
expiring.
• Wireless access to ISPs should be deregulated.

• ICT is not used to support strategic business activities in the majority of Kenyan
organizations.
• High costs of Internet access via leased line discourage business-to-business (B2B)
activities, and only about 5% of the organizations interviewed had installed Internet-based
B2B applications. (This includes e-banking).
• Local business software and content development activities should be encouraged by
creating science parks (or ICT centers of excellence), and IT business incubator centers in
Kenya.

• In the past, duties on computing equipment have been reduced to as low 5%. However,
duty payable on telecommunication and networking equipment is still very high (60% for
duty and vat).
• Tax on PC and other associated devices is close to 24%.
• There is no tariff structure for electronically delivered products.
• Despite the opening of the service providers sector, there are still restrictions on the
complete ownership by foreign investors of a telecommunications business.
• Government should give tax incentives to foreign software development companies to
encourage foreign companies to invest in Kenya.
• Improvements in the end-user equipment duties and tariffs have not helped to increase
accessibility to ICT services, and this has put Kenya in stage 2.
• There should be an inclusive policy to further open up the ICT market and pave the way
for e-activities.
• Local assembly of computers should be encouraged by zero rating electronic knock down
kits37.
• There is a need for research on the contribution of ICT to trade.
• Tax on ICT equipment and services should be reduced to less than 10% (duty + VAT).
• The fact that the incumbent telecommunications operator still has control over key
services indicates a lack of political will for change. Forming a telecommunications
regulator is a step forward, but the process of liberalization is slow.
• Lack of policy around e-commerce also shows a lack of awareness within political circles
for the benefits of ICT to Kenyan business.
Outcomes
There are no published outcomes as yet. The report has only been submitted to the Ministry
of Finance and Planning, and they only have hard copies of the assessment.

The first challenge faced by the assessors was the unwillingness of institutions -- both
Government and private -- to engage with the assessment team and provide them with
information. It is likely that the participants did not know enough about the e-readiness
assessment and were suspicious of the motivations behind it. The problem was even worse
with multinational organizations working in Kenya.
The low level of ICT use in Government institutions meant that many civil servants were
unable to respond to the questions put to them, especially those of a technical nature. Many
key respondents in Government departments did not understand common technical terms,
such as "bandwidth".
37
This is not further explained in the report.
The data collected was not comprehensive, largely owing to low numbers of questionnaires
returned or completed. This made it difficult for the authors to draw conclusions from the
data, so that they were forced to rely on their own experience and knowledge of the Kenyan
ICT sector.
The assessors found it difficult to convey their findings to the Government officials who
commissioned them. They felt that many of the officials viewed the study as "just another
donor-initiated project in which they had no special interest." The report was produced
without Government input, and there was no coordination within Government as to who
should work with the assessment team. There appeared to be lack of coordination between
the Ministry of Finance and Transport and the Ministry of Communications regarding the roles
of each in the assessment. During field work, it transpired that some of the officials
responsible for the project had moved on without handing over the project.
It was also mentioned that the Government procurement system is cumbersome, and as a
result, the project started later than anticipated.
Although the study was conducted in 2001 and the final draft was completed in 2002, the
report is yet to be published. According to one consultant interviewed, there are no
indications that the report has been used in any way by the Government. He recommended
that the report be published and a workshop held to discuss its findings and chart the way
forward. But there appears to be some miscommunication between the consultant and the
Ministry, as according to one Government official, a stakeholders' workshop has already taken
place.

The Kenyan e-readiness assessment does not provide a list of objectives. As such, it lacks
depth and direction. The Harvard CID Guide methodology is adhered to without an attempt to
mold the assessment to one that is relevant to the socio-economic climate of Kenya. This
resulted in a report that contains facts and figures, but little insight into how ICT is being
used by Kenyans. The recommendations are largely based on liberalizing the incumbent
telecommunications operator, increasing teledensity and raising awareness of ICT and e-
literacy levels across society.
It appears that there was little Government support for the assessment, with no objectives
conveyed to the assessment team from above. Government officials did not demonstrate
much interest or awareness of the outcomes. And publication has been delayed for unknown
reasons, although this should not preclude Government from acting upon the
recommendations. There appears to have been a stakeholder workshop, following submission
of the report to the Government, but the assessors were not invited and there is some doubt
as to which stakeholders (other than Government itself) participated.
The report is at times confusing. For example, it states that "About 71% of the organizations
surveyed in Nairobi reported they have a fax and telephone. The teledensity within
organizations was only 2.4. However, internal teledensity is 21.7 because of the PABX
system." The reader is left wondering why there are two different numbers for "internal
teledensity" and there is no explanation provided. Acronyms are simply used without
explanation, the reader is left to imagine what is meant by, for example, "unlicensed ISM
should be used for local access," or "EDI transactions are only 3% of the total inter –
organizational commerce transactions ..."
Although the report mentions and refers to development goals "as summarized in chapter 6",
these goals are not actually mentioned in chapter 6 or anywhere else. It is mentioned in the
report that there are poverty reduction strategy papers attached as annexes, but they do not
materialize. (There are no annexes in the report).
The report takes a relatively in-depth look into B2B and B2C commerce, and underlines the
challenges Kenya faces in establishing the infrastructure and capacity for e-commerce. It
cites lack of awareness in management as one of the key factors holding back e-commerce
and recommends a number of training and education options. But there is no attempt to find
out the reasons underlying the slow uptake of ICT by Kenyans.
It is not clear how much data was collected from rural areas -- the report appears to focus on
business and Government use of ICT. And there is no insight into the motivations and ICT
needs of Kenyans from a social perspective. Thus, although the action plan identifies critical
issues, outlines objectives and describes a high-level strategy for reaching each goal, they
are only relevant to Government, big business and education in general. Overall, taking these
plans forward will rely on Government involvement, and the action plan will remain at a
broad, conceptual level until this happens.
Case study: Panama
Panama Readiness for the Networked World Project
I Overview
Date
The grant period was between August 2002 and October 2003. The report is yet to be
published.
Authors
The e-readiness assessment team comprised individuals from various departments and
entities at Harvard University, at the invitation of the Panamanian Secretaria Nacional De
Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacion (SENACYT). SENACYT is a Government body tasked with
providing technical advice, performing and sponsoring research, creating partnerships outside
Government and gathering data and opinions on a wide range of topics related to science,
technology and innovation. William Fisher III, principle investigator at Harvard University,
was responsible for the technical, scientific and program coordinating aspects of the grant
agreement. Jeffrey Sachs, principle investigator at Harvard’s Center for International
Development (CID) and Magda Ismail, research associate, were joined by Jeffrey Smith and
Sarah Holtz from the University’s Office for Sponsored Research. Colin Maclay, Mark Lopes
and Nora Dillon from Harvard Law School’s Information Technologies Group (ITG) were
investigators for the assessment.
Abstract
The Panamanian e-readiness assessment is a long, descriptive narrative of the ICT
environment in this country. It provides the reader with historical, political and commercial
information regarding developments in information and communications technology (ICT),
and predicts where the sector is heading. Panama is described as a country of two worlds
where the wealthy live alongside the extremely poor. But the environment is conducive to the
development and uptake of ICT, due to Panama's geographical location, access to the
international Internet backbone, newfound political and economic stability, and stable
currency.
This report is based on the Harvard Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness
for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries, yet none of the indicators appear
to be measured and no e-readiness ratings are given. The authors found that e-readiness is
related to the level of education of users, infrastructure capacity, technical support and the
country’s level of technological development as compared with others in the region.
The report relies heavily on interviews with various stakeholders and quantitative data
gathered from third party reports. This means the report lacks substance and consequently,
the recommendations are overly broad. No action plan for Government is provided, and there
is no data on the socio-cultural use of ICT, despite the author's promotion of ICT as a tool for
socio-economic upliftment.
II Report summary
Rationale
The study aimed to gather information on e-readiness in the education, business,
government, financial service, public service, and general public sectors. E-readiness is
defined as "readiness to face challenges related to or as a consequence of the introduction of
ICT; how to use them, how to adapt them, how to apply them, and further to develop them
into tools for advancement."
Methodology
The assessment was conducted according to CID’s Guide, with questionnaires38 and
interviews used as the primary means of data collection. The research was mainly descriptive,
as opposed to quantitative.
A lot of data was already available to the assessment team, but they way in which it had
been collected was unsatisfactory, so they decided to use a range of methods to gather more
data. These included a literature review, desktop research, numerous meetings with a variety
of local stakeholders (from Government, business, academia and civil society), and
international actors. The team also utilized quantitative data from the International
Telecommunication Union, United Nations, Panamanian Government, private sources and the
joint CID – World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey.

The analysis is still in progress, and as a result the recommendations are yet to be compiled.

• There are 248,489 active fixed-lines and 834,032 mobile connections.
• The numbers of public telephones installed varied widely according to each province.
• Mobile telephony has seen the greatest growth in the telecommunications market. Mobile
network coverage has reached about 81% of the population and 32% of the nation's
geography.
• Panama is very well positioned in terms of the international Internet backbone, enjoying
direct access to seven undersea cables, enabling the local development of high quality,
low cost services. Panama has also benefited from first cooperative Internet Exchange
Point in Latin America.
• Although dial up Internet Access is available in Panama City and other urban areas, people
in some rural areas are forced to pay for long-distance calls for Internet access.
• The number of personal computers (PCs) in Panama is estimated to be 200,000, with an
additional 60,000 sold each year.
• About 80% of people with PCs and Internet access reside in the capital, and the number
of Internet users in Panama is assumed to be standing at over 250 000.
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is now offered.

• Cyber cafes and public access points are very popular due to the high cost of private
Internet access. There are a variety of Internet services available in Panama City at
reasonable prices.
• Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and wireless connections are available for
US$35 to US$50 per month in some areas of the capital.
• An Infoplaza project -- which is a nationwide initiative -- has 54 subsidized community
access centers that are run by local partners on a non-profit basis. There is a plan to
expand these to about hundred centers and they offer high quality public access and
services for fees of US$0.25 to US$1.00 per hour. They reach about 82% of the students
and less affluent users, promoting use of Internet as a research and information tool. The
number of users at 39 Infoplaza centers is estimated at over 8000, but financing this
initiative is proving to be a challenge.
38
The report does not describe what the questionnaires covered, who completed them, or how many were
completed.

• Nearly 100% of the people surveyed have heard of the Internet, regardless of their age,
with almost two thirds of the respondents having used the web.
• The level of education in Panama has had a positive effect on the understanding and use
of ICT. This comes despite a backdrop of complex politics, limited collaboration, lack of
coherent and communicated vision, and unclear goals for education within Government.
• Professional managers and business owners were most likely to use the Internet, followed
by Government employees and office workers.
• About 80% of the schools (with computers and Internet) which were surveyed (in a
separate study) revealed that teachers and students have access to computers after
hours.
• In 2002 the Institutional Commission for the Internet For Everyone project took on the
task of meeting its legislated mandate to provide Internet to all public schools. The
commission was established by the president together with other state agencies.
• Lack of effective training and great number of ill-prepared teachers is often cited as one of
the greatest difficulties in improving Panamanian education.
• Businesses, organizations and research and development (R&D) institutions have to work
together to promote ICT uptake. Panama needs to improve its support of individuals and
organizations (in public, private and academia) that are capable of conducting high quality
research relevant to ICT.
• There should be better methods for gathering information about ICT in Panama on an
ongoing basis.
• There is a need for a revised vision for SENACYT that focuses on research and support
leadership, where the organization will not implement projects but provide direction
instead.
• ICT initiatives should be linked to efforts at higher education reform so that enthusiasm
and the benefits of the Internet help catalyze change in teaching, research and community
involvement.

• Some municipal authorities use ICT to provide services to the local population. Activities
are spread across a range of efforts aiming to modernizing the administration of justice,
combat corruption, and improve public services.
• The e-Compras initiative, which uses a web-based procurement system for government
contracting, has been launched.

• It appears that Internet use is more prevalent among students and professionals.
• The Internet is used primarily for communication via e-mail or chat.

• The Panama telecommunications market is still in transition since the privatization of the
national carrier. This has introduced competition into some markets, the ultimate goal
being a free market economy.
• There are lots of positive developments in ICT policy in Panama, but coordination and
cooperation are lacking. Panama has a stormy (unstable) political history, which impacts
on ICT policy. And there are many concerns about the effectiveness and impartiality of
legal and administrative institutions. Many interviewees also recognized the unpredictable
relationship between law and its enforcement.
• The establishment of an independent regulation authority and the opening of the
telecommunications sector were followed by e-commerce law, digital signature authority,
and the call center law. These have led to basic improvements and firming up of the legal
and business environments for ICT.
• In 2003 Panama formulated a charter of Panamanian Law and New Technologies

Association which is a non-profit dedicated to supporting the understanding of the law as
it relates to ICT.
• The Government should refine and deepen existing national ICT strategies.
• There should be a universal access strategy and funding mechanism to address the
challenges of underserved markets.
Socio-cultural factors affecting technology use

• One of the greatest barriers in addressing rural disparities is overcoming geographic and
demographic challenges of the country. Panama has an extremely dispersed population
with over 6000 villages of less than 50 villagers each, and over 4300 small communities of
less than 2000 people.
• ICT uptake is not gender related, but young people are more prone to use ICT.

• There is active support for ICT uptake within the SME sector.
• Some companies have converted their experience in working with national industries, such
as banking, to produce software and services for export.
• There are currently six call centers operating in Panama representing an estimated 5000
jobs and creating a significant entry-level employment.
• Collaboration across organizations and sectors is also lacking despite stated interest,
potential mutual benefit and overwhelming need.
• There are businesses in Panama that promote the use of e-commerce for business by
small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

• Panama should look into integrating issues of privacy, security and intellectual property
into ICT policy /law.
• Transparent and effective accountability and evaluation mechanisms should be established
and genuine participation from different sectors, communities and stakeholders in ICT
encouraged.
Macro Economic Environment

• There are private volunteer organizations such as the Panamanian and Panamanian-
American Chamber of Commerce, and the Panamanian Association of Business Executives
that are dedicated in improving the nation’s business environment.
• City of Knowledge and SENACYT are two prominent initiatives with an ICT focus that seek
to promote elements of National Innovation System. Although they have survived political
developments, neither has been as successful as was hoped, although they have made
some impact.
• Although there are complaints about Government ineffectiveness and lack of vision, there
is significant activity and commitment on the part of numerous Government entities.
• The Government of Panama is using the Integrated System for Financial Management of
Panama as part of a long-term attempt to modernize the state finances.
• The Comptroller is a Government agency responsible for collecting, amongst others,
different types of data relating to ICT.
• The E-Panama project, comprised of diverse representation including each branch of
Government, is a mechanism for interaction between the Government and citizens. It is
also coordinating Government's integration of ICT and is concerned with the broader
vision for ICT and Government in the 21st century.
• In addition to participating in Government-sponsored ICT initiatives, company executives

often dedicate significant amounts of their own time to a range of private efforts that
broadly promote everything from the integration of ICT in education, to informing policy-
makers on business conditions, developing joint marketing strategies, and preparing
business for e-commerce.
• There are infrastructure limitations in the areas outside the capital due to lack of interest
by the private sector in servicing underserved areas, limited involvement by academia and
a lack of coherent Government strategy for integrating ICT into its development strategy.
• There is no clear leadership, demonstrated by the high failure rate of ICT projects.
Different Government entities have differing interests in the outcomes of these projects,
and under cut one another’s interests.
Outcomes
The report is yet to be delivered to any outside entity, and as a result has not yet generated
any outcomes.
Obstacles and lessons learned

The authors had to conduct this assessment with inadequate funds. Bias in opinions from
questionnaire respondents and interviewees may have skewed the data. Communication
between SENACYT, Harvard and the investigator was sometimes difficult, but steps were
taken to overcome this as the project progressed. Some private sector interviewees were
resistant to offering information they considered sensitive, which were nonetheless necessary
to understand ICT markets and services. The report indicated that had the numerous studies
conducted in this sphere been coordinated, more valuable information would have been
available.

The Panamanian e-readiness assessment is a long, descriptive narrative of the ICT
environment in this country. It provides the reader with historical, political and commercial
information regarding developments in ICT, and predicts where the sector is heading. But,
there is virtually no quantitative data, and while the assessors claim the methodology is
based on the Harvard CID's Guide, there is no evidence that the Guide's indicators were
measured and no scores for e-readiness. Most qualitative data was collected from interviews
and questionnaires, and quantitative data was garnered from reports published by large,
international bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). There is
mention of Panamanian Government and private sector involvement, but nothing more
specific.
The objectives of the report are vaguely stated in the questionnaire as "know all the
information and the level of e-readiness in all the sectors mentioned in number 3.1", these
sectors being the level of education of ICT users; infrastructure capacity; technical support;
and ICT capacity in relation to other countries in the region. The lack of concrete data comes
across most clearly in the section on telecommunications, where instead of statistics on, for
example, teledensity per region and types of Internet connectivity, the reader is presented
with a long narrative on developments in VoIP in Panama and failure of the national regulator
to control the incumbent operators with respect to this market. Further, some information is
unclear, for example "Limitations [on competition] exist (or existed) in the areas of public
phones, cellular, national and international calling services." Basic data expected of an e-
readiness assessment is simply missing (and is not provided in an Annex), and the reader is
left scanning the document for anything of substance.
It is surprising that despite the assessment team being comprised of researchers from
Harvard University, they chose to interpret the Harvard CID Guide's methodology in this
manner. There is hardly indication that ICT use by region, gender or socio-economic status
was explored. The report mentions that some areas are extremely poor, but no link is made
between ICT uptake and poverty alleviation. And there no details on how the report is to be
disseminated.
Recommendations are described as "navigational considerations" rather than an action plan

for Government. This is to be expected as there is insufficient data for more in-depth
comment. Further, each recommendation appears to be based on the authors' opinions. And
they are so high-level that their usefulness to policy-makers tasked with translating them into
actions is doubtful.
Case study: Philippines

Macro and Micro ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Report
I Overview
Date
The grant period was between October 2001 and October 2002. The report is yet to be
published.
Authors
Dr Aldaba from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) coordinated the research. Gmelina
Guiang authored the Macro ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Report. This, along with the
micro assessment summary of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in four sub-sectors,
forms the focus of this case study. The infoDev-funded Philippine's e-readiness effort includes
ICT infrastructure and e-readiness assessments of the garments industry, by Cruzita Carbon;
the electronics and semiconductor industry, by Ronald Tamangan and Alvin Diaz; the
furniture sector by Marissa Paderon-Macam and Nino Mendoza; and the processed fruit
industry by Asuncion Sebastian and Manuel Sandoval.
Abstract
The Philippines e-readiness project is focused on e-readiness as a means to increasing the
productivity and efficiency of SMEs. The project team produced six reports: a macro e-
readiness assessment, as well as four micro-assessments and a summary. The macro
assessment consolidates and links previous work -- rather than duplicating it -- to provide a
comprehensive overview. The micro assessments have been produced for four different
sectors of the economy: semiconductors and electronics, garments, furniture and fruit
processing. SMEs from each sector were surveyed through questionnaires, interviews and
focus group discussions. The result is a detailed e-readiness assessment for each sector,
looking at the areas of ICT infrastructure and systems, ICT policy and legal environment,
human resources and education and the e-business environment. Despite shortfalls
associated with unrepresentative sampling (a major challenge for the research was garnering
participation from industry representatives), the micro assessments provide useful
information for the private sector as well as Government policy-makers. Each recommends
concrete actions, specifically tailored to each of the respective industries.
II Report summary
Rationale
The authors define e-readiness as the "readiness of a country's infrastructure and institutions
to face the challenges and harness the opportunities provided by enhancements in
information and communications technology (ICT)". The assessment sought to "evaluate the
ICT infrastructure and e-readiness of the Philippines and assess the preparedness of small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the new global digital economy." With SMEs
representing the majority (99.61%) of firms in the Philippines and providing 67% of the
country's total employment, the levels of e-readiness of these engines of growth will inform
efforts to enhance and increase their productivity.
Methodology
Five assessments were conducted: a macro assessment, and four sector-specific micro
assessments.
The macro assessment used existing data and studies to assess e-readiness in four
categories: ICT infrastructure and systems, ICT policy and legal environment, human
resources and education and the e-business environment. Six e-readiness assessments were
surveyed by the Ateneo Research Network for Development (ARND) e-Readiness research
team. Consolidation, synthesis and critical analysis of these assessments' key findings,
culminate in this macro assessment. It also seeks to identify strengths and weaknesses and
make recommendations.
For the micro assessments, four sub-sectors of enterprise were chosen according their size,
contribution to the economy and potential for greater productivity when harnessing ICT. 13
semiconductors and electronics firms, 34 garments companies, 58 furniture SMEs and 87
processed fruit companies were surveyed and interviewed. Survey questionnaires were
administered to those responsible for each company's management, ICT development and
business operations. They were designed to gather data relating to local infrastructure and
hardware, networking capacity, application/ software, human resources, and the business and
policy environment.
Facilitated group discussions and interviews were conducted with key informants from each
sector, selected with assistance from trade associations and the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) agencies. The discussions tackled issues affecting ICT deployment, penetration
and use. Interviews with experts sought to yield insights on ways that the country can
harness ICT for its economic and social development.
Major findings of the Macro assessment include:
Physical access and infrastructure

• Following the deregulation of the country's telecommunications market, teledensity
(defined as the number of telephone lines per 100 persons) rose from 4.66 in 1996 to
9.05 in 2000.
• The country's growing use of telephony was not matched with increasing access to the
Internet - only 2.6% of the population has access, and of this, more than half are located
in Metro Manila and in the middle and upper-income classes. This problem is attributed to,
among others, the monopoly in telecommunications rendering Internet access
prohibitively expensive.
Affordability and cost

• High costs of hardware, Internet access and software hinder e-commerce, and many firms
are still unaware of the potential benefits ICT can offer them.
Capacity and training

• The Philippines has the second highest number of training facilities for computer
programming in Asia.
• Filipino IT professionals' high levels of productivity and low salaries lead to "brain drain",
leaving those with low-end skills responsible for the development of local ICT.
Integration of technology in peoples' daily lives

• Only 1% of Filipino businesses are online, and of these, application is limited to
advertising and basic email communication. Business to consumer (B2C) and business to
business (B2B) transactions are very limited.
Legal and regulatory frameworks

• While the Philippines is one of the few countries in Asia to enact e-commerce legislation,
there are no policies to address issues on security, interconnection and convergence.
Major findings of the micro assessments on SMEs in four sub-sectors include:
• The electronics sector is the most e-ready, with the highest penetration of ICT (the
adoption of new technologies results from pressures of competitiveness from large
contracting firms), while the processed fruit sector is the least advanced owing to the
nature of the industry, which has mostly small-scale producers and simple production
processes.
• While 95% of firms use computers, applications are limited to spreadsheets, word
processing and payroll programs. Interestingly, 94% of firms have Internet access and
70% have their computers networked.
• Most SMEs are still unaware of the benefits of ICT. "About 2 of 3 SMEs surveyed use ICT
for manufacturing, sales, procurement, process control, finance and accounting, and
research and development (R&D). Approximately 1 out of 3 utilizes ICT for business and
strategic planning, customer service and personnel training."
• 64% of firms surveyed have a website (excluding garments SMEs which did not provide
the relevant information). 47% sell products online, and for 89%, email is the most
common form of communicating with suppliers and customers. However, only 16% and
14% give and receive payment online, respectively.
• ICT personnel are employed by SMEs to a limited degree. Only 68% have hired personnel
for hardware maintenance, 50% have hired programmers, 40% have found the need for
systems analysts, 30% for information managers and only 25% have network
administrators.
• Common challenges experienced by most SMEs surveyed include: access to capital and
credit; high costs involved in conducting business and inadequate support infrastructure;
high cost of raw materials (e.g. sugar for food, wood for furniture etc.); insufficient
market information; lack of requisite skilled staff; inadequate investment in research and
development (R&D); macroeconomic and political instability and threat of competition
from imports.
• SMEs, their trade associations and the Government should collaborate to promote
awareness of the benefits of ICT. This can be achieved by sharing knowledge and
replicating best practice, and working together within sectors to develop business models
emphasizing the efficiency and economy of business operations enabled by ICT.
The following recommendations are made:

• Collective ownership of ICT can promote economies of scale among SMEs.
• The Government needs to provide financing, training and technical assistance to SMEs.
Outcomes
Key findings and recommendations of the study were presented to the Secretary and other
top level officials at the meeting of the DTI Executive Committee on June 10, 2002. At a
multi-stakeholder workshop on 29 May 2002, workshop documents containing key findings
and recommendations were distributed to around 150 people. Articles on the study and
workshop have appeared in major newspapers, both in print and electronic editions.
The report achieved its objective of informing the DTI for decisions on key and strategic
interventions by Government in the areas of ICT use by business and engagement in e-
commerce. The Secretary of Trade and Industry gave various instructions to his key officials
based on the report's findings, and current efforts are seeking to increase financial support
and technical assistance to SMEs.
The report and workshop have proved useful to organizations operating within the private
sector. The president of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society (PICS) attended the
workshop, following which PICS organized two meetings of the National E-Commerce
Congress, with the latter focusing on SMEs. The Small Enterprises Research and Development
Foundation of the University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries, whose
representatives also attended the workshop, has used the study's findings and
recommendations in its ongoing advocacy efforts.

The Government has not resolved issues relating to the optimal organizational structure for
the promotion of ICT use. Focusing on SMEs enabled the project team to "steer clear of the
conflict between the Department of Trade and Industry and another office as to who is the
main proponent of ICT within the government structure."
Available data for the macro assessment was not optimally reliable or relevant, as most of the
existing e-readiness assessments provided only broad performance rankings and wide-
ranging estimates. Most benchmarks were based on American or European standards that
may not be as relevant in the developing country context. Nevertheless, the project team
tried, wherever possible, to select more specific, locally meaningful and verifiable indicators of
e-readiness.
Time and resource constraints were challenges when conducting the micro assessment. The
team therefore chose just four sectors to be surveyed. Additionally a lack of interest on the
part of some of the respondents proved challenging -- although the trade associations were
very helpful and coordinated some of the interviews. The initial attempt at random sampling
was succeeded by a purposive approach, owing to very low response rates. Only the
processed fruit sector was able to exceed the target number of 80 respondents for each
sector. Nevertheless, the authors claim that the results are "representative of the selected
sectors and robust across sectors."

Limited to a literature survey of previous e-readiness assessments, the macro assessment
refrains from duplicating existing work. Instead, it consolidates previous assessments to
create a very comprehensive overview in which to couch the micro assessments.
The various macro e-readiness assessments cited in the report are critically analyzed in
section IX, entitled "Gaps and Weaknesses". The authors identify that many of the
assessments provide only broad performance rankings or wide-ranging "estimates" that are
based on U.S or European standards, and point to the Philippines' unique socio-economic and
political contexts as constraints to the applicability of these benchmarking methodologies. The
section includes a matrix that illustrates the level of availability of information upon which the
indicators informing any assessment of e-readiness are based. It shows that for many,
minimal or no information is available, bringing into question the validity and reliability of the
reports which claim to make calculations and rankings according to these indicators.
The authors point out that few previous e-readiness assessments consider factors beyond
those affecting the "digital economy" and that most fail to sufficiently investigate the
domestic digital divide within the Philippines. The report shows an awareness of the larger
issues impacting upon the Philippines' development. Levels of poverty, unemployment,
population growth and availability of social services are cited as bigger issues that inevitably
impact upon e-readiness.
Introducing the micro assessments, the authors write, "Macro assessments are useless
without action plans that make specific recommendations at the industry and sectoral levels.
Thus, industry and sector specific studies need to be undertaken to shed light on such
Government interventions. More concretely, the country's policy-makers have begun to

realize the contribution of SMEs to specific industries and the country's development in
general. SMEs do not only provide employment and comprise majority of firms, but they also
pave the way for innovation and entrepreneurial skills to be honed. Moreover, they also play
a key role in development and a wider distribution of wealth and opportunities. With these
ideas in mind, a real e-Readiness assessment of the country must involve a look at the ICT
presence vis-à-vis the SMEs." These insights and recommendations are applicable to broader
development goals, including the MDGs. For macro assessments to have impact, they need
to make recommendations specific to sectors including health, education and environmental
sustainability.
The micro assessments are detailed and filled with valuable and practical information. Each
identifies industry strengths, weaknesses and threats, and makes recommendations for
furthering competitiveness. Issues relating to ICT and the e-readiness of participating firms
that came up in the focus group discussions are very interesting and useful in their specificity
and applicability. Despite the inevitable shortfalls resulting from insufficient respondents in
most sectors, the micro assessments provide useful information for the private sector as well
as policy-makers. They recommend concrete actions in the context of specific industry
sectors.
Case study: Romania

E-readiness Assessment of Romania and Information Society
National Action Plan
I Overview
Dates
The report was finished and submitted to infoDev and a small group of Romanian
stakeholders at the end of the grant period, which was between July and December 2003.
The report was not officially published or disseminated, because approval from infoDev was
delayed and the report is now outdated. The action plan was published in December 2003.
Authors
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCTI) commissioned the
report, supported by a grant from infoDev. A work group was established under the
coordination of the MCTI, with representatives of the main public institutions, professional
associations and civil society actively involved in promoting Romania's information society.
The Romanian Academy also provided constant support. The Ministry produced the action
plan.
Abstract
The MCTI has been conducting thorough and well thought-out work in boosting Romania's e-
readiness and use of information and communications technology (ICT) by its citizens. The
study made use of a hybrid methodology informed by the eEurope program, Harvard
University's Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked
World: A Guide for Developing Countries and other assessment tools listed on infoDev's
website. The report is laden with information on the country's ICT policy, access, e-
government, education, society and economy.
An action plan has also been developed, which builds upon the assessment. It summarizes
and extends the National Action Plan (NAP) formally adopted by the Government in December
2002, and outlines suggested responsibilities and timeframes. The action plan is a particularly
insightful document, which stands to take the NAP to the next level of actualization by, for
example, assessing the costs associated with measures in the NAP and mandating each public
institution to adopt an information society implementation action plan.
The study and action plan have informed implementation initiatives that are set to have a
positive impact on the country's e-readiness. These include: the Knowledge Economy project,
which was developed to fill the gap between different social levels, rural and urban contexts,
and small and large businesses; and development of the Interoperability Framework draft
law, which focuses on definitions for a common standard of communication for Government
institutions.
II Report Summary
Rationale
Although the report doesn't specifically state objectives, it was established in discussions with
the MCTI that the main objectives for the e-readiness assessment were benchmarking with
other European countries and compiling a comprehensive starting point for measuring
Romania's progress towards developing a knowledge economy. In addition, the assessment
and action plan were intended to demonstrate Romania's commitment to moving towards the
information society and attract foreign financial support (foreign direct investment (FDI),
development assistance, etc.).
Methodology
Benchmarking was an important issue and goal for the report. As a result, the assessment
team sought to ensure compatibility of the methodological approach with other assessments.
A hybrid methodology was developed by the consultant conducting the research with input
from MCTI and the working group, informed by the eEurope program, Harvard University's
Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide
for Developing Countries and other assessment tools listed on infoDev's website. The
assessment covers six key areas: policy, access, education, e-government, society and e-
economy. Where possible, existing indicators required by the eEurope program and
recommended by the European Commission (EC) were used. An "e-readiness grid", framed
by CID's guide, is presented as an annex to the report. These findings are presented
alongside those from a similar assessment conducted in 2001, providing interesting
comparative evidence.
The assessment team consulted numerous national and international sources, and held
debates with specialized professional associations in order to make qualified estimates. Other
studies conducted during similar timeframes informed the assessment, including the National
Institute of Statistics (NIS)'s annual survey that includes relevant e-readiness indicators, the
National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC)'s survey on the wholesale
telecommunication market, and MCTI's assessment of ICT use among public administration
and Internet service providers (ISPs). Initial interviews with stakeholders were conducted to
inform the methodology and identify data sources. Data from a variety of sources was
combined, including from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the European Union (EU).
CID Rankings
Network policy: 3.75

• The main physical access constraints facing Romania are: low penetration of fixed-line
telephony in rural areas; lack of national network of Public Internet Access Points (PIAPs);
and low support of banking systems for e-commerce.
• The score of 3.5 for information infrastructure shows that "a considerable part of the
community has access to high quality telephony services".
• 58% of Romanian households have fixed-lines. There is a long waiting period (an average
of 2.71 years), and an average of 23 faults per 100 lines.
• 96% of the population has mobile telephony coverage/ one third of Romanians over the
age of 15 owns a mobile phone.
• 85.7% of households have a television set, and 55% are connected to cable networks.
• There are 111.8 radio sets per 100 households.
• The number of public Internet access points is still relatively low40.
39
These scores have been averaged for each category. The report only provides scores at the next level of
granularity (e.g. Network access = information infrastructure, Internet availability, network speed and quality,
hardware and software and service and support).
40
The report does not provide the actual number of public Internet access points. It notes that it has not considered
Internet cafes as public Internet access points, as they are private businesses.
• It is estimated that liberalization of the fixed telephony market and increases in mobile
telecommunication and cable networks will lead to increased Internet use in the short-
and medium term. Although there are only 3.6 million Internet users in Romania, there
has been considerable growth since 2001, when there were only one million.
• The Access and Connectivity Program (part of the NAP) allows for implementing pilot
projects in geographically isolated areas, and developing alternative communication
networks, and interconnecting them for data transmission.
• Important steps still need to be taken, including: the promotion of infrastructure
interoperability and standardization of the information transportation infrastructure, the
enforcement of regulatory measures in providing universal service in electronic
communications, and the establishment of a network of info-kiosks.
• Access to universal service needs to be extended beyond voice communications to include
data transmission in the rural areas.

• A number of new developments have led to a significant increase in the quality and speed
of voice and data transmissions, including: increased digitization of fixed telephony,
national extension of the fiber optic network, and complete national mobile telephone
coverage.

• Economic factors such as the low income levels per capita are constraining the uptake of
ICT, especially at the household level.
• Internet access costs are low compared to the EU average. Internet access costs between
0.3 Eurocents/min (off-peak) and 0.8 Eurocents/min (during peak hours), whereas the
cost of regular local calls is between 0.21 Eurocents/min (off-peak) and 3.34
Eurocents/min (during peak hours).
• High costs of mobile Internet access and budgetary constraints for Government spending
on ICT for health, education and local administration are limiting the uptake of Internet in
Government.
• Some of the e-strategies' timeframes have proven difficult to comply with, mainly because
of lacking financial resources allocated for this purpose -– especially in the case of local
public administration faced with the challenge to correlate and interconnect the local and
central databases.
• Affordable and rapid access to the Internet is the major objective of the Access and
Connectivity Program contained in the NAP.
• Costs associated to the measures included in the NAP should be assessed.

• The report describes computer and Internet penetration in schools as "satisfactory"
considering the public budget. (12 Internet-connected computers per 100 university
students, 7.5 per 100 high-school students, and over one per 100 school students41.
• There are low levels of general public awareness of the benefits of ICT and specifically, e-
government services.
• Romania's tertiary education institutions produce a sufficient number of ICT specialists,
although there is a problem that they are concentrated in the urban areas.
• The NAP plans for an increase in the number of education institutions (especially higher
education) capable of producing ICT specialists.
• Civil servants benefit from free IT training. It is compulsory that they obtain the ECDL
(European Computer Driving License).
41
Although the report does not qualify this term, we surmise that it is referring to elementary school students.
• The term "digital culture gap" is used to describe the fundamentally different
environments of the central administration (the Ministries located in Bucharest) and their
regional and rural counter-parts. Romanian administration has been completely
decentralized and processes are being streamlined to reduce the number of middlemen.
This creates situations where civil servants in small rural offices, who often lack ICT skills
and sometimes even computers, are increasingly required to interact electronically with
well-resourced civil servants in Bucharest.
• InfoSoc is a specialized ICT research entity that will support the development of
Romania's information society.
• The Training, Education and Public Awareness Program (part of the NAP) includes plans
for training teachers and adapting curricula to include ICT, stimulating the development of
educational software, introducing a Management Information System at the national level,
ensuring access to Internet resources and e-learning platforms for young civil servants
and building fiber optic metropolitan networks to connect educational and research
institutes.
• Expert ICT consultants need to be commissioned to assist central and local public
administration to improve coordination of the NES, particularly with regard to developing
appropriate and efficient internal information and document management procedures.
• The lack of ICT specialists at the local level should be compensated by creating a specialist
support group within the central administration to grant technical assistance.

• The number of websites featuring local content has doubled between 2001 and 2003,
although it is yet to meet the minimum level of developed countries (20 sites/ 100
inhabitants).
• The limited presence of real e-commerce solutions limits the use of ICT in everyday life
and is one reason for the relatively low numbers of Internet users.
• Point of sale (POS) solutions have been introduced not only at retailers but also in public
administration offices delivering services to the public
• Basic e-government and e-administration on-line services at a national level are
increasingly available, and there is improved quality and quantity of e-content (e.g.
creation of digital libraries, web sites of the public administration).
• The National Electronic System (NES) was launched on September 2003 and is available
at www.e-guvernare.ro. It provides 5 e-services and 164 forms are available for
downloading. It has been accessed 1.6 million times by approx. 50,000 visitors.
• Some education institutions, such as the Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest
are providing long distance learning, including web-based lessons.
• Most newspapers and magazines have websites, with shortened electronic versions of the
current printed issues.
• Electronic info centers need to be set up in public places, providing information concerning
legislation, local cultural events, environmental information etc.
• The Government should continue its support of e-government projects, also to comply
with EU recommendations.
• The systems of the National Health Insurance Institution, the Ministry of Health, and
related institutions should be computerized.
• Broadband access should be provided to hospitals and university clinics, emergency
hospitals in large towns, town hospitals and policlinics and village health centers.
• As stated in the NAP, the contents of libraries, archives and museums will be digitized,
and theatres and other cultural institutions connected.

• The NAP allows for the adoption of accessibility standards to ICT, especially for improving
the degree of utilization by the workforce and the social integration of disabled persons.

• Data security issues have been addressed by legislation regarding personal data and free
circulation of such data. There are also laws for the processing of personal data and the
protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector, as well as a law governing
electronic signatures.
• The NAP notes that security of information systems in institutions, at a national or regional
level needs to be assessed.
• The NAP outlines various measures for preventing fraud and electronic criminality,
including implementing security policies against hacker attacks.
• There are plans to develop anti-virus software and secure electronic payment systems,
promote smart cards (for authentication and securing access to everything from pay
phones to medical services) and introduce security and encryption technologies in the
local and central public administration.
Examining the legal and regulatory environment for ICT

• Romania has undertaken to conclude preparations for joining the EU by January 1, 2007,
and has fully accepted the aquis communautaire for telecommunication, postal services
and information technology (IT).
• Liberalization of the telecommunication market in January 2003 has created a competitive
environment, leading to higher quality services, reaching more of the population at a
reduced cost, and 179 companies have since acquired the right to supply fixed-line
services.
• The law of universal service and the rights of users regarding electronic communication
services and networks (Law 304/2003) represent the legal basis for reducing the digital
divide among sectors of society and geographical areas of the country.
• Other laws have been established to address issues of e-commerce, data security and
privacy (see above).

• Over 4800 companies in Romania develop software as their primary activity. The sector is
represented predominantly by small companies, mainly owing to the tax advantages
(profits tax of 25% is replaced with an income tax of 1.5%)
• The degree of acceptance of new technologies by the business community is one of the
factors that influence the development of e-commerce services.
• Most large companies have their own websites, while most small businesses have
presentation pages hosted by the chambers of commerce, business portals or free hosting
sites.
• Romanian virtual traders offer product catalogs and functionality for placing orders online,
but payment still takes place by traditional methods42.
• The NAP notes that incentives will encourage businesses to invest in ICT equipment and to
use electronic commerce services43.
• The NAP states that the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises should provide
impetus for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to build web pages and stimulate
export.
• A campaign needs to be initiated to promote, at a national level, the advantages of using
ICT by SMEs.
• A system for periodical consultations between MCTI, the Agency for Small and Medium
Size Enterprises and Cooperation (ANIMMC) and the work group on the one hand, and the
Romanian Association of Banks and the National Bank of Romania, on the other hand
42
The report does not detail whether these are purely paper-based, or if other methods, such as wire transfers, are
included.
43
The action plan does not explain what kind/type of incentives.
needs to be established in order to identify and monitor the necessary measures for
stimulating e-commerce.

• ICT imports are exempt from custom duties, regardless of their country of origin.
• The highest increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) was in the ICT sector, following
the granting of licenses for mobile telephony and the privatization of the fixed-line
national operator.
• Foreign companies have approximately 50% of the market share in the hardware
industry.
• An open market for information society services and communications, assuring quality
services at an affordable cost, should be promoted and sustained.
• The Government strategy for implementing the information society in Romania is based on
the principles of information sharing and equal participation of all the components of
society: Government, private sector and civil society.
• A "development strategy for the electronic public services" was being developed at the
time of writing. It sought to generate an estimate of the financial needs and funding
sources, and included an action plan which focused on e-government services.
• The Government is committed to increase the use of ICT in Romania -- within
Government, for Government service delivery and by business and civil society. The
Government has created an inter-ministerial working group, chaired by the MCTI, to
coordinate and implement activities that are intended to increase access and use.
• Each public institution should adopt an information society implementation action plan,
derived from the NAP.
• A national campaign should be initiated to promote services offered by, and benefits
associated with, the NES.
Outcomes
Members of the working group represent institutions and organizations that in the future will
be key stakeholders driving Romania's efforts to increase access to and use of ICT, and
become sources of e-readiness information. Discussions within the working group revealed
that representatives were not fully aware of the obligations incumbent upon them in the
implementation process, and the identification of this anomaly was important for
consolidating, agreeing upon and framing expectations for moving forward.
To address some of the problems identified in the e-readiness assessment and implement
recommendations from the action plan, the Knowledge Economy project was developed to fill
the gap between different social levels, rural and urban contexts, and small and large
businesses. The goals and strategy for the project developed from the report. The project is
currently in the early stages of implementation, and the activities and objectives are
ambitious: starting with the spread of knowledge in 300 communities, and, following the
demonstration of success, extension to the rest of Romania. Successful negotiations for
securing funding for this project were to a large degree based on the quality of the
assessment project.
Another outcome of the report is a social program aimed at increasing affordability of

personal computers (PCs). It allocates EUR200 (which is where the cheapest PCs start –- but
without monitors and keyboards –- full set-up starts at around EUR300 for a local brand) for
each poor family with school age children that want to buy a computer. The children have to
apply for the grant, and this incentive comes directly from the assessment report, which
suggests a social fund to benefit all of society.
All of the report outcomes are in line with the eEurope+ action plan and eEurope 2005, and
are effectively promoting the country's integration into the EU. The report has been useful to
policy-makers, mainly in the development of the Interoperability Framework draft law, which
focuses on definitions for a common standard of communication for Government institutions.

According to the assessment team, Romania's e-readiness was unexplored territory at the
time of embarking on the assessment. Many of the indicators recommended by the EU were
unquantifiable owing to the lack of credible data sources, and the identification of alternative
and additional data sources was time consuming. It became increasingly evident throughout
the course of the study that there were no mechanisms in place in public institutions and
professional associations for the collection and processing of data and information necessary
to assess the country's information society development stage, although there are some
initiatives in the field. Considering the dearth of valid and reliable data required for a
comprehensive assessment, the available funding limited the level of detail that could be
provided. The assessment team recommends that a system, managed by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS), needs to be designed and created to collect the indicators of
information society development.
E-Readiness assessments play an important role politically -- both internally, for politicians,
and externally, to attract investment from donors as well as the private sector. Authors of e-
readiness studies can find themselves in a challenging position to fully describe the existing
problems in order to inform policy that addresses them, while at the same time ensuring that
private sector investment in their countries is not discouraged. At the same time
Governments need to take into account public perception of the objectivity of their reports
and one way to address concerns is to hire an independent outside consultant (rather than
conduct the work in-house) and combine a variety of independent data sources (rather than
relying on one source only).
The working group members were largely passive participants in the research effort, and
although they were consulted from time to time, they were not exceedingly proactive in
offering suggestions or solutions. As the group did not provide the level of input initially
anticipated, more responsibility for designing the methodology and conducting original
research fell to the consultant that was commissioned for the assessment. However, engaging
stakeholders did have other benefits, primarily in taking the results forward.
Before June 2004, there was good communication and good response time for feedback from
infoDev. After June there were major problems with responsiveness, and the MITC had to
wait before receiving the official "no objection" from infoDev -- a prerequisite for publication
of the report. The assessment was completed in December 2003, yet the final go-ahead was
received only recently in December 2004. The report results are now dated, so it is probably
too late to disseminate the report as widely as initially intended.
Another lesson learned is the relevance of regional developments, and specifically the
guidelines set by the EU. In many respects, Romania is waiting for clear signals and the
Government does not want to pass any laws that may prove to be in conflict with EU
legislation. This can make moving forward difficult in areas where EU developments are
expected.

The MCTI is doing good work, and the various strategies and action plans it has penned are
sure to make a positive impact on Romania's e-readiness. A major obstacle, it seems, is
securing sufficient funding to realize them. The infoDev-funded e-readiness assessment

conducted by the MCTI was the impetus for thoughtful and effective work promoting
Romania's ICT-enabled development and progress towards EU integration. The action plan is
a particularly insightful document, which stands to take the NAP to the next level of
actualization by, for example, assessing the costs associated to measures in the NAP and
mandating each public institution to adopt an information society implementation action plan.
The assessment thoroughly describes the methodology used. It was developed for the specific
context of a country caught at the border of being a developing and a developed country.
However, the objectives for conducting the e-readiness assessment are not outlined clearly in
the report. Neither do the authors provide a definition of e-readiness.
The discussion of the "history of the information society in Romania" is interesting, and
serves to set the stage for a complicated myriad of legislation, laws, strategies and action
plans that have been adopted and implemented at various stages as Romania edges towards
EU integration. The table in chapter 6, presenting the community law transposition schedule
for meeting the acquis communautaire (the entire body of legislation that is binding to
members of the European Union), and outlining the implementation stage of the various
legislation, provides a useful overview of the status and stage of Romania's ICT policy.
The chapter on macroeconomics provides a useful overview of the Romanian context.

However, the infrastructure and access data included in the sub-section entitled "ICT sector
development" is a little vague. This information is then repeated in chapter 7, entitled
"Access". Although e-readiness assessments need to consider far more beyond basic access
to infrastructure, it is generally a useful starting point. It might be helpful to readers
unfamiliar with the ICT landscape of Romania to feature the access chapter earlier in the
report. There also seem to be some conflicting findings (e.g. statistics of the population's
access to mobile telephony), which are not explored or explained. However, the costs of
various Internet access options are clearly depicted, and contribute an informative section of
the report. It is also one of the few reports produced by grantee countries to look -- albeit
very briefly -- at other ICT beyond computers and Internet; the report provides statistics for
radio and television.
The report discusses e-health, and offers interesting indicators for thinking about e-readiness
in terms of broader health goals. For example, measuring the percentage of the population
over the age of 16 that search the Internet for health-related information is an example of
locally relevant content in the context of the health MDGs. The number of doctors recording
patient information electronically is another useful indicator. The report mentions a range of
appropriate technologies and provides access statistics for television and radio. This is in
contrast to the majority of assessments in the program that focus exclusively on the Internet
and telephony. However, content is discussed only in terms of that available online.
Comparing the results of the 2003 CID-framed assessment with that from 2001 is an
interesting and useful exercise for identifying gaps in progress. However, the explanations for
each stage sometimes are too general. For example, noting that access to telephony is
"increasing significantly" would be better illustrated with relevant statistics. The "Networked
Learning" section fails to adequately provide an overview of the e-readiness of Romania's
learning institutions. For example, it refers to "a satisfactory level" of computer penetration
and Internet connections in schools, yet fails to qualify this in any way. It may be due to the
shortcomings of the 2001 assessment that the assessment team found e-readiness in
Romania "unexplored territory", and that their work was fulfilling the need for baseline
statistics.
Some of the scores appear a little optimistic regarding Romania's e-readiness and progress
towards an information society. While looking forward and planning for progress are essential
for effective leadership, it can become problematic when this tone overrides objectivity in an
assessment. An example is that the number of schools is termed "satisfactory", when the
statistics show that there are obviously not enough computers in schools. This is identified by
the authors themselves in the action plan, where they write that, "it must be underlined that
some scores also consider the expected short-term effects of the implementation of the
legislation adopted during 2002 and 2003, even though at present such effects are not yet
visible."
In the introduction to the action plan, the authors write, "Establishing objectives is the first
step and should always be followed by a concrete Action Plan, which should highlight the
measures to be taken, the deadlines, as well as realistic assessments of the financing needs
and the key players involved." This document takes the country's e-readiness efforts to the
next level for igniting positive changes. Whereas some of the other countries in the infoDev
program appear unaware of related efforts, such as NICI plans, previous assessments and
other strategies, the Romanian action plan integrates, draws from and builds upon previous
strategies, most notably the NAP formally adopted by the Government in December 2002.
The former outlines clear action items, expected results, assigns responsibilities to specific
departments and entities, and includes timeframes. While specific departments within
Government are featured in the "responsibility" column, the level of detail when referring to
the private sector is insufficient; for example, action points are designated to the "banking
sector". During the next steps of implementation a more specific level of granularity is
required, by identifying specific companies for example, and this is highlighted in the final
section of the assessment -- among a list of very good recommendations for short-term
actions. The first step outlined is that each public institution adopts an information society
implementation plan, derived from the NAP. The second, assessing the costs associated with
the measures included in the NAP, follows from the fact that the NAP fails to indicate the
human and financial resources required for realizing the action items.
The NAP seems to consider trust, privacy and security issues in more detail than any of the
other assessments in the infoDev program. It also addresses increasing public awareness,
building capacity on all levels, and building the efficacy of public services. However, the plan
to establish more institutions that produce ICT specialists appears contradictory to the
assessment finding that there are sufficient ICT specialists.
The MICT has been empowered to lead on implementation, and to drive the national strategy.
Conducting this assessment has provided the Ministry with useful information and knowledge
to frame a better, and more e-ready, Romania. The next step required after this assessment
is financial assistance to implement the recommendations.
Case study: Russia

Russia e-Readiness Assessment: ICT Infrastructure and E-
readiness Assessment Project
I Overview
Dates
The report was published in 2003.
Authors
The research team, headed by Sergey Shaposhnik, consisted of Nadezhda Brakker, Olga
Vershinskaya, Alexander Yevtiushkin, Valentin Ivanov, Igor Kravchenko, Leonid Kujbyshev,
Marina Moiseeva, Michail Jakushev, Yri Hohlov and Elena T'ur'ukanova. The e-learning section
received funding and support from the Harmony Project Inc.
Abstract
The purpose of the infoDev-funded Russia e-Readiness Assessment is to provide a
comprehensive analysis of the use and development of information and communications
technology (ICT) in Russia, and to inform decision-makers on how to transform Russia into an
information society. Alongside this, the report aims to pave the way for Russia to bridge its
large, internal digital divide. Applying the Harvard University's Center for International
Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries,
the assessment calculates a total average score for e-readiness of three, indicating Russia is
on the verge of going into the accelerated phase of ICT uptake. But there are a number of
large obstacles that stand in the way. Together, these obstacles form a complex backdrop to
development of the ICT sector.
Foremost are the low levels of income and educational standards of the poor majority. This
means affordable access, and capacity to use ICT is low overall. Another obstacle stems from
the disparity between access to ICT in the large cities and outlying regions, where the
infrastructure is poor and incomes are lower. Corruption is endemic to business and
Government administration, and this is hindering the growth of the ICT industry. Bureaucracy
within Government makes any interaction between business and Government difficult and
time consuming, especially in the sphere of licensing. Taxes are high, and discourage
innovation in ICT and development of the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.
Despite the obstacles identified, most e-readiness indicators meet the criteria for ratings of
three or four. The report documents steps being taken by the Russian Government to
formulate ICT policy around cyber-crime, intellectual property rights (IPR) and e-commerce.
And a program to modernize regulation around the ICT industry is underway. There is a
strong focus on using ICT within the sphere of arts and culture, which should spark the need
for locally relevant content and services. In addition a number of programs aim to get
computers into schools and train teachers how to incorporate ICT into their classes. Following
publication of the report segments of the ICT industry have seen accelerated growth, lending
impetus to the recommendations.
II Report Summary
Rationale
The Russian e-readiness assessment aims to respond to the rapidly changing socio-economic
conditions in Russia, associated with the uptake of technology. To do this, it must provide
information on ICT use and development to enable Government and other key bodies to
participate in, and take advantage of, the "information revolution". The report does not
contain a definition of the term "e-readiness".
Methodology
The Russian e-readiness report was prepared for infoDev by a diverse team of experts in ICT,
higher education and Government. The methodology was based on the Harvard University
Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World. Most data
was garnered from secondary sources, but the assessment team conducted three original
surveys: a survey of 2,510 working age people from 17 regions; a survey of schoolmasters
and the heads of higher education institutions in 380 schools and 200 universities using the
eEurope questionnaire; and a survey of 1000 schoolteachers and 600 university lecturers to
assess the use of ICT in teaching, using a questionnaire similar to that for the eEurope
monitoring program. Desktop research of "the websites of federal bodies of power" was also
conducted.
The CID assessment tool was altered to suit the Russian context, and other methodologies
were referred to where necessary. Extra measures were needed because the commonly used
methodologies for assessing e-readiness focus on measurements of ICT infrastructure as a
basis for making assumptions about ICT use. In Russia this connection cannot be made: ICT
is widely available in Government, business and education, but a relatively small number of
people are actually using it. Extra measurements and indicators for human capacity and the
business climate were added. More up-to-date parameters, commonly used in international
practice, were also included to allow comparison with other European Union (EU) countries.
CID Rankings
Network policy: 1.87

• Teledensity (defined in the report as number of fixed-line subscribers per 200 citizens) is
25.6%, following a steady trend of year on year increases.
• Teledensity is significantly different between Russian federal districts and considerably
lower in rural areas.
• Over 70% of the country has cellular network coverage, and the number of subscribers for
2004 is expected to be on a par with European averages.
• Cable television accounts for 61% of all television network subscribers, with 10%
subscribing to Internet services.
• The backbone infrastructure for carrying data transmissions is moving toward digitization,
but between networks it is mainly still analogue.
• The whole Russian telecommunications backbone is in need of modernization, desperately
so in the regions.
• The Ministry of Communications and Computerization estimated that there is
approximately 1 public access point per 100 000 citizens.
44
These scores have been averaged for each category. The report provides scores at the next level of granularity
(e.g. Network access = information infrastructure, Internet availability, network speed and quality, hardware and
software and service and support).
• In February 2003, over 2800 licenses for data communications and 3800 license for voice
were issued. There are now over 850 Internet service providers (ISPs) in Russia, some
holding both types of license.

• What technology is appropriate to people in Russia depends largely on where they live.
Physical infrastructure in rural areas is far less developed than in the large cities, giving
fewer opportunities for broadband Internet access. Modern technology is also the privilege
of city dwellers with the income to afford it.
• Using the Internet to send occasional emails and download small files may be possible,
but multimedia and broadband connectivity are not available to those in rural areas45.

• Despite low teledensity, telephone lines are affordable to the majority of citizens as they
cost on average only US$4-5 per month.
• Large state subsidies on telephone bills are available to minority groups.
• Many operators tried to move to "time-scale" charging, where people are charged
proportionately more, depending on the length of the phone call. This was met by
considerable opposition in society, especially from the old who depend on telephones for
communication, and from Internet users who mostly use dial-up accounts for Internet
connectivity. Many of these schemes failed and were subsequently abandoned.
• Mobile phone operators provide a wide range of payment schemes. Average prices are in
line with those in most developed countries and have made mobile telephony available to
a large number of people at least in the large cities, where incomes are higher. By 2004, it
was expected that 70% of city dwellers would use mobile phones, but only 1% or the rural
population. However, all mobile phone equipment is imported, so prices are unlikely to
come down further.
• Until affordable technology exists, and the infrastructure to support it, computers and
connections are largely out of the reach of most rural inhabitants.
• Internet access for households is growing faster than for businesses; due largely to lower
ISP tariff charges for private individuals, as well increasing salaries. It costs US$0.04 per
megabyte (MB) in Moscow and US$0.11 in the regions. Always-on Internet connection
prices have been forced down, due to the monthly limit of 800Mb proving widely
unacceptable, and public pressure to reduce it. It now costs between US$50 – 96 per
month.
• Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is available, but costs far more in the regions
due to lack of market competition.
• In general, Internet access via any technology is more expensive in the regions than the
large cities.

• An e-readiness score of four is given for "Interest in ICT and awareness" in big cities, but
only 2 – 3 for "ICT skills and education".
• In Russia a large number of people (especially in urban areas) are well educated and
aware of ICT, but not enough have the ICT skills to enable them to leverage their
educational background and collectively move toward an information society.
• Despite Russia producing one of the highest numbers of science and technology graduates
in the world, there is a lack of skilled software programmers. This largely arises from a
"brain drain" of programmers moving overseas.
• There is a move toward a more individually-orientated, practical ethos of teaching in
Russia, and key to this philosophy is ICT. Technology is gradually being incorporated into
45
The report does not explain this further and contains no substantiating statistics for how many rural people can
access email and the Internet, or where.
the teaching process, but access to ICT in schools remains low relative to other European
countries, and especially in rural areas.
• Developing the telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas alongside broadband
Internet access to schools is recommended, but this will be a slow process.
• Distance learning is considered an option for schools in areas that are difficult to access.
• Teachers are generally unmotivated to include ICT in the curriculum. They have little
incentive to do so, are poorly paid and there is a lack of skilled trainers.

• In 2003, a Government project was launched to provide e-services -- focused on Russian
culture -- via satellite. Some of its goals include the spread of Russian cultural content
both domestically and overseas; high speed Internet to cultural projects; and educational
cultural material provided by multi-media.
• Using ICT to promote and support Russian culture is important because "Russians identify
strongly with their culture, and consider it the main source of Russia's wealth". The strong
national identity has resulted in a large program for introducing ICT into arts and culture
in Russia. This is intended to preserve Russian heritage for example, via the digitized
archiving of museum and library information.
• The first wave of interactive online e-government services is now available, but data
needs to be standardized across Government departments for these programs to be
effective. If e-government is to work, the lack of access to ICT in the regions must first be
addressed.
• Localization of web content is under way and using the Internet to promote Russian
culture internally and overseas.

• The assessments on "Access to ICT" and "Human Capacity" show that ICT has yet to
become part of the daily lives of most Russians.
• Only 6% of adults use the Internet once a week and 10% use it monthly.
• One way in which the Government aims to integrate ICT into citizen's lives is via e-
Government. All Government agencies have incorporated ICT into their work, but there
are large disparities between them. This is due to an unequal allocation of funds to
different Government departments, as well as differences in e-literacy and support
services.

• Although the numbers of mobile subscribers have increased, mobile phone use remains in
the hands of urban dwellers, with only 1% of rural inhabitants reported as users in 2002.
This is primarily due to a disparity in wages.
• The majority of Internet users are in Moscow and St Petersburg, but this is slowly
changing as use spreads to the regions.

• The large shadow economy in Russia results in a distrust in ICT when conducting
business, especially in the areas of e-commerce, including business-to-business (B2B)
transactions.
• Laws around data protection and the use of digital signatures are out of date, and those
specifically for e-commerce and the protection of personal data do not yet exist.
• It is virtually impossible to exchange data between competing businesses because of
mistrust for technology. This has impacted on the growth of business and the economy.
• E-commerce will not become widespread in Russia until there are laws that support it and
protect people against cyber-crime.

• Overall, there is an inappropriate legal and regulatory framework for dealing with the ICT
sector. Existing law is out-dated, referring back to the early 1990s, and steps to update it
are extremely slow, hindered mostly by concerns over necessary changes to tax law. New
laws are considered in isolation, with no reference to existing law. And changes in
regulations surrounding ICT are near impossible to keep up with, resulting in a chaotic
system.
• Telecommunications law has existed since 1995, but it has resulted in a complicated
network of various and complex licenses. The Government has updated the law, trying to
align it with other countries, but in practice this has not happened.
• Licenses were awarded in 2002 to a number of national mobile phone operators and
mobile phone use has seen huge increases since then.
• Russians are largely unaware of intellectual property rights (IPR) law, and there is little
awareness of copyright law in society.
• Software piracy is a significant problem in Russia, where it was rife until recently. The
Government's commitment to observe international intellectual property law has had a
limited impact so far, with street vendors selling legal products alongside pirated versions.
• The Ministry of Justice changed its position on IPR, and a large number of "piraters" were
subsequently arrested.
• However, the courts are not totally independent of "executive bodies"46, and the report
mentions that illegitimate court rulings are common in Russia.
• Money laundering and illicit dealings in the stock of companies that are subject to a hostile
takeover have had a serious impact on the business climate –- all of which has affected
the approach to IPR and growth of the ICT sector.
• The Criminal Code, Article 146, 1997, enacts copyright law in Russia, but the business
climate has made it difficult to enforce, resulting in an e-readiness index of one for IPR
law and copyright.
• Russia's trade policy in the sphere of ICT is on a par with other countries with one,
important exception. The process of applying export tariffs to software, in which these
products are subjected to a lengthy inspection for compliance with Government licensing
rules, is complicated and corrupt. This has created an environment that is hardly
conducive to the survival of ICT startups looking to export their products.

• There is a large shadow economy47 in Russia, and widespread corruption. This affects the
culture of conducting business at every level.
• Administrative barriers are a major factor holding back business, especially the SME
sector. A significant part of this is illegitimate: 69% of bribes are estimated to come from
licensing businesses for a range of purposes. One study, which was not part of the
assessment, found that up to 20% of business time is spent overcoming bureaucratic
hurdles.
• While high-level management may know that the introduction of ICT into their business
will result in greater profits and hence higher salaries, high taxes and overly-stringent
regulation are still such a huge deterrent to business that managers in many companies
move ICT assets out of their core business to avoid taxation and enable the business to
survive. Further, very few businesses are listed on the stock market, so senior managers
do not have an incentive of owning stock in their company to improve the company's
performance.
• Obtaining a license for software export is so difficult that a number of software houses
have moved abroad where the restrictions do not impact so heavily on their business. Of
46
The report does not explain what is meant by "executive bodies".
47
The unfavorable business climate pushes business towards the "shadow" or unofficial economy. The assessment
mentions black markets, under-the-table payments and other illegal dealings as common business practices.
those that remain, there is a lack of innovation, and motivation at top-level management,
which is holding back ICT business.
• Nevertheless, the Russian software industry is slowly starting to grow; and its main export
destination is the USA.
• The total volume of personal computer (PC) sales is also increasing and a number of
manufacturers are now assembling PCs in Russia.

• The political upheaval in the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union was dissolved and Russia
came back into existence, saw the beginning of a period of great instability and zero
growth in the economy.
• Since 2002 there has been a moderate growth in gross domestic product (GDP), and an e-
readiness rating of three was given with regard to capita-GDP (GDP per head of
population).
• The overall tax burden (including Central Government tax, value-added tax, export and
import tax) is high in Russia -- tax receipts account for 37% of GDP in 2002.
• The low income of the majority of Russians means they cannot afford to purchase ICT.
And due to the high inflation rate, banks are reluctant to give credit, with loans for only
one year most common.
• Investment in companies increased over the last two years, but the stock market is still
small and unstable. It is unclear how the "shadow" economy affects the ICT sector.
• There is no published Russian ICT policy, but there are two documents pending which aim
to map out key concepts for a national ICT strategy and related budgetary allocation for
the next few years. They are the Doctrine for Internet Security in the Russian Federation,
2000, which provides basic concepts for the development of an information society in
Russia. And the Electronic Russia (e-Russia) program, 2001-2002, which promotes the
uptake of ICT across society. One of the e-Russia goals is to help the Russian software
industry, especially for the development of tools for the public sector.
• Political support for ICT has been sporadic across Government departments. Nevertheless,
the e-Russia program has not got off to a good start, with competing, regional programs
taking away some of the impetus. However a lack of coordination between Government
departments and general mismanagement means the program is unlikely to be successful.
Outcomes
The e-readiness report was disseminated in a number of ways. It was presented at the
conference Internet Access and Training: Outlook for the Future (April 14, 2003) organized by
Project Harmony Inc. The report findings were included in a presentation of the World Bank
report entitled Informatization Policy and New School in Russia (October 17, 2003), attended
by the Ministry of Education, experts and journalists. It was circulated amongst the
coordinating group of the assessment. Both English and Russian versions have been
published as books and presented to Government, ICT experts and journalists. And the
English version has been published online.
On the basis of the report an action plan has been formulated and is available from
http://www.riocenter.ru (in Russian only).

The questionnaire respondent did not answer the questions in the questionnaire regarding
obstacles faced and lessons learned. The team found infoDev's support adequate, for
preparing both the assessment report and action plan.

The Russia e-readiness assessment aims to provide information on ICT uptake and use by
Russians, and the factors affecting it, to bring a sense of perspective to the evolving ICT
sector. It aims to inform decision-makers in Government and business tasked with
investigating ICT as a means of improving efficiencies and increasing profits. It makes a set
of recommendations for moving Russia toward an information society, and led to the
formulation of an action plan.
The report is long and comprehensive. It goes to a more detailed level of analysis than most
of the other infoDev-funded assessment reports. It provides insight into the use and uptake
of ICT, and the development of the Russian ICT sector. The report is divided into two sections
-- first, the factors that effect e-development in Russia: access to ICT, human capital, the
business climate, and government regulation. Second, the current state of e-development in
Russia: e-learning, e-business, e-culture, and e-government. The data collected for each
topic is discussed at the end of each sub-section and recommendations are made.
ICT uptake in Russia is primarily confined to the relatively wealthy city dweller. Access to ICT
in the rural areas of Russia, and the capacity of the majority of Russians to use it, is a very
different story. Some progress has been made in getting computers into schools and access
to ICT in higher education is generally good. But there is no mention of alternative
technologies that can be more suited to a rural environment, such as handheld computers.
Certain sectors lag behind, especially Government, and the rapid advances in ICT uptake in
one segment of society are not felt in others.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Information Technology Report, 2002 -2003, rated
Russia as 68th out of 82 countries for e-readiness. But this e-readiness report shows that
many of the barriers that stood in the way of ICT uptake at the time of data collection for the
WEF report are currently being dismantled, and suggests that this rating is no longer
accurate. The assessment places Russia in the category of countries in which ICT uptake is
about to accelerate. But the stark difference between access to ICT in the cities and rural
areas of Russia, suggests a strong digital divide already exists and will continue to do so until
infrastructure at the very least, is greatly improved.
The methodology is molded to measure parameters appropriate in the Russian context, and
the obstacles standing in the way of e-readiness are clearly articulated. However, the report
describes the various sources of data collected as somewhat unreliable and out of date, yet
goes on to use them. Further, many statistics are provided by surveys carried out by large,
international organizations –- such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) –- in the year
2000. The Russian economy, and in particular several segments of the ICT sector, have
changed radically since then (for example, the mobile telephony market), and it is puzzling
that that more up-to-date data was not available by 2003 when the report was published.
The only original data collected included three surveys - two focused on access to and use of
ICT in education and one desktop research survey. It is therefore difficult to have confidence
in the rest of the data cited.
The e-readiness ratings are also curious. Often, the text leading up to them lists a string of
quite daunting obstacles that must be overcome before the goal in question can be met,
leading the reader to assume that Russia is far from "e-ready" in that area. This can be seen
several times in the "Access to ICT" section. Yet consistently, the indicator receives a rating
of three or four (one being the lowest, four the highest rating). This is in contrast to the
ground level realities of ICT uptake described in the report. This is partially explained by the
fact that in the large cities, ICT infrastructure and availability is sufficient to achieve these
ratings, but it is the impoverished status of the majority of Russians that prevent them from
actually using it. This often allows for a middle-to-high rating, but is more indicative of
potential than the beginnings of acceleration into an information society, and is somewhat
confusing.
Underlying obstacles to ICT uptake across society are the complex bureaucracy of
Government administration -- for example, leading to long cumbersome and expensive
company registration processes -- and the high level of crime and corruption within Russian
society. Distrust of technology by business, mainly with regard to data security and
cybercrime, has limited exchange of information or pooling of resources -- even when to do
so would have obvious benefits for all. Such collaboration is common to business in the
developed world, and the converse situation in Russia is holding business back, and ICT
uptake along with it.
There is no specific ICT legislation in Russia, although Government policy, such as the e-
Russia program, is being developed to regulate the sector. Despite plans to formulate ICT
policy, the development of a strong "shadow economy" has made it difficult to implement
laws and regulations. This is seen in the overt flaunting of copyright law by street hawkers
and retail outlets, but recent crack-downs on crime syndicates have lead to numerous arrests
and decreased the amount of pirated software for sale. Russian taxes are high -- so much so
that many software exporters have moved their operations overseas to avoid paying crippling
ICT export tariffs.
The slow pace of ICT policy reform and inefficacy of regulation mean that new cyber-laws are
desperately needed to pave the way for development of the sector. The report mentions the
announcement in 2003 of a "conceptual framework for the federal policy toward ICT until
2010" strategy, but by the time of publication, no policy changes had been made. Promoting
a general understanding of the importance of ICT uptake by society, as well as the legal and
regulatory frameworks surrounding it, are crucial prerequisites for moving toward an
information society.
There is a strong focus on ICT in education, not least because national educational standards
have dropped in recent years, and there is an urgent need to keep learners in school longer
and improve teaching. The Ministry of Education aims to get computers into all schools, but
this has been severely hampered by the lack of satisfactory infrastructure in the rural areas
and a recent loss of foreign funding. It has been suggested that the issues of poor rural
infrastructure and lack of ICT in schools are tackled alongside one another, but no specific
information is provided, and it seems a tall order given all the other obstacles. Another
obstacle to the introduction of ICT to schools is lack of motivation on the part of teachers for
using ICT in their classes, and a lack of trainers to help them. The Government has
recognized the need to retrain teachers and has plans to provide skilled trainers to do so, but
unless these new training programs are successful, it is likely that the existing computers will
remain unused in many schools.
The report ends with a set of recommendations, the success of which will largely depend on
resolving the underlying problems in Russia society, as described above. Overall, the
impression created by the report is of a country able to take on technology in its cities at
least, but held back by a climate of sluggish bureaucracy and corruption.
Case study: Tanzania

ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessments for Tanzania
I Overview
Date
The project commenced on 3 July, 2001 and although the report was completed in 2002, it is
yet to be published, because the researchers lack funds for dissemination.
Authors
The assessment was conducted by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology
(COSTECH). Prof. Kohoi was the project coordinator, assisted by Mr Mlaki. Mr Yonazi lead the
assessment team, which also included Mr Kapange and Mr Masawe.
Abstract
The assessment sought to take stock of the country's "multidimensional IT endowment,
including policies and the regulatory framework, connectivity, institutional capacities, human
capacities and skill levels, and local digital content availability in multilingual form." The study
had a national scope covering all Government Ministries, 13 administrative regions, 18
districts, 46 institutions, and 716 randomly selected individuals. The assessment combined a
number of methodologies: Harvard University's Center for International Development's
(CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries, McConnell
International and SAITIS Baseline study methodologies. Data was collected through literature
and newspaper article reviews, interviews, focus group discussions and structured
questionnaires.
The assessment finds telecommunication infrastructure underdeveloped, with limited

communication facilities and highly unpredictable telephone services. There is strong political
will within the Government leadership for harnessing ICT and realizing the e-strategy.
Although the report does not address ICT policy issues very comprehensively, it has
nevertheless informed other important policy documents, most notably the National
Information and Communications Technologies Policy (2003).
II Report summary
Rationale
According to the authors, "e-readiness" is "the measure of the capacity of nations to
participate in the digital economy. E-readiness is the source of national economic growth in
the networked century and a prerequisite for successful e-business…. An e-readiness
assessment can be used as an information-gathering mechanism for countries as they plan
their strategies for ICT development. It can help a society better understand what
impediments to Internet development exist and what initiatives are needed to overcome
them."
COSTECH sought to take stock of Tanzania's "multidimensional IT endowment, including

policy and regulatory framework, connectivity, institutional capacities, human capacities and
skill levels as well as local digital content availability in multilingual form."
The project's primary aim was to assess the current state of ICT infrastructure and availability
of Internet and ICT-related services in Tanzania, for the purposes of identifying key barriers
constraining a faster uptake of these technologies, as well as opportunities upon which to
capitalize.
The overall vision driving the assessment was the development of a strong ICT Industry
which contributes to sustainable economic growth, social upliftment and empowerment. The
purpose was to establish the cooperative strategies, structures, processes and the indigenous
capacity to strengthen and grow Tanzania's ICT Industry.
Methodology
The project's national scope covered all Government ministries, 14 administrative regions, 18
districts, 46 institutions and 716 randomly sampled individuals. A combination of the strong
qualities from CID's guidelines, McConnell International e-readiness criteria and the SAITIS
Baseline Studies framed the methodological approach.
The assessment covered four themes, namely: e-leadership (a survey of high-level civil
servants in Government, ICT infrastructure, e-business and human capital. Primary data was
collected through questionnaire surveys, supplemented by focus group discussions and review
of newspaper articles. The focus groups comprised experts and interest groups from various
sectors, and were designed to cover five categories: access connectivity, Internet cafes, e-
business, human resources and e-leadership. The focus group on e-leadership had discussion
framed by the following themes: top level commitment; vision, mission and strategies;
organizational responsibility; public sector strategy and coordination; information technology
management infrastructure; citizen and community empowerment and electronic democracy;
and existing IT initiatives, programs or projects. Findings were coded and summarized by
experts. A statistician from the University of Dar es Salaam helped synthesize the findings.

• Telecommunications infrastructure is severely lacking, but licensing terms oblige the
Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) to connect every village with more
than 3000 inhabitants with at least 2 public phones by early 2005.
• Teledensity improved over the past few years, with rapid increase for cellular phones;
fixed-line penetration has remained low (0.53 per 100 people upcountry, but 5 per 100 in
Dar es Salaam).
• Service levels are relatively better in Dar es Salaam and the popular tourist destination
Arusha, compared to the rest of the country.
• The Internet cafe phenomenon has generated significant increase in the number of users,
and the existence of data communication companies has assisted leased line provision.
• To improve access to Internet, issues of poor connections, bandwidth, types of connection
and monthly costs should be looked upon critically and solved with the involvement of
stakeholders.

• The mobile industry holds promise for intensified rural outreach.
• Modern technology (fiber optic, wireless, network management tools) and the shift to
digital infrastructure have improved network speed and quality. Still, the call completion
rate is low, especially for overseas calls.
• Increasing use of wireless technologies would bypass problems of physical infrastructure.

• High costs of infrastructure and access limit use of ICT.
• The prices of some basic services (e.g. electricity) are very high and not regionally
competitive.
• Connectivity costs are high, with a typical 128K fixed-line costing around US$720 per
month.
• Internet cafes charge around TSh 1000 ($0.97 at time of writing) per hour.
• Few individuals have Internet access, owing to the disproportionate ratios of rates and
incomes.
• All hardware and software is imported. Only a small percentage of the population can
afford it, and costs to small businesses are high.
• While the Government, together with private sector and international development
partners are taking measures to establish infrastructure for the effective conduct of e-
business, it should also facilitate conditions that increase affordability of equipment and
services related to ICT.

• Training centers exist only in two towns.
• General awareness of ICT is driven by Internet cafes, news media, tertiary institutions,
business and organizations48.
• Due to low human capital, it takes a long time to solve connectivity problems.
• There is a proliferation of opportunities for technical, programming and systems training
for ICT technicians and professionals at University and private training institution levels.
Almost all training is face to face.
• Professional certification and facilitation for distance learning should be encouraged e.g.
with African Virtual University. The University Computing Center (UCC) at the University of
Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is experimenting in the area of e-learning.
• There is a need for the development of IT related educational training. The report
suggests the development and implementation of a training program for IT technicians
which would provide in-company support on hardware and software and application
issues. A pilot project to specify, develop and implement a Government department set of
computer-based systems is recommended.
• There is a need for the provision of in-company first level support to company employees
on hardware and software and application.
• A job-practice model for ICT professionals should supplement other training.
• A pilot project should be established to specify, develop and implement a defined set of
computer-based systems and procedures for Government departments.

• The web is yet to be utilized as a communication tool by the local population.
• The national website (http://www.tanzania.go.tz) is bilingual (English and Kiswahili).
• There a number of Tanzanian websites, but most are in English, with static content that is
concerned primarily with advertising.
• Only negligible e-business is conducted by Tanzanians.
• Various strategies, such as competitions and prizes could be used to raise awareness of
Swahili websites, and dynamic communications media such as the eThinkTankTz website.
• During the study team's visit, interviewees stressed the importance of addressing local
issues by incorporating local languages and moving away from English.
• Access to standard tendering procedures for civil work contracts would pave the way for
transparency and fairness, while making submissions to judicial cases online can cut down
the time taken up to judge cases, and hence increase efficiency.
48
The report does not expand on what it means by "organizations".
• Concerted focus on e-commerce, and associated enhancements to the banking sector, are
required.
• People must be made aware that they can purchase online (cheaply, quickly and
conveniently).

• Mobile telephony reduces the importance of public telephones, and the many Internet
cafes are widely used by the population.
• There is low level of automation within the Government departments owing to shortages
of skills, money and equipment.
• Internet cafes are unlikely to survive under current economic models. There is a need for
effective economic research and guidance to operators.

• The majority of Internet users are between the ages of 16 and 25, followed by those
between 26 and 35.
• In Tanzania, 70.7% of people using Internet cafes are unmarried.

• As part of the awareness campaign to the public, users and potential users must be
encouraged to change their attitudes towards ICT. For example, people will have to
change their traditional physical money transacting and adopt the card system if the
Smart card is to be used.

• Tanzania's telecommunications sector is liberalized, with vigorous competition in the
mobile sector.
• A regulator – the Tanzania Communication Commission (TCC) -- is in place, and is a
member of the Telecommunication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (TRASA) and
the East African Regulatory, Postal and Telecommunications Organizations (EARPTO).
• There is growing consensus as to the need for a national ICT Policy. The Policy is at an
advanced stage of completion with the ICT Task Force based in the Ministry of
Communications and Transport49.
• Some policies -- such as forbidding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) -- are inhibiting
the impact that ICT can have on Tanzania's development.
• Mobile companies have liberty to compete without restrictions, and have of late, started to
offer added-value services like airport, bus and train schedules, etc.

• The report suggests helping communities build partnerships, as licensing procedures
hinder the entrepreneurial spirit of most prospective Internet cafe owners. The report
offers examples of local industries and local authorities engaging to build Internet cafes,
and motivates that this should be encouraged.
• Partnerships and collaborations can foster ways for more rational use of scarce resources.
For example, schools can form partnerships with local entrepreneurs who can install
computers, Internet connections and other ICT in schools.
• Stakeholders expressed the need for a concrete mechanism that will ensure continuity and
sustainability of the existing efforts in the development of ICT in the country. There was a
call to have continuous needs assessments of ICT in the country because the situation is
dynamic and can change overnight.
• No tax breaks are available for companies wishing to innovate in this sector.
49
The National Information and Communications Technologies Policy (2003) has since been published.

• While business regulations are generally cumbersome, ICT is not singled out except in a
positive sense (e.g. zero-rating of VAT). There are no particular restrictions on trade in
ICT products.
• There is political will for supporting the use of ICT and for cooperating with the private
sector to develop ICT solutions.
• The Government implemented an integrated financial management system in 2001. About
28 districts are already connected, and plans are in place to connect all sub-treasuries.
• There is an urgent need for raising ICT awareness all over the country at all levels. This
was seen as the only way to ensure support and commitment to developing ICT and its
use in peoples' daily activities.
Outcomes
So far, there have been no concerted efforts towards disseminating the assessment report as
there are insufficient funds. However, there are indications that people are aware of and
benefiting from it. The findings have been useful in:
• The development of the National Information and Communications Technologies Policy
and strategy (http://www.tanzania.go.tz/pdf/ictpolicy.pdf)
• The Tanzania Development Gateway Project (www.tanzaniagateway.org)
• The drafting of the Country Paper for the WSIS PREPCOM II, Geneva, February 2003
• The provision of baseline data in a number of surveys and studies conducted by the
German Technical Cooperation Organization (GTZ) and the Swedish International
Development Agency
• Discussions by IICD, infoDev and other entities on the impact of ICT in Tanzania
• Academic research:
PhD and Masters degrees at UDSM
One Masters degree student from Sweden

Data collection was very difficult, owing to major problems around setting up appointments
with high-level Government officials, especially the permanent secretaries. Another problem
was that there were no proper criteria for selecting regions for the study, and the assessors
were simply going to places where they expected to find useful information. The assessment
recognizes the need for a common country information "gatekeeper". Those interviewed
indicated there was a need for accurate, adequate and accessible information.
Coordination of stakeholders and the general lack of awareness also presented challenges.
Issues around ICT were new to most people in the country and not all members of the
steering committee shared the same outlook. And the regulator, one key stakeholder, did not
attend the meetings. The assessment team felt that an assessment in 2004 would have been
more preferable, as the ICT policy came into being during this year.
There is a lot of duplication of e-readiness assessments and related ICT research in Tanzania.
Workshop participants felt that reasons are lack of donor co-ordination, and resultant parallel
funding. The assessment team has noticed that different donors have varying interests, and
that one reason for the emphasis on ICT for entrepreneurship, and business-driven ICT, is to
ensure that donor countries' companies do well in Tanzania.
COSTECH is still looking for funding in order to publish the report, and they want to conduct
another assessment to show where the country stands today, and the progress that has been
made.

The assessment team evidently did its homework, and identified assessments done in
Tanzania by others. However, the report appears to be more of a literature survey of previous
reports than an assessment/research intervention on its own. (Throughout the report, the
authors refer to the "assessments" as opposed to any one particular intervention.) In fact, it
even refers to itself as if it were a separate entity in a list of e-readiness assessments
conducted in Tanzania: "Some of the activities undertaken include: The Tanzania Commission
for Science and Technology (COSTECH) conducted an infoDev (World Bank) funded ICT
Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment for Tanzania. Miller Esselaar and Associates
conducted a SIDA-sponsored ICT Survey for Tanzania in 2000. Another study was done by
the GTZ effort to assess the present situation and perspectives in ICT for development in the
country." Previous e-readiness assessments are cited and discussed throughout the report,
and the authors highlight a problematic lack of consolidated substantial baseline data and
statistics on ICT in Tanzania. The review of newspaper articles provides an interesting and
insightful measure of media attention given to ICT.
The objectives of the assessment are not clearly explicated in the report. Although the goal is
stated as "taking stock" of the country's e-readiness, there is not much proffered as to the
reasons or overarching vision driving the research, besides "ICT are becoming key
components in the emergence of a high growth/high productivity 'new economy' or 'digital
economy' in the era of globalization".
The methodology that was used by the researchers is not sufficiently explained in the report.
It seems to be framed by CID's Guide, and aspects of other tools were included, but the
description of questionnaires and focus groups and more importantly which parts of the
report were informed by collected data are missing.
E-Readiness of the public sector and political will is sufficiently covered in the report, although
it would have been interesting to have more critical discussion of the many individual projects
that are going on. A number of departments appear to be doing their own thing in integrating
ICT into their working environment, but the assessment does not discuss the benefits of a
combined strategy to frame these developments.
The strategy for conducting this research appears to be lacking integration within the broader
context. It seems the study was only conducted within urban areas, and the findings are thus
unrepresentative of Tanzanian society, the majority of which does not use modern ICT. In
assessing the readiness of the work force, focus is mainly on ICT-centric jobs -- such as
engineering, and people working in Internet cafes –- and does not reflect the use of ICT in
more general working environments.
Although there is not a great deal of discussion about policy issues in the assessment report,
it proved useful for feeding into the National Information and Communications Technologies
Policy (2003) and strategy.
Case study: Trinidad and Tobago

E-Readiness Assessment – Trinidad and Tobago
I Overview
Date
The assessment was conducted in March - April 2002. The report was also completed during
this time.
Authors
The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBT&T) commissioned Matthew Hatton and Bridget
Morris from Electronic Payment and Commerce (EPayCom) to write the report. EPayCom is a
private company based in the United Kingdom, providing enterprise payment solutions for the
financial services industry50.
Abstract
The scope of this assessment project is limited to Trinidad and Tobago's progress in
developing the necessary environment to manage e-payments on a national basis. E-
readiness is defined simply as the country's ability to do payments electronically, and the
data collected is confined to Government, the business sector (including banking), human
capacity to use ICT as pertains to e-commerce, and some data on communications. It did not
use any of the methodologies suggested by infoDev, and is significantly different from all the
other country reports. By assessing just one aspect of e-readiness (electronic payments), the
report cannot give a holistic view of e-readiness in Trinidad and Tobago, and can only be
considered one source of information for decision-makers tasked with moving the country
toward an information society. However, the specificity of its action plan is likely to prove
more useful for framing next steps for stakeholders interested in boosting the country's
capacity for facilitating payments electronically.
II Report summary
Rationale
The authors term e-readiness as "the country's ability to do payments electronically". This
limited focus is due to the design of the study as a precursor to a National Payments Systems
project. The report examines the topic of e-payments from four perspectives: legal;
telecommunication; government (with a focus on ministries delivering either high volume or
high valued payments); financial sector organizations; and the private sector.
Methodology
The assessment methodology used was developed by EPayCom and is called the "Payment
Highway Method". It involves three broad measures to investigate the feasibility of a national
electronics payment service in Trinidad and Tobago.
A number of workshops were held to transfer skills and knowledge from the consultants to
stakeholders, and to build local capacity in the banking sector. These include a workshop
dealing with legal issues to promote awareness of the legal and regulatory framework as
pertains to e-commerce; to map out the scope of work in this area and the role of the CBT&T
in providing legal assistance; and to develop a set of tools for measuring the legal indicators
appropriate to the local environment. A risk management workshop was held to train the
team on the existing electronic payment facilities available, and to explore how improvements
50
For more information see: http://www.epaycom.co.uk
would impact on the development of e-commerce. A "change and communication

management" workshop was also held at the request of the local team members.
The purpose of the workshops was to train the team and ensure they were able to use the
methodology to conduct further work, in the absence of EPayCom. Two consultants from
EPayCom made two visits in March and April 2002. They worked with a team seconded from
CBT&T, the Ministry of Finance, ISL Ltd, and the Tobago House of Assembly. Data was
collected from eleven sources, which comprised mostly of strategic and management
information from a number of Government departments and the financial dealings of CB&T.

• The banks, including CBT&T, are already building some of the vital infrastructure items
required for reform of the proposed payments systems.
• The banks have telebanking, fax connections, personal computer (PC) connections to
bank services, a website, automated teller machines (ATMs), and an electronic funds
transfer (EFT) switch. They intend to develop full e-commerce and e-banking facilities.
• Areas of the country without access to electronic payment services (called "green fields"),
are found widely in Trinidad and Tobago. This is not necessarily negative as it is usually
easier to implement solutions where there is no "baggage" of old legacy systems.
• Infrastructure to support a variety of e-commerce initiatives needs to be developed and
maintained.
• There is a marked absence of automation and electronic facilities within the Government
in general, and the Treasury in particular. The Treasury has no ICT but wants to handle all
payments electronically in the future.
• There are approximately 70,000 households with personal computers (PCs), of which
50,000 have Internet access.
• Mobile telephony is more pervasive, with 250,000 users.
• There were no statistics available for corporate use of computers and the Internet.

• Telecommunications Service of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) is planning, developing and
rolling out a number of initiatives to underpin an e-ready society. For Internet
connectivity, it plans to build a fiber optic network and provide asynchronous digital
subscriber lines (ADSL). With regard to mobile telephony, it plans to move from using
time division multiple access (TDMA), to the more ubiquitous cellular network standard:
global system for mobile communications (GSM). It also plans to provide Internet access
over the cellular network via the general packet radio service (GPRS).
• Given that mobile phone penetration is much higher than computers in homes, mobile
commerce (m-commerce) is considered a suitable vehicle for running a program to
promote the uptake of technology across society. However, m-commerce initiatives are
limited by the current unavailability of GSM and GPRS services.
• The report recommends implementing the following "major building blocks" to enable the
banking system to develop useful and viable e-products and services:
o Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS) for high value payments;
o Automated Clearing House (ACH) for retail payments, switching and clearing;
o Automated Credit Bureau (ACB);
o EFT Switching;
o Payments engines to feed various payment systems; and
o Upgraded telecommunications network to run the payment systems.

• Although there are general complaints about a lack of funding, there are no substantive
financial issues in the market inhibiting e-initiatives.
• For key projects, international funding is available (e.g. United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), World Bank).
• Before undertaking any e-commerce project, its champions must be able to prove that it
makes commercial sense, i.e. there is a clear business case, and costs will eventually be
recovered from customers. The business should drive the technology, and not vice versa.
• Fees and charges will make the initiative viable, and there should be small fees, charged
on a per transaction basis. Although other approaches have been tried, for example, a
percentage of the value of each transaction, it always boils down to the customer (the
end-user) paying.
• Fees and charges can be structured to drive customers from expensive cash and paper
transactions towards electronic ones which are much cheaper. (Electronic transactions are
one tenth of the cost of paper ones, and Internet transactions are one tenth of the cost of
electronic ones.)

• The number of people who are highly skilled in ICT is insufficient to meet the needs of
Trinidad and Tobago. This is largely due to a "brain drain", as countries such as the United
States of America and the United Kingdom have highly attractive fast-track immigration
processes for applicants with certain ICT skills. The report recommends that Trinidad and
Tobago initiate new ICT projects that will attract skilled personnel back to the State.
• Strategic thinkers need to be exposed to current developments at conferences and
seminars to bring them up to speed.
• A management awareness program should be implemented for businesses.
• It is recommended that skills transfer becomes a component of all projects, whereby
suppliers are required, contractually, to provide the requisite skills for each project.
• With only 70,000 PCs in the country, basic computer literacy is assumed to be low. The
report suggests that the International Computer Driver's License (ICDL) should be
integrated into school and college curricula, as well as training programs.
• All Government personnel in departments targeted for computerization should undergo
training for the ICDL.

• Customs and Excise are upgrading their technology system for customs activities.
Although the system is used for data gathering and reporting, it does not support revenue
collection and is not networked. It is therefore of limited use. The UNDP are funding a
project to upgrade the software, to place ports that allow for the import of goods on a
network and allow customs and excise personnel access to centralized data.
• The e-government unit offers no e-products or services as of yet, although there is a goal
to have an electronically integrated public service and Government intranet.
• The e-government unit is still being established, and currently has no clear mandate.
• The report recommends the development of an e-government program tasked with
developing initial projects, delivering appropriate education and creating awareness within
Government. Suggested projects include linking customs development to e-payment
initiatives.
• Government would benefit from a suitable workflow/ management product e.g. MS
Exchange or Lotus notes.
• The banks offer websites for general information, limited e-banking facilities and
telephone banking.

• Employees are generally resistant to change, particularly when they feel threatened by
new technology.
• The public at large is often suspicious and skeptical about the actions and motives of
banks and governments (particularly when banks act together). Thus there needs to be
effective communication at every level. It is recommended that an overall communications
plan should be formulated, and controlled centrally.
• The financial and commercial communities in Trinidad and Tobago are relatively small,
both in terms of market and geography. Trust is therefore not currently a major concern.
But as these markets become increasingly e-enabled, and open up to cross-border
transactions, trust becomes vital.
• There is a requirement for stringent encryption and authentication capabilities.
• Trust goes beyond network level security, and it is vital to ensure that when dealing with a
counter party over the Internet or an extranet, the party is in fact who they purport to be
and not a "fraudulent imposter".
• The Bank should establish a dialog with their corporate customers to discuss and publicize
opportunities for enhancing trust, security and trade-related payments.
• As financial institutions provide increasingly sophisticated Internet access to their
systems, a trusted center for digital signatures will be required.

• The legal and regulatory framework for telecommunications, despite some negative
perceptions, is moving in the right direction. According to the Telecommunication Service
of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), deregulation is underway, new service providers will be in
the market soon, and new, appropriate technologies are being implemented. However, the
report found that there is a lack of awareness and understanding of these developments
beyond TSTT itself.
• There are no laws or regulations that deal specifically with other aspects of e-readiness.
Support materials and mechanisms to start tackling this were discussed during an
assessment team workshop.
• The legal community needs to have a "bird's eye view" of all the financial and
governmental e-initiatives so that it can create a holistic and appropriate framework.
• International standards such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade
Law (UNCITRAL) Draft Model Law for Electronic Commerce should be observed wherever
possible and appropriate.

• The commercial sector is the least developed and least interested in terms of e-readiness.
• There is a widely-held view that the e-commerce market in Trinidad and Tobago,
especially for private individuals, is limited.
• There are no clearly defined business drivers for e-commerce initiatives in the private
sector.
• E-Commerce communities comprised of user and client bases need to be developed. They
should be structured at two levels: (i) trading groups formed into various industry
exchanges, and (ii) payment schemes operated by members of the financial services
community.
• Rather than being seen as a number of individual projects, payments reform should be
presented as a wholesale change to the banking infrastructure of Trinidad and Tobago,
and a key part of preparedness for e-commerce.
Gauging the government's and other stakeholders' will to drive change

• There is no shared purpose across the banking industry and the larger economy as to
what constitutes a state of e-readiness or how to achieve it.
• There is lacking coordination between Government, the banks and TSTT.

• The Government sector has wide scope for efficiency gains through e-initiatives, but again
these have not been quantified.
• There is a lack of common vision amongst project sponsors, the banking industry,
Government and the commercial sector.
• The report recommends creating a steering committee with representatives from
Government, banking and the commercial sector that can develop the necessary vision
and practical project plans to promote ICT use. The committee's focus would be on
creating the vision and mission, including all the right stakeholders, building an
organizational structure to support the initiative, and developing enthusiasm and support
for their goals. The authors suggest focusing on the business level model and coordinating
the legal work and funding to get some projects underway and ensure they are visible.
Outcomes
The assessment results were presented to stakeholders at a seminar hosted by the Central
Bank. The report is available at http://www.nict.gov.tt. The consultants conducted additional
workshops and seminars that focused particularly on the legal framework, risk management
and change and communication. The findings provided input and some guidance in the
National Payments System project and the Government "vision 2020" ICT project. The report
has had an impact on Government policy in that e-commerce has been identified as a
priority.

It appears that the project team worked effectively as a cohesive and focused unit, despite
being separated geographically. (The consultants were based in England). The two biggest
challenges faced were working within the budget, and ensuring that all participants were at
all the meetings held in Trinidad, as this required a lot of travel. Ensuring that key
stakeholders worked effectively with the consultants, as well as facilitating comprehensive
knowledge transfer from the latter, proved challenging but were overcome by setting tight
schedules for activities and frequent communication.
The methodology was limited in that it did not "quantify e-readiness in numeric terms"
beyond a few infrastructure statistics, and there was consensus that if the project was
repeated a different methodology would be used. There was no clear common vision of a
desired state of e-readiness: none of those interviewed could articulate this, and it was hence
very difficult for the consultants to measure "gaps". Apparently infoDev was not overtly
helpful beyond providing project funding.

This report met its main objective: to assess the ICT environment of Trinidad and Tobago for
development of a national e-payments service, and make recommendations for improving
preparedness for the transition. ICT is understood purely as a tool for modernizing business
and government transactions, with a very specific focus on electronic payments. The research
measures parameters within the government, commercial and banking sectors for doing so,
and provides a set of recommendations that include initiating a number of e-commerce
projects.
The report, and subsequent feedback given to infoDev in a document entitled ICT Final Report
(authors unknown), give an impression of miscommunication between the Trinidad and
Tobago Government and EPayCom, as to what the term "e-readiness" actually means.
Although the terms of reference given in an appendix outline some of the areas within the ICT
sector that are usually researched for e-readiness, there is only a cursory attempt to provide
even the most basic data, such as teledensity, and number of computers per head of
population. The assessment is completely dominated by measurement of parameters that are

specifically useful for determining the best way forward for a national e-payments service.
This is hardly surprising considering the core business of the consultancy chosen to conduct
the study.
The assessment is based largely on eleven sources of data (four of which were organograms
of Government departments), and the entire corporate sector for the State was evaluated
through assessment of one large company: a furniture retailer. Any future research would
benefit from a larger sample and more data, even within the limited framework of the
electronic payments assessment.
Fundamental to widespread electronic payments and related e-commerce services is a

population with the capacity and confidence to use the technology. The assessment should
have taken a more in-depth view of computer literacy levels, beginning with basic literacy,
and available opportunities for developing it. Gauging the extent of the population's e-literacy
from the low number of PCs in domestic environments provides only very rough estimate,
and human resources development is considered exclusively in the context of industry and
government. It would have been interesting to include a review of current initiatives in the
country that are addressing e-literacy, rather than simply recommending the ICDL.
The report provided no indication of the extent to which the public can access computers and
the Internet at public access points. Public access to ICT is imperative for building e-literacy,
as the skills developed through any scheme (including the suggested ICDL course) will be lost
without opportunities to use, practice and build upon them. Further, issues of ICT that impact
on the broad macro-economic environment; the socio-cultural factors affecting ICT use; or
the extent of the integration of ICT into peoples' lives were not investigated. There is no data
or analysis of ICT in society, and their relationship to socio-economic development and the
millennium development goals (MDGs). The research team does not consider ICT an
important or effective tool to reach broader development goals. The questionnaire respondent
stated, "ICT can help but I believe more fundamentals such as better health facilities, more
caring medical practitioners, expansion of health education (face to face) in all communities
will advance the MDGs at a faster rate in small Trinidad and Tobago. ICT will work for the
elite and highly educated. Work is needed in the Education system before ICT can reach the
masses."
As a result of the assessment's limited scope, its recommendations and action plan are far
more specific than many others generated under the infoDev e-readiness initiative. For
example, it proposes a detailed structure for the e-commerce community of Trinidad and
Tobago, recommending the formalization of existing groups, and outlines a clearer set of
responsibilities for each.
The Government is producing additional e-readiness reports –- to be published shortly -– that

will fill the gaps left by this assessment, promote the role of ICT in society and spark debate
beyond e-payments. The report's narrow focus meant that it was useful instead of
duplicative, as a Government-funded assessment that used the Harvard University Center for
International Development's (CID)'s Guide was conducted around the same time.
Case study: Uganda

E-Readiness Assessment Abridged Report
I Overview
Dates
The grant period was between February 2003 and February 2004. Although the report is yet
to be published, a final draft report has been available since January 2004.
Authors
Ashwin Shankar and Rajeev Agarwal from consulting firm Techno Brain Ltd authored the
report. Techno Brain Ltd was hired by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications for
the Republic of Uganda. Dr Kibuuka and Dr Turahai from the Ministry supervised the data
collection and report writing.
Abstract
The Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications commissioned Techno Brain Ltd to
conduct this assessment, which is based on the methodology set out in Harvard University's
Center for International Development's (CID)'s Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide
for Developing Countries. The report goes further than the prescribed CID methodology and
provides additional findings in five areas: the situation in the Government sector, cost and
affordability of ICT, people and attitudes toward ICT, training, and principle constraints. There
are also chapters on the judicial reform process, the commercial justice reform program, and
a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for each CID category.
The assessment identifies that affordability and infrastructure challenges are the main
obstacles to increased access to and use of ICT. A major feature is a section detailing
Uganda's human resource capacity for improving and harnessing the country's e-readiness.
The authors' in-depth knowledge of Uganda's Government, as well as its governing structures
and associated bodies and institutions, results in a good overview of the situation, as well as
very practical and context-specific solutions. The report includes an excellent action plan for
taking the country's e-readiness to the next level. The report has been utilized extensively to
feed into policy and decision-making processes, including the development of an e-
government initiative, and the formation of the National Planning Authority and the
Information and Telecommunications Authority of Uganda. Although complete, the report is
yet to be officially published, due to lack of funding.
II Report Summary
Rationale
E-Readiness is described as "the ability of a country to absorb the new trends in ICT for
enhancing the living standards of its people…. [and] the ability of a country or community to
benefit from ICT." The authors note that whatever the current stage of e-readiness, "it is
always possible to leapfrog the intermediate stages and emerge as a Networked society, able
to harness the full potential of ICT."
The principle objectives of the assessment project are:

• Assess the current levels of ICT and the state of ICT infrastructure in all sections of
Ugandan society, but with a strong focus on the Government sector.
• Suggest cost-effective, affordable, sustainable, means of enhancing e-readiness, especially
for education, capacity-building and connectivity. The underlying objective here is to
reduce overall costs of ownership of ICT for the Government.
• Facilitate the development of e-government processes and considerations by conducting

the assessment largely within the decentralized public sector.
Methodology
The Harvard University Center for International Development's (CID)'s e-Readiness Guide
was found to be the most suitable methodology framework for Uganda. E-Readiness issues
are thus grouped under the categories of network access, networked learning, networked
society, network policy and the networked economy. The report goes further than the
prescribed CID methodology and provides additional key findings in five areas: the situation
in the Government sector, cost and affordability of ICT, people and their attitudes, training,
and principle constraints. There are also chapters on the judicial reform process, the
commercial justice reform program, and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
(SWOT) analysis for each CID category. The survey aims to assess ICT infrastructure within
all sections of Ugandan society -- the public and private sectors (especially small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), homes, schools,
and the media. Information was collected through surveys; study of previous surveys and
field or sector studies; and interviews with key players.

• Statistical analysis of information gathered for the assessment is encouraging and
evidences trends of rapid and consistent growth. The country has made huge strides in
increasing its level of e-readiness in the past five years and the trend looks as though it
will be continuing into the foreseeable future.
• Using the CID ranking system, Uganda fares reasonably well in the categories of policy
(stage 3+); but there is scope for improvement in network access (stage 2) and a long
way to go before it can be considered a networked economy and society (both stages 1-2
for the whole country; stage 2+ in Kampala). Networked learning needs a large input of
resources (between stages 1-2).

• Electricity reaches only 4.5% of the population.
• Affordable telecommunications and electricity connectivity is the main problem faced by
the country. This will continue to hamper the growth of communications, especially in the
rural areas, and inhibit higher readiness ratings of the country.
• The telephone network is accessible to about 50% of the population. There are
approximately 0.25 lines per 100 people and mobile penetration is approximately 2.74 per
100.
• Growth of mobile telephone penetration continues at over 130%. (Uganda is the third
country after Cambodia and Finland where mobile teledensity exceeded fixed-line
teledensity).
• Internet connectivity in rural areas is almost inconceivable; only 2% of rural households
have electricity, and villagers have to walk an average of 2km to reach a phone.
• Combined teledensity (fixed + mobile) is still less than 3 per 100 population.
• MTN Uganda has driven Uganda's telecommunications revolution. Five years after it begun
operations, MTN boasts of 416, 000 subscribers and Ugandan call rates are among the
lowest on the continent.
• Today the key providers of Internet access in Uganda are 16 ISPs and the two leading
telecom operators.
• 61% of schools do not have electricity.
• Most ministries do not use e-mail for communication, formal or otherwise, since access to
computers is limited to only a few staff.
• There are an estimated 125,000 regular Internet users in Uganda. 96% use the Internet
from their offices, schools or public browsing centers.
• Technology parks need to be established to encourage private sector startups, and

infrastructure companies should be invited to set up masts, fiberoptic trunks and other
infrastructure that could be leased by the major players for a fee. In particular, plans such
as the East African Digital Transmission Project need to be revived.

• The Ugandan Government is using FM radio stations to reach out to the population and
provide agricultural information.
• The report advocates wireless fidelity (WiFi and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) as low
cost technologies for improving access to communication facilities for people, schools and
businesses.
• Similarly, it recommends establishing a low cost WiFi/VoIP Metropolitan Area Network in
Kampala to provide all the Government offices with Intercom and Data Networking
services.

• High costs of communications, education and equipment are serious impediments to the
growth of ICT in the country and unless tackled urgently, will prevent the spread and
further uptake of ICT in the country.
• Schools have inadequate funds for computer and network equipment, and cannot meet
the connectivity costs.
• Hardware and software is too expensive for most schools, many Government
departments, individuals and families.
• There is a need for a body to coordinate all ICT related activities of the Government such
as procurement, maintenance of hardware and software and creation of standards. It is
possible to increase affordability of ICT equipment and resources to Government
organizations by suggesting standardized equipment, an approved list of dealers, and bulk
purchasing to reduce costs and improve bargaining capability.
• The report suggests the development of education loan schemes to make ICT (or for that
matter, any) education more affordable for students.
• Being a landlocked country makes lowering Internet charges more difficult, because
access to undersea fiberoptic cables that provide cheaper access, is not possible.

• ICT can help Uganda harness her greatest assets: her human resources. Uganda has
literacy rates over 70%, and boasts almost 100% attendance in primary schools. 50,000
students attend the 16 universities and colleges in the country, and a large part of the
population speaks English.
• Despite the presence of pioneering projects such as World Links and Uganda Connect, the
Networked learning score is the lowest among all categories assessed.
• Tertiary education of an international standard is available only in Kampala and a few
selected towns. While international ICT accreditation is available in Kampala, it is beyond
the reach of the majority of Ugandans because of its cost.
• Ugandans' attitudes towards ICT are quite positive, and even older respondents were of
the impression that it is both necessary and inevitable.
• Government funding for capacity-building for ICT is limited by budgetary constraints, but
most ministries have managed to get a sizeable portion of their staff trained using project
funds or getting small groups trained at a time.
• There needs to be a serious attempt to sensitize teachers and school administrators to the
power of ICT for enhancing education. Getting computers to schools is relatively easy;
putting them to effective use is the real challenge, partly because they do not have the
staff to maintain computer equipment.

• Low cost, quality content for schools is unavailable.
• Some local websites are available, though most carry static content and are updated
infrequently.
• Many websites are available in local languages or a dominant Web language – such as
English - spoken locally.
• There is some use of online bulletin board systems, Usenet groups and newsletters.
Socio-cultural factors affecting ICT use

• There is gender equality in Internet use in Uganda, and most users are between 20 and
40 years old.
• The Government is aware that for the national development programs of poverty
eradication, decentralization and involvement of the public in governance to succeed,
appropriate information has to be availed to all levels of society.

• No transactions are carried out online. Physical signatures are required on any legal
document, and credit cards are unavailable to Ugandans. However, legal reforms are
underway that could provide an enabling framework for transactions.
• The ICT trade liberalization policy has successfully doubled the number of computers in
the country by reducing tariffs and bringing down prices for imported equipment.
• A national ICT policy framework has been put in place and strategies for its
implementation are being formalized.
• A rural communications fund has been established, and is subsidizing services and
developing local content for Internet communications to rural areas.
• Although the number of private telecommunications providers and operators has been
increasing, as well as the number of subscribers, the exclusivity clause in the license of
the two major operators has hindered entry of new participants in the sector, delaying
particularly the increase of international bandwidth infrastructure.
• The Government has ratified the ICT policy, selecting five institutions to implement the
strategy: the Ministry of Works (working on e-government), the Uganda Investment
Authority (e-commerce), Office of the President (e-information), and the Ministries of
Education (e-education) and Health (e-health).
• Large scale computerization efforts by the Government will require careful planning and a
viable and effective regulatory mechanism to prevent duplication of efforts, ensure
standardization across Government, and the effective utilization of funds.
• During the country visit, one interviewee identified a need for an ICT champion within
Government, and suggested establishing a commission on ICT.

• On the whole, the private sector scores much better than other sectors in all aspects in
the CID ranking.
• Online fish and flower auctions could enable Ugandan producers to interact directly with
the procurement sections of supermarkets in other countries, cutting out middlemen and
agencies and creating more wealth for Ugandan companies, including the small and
medium-sized ones.
• The assessment team recommends that Uganda should tap into the lucrative call-center
market and attract multinational companies to set up and invest in facilities in Uganda.
Public support and political will

• Use of ICT in Government is limited to certain departments and staff. There has been no
effort towards ensuring standards or compatibility across systems – even within
ministries. Most computers are not networked, most ministries do not use e-mail, and
some key ministries are without at PABX (telephone management) system.
• Both the Government and the regulator are keen to ensure equitable and widespread
growth of connectivity; in particular, the Government wants to expand the network into
hitherto unconnected areas considered unviable by the carriers.
• Although there are many private firms using ICT for various purposes, the private sector
does not have a common platform for influencing ICT policy at a national or regional level.
• The Government spearheaded the Rural Connectivity Development Fund (RCDF) to
establish Internet Points of Presence (PoPs) in all districts.
• The Government is also seeking to ensure rural electrification and the use of solar power
in areas where it is difficult to extend hydro-electric power.
• Ministry support is critical and there should be joint leadership meetings within ministries.
• There is a need for more private-public partnerships for projects using ICT.
Outcomes
The Ministry held a seminar for the National Taskforce, and intends to disseminate the report
and hold a workshop targeted at a wider audience, once the last part of funding is received
(see obstacles below). The initial seminar piqued the interest of a wide range of institutions
and consultants – 50 people attended and each received a CD with a copy of the report.
The most visible outcome of the assessment has been the development of an e-government
initiative. It involves drafting the e-government master plan, as well as implementing a pilot
e-government intranet project. Funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA),
the project is a result of the identification of gaps and priority areas in the e-readiness
assessment.
In addition, following the assessment each Government agency is supposed to have

specifically allocated funds for ICT. The report was also used by the Ugandan Government as
an important reference in the Uganda Telecommunications Policy review; fed into
Government deliberations on whether or not to end the duopoly in the telecommunications
sector; and was the basis for forming the National Planning Authority and the Information
and Telecommunications Authority of Uganda. The Ministry of Education and Sports and the
Ministry of Health have begun work in the areas of e-learning and e-health, respectively. The
Information Management System (IMS) and local government management system have
been updated.

Obtaining information proved challenging. There are few sources of information available, and
even the Ugandan Communications Commission (UCC) faces difficulties trying to collect data,
and most of it is outdated. Gathering information from SMEs and retail ICT outlets was
particularly problematic. However, some ministries and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics
(UBOS) were able to provide accurate and updated data on parameters such as school
enrolment, population, and electricity generation. Most large private companies, ISPs and the
operators provided the information as requested, as did the NGOs and Government
departments. During the study team's visit, an interviewee expressed the need for legislation
to facilitate data provision and collection, especially regarding data from multinational
companies.
Although the Ministry sent the report to infoDev for input and comments six months ago, they
are yet to receive a response. Uganda is still expecting the overdue last tranche of funding
from infoDev.

The problems that are faced by poor countries such as Uganda need no further elaboration
and are more than adequately documented. The focus of this report is on providing
sustainable solutions. Throughout this report and in all our recommendations we focus on
technologies that are sustainable, that do not eat up a sizable portion of the budget after the
projects are over and donor funding has dried up, and how to increase the overall
affordability and value for money (of equipment, education, technology, etc). Uganda E-
Readiness Assessment Abridged Report.
The report looks beyond e-readiness as a means in itself. SME development, health,
education, and capacity, among numerous other issues, are presented within the context of
e-readiness, and the solutions offered will have direct impact on the MDGs if implemented
successfully. This assessment is not just packed with information informing decision-makers,
but filled with ideas for practical realization of the objectives, and most identified problems
are countered with solutions. The report moves from high level policy considerations to
practical next steps, and the 5 point action plan suggests clear focus areas. The report
compares Uganda's situation with other countries - both in the region and internationally. It
provides a candid description of Uganda's weaknesses and strengths, and offers substantiated
suggestions and recommendations.
Although rather lengthy, the report's content is presented and analyzed in an engaging way
and most aspects of and relating to e-readiness are comprehensively addressed. Unlike many
other reports in the infoDev program that are using CID's guide, the report is clear in its
depiction of how the categories are assessed and scored, although many of the scores seem a
little optimistic (e.g. 3.5 for Network speed and quality). The assessment team has refrained
from duplicating previous efforts, and imparts findings from previous research throughout the
report. Updated and enhanced with new research, the result is a definitive work on Uganda's
present state of e-readiness.
The report features wide-ranging information on different topics and although detailed, the
discussion is easy to follow and the data is well presented. Reams of very specific information
- likely to be useful to a wide range of stakeholders – are supported by graphs, tables and
maps. The data is couched within further discussions of problems and their solutions.
Although depicting a challenging situation, the results are presented with an optimistic and
forward-looking attitude. Appropriate technologies such as refurbished computers, WiFi and
VoIP are mentioned as solutions for specific problems. However, a few assertions made in the
report appear unfounded. For example, the claim that the private sector does not have a
common platform for influencing ICT policy at a national or regional level is unfounded in that
the i-network51 has been operating since June 2002. Similarly, SchoolNet Uganda52 has been
involved in the production of content -- some of which has been described as "of good
quality" by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and
other organizations -- rendering the finding that "quality content for schools is unavailable"
incorrect.
The list of key Government ICT projects in ministries and departments is impressive. While
the report's focus on the Government's e-readiness is useful for enhancing co-ordination and
regulation activities, the same level of concentration on civil society, and particularly the
private sector, would produce valuable insights and suggestions for improving e-readiness in
these sectors as well. During the study team's visit, the focus on the public sector was
explained as a result of the need to benchmark e-government policy. However, the report
51
http://www.i-network.or.ug/ and http://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/inetwork/
52
http://www.schoolnetuganda.sc.ug/homepage.php
does not feature an in-depth comparison of the country's e-government policies with other
countries.
The action plan is well thought-out, and each action item is well explained. For example, the
action item for establishing ICT incubators/ technology parks gives very specific infrastructure
specifications: "24/7 broadband Internet availability at 128kbps minimum per unit. Additional
bandwidth should be available on demand." Security, ease of access and even governance of
the incubators is discussed. Each action item is clearly need-based and features clear
solutions with lists of small, achievable objectives as the way forward. Each action item
comprises realistic, achievable plans that are context-specific and take sustainability into
account. Tasking the recommendations to specific line ministries within the Government and
other specialized bodies would be a next step to realizing the recommendations, and would
similarly enable measurement of success. In addition, one of the interviewees expressed that
the report should have recommended the establishment of an ICT policy unit within the
Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications, to consolidate efforts for monitoring and
developing policies.
The section highlighting "critical issues" in the action plan identifies nine simple yet fiercely
important items, such as "equip every Government desk with a PC and email, and office
productivity and collaboration software; setup wireless Metropolitan networks to connect
Government offices together" and "enhance the production and distribution of electricity and
strengthen the national grid".
The report's practical suggestions are couched within acute awareness of the obstacles to an
"e-ready" Uganda. The report identifies affordability and infrastructure challenges as the main
obstacles for access to and use of ICT. However, the assertion that funding is the primary
obstacle to Uganda's e-readiness is true but underrates the many other issues that limit
access to and use of ICT, including lack of capacity, lack of trust, technophobia, corruption,
and other "soft" issues around the use of technology. All of these need to be addressed in
parallel.
Annex 2. Overview of the e-readiness assessment process 53
How can an e-readiness assessment help?

Many developing-country leaders are convinced that ICT will help their nations solve the
economic and social problems they face, and they are ready to drive the changes necessary
to exploit these new technologies. However, translating a grand vision into practical steps
that fit a local context is not a simple matter. Leaders need to have a realistic appreciation for
what ICT can and cannot do for their countries, and they must bolster public confidence in the
path they take. An e-readiness assessment, when properly applied in a larger process of
evaluation, is a first step towards converting good intentions into planned actions that bring
real changes to people’s lives. E-readiness assessments are meant to guide development
efforts by providing benchmarks for comparison and gauging progress. This is an old process
adapted to today’s technology realities: determining the current situation in order to plan for
the future and advocate specific changes. E-readiness assessments can also be a vital tool for
judging the impact of ICT, to replace wild claims and anecdotal evidence about the role of ICT
in development with concrete data for comparison.
Before starting: do some homework

Having a clear understanding of the work that has already been done is an important place to
start. Before undertaking an e-readiness assessment, it is essential that decision-makers
examine existing assessment results and related efforts undertaken by other branches of
government, the private sector, and beyond. A plethora of e-readiness assessment projects
have been completed, are underway, or are planned. Governments, international bodies, and
the private sector have clearly identified the need to effectively coordinate work on the digital
divide and avoid duplication of effort, yet this work is largely uncoordinated and often
duplicative.
A bridges.org survey found that 107 countries had already been the subject of an
assessment, and that 32 countries have been assessed at least five times by different
organizations. (For more on this see annex 6: e-Readiness Assessment: Who has done What
and Where.) Unfortunately, many of the assessment results are not publicly available or
easily accessible, and currently there is no central listing for such assessments. In some
cases, assessments are proprietary to the company or organization that conducts them, and
the results are published for sale at prices that can be quite high. Frequently only the
government agency or organization that commissions the assessment gets the results and
they are either not published, or not well publicized when they are published.
The e-readiness process

The e-readiness process comprises four steps:
(1) Choosing an appropriate assessment tool based on a clear understanding of national goals
for ICT integration,
(2) Conducting the e-readiness assessment,
(3) Developing a detailed action plan that will move the country toward its objectives, and
(4) Implementing the plan.
53
NB: The information provided in this Annex is based on intellectual property previously developed by bridges.org
and previously published under an open content license by bridges.org. This derivative work remains the copyrighted
material of bridges.org.
Step 1: Clarify National Goals and Choose an Appropriate Assessment Tool

This step has two parts: clarifying national ICT integration goals and choosing the right e-
readiness assessment tool.
Clarifying National ICT Integration Goals

Determining which e-readiness assessment tool is appropriate depends on the country’s goals
for ICT integration, so it is critical that the process begin with a clear understanding of where
the country wants to go. There is no objective measure for e-readiness, and all assessment
tools have an underlying standard of e-readiness that will necessarily shape the results.
Assessments selectively identify aspects of government policy and the economy that "need to
be reformed" in order to improve e-readiness, and they usually set the stage for advocating
particular changes that should be undertaken (such as removing barriers to foreign
investment or promoting universal access).
Decision-makers must have clear goals so they can choose a tool that measures what they
are looking for and that does it against a standard that fits their own view of an "e-ready"
society. It is likewise important that goals be concrete, realistic, and achievable. E-strategies
that work in one country may not be easily transplanted into another environment. However,
comparisons between countries with analogous political, social, and economic landscapes can
provide useful benchmarks and clues for how to set appropriate goals. For example, it is
unlikely that Zambia would be able to build an ICT economy in five years that rivals Finland’s,
and plans that set unrealistic goals are doomed to failure from the outset.
In the past, many countries looked at e-readiness through a lens that focused on either "e-
economy" or "e-society." If the country’s primary objective was to improve the economy,
then basic ICT infrastructure and the nation’s readiness for business and economic growth
were put at the forefront. When the primary national objective was to improve social equality,
then the focus was on improving the ability of the overall population to benefit from ICT and
improve their daily lives. However, these distinctions are not valid. E-economy and e-society
goals are interdependent and the relationship between them is complex. Social goals must
incorporate business growth and use of ICT as part of a larger vision, and promote the
business growth necessary for the broader e-readiness of the population at large. Likewise,
economic results depend on the long-term stability that can only be achieved in an
environment of relative equity among social groups.
Choosing the Right E-Readiness Assessment Tool

Once policymakers have determined their country’s objectives, they face the difficult task of
choosing between a wide range of measurement tools of varying degrees of complexity,
differing methodologies, and different outcomes. In the last three years, more than 15 e-
readiness assessment tools have been developed. On the surface, each tool aims to gauge
how ready a society or economy is to benefit from information technology and electronic
commerce. But, as described earlier, the tools use widely varying definitions for e-readiness
and methods for measurement that suit different goals. Some of the most prominent e-
readiness tools focus only on short-term e-commerce growth or foreign investment.
However, a comprehensive look at e-readiness should combine assessment of the society and
economy (such as schools, businesses, and health care) with analysis of socioeconomic
divisions (such as ethnicity, income, and gender). If the socioeconomic issues are not studied
and addressed, then practical use of ICT will remain the province of a privileged few.
However, without the detailed action plan that e-assessments can provide, efforts to put
technology to effective use throughout society may struggle to be successful and miss the
key elements needed to translate vision into action.
The bridges.org Comparison of E-Readiness Assessment Models describes various tools that
are available and what they measure, including the tools’ underlying goals and the
assumptions that shape their outcomes. (See Annex 4). InfoDev also provides a
comprehensive list of e-readiness resources on its website.
Step 2: Conduct the E-Readiness Assessment

The single most important thing a government can do to ensure an accurate and
comprehensive e-readiness assessment is to involve a diverse group of stakeholders, and to
involve them right from the beginning. An open dialogue on the ICT program and its goals
will help form the foundation of trust that will be needed when the plan is implemented.
Consultations with business leaders, government representatives, and civil society
organizations, as well as town meetings with local community members, will all help foster a
dialogue to inform the assessment process. Not only will this assist in the collection of reliable
information, it will help to ensure that the results represent a consensus and that they are
actually used. The assessment should also recognize majority and minority opinions and leave
room for dissent.
Step 3. Develop a Detailed Action Plan

Simply studying e-readiness is not enough far too often, e-readiness reports sit on a shelf
and do not get used. Assessment results provide the starting point, and decision-makers
must build on that to map out a detailed action plan based on sound "e-strategy" for
improving e-readiness. Realistically speaking, wide-reaching government programs are
notoriously difficult to conduct, and ICT plans are no exception.
The process of harnessing ICT and improving e-readiness requires major investments in time
and resources; actions range from training the judiciary in the legal ramifications of cyber-
crime and harmful content to encouraging the growth of a local ICT economy. The
government must consider and recommend policy reforms and business initiatives, balance
the needs and views of the relevant constituencies, and engage the right people to ensure the
plan will be implemented. It must hold workshops to educate all levels of the bureaucracy in
new programs and laws, train its own staff in ICT use, and so forth.
However, there is no "one size fits all" guidebook for developing countries. Too often,
international organizations, developed country governments, ICT companies, and private
consultants promote a single "perfect" solution of their favorite technologies and laws,
regardless of the country’s needs and history. The process of developing and implementing
an ICT action plan is unique for each country, shaped by the existing web of legislation, local
culture, economics, and politics. It is risky to make assumptions about what laws are
appropriate, where community centers should be located, how many computers to buy, or
what training materials teachers should use before taking the local context into account.
Rather than telling governments which products to buy and laws to enact, more resources
should be devoted to providing background information and neutral evaluations of the
options, to help governments make informed decisions for themselves. More information is
needed to help countries with the process of plan development and implementation.
Nonetheless, a few best practices have emerged that can aid policymakers in determining
appropriate local solutions. The following sections highlight some suggestions for developing
effective plans and putting them into action.
Drafting an Action Plan

The action plan must outline ICT initiatives that will benefit the range of stakeholders. Simply
put, if the ICT strategy causes a loss of jobs and decreases people’s quality of life—or appears
to do so— the public will not support it, and the government will lose credibility. The growth
in the digital divide shows that despite the promises of technology, far too many ICT
programs are increasing inequity; wide-scale ICT initiatives that do not directly attack the
digital divide to spread the benefits of ICT may be doomed to failure in the long run. Further,
programs that fail to balance the concerns of their diverse stakeholders will face resistance —
making effective implementation difficult, if not impossible.
The plan must also outline concrete steps toward ICT integration goals, including specific
policy measures, business initiatives, and development programs to be undertaken. It must
consider who can implement them and how to engage the appropriate participants. It should
also set a timeframe for implementation, and determine the oversight and evaluation
processes. It must include specific actions to address the needs and views of the relevant
constituencies in a balanced way, such as consumer rights, business, and labor.
Finally, the action plan must ensure that ICT is embraced and used by people in the country.
If people do not actually use the technology, then ICT integration will not bring the economic
and social benefits that governments seek. E-readiness programs risk spending vast sums of
money on assessments, strategies, technology, and training that will go to waste if it is not
relevant to the local situation. Countries and their citizens will not be able to harness the
power of ICT unless the programs address such issues as long-term sustainability and the
availability of software and content in local languages.
Step 4: Implement the Plan

The implementation process is by far the most difficult step, and also the step where the
most help is needed both in establishing the process and creating awareness of it. There are,
however, relatively few resources offering advice and expertise to assist governments.
Although there is no universal method for achieving e-readiness, a few general principles are
emerging that can help countries focus their efforts and effectively harness ICT in the long
term:
1. Catalyze action throughout society. National governments should realize that they do not
have to carry the burden alone. Government has the unique ability to lead the way while
helping others expand the scope of activity and become involved in the process. Stakeholders
in the private sector, in academia, in community organizations, and in local government
should be encouraged to get involved in the process and start their own initiatives within the
context of the national e-strategy, drawing on their own expertise and perspectives. If
government, business, and societal leaders champion the cause, their support can be
cascaded down through the various levels beneath them. But to achieve this, these same
individuals must fully understand the benefits and opportunities that ICT can offer.
2. Seek public support for the e-readiness plan by helping citizens understand how ICT can
benefit their daily lives, and by involving the private sector. Ground-level pilot projects can be
used to explore options for improving e-readiness while demonstrating the value of ICT to
citizens, winning public buy-in, and gaining the participation of all stakeholders. It is
important to establish relationships between the various groups that will foster technology
use; to facilitate productive local use of technology to generate demand for content and
services developed and delivered through technology; and to demonstrate this demand to the
public and private sectors to cultivate a self-sustaining economic environment.
3. Establish links between on-the-ground efforts and policymaking processes. Both ground-
level initiatives and policy reform are necessary, and information flow between them will
make both approaches more effective. Many ground-level programs are limited by the lack of
a supportive legal and policy framework. Most policymaking processes related to ICT issues
would benefit from a clearer understanding of how policy affects the technology end user at
ground level.
Unfortunately, few models standing of how policy affects the technology end user at ground
level. Unfortunately, few models effectively bring the two together. Government, business,
society, and current and future technology users must understand and acknowledge each
other’s positions and responsibilities.
4. Establish and continue feedback process throughout implementation. There must be an

independent review of the process, and a continued dialogue between the various
stakeholders to make sure their needs are being taken into account.
5. Coordinate and avoid duplication of efforts. Efforts to improve e-readiness and narrow the
divide must be coordinated nationally and internationally. It is difficult to estimate the
number of governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are
involved in these initiatives. Because most are involved unilaterally, there is duplication of
effort and scarce resources are wasted.
6. Establish national vision and leadership at the highest levels of government. This requires
identification, through consultation between the government, industry, civil societies,
communities, and other stakeholders, of local and national priority areas of development ,
followed by a program of action, and clear plans on implementation (and delivery timetables),
as well as evaluation and enforcement mechanisms.
7. Identify levels of priority for urgent and longer-term actions. On the basis of unequal
resources and levels of development in each member state, it would be unrealistic if not
imprudent for all countries to aim for a quantitatively uniform set of goals in a uniform space
of time. Country-specific short term, medium term and long-term achievable goals should be
identified. Programs of action with enforcements and regular evaluation of progress should be
drawn up and carried out. Countries should adhere to the plan of action unless it needs
improvement or revision.
8. Strengthen institutional capacity. This refers to state, business and private institutions. A
stable political environment and the rule of law are the building blocks upon which
institutional capacity can be built. Enabling commercial laws and economic policies (including
tax, tariffs, import and export laws) are crucial for the success of business institutions. When
e-assessments are conducted in SADC, countries have rated low on human capital, which is
significant for institutional capacity. Policy on and a culture of regular training for employees
and ICT professionals in institutions is needed. Regular research programs on updating
institutional capacity to modern innovations should become the norm.
9. Collaborate regionally and harmonize regional policies especially in telecommunications

infrastructure. Without implying the application of model laws, member states should
harmonize economic and trading policies, as well as minimum ICT development levels if they
are to develop as a regional force. Bilateral agreements between countries can supplement
SADC guidelines towards this end. Member states should also participate in efforts to share
information, for example by participating in the TRASA project to develop a data bank for
SADC to support informed decision-making. If all states contributed regularly, the levels of
policy implementation could be recorded and tracked in a dynamic manner that enhanced
further regional cooperation. SADC has the opportunity to draw upon lessons and expertise
garnered in the developed countries. But it is paramount that these international
developments are tailored to apply to domestic circumstances.
10. Simultaneously address traditional development and e-readiness issues. Traditional

development initiatives and e-readiness can no longer be separated as an either-or situation.
Both are required to ensure equitable and sustainable development in Southern Africa.
Further, if harnessed effectively, ICT can bridge pre-existing divides along cultural, racial,
gender and socio-economic lines. Emphasis on traditional development concerns of rural
electrification, basic education, primary healthcare, access to transport routes and basic
telephony, will ensure that governments do not attempt to create an e-ready society in a
vacuum. It will help ensure that the developments are taken side by side. Attempts to create
an e-ready society will be fruitless and ineffective otherwise.
11. Form partnerships. Broad consultation and co-operation between the public and private
sectors and the formation of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) allows governments to take
advantage of private sector skills and know-how, improve the efficiency of service delivery
and gain access to finance for new investments. If well designed, PPPs can bring
improvements in the quality, availability and cost effectiveness of services. Various successful
public-private partnerships have already been instituted within SADC to address substantive
concerns within policy, infrastructure and ground-level initiatives, including:
12. E-readiness is about more than adopting model laws. Model laws are not enough -- there
is a need for local solutions that a country will buy into and that meet local needs. Model
laws are often instituted with the good intention of addressing a common problem faced by
both the developed and developing world, or a problem specific to the developing world
context. However, these are often inadequate because they simply are not aware of the
existing laws, political tensions, and economic environment of the country. Instead of model
laws, guiding criteria for drafting tailor-made policies, including international best practices,
and a clear path for implementing these policies will help meet the goals of delivering
economic and social advancement.
Applying lessons learned

The complex process of harnessing ICT and bridging digital divides needs a comprehensive
solution built on a foundation of detailed information. E-readiness assessments can provide
this information and serve as a benchmark for future progress. However, unless the
assessment results are used to create a concrete action plan that is then implemented, the
resources used to conduct them will have been wasted.
A few words of wisdom for developing-country leaders can be drawn from past experiences
with e-readiness processes:
⇒ Take a comprehensive approach to gauging e-readiness. Devote as much time and

resources as feasible. Although a quick questionnaire is useful, a more detailed analysis is
needed to direct reforms.
⇒ Review assessments that have already been done in the area. Prior reports often exist.
Among e-readiness projects, greater coordination and foresight is needed to avoid
duplication.
⇒ Make the results publicly available. The agency or organization that commissions the
assessment should ensure that the results are publicly available and circulated for wide
use—too often this step has been missed. This is vital for government to catalyze action in
business and the wider community, so others can harness their initiative and experience
to put the concepts into practice in their own spheres.
⇒ Reflect the views of all stakeholders in the e-readiness process and throughout
implementation. This may seem obvious, but it has been ignored in the past. What has
been lacking hitherto is a strategic approach that involves everyone in defining goals,
collecting data, determining the e-strategy, and implementing the plan.
⇒ Use assessment results effectively to develop an e-strategy that addresses how exactly e-
readiness will be improved and ICT used to benefit the country. There are no universal
answers to these questions without a detailed understanding of the local circumstances;
developing-country decision-makers should be wary of those that purport to have "the
answer."
⇒ Do not make unrealistic promises in the action plans. The plan should comprise small
achievable steps that deliver sustainable, scalable, and replicable results. This is the best
approach to narrowing the digital divide and ensuring that the valuable resources used to
measure e-readiness are not wasted.
⇒ Further work is needed in this area. Best practices should be established that can aid the
process of developing and implementing the action plan. There is a need for clear
leadership in the field and the establishment of an information repository that will provide
developing countries with unbiased advice about e-assessment, e-strategies, and setting
achievable goals. Most importantly, there is a need for advice about how to translate
assessment results into action in a way that is appropriate for the local economic,
governmental, and cultural environments.
Annex 3. Comparison of e-readiness assessment tools 54
The number of tools that are ready-to-use to assess a nation's e-readiness is limited, as
relatively few organizations have presented their assessment methods for use by others.
However, there is a wide range of reports and other resources that can be re-worked into
"assessment tools", including third-party reports, position papers and survey results. This list
of e-readiness assessment tools starts with those formally presented as assessment
methodologies with ready-to-use questionnaires, and then goes on to look at assessment
methods that can be garnered from other resources. Some of the tools included measure
access to and use of ICT as opposed to "e-readiness" per se, although most of the tools
included here look at Internet and other ICT use within a broader economic, socio-political
context.
Many third-party assessments rank countries according to their measure of e-readiness,

providing indicators for competitiveness by comparing countries using various measures.
Some of these benchmarking reports have been included in this discussion of e-readiness
reports, as the measures utilized in these reports are useful indicators for e-readiness, and
contribute to a broader understanding of the field. Throughout this report, the term
"assessment tool" is used in the wider sense to mean both ready-to-use questionnaires as
well as other resources that could be adapted into assessment methods.
1. Ready-to-use tools – questionnaires

There are few Ready-to-use Tools freely available on the web. In this discussion, three such
tools have been identified: Harvard University’s Center for International Development (CID)’s
Readiness for the Networked World: A Guide for Developing Countries, Asian Pacific Economic
Cooperation's (APEC)’s E-Commerce Readiness Assessment, and the Computer System Policy
Project's (CSPP)’s Readiness Guide for Living in the Networked World. These tools produce
scores or ratings from which communities or countries are supposed to identify where they fit
according to each tool’s definition of e-readiness.
2. Case studies
There are numerous case studies assessing specific countries’ e-readiness, and many of these
could be used as bases for e-readiness tools. Some bodies and organizations conduct
assessments of a number of countries, utilizing their specific tool, and thus enabling
comparison or ranking of countries. The case study e-readiness assessments featured in this
discussion are the International Telecommunications Union’s Internet Country Case Studies,
the ASEAN e-readiness assessments, and case-studies conducted or funded by USAID,
infoDev and SIDA.
3. Third party surveys and reports

These reports aim to rank and rate countries on various measures held to indicate e-
readiness or e-competitiveness. Although some of the reports included here are not
fundamentally e-readiness-specific, their inclusion is owing to the fact that they measure
important aspects of e-readiness, and contribute to an understanding of the field. While some
utilize questionnaire methodology, many rely on statistical indicators garnered from other
sources. The third party surveys and reports included here are: McConnell International’s Risk
E-Business: Seizing the Opportunity of Global E-Readiness; Mosaic’s Global Diffusion of the
Internet Project; WITSA’s International Survey of E-Commerce; Crenshaw & Robinson’s
Cyber-Space and Post-Industrial Transformations: A Cross-National Analysis of Internet
54
Development; CIDCM’s Negotiating the Net Model; the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s E-
Readiness Rankings; Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society (SIBIS);
Metric-Net’s Worldwide IT Benchmarking Report; the World Bank’s Knowledge Assessment
Methodology (KAM); the World Times/ IDC Information Society Index (ISI); World Economic
Forum (WEF)’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI), infoDev and Pyramid Research’s
Information Infrastructure Indicators (III), Kenny’s Prioritizing Countries for Assistance to
Overcome the digital divide; Orbicom’s Monitoring the Digital Divide ...and beyond and the
World Telecommunications Indicators and the ITU’s Digital Access Index (DAI).
4. Other e-readiness assessment models

In addition to the formal tools and surveys described above, there is a range of other
frameworks that can be similarly used for e-readiness assessment. This section describes
how the ideas expressed in digital divide reports, position papers and other kinds of models
can be used to evaluate a society’s readiness to adopt and use ICT. In most cases, these are
not ready-to-go assessment tools nor completed surveys, but they could provide rich criteria
for assessing e-readiness with some adaptation. Consideration of the various concepts
outlined below and the standards they set add depth to this discussion, especially where they
include elements that are missing in traditional assessment tools.
Digital divide reports

Another way of looking at e-readiness is through the lens of who is not benefiting from ICT,
and which societies are not e-ready. In the last two year, numerous reports have come out
that study the digital divide and propose solutions. Many of these reports have the same
components as the e-readiness tools described above: assessments of current technology
and policy, and recommendations for making a society or community e-ready. Also like the
tools described so far, digital divide reports use a range of methods and standards for
evaluating e-readiness. Unlike e-assessment tools though, digital divide reports are more
concerned with the distribution of the technology throughout society and its impact on the
lives of people.
See annex 5 for an introduction of digital divide assessments, discussion around how they
differ from e-readiness assessments, and a description of bridges.org’s (2002) Digital Divide
Assessment of the City of Cape Town, introducing the Real Access / Real Impact approach to
e-readiness.
Position papers
There are a large number of position papers with recommendations for how a country can
become 'e-ready' and effectively use and benefit from ICT. These perspectives range from a
focus on business and export-oriented growth with industry self-regulation, to strong
government consumer protections and equitable access programs, to local content and
cultural reception of ICT. These underlying models could easily be turned into assessment
tools. In fact, many of the models have corresponding assessment surveys (for example, a
business / export / self-regulation focus underpins APEC's survey). This report does not
analyze them further, however, since there is such a range of position papers.
Two sample papers worth examining are:

The Networking Revolution: Opportunities and challenges for developing countries at
http://www.infoDev.org/library/NetworkingRevolution.pdf
Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society at

http://www.dotforce.org/reports/it1.html
Comparing e-readiness assessment tools: which is best and why?

Each assessment tool included in this comparison study is described below, with links to each,
and answers to the questions "what does it measure?" and "what results does it produce?"
Topics covered and level of detail

Also included below is a chart comparing the tools by the level of detail they provide on given
topics. Each tool's coverage of a particular topic in their assessment, such as "locally relevant
content", is rated on a scale of "0" to "3", where "0" is no coverage, and "3" is detailed
coverage.
e-Economy versus e-society

E-readiness assessment tools and models can be divided into two main categories: those
that focus on basic infrastructure or a nation’s readiness for business or economic growth,
and those that focus on the ability of the overall society to benefit from ICT. These two
categories of tools -– which this report describes respectively as "e-economy" and "e-society"
–- are not mutually exclusive. However, "e-society" tools incorporate business growth and
use of ICT as part of their larger analysis, and consider business growth necessary for
society's e-readiness. "E-economy" focused tools also include some factors of interest to the
larger society, such as privacy and universal access. These rough categorizations are as
follows:
E-Economy
• WITSA E-Commerce Survey
• APEC's E-Commerce Assessment
• McConnell International's E-Readiness Report
• Mosaic's Global Diffusion of the Internet Framework
• Crenshaw & Robinson's Cross-National Analysis of Internet Development
• USAID’s Case Studies
• EIU’s e-business readiness rankings
• Metric-Net’s Worldwide IT Benchmarking Report
• Pyramid Research/ infoDev’s Information Infrastructure Indicators (III)
• Kenny’s Prioritizing Countries for Assistance to Overcome the Digital Divide
E-Society
• CID's E-Readiness Assessment Guide
• CSPP's E-Readiness Assessment Guide
• CIDCM’s Negotiating the Net Model
• SIDA’s Case Studies
• SIBIS – Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society
• ASEAN Readiness Assessment
• World Bank’s Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM)
• World Times/IDC Information Society Index (ISI)
• WEF’s Networked Readiness Index (NRI)
• AT Kearney/ Foreign Policy Magazine’s Globalization Index
• infoDev’s Country Development Gateway country case studies
• Orbicom’s report
• The various models for evaluating e-readiness from "digital divide" reports
• ITU's Digital Access Index
Another, similar, way to look at the e-readiness assessment models would be to consider
them in terms of e-Society, e-Economy, and "e-Systems," where e-System models examine
the underlying technology infrastructure that is a prerequisite for both E-Economy (including
e-commerce, ICT sector jobs, etc), and e-Society (use by the general population, etc). The
ITU’s World Telecommunication Indicators examines primarily infrastructure and the use
thereof, and would thus fit into the "e-Systems" category.
Assessment methodology
The tools discussed here use four main methods to assess countries' e-readiness:
(1) Questionnaires ask a set of direct questions about information technology and policy in a
country, and the same set of questions is asked for any given country.
(2) Statistical methods mathematically analyze prior data on the country to test for
relationships between the individual factors, for example, by looking for a casual
relationship between Internet access and political democracy.
(3) Best practices use experience learned in other countries or direct comparison with other,
similar, countries.
(4) Historical analyses of the unique political, economic and social events in the country use
these unique events to explain or forecast information technology in the country.
Best Historical
Tool Questionnaire Statistics
Practices Analysis
CSPP Y Y
CID Y Y
APEC Y Y
WITSA Y Y
McConnell Y Y Y
Crenshaw &
Y
Robinson
CIDCM Y Y Y
Mosaic Y Y Y Y
USAID Case
Y Y
Studies
SIDA Case Studies Y Y Y
ASEAN Y
EIU Y
SIBIS Y Y
Metric-Net Y
KAM Y
ISI Y
NRI Y Y
III Y
GI Y
WTI Y Y
DAI Y
Kenny’s Y
Orbicom Y
infoDev CDG
* Y * *
assessments
Assessments under
infoDev e- * Y * *
readiness initiative
Digital Divide
* * * *
Reports
Position Papers * * * *
* Varies, depending on the report
Assessment results
The tools described here have three basic results: description, diagnosis, and proscription.
Descriptive tools explain or describe what happened. Diagnostic tools identify problem areas,
but do not indicate how to address the problems. Proscriptive tools urge action along a
clearly defined path.
Description /
Tool Diagnosis Proscription
Explanation
CSPP Y
CID Y
APEC Y Y
WITSA Y
McConnell Y Y
Crenshaw & Robinson Y
CIDCM Y
Mosaic Y
USAID Case Studies Y Y
SIDA Case Studies Y
ASEAN Y Y Y
EIU Y
SIBIS Y Y
Metric-Net Y
KAM Y Y
ISI Y
NRI Y
III Y
GI Y
WTI Y
Kenny’s Y Y
DAI Y
Orbicom Y
infoDev’s CDG
Y * *
assessments
infoDev’s e-readiness
Y * *
initiative assessments
Digital Divide Reports Y Y Y
Position Papers Y Y Y
Analysis
The Markle Foundation points out that, "action is taken depending on the discrepancy
between the desired state and the current state of the system, as indicators perceive it", and
that "the problem is that the current state may not be perceived (measured) accurately". The
results of e-readiness assessments are very important, as they inform and shape policy
decisions and action plans. And problems of proxy, bias and deductions aside, tools
developed from a limited definition of e-readiness (as all necessarily are, to varying degrees)
will inform decision-makers only within this delimited framework. It is important that the
indicators, patterns, benchmarks and recommendations which derive from e-readiness
assessments are considered with an awareness of what the tool or report actually measures,
where the data originates from and how the results and findings are reached.
Even if a solid definition of e-readiness were to be agreed upon and adopted by all, "true"
levels of "e-readiness" could never be measured, as measurement of the system is but a
proxy of it. However, without measurement, governments and other policy and decision-
makers would be "flying blind". E-readiness is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon, and
an accessible and manageable set of indicators is useful for at least partial explanation
(Markle, 2003).
As e-readiness assessments are the first phase and foundation for strategy and action plans,
it is important that a comprehensive look at e-readiness combines assessment of the society
and economy (e.g. healthcare, schools and businesses) with analysis of socio-economic
divisions (e.g. ethnicity, income and gender). If the socio-economic issues are not studied
and addressed, then practical use of ICT will remain the province of a privileged few.
What is the most accurate definition of "e-readiness"?

The answer to this question is an ongoing debate and is beyond the scope of this report, but
a few thoughts are outlined here to aid such a discussion. First and foremost, it should be
noted that all assessment tools have an underlying standard of e-readiness. This standard
will necessarily shape the results of the tool; i.e. there is no objective test of e-readiness.
This standard may or may not fit the prospective user's personal views.
No standard definition for e-readiness is perfect. WITSA's method of asking participants for
their subjective opinions, and generating a plan of action from them seems problematic to
use for e-readiness recommendations. The other models simply state what factors are
necessary for e-readiness, but do not provide a detailed rationale. It seems likely that the
bias of these models came from their authors’ individual experiences and knowledge of "best
practices" in their field. In sharp contrast, Crenshaw and Robinson's model, as well as many
of the competitive / benchmarking reports (EIU, SIBIS, NRI, ISI, KAM etc), rely purely on a
statistical analysis. While the statistical analysis superficially appears to get beyond subjective
standards of e-readiness, decisions of what to measure and subject to analysis cannot be
scientifically objective. Additionally, a cross-national statistical analysis is invalid if the unique
circumstances of individual countries are more important than generic measurements (as the
considerable deviation in measurements would hint in Crenshaw and Robinson's work). In
that case, a country-specific tool such as Mosaic or McConnell, or case studies would be
better suited.
At the international level, there is a growing need for a process whereby governments and
international decision-makers can monitor countries’ progress on a regular and consistent
basis. A number of such reports are now produced on an annual basis. Whilst these reports
are valuable tools for developed world economists, bankers and government officials, they
are of less use to developing countries, which can only aspire to be included in these
comparisons. However, they do provide a recognized benchmark against which progress can
be measured year on year, and provide useful strategy examples for developing countries to
consider, especially when there are specific country and regional reports. Some of these
reports (notably, the ITU’s Digital Divide Index and Orbicom’s report, Monitoring the Digital
Divide…and beyond) reflect some convergence between indicators that link ICT and societal
factors.
What assessment tool is the best? The right tool depends on the user's goal
As the descriptions above have shown, e-readiness assessments are, in fact, very diverse in
their goals, strategies and results. The right tool depends on the user's goal. The user should
choose a tool that measures what they are looking for, and does it against a standard that fits
their own view of an e-ready society.
If the goal is to gauge the readiness of a particular company or group of companies to

participate in e-commerce, the WITSA study would seem to be best suited. However, one
possible critique (for this, along with other tools utilizing questionnaires) is that the
participants’ opinions about what is needed for improving their companies’ readiness may not
be accurate. The Metric-Net Worldwide IT Benchmarking Report is useful for companies to

assess their inputs (mainly financial) to IT and compare their performance with industry
norms.
If the goal is to assess a country's preparedness for e-commerce, APEC might have the best-
suited tool. The survey is quite detailed with 100 questions, and straightforward to use.
However, the digital divide reports suggest that wide-scale e-commerce is doomed if
technology is not also spread throughout the society, a topic that the APEC survey gives only
minimal coverage. Moreover, consumers would need locally relevant content and products,
and training to use the computers to buy e-commerce products (in the business-to-consumer
field). Also, unlike its stated goal, the APEC survey is not geared to specific environments. It
measures specific environments against a single standard of how a country should be in order
to promote e-commerce. This method implies that the same structure of e-commerce is
needed for any country.
If the goal is to assess the current level of technology in a region as a basis to forecast future
technology levels, there are a number of options. The Mosaic method provides a detailed and
deep understanding along six different axes. There are also a number of sources of raw
statistics (ISI, SIBIS, WTI) that the user could employ in this process. Questionnaires such as
the CID and CSPP guides measure a slightly wider set of statistics, such as bandwidth,
reliability, pricing, and usage in homes, schools, businesses, and government. However,
these are very rough measurements –- and the granularity is low for answers -– since users
choose from one of four multiple choice answers.
If the goal is a quick but rough gauge of technology usage, then CSPP and CID are useful
(with CID being the more detailed of the two).
If the goal is to understand the relative roles of political, economic, and social factors in
technology's growth and usage, then Crenshaw's model seems to fit best. This statistical
method would help prioritize what elements (and sets of elements) in a society are most
important for e-readiness. This method could be combined with a detailed survey of the
current state of these factors (such as with McConnell's method) to identify and prioritize key
areas to work on. On the other hand, the Mosaic framework provides a detailed narrative
analysis of these factors (though with less focus on the social factors), and conceptualizes the
analysis with respect to another country. Many of the statistical analyses consider the
political, economic and social spheres, and the benchmarking of countries on these variables
contributes to an understanding of the interplay and importance of these factors in
determining e-readiness. Examples of these include the NRI and the WTI.
If the goal is to understand why particular countries progress differently, the case-study
method used by Mosaic and CIDCM is appropriate, as are the EIU, SIBIS, ISI and the NRI.
If the goal is to assess the effects of the technology on the lives of real people, and consider
how widely the technology is really being used, then it would be helpful to look to the digital
divide reports; specifically to the group of digital divide reports that focus on education, local
and relevant content, and effective use of technology throughout society. Kenny’s "Prioritizing
countries…" model and the Orbicom report would also be relevant for this objective.
What is the correct focus for assessment: e-economy or e-society? Again, it

depends on the user’s goal.
If the goal is to forecast business and economic growth, then e-economy assessment tools
seem to be the only appropriate choice, similarly with e-society assessment tools and social
benefits. However, the relationship between the e-economy and the e-society is complex and
interdependent. The economy generates the ICT and employment that spread technology's
benefits through society. E-society assessment tools therefore incorporate business growth
and use of ICT as part of their larger analysis, and consider business growth necessary for
society's e-readiness. However, one critique states that without economic equity, there can
be no long-term stability. As Rodriguez and Wilson (2000) state in Are Poor Countries Losing
the Information Revolution? "a continuation of existing trends in the ICT have/have-not gap
may contribute to a number of social problems including....social and political conflict." In
other words, e-economy assessments may be insufficient to assess economic readiness
because they do not provide enough coverage of social issues. Some reports on the digital
divide would indicate that the current focus on economic growth is causing increased inequity.
On the other hand, some business groups reject technology distribution initiatives and
regulations for universal access because they believe these interfere with economic growth.
To quote Rodriguez and Wilson again, "there are great complementarities between ICT and
economic and social progress, there are also some important trade-offs between equity, well-
being and the unhindered development of ICT. Simple claims about the links between ICT
and progress are not correct, and may in some cases be dangerously wrong."
What should a country be measured against?

The formal questionnaires and many of the informal assessment models measure all countries
against one standard: the optimal state of e-readiness. Two problems can arise from this.
First, many developing and emerging countries could be faced with an insurmountable task
and not know where to start. These tools place developing countries in the "early" stages of
e-readiness, and indicate that they must undergo massive economic and political changes to
become e-ready.
Second, it may be faulty to use a single standard of measurement at all. There is no single
social, political, and economic model that has been the most successful at harnessing
information technology. Some authors would argue that the unique cultural and historical
environment of a region must be taken into account as part of a national ICT policy to truly
gauge the country's e-readiness for the future. The Mosaic and CIDCM models work from this
perspective.
A solution to both of these problems could be to base the primary assessment on countries
within a particular region or social / economic / political group. The assessment tool could be
adapted for the region, and recommendations could be made based on the experiences of
similar countries. Additional data points and recommendations on how to become e-ready
could be drawn, with caution, from the best practices and other examples seen in developed
countries.
This method is far from perfect, though. It is considerably more complicated and costly. It
provides detailed description of the state of ICT, but a less detailed action plan for future
work. In addition, data points from similar countries may be lacking. For example, what
happens when no similar country exists that has been successful at harnessing ICT?
The tabled list of variables, although not exhaustive, provides a simple overview of the level
of detail each tool or report includes in its assessment of the technology, economy,
government, education and social considerations of e-readiness. With "0" indicating that the
tool or report fails to address a specific issue, and "3" indicating many related questions or
indicators, it is interesting to note from the last table of averages that infrastructure is
covered by most of the tools (2.57), while socio-cultural issues are generally far less of a
concern. Basic literacy and poverty, for example, scores an average of only 0.65.
The main e-readiness assessment tools currently used
1. Ready-to-use tools/ Questionnaires
1.1 Harvard University’s Center for International Development (CID)’s Readiness for the
Networked World: A guide for developing countries
Source: www.readinessguide.org
What does it measure? This guide measures 19 different categories, covering the
availability, speed, and quality of network access, use of ICT in schools, workplace, economy,
government, and everyday life, ICT policy (telecommunications and trade), ICT training
programs, and diversity of organizations and relevant content online.
What result does it produce? The guide rates the "stage" a community is in for each of the
19 categories, and descriptions are given of what is required to be in a particular stage. The
Guide does not offer prescriptions for improved readiness.
1.2 APEC’s E-Commerce Readiness Assessment

Source: http://www.apec.org/apec.html
What does it measure? Six categories are measured for "readiness for e-commerce":
1. Basic infrastructure and technology (speed, pricing, access, market competition, industry
standards, and foreign investment);
2. Access to network services (bandwidth, industry diversity, export controls, credit card
regulation);
3. Internet use (in business, government, homes);
4. Promotion and facilitation (industry led standards);
5. Skills and human resources (ICT education, workforce); and
6. Positioning for the digital economy (taxes and tariffs, industry self-regulation, government
regulations, consumer trust).
What result does it produce? The product of the assessment is the answers to 100
questions. Countries are supposed to work on areas with less than optimal answers, since
they are "impediments...to the deployment of e-commerce."
1.3 CSPP’s Readiness Guide for Living in the Networked World55

Source: http://www.cspp.org/projects/readiness/
What does it measure? The guide measures the prevalence and integration of ICT in
homes, schools, businesses, health care facilities, and government offices, with additional
focus on competition among access providers, speed of access, and government policy.
Measurements are divided into five categories:
1. Infrastructure,
2. Access,
3. Applications and services,
4. Economy, and
5. "Enablers" (policy, privacy, security, ubiquity).
55
This tool does not appear to have been used for some time
What result does it produce? The assessment produces a rating that indicates which of
four progressive stages of development the community is at for each of the five categories
listed above. An overall score for the community can then be estimated by simply averaging
the scores across the criteria.
2. Case studies
2.1 International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU’s) Internet Country Case Studies (report)/
Mosaic methodology56
Source: www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/
What does it measure? ICT infrastructure, use of ICT, legal and regulatory frameworks and
macroeconomic and local business environments are measured in these very detailed case
studies, which seek to examine the Internet in different economies around the world and are
based on the methodology developed by the Mosaic group.
What result does it produce? The case studies provide an analysis of the factors affecting
Internet use, along with recommendations. The ITU also includes a statistical ranking based
on Mosaic’s methodology.
2.2 USAID (tool and report)

Sources: Central and Eastern Europe reports are easily available at:
http://www.usaid.gov/regions/europe_eurasia/eeresources.html#IT
Other reports can be found through: http://www.usaid.gov/regions/
The assessment tool is available upon request.
What does it measure? These case studies are produced using a framework of "Pipes
(Access), Public Sector (Government Policies, E-Government), Private Sector (Usage), People
(Training), and existing development Programs." The data upon which the analysis is based is
from the ITU’s World Telecommunications Indicators (see below).
What result does it produce? Detailed case studies describing countries’ progress, along
with detailed action plans for countries to pursue in the future.
2.3 InfoDev’s flagship e-readiness initiative and Country Development Gateway programs
Sources: http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/137849/?
http://www.infodev.org/html/programs_ereadiness.html
What does it measure? The e-readiness assessments conducted under the auspices of the
Country Gateway initiative seek to evaluate the level of preparedness of stakeholders to
participate in the gateways, such as NGOs, development partners, the private sector, learning
institutions and policy and regulatory authorities. The assessments conducted under the
flagship e-readiness initiative measure according to the choices made by the grantees.
Nevertheless, the far majority of both groups of these assessments make use of CID’s
Readiness for the Networked World guide (see above).
56
This tool is referred to as Mosaic in the tools comparison study.
What result does it produce? Although the CID’s guide does not offer prescriptions for
improved e-readiness, some of the Country Gateway e-readiness assessments produce e-
needs evaluations, based on the survey and issues identified by stakeholders, as well as the
various ratings that result through the CID method. Some of the assessments produced
under the flagship initiative make recommendations and are the basis for action plans.
2.4 SIDA
Source: Reports are available at http://www.sida.se
http://www.sida.se/Sida/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1265&a=17798&f=Result.jsp&depth=0
What does it measure? The country case studies examine ICT infrastructure, use, human
resources, and the legal and regulatory framework in given countries using survey
methodology, interviews and CID’s Readiness for the Networked World guide.
What result does it produce? Descriptions of the countries’ ICT landscape, as well as "a
basic analysis of factors of major interest for the promotion of use of ICT for development
purposes".
2.5 Asean e-readiness assessment

Source: http://www.itu.int/asean2001/documents/pdf/Document-28.pdf
http://www.aic.or.jp/conference/28th/pdf/address%20at%20opening/Mr.Romulo.PDF
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/security/workshop/presentations/cni.24.pdf
What does it measure? Data was gathered on six indicators of readiness for the digital
economy and the development of the ASEAN Information Infrastructure: e-society, e-
commerce, e-government, liberalizing trade in ICT goods and services and infrastructure.
What result does it produce? 10 countries within the ASEAN region were clustered
according to their readiness status according to four stages of development identified by IBM:
Emerging, Evolving, Embedding and Extending. Common challenges and potential focus areas
were highlighted.
3. Third party surveys and reports
3.1 McConnell International’s Risk E-Business: Seizing the opportunity of global e-

Readiness (MI)
Source: http://www.mcconnellinternational.com/strategies.html
What does it measure? The report measures five areas:

1. Connectivity (infrastructure, access and pricing);
2. e-leadership (government policies and regulations);
3. Information security (intellectual property, privacy, electronic signatures);
4. Human capital (ICT education, available skilled workforce); and
5. E-business climate (competition, political and financial stability, foreign investment,
financial infrastructure).
What result does it produce? Countries are rated in the five categories listed above on a
scale of one to three ("blue", "amber", "red"), and extensive analysis and recommendations
are given.
3.2 WITSA’s International Survey of E-Commerce

Source: http://www.itaa.org/news/pubs/product.cfm?EventID=172
What does it measure? The survey focused on the direct experiences of companies with e-
commerce and their subjective views of what is needed to promote e-commerce. The
questions cover a range of issues, including: barriers to technology industry, role of consumer
trust, problems with e-commerce technology, internal business practices that support e-
commerce, workforce problems, taxes, public policy issues, and resistance from consumers.
What result does it produce? A final report was published that compiled answers from
survey participants. The report has charts and a narrative account of the answers.
3.3 Crenshaw & Robinson's Cyber-Space and Post-Industrial Transformations: A cross-national

analysis of Internet development (C&R)
Source: Contact: robinson.47@osu.edu, Crenshaw.4@osu.edu
What does it measure? The authors focus on the role and interactions of the following
factors in ICT development: level of existing technological development, political openness /
democracy, mass education, presence of a sizable services sector, teledensity, foreign
investments, ethnic homogeneity, sectoral inequality, population density, and the quantity of
exports. Their later work includes consideration of individual property rights and local phone
call costs, as well as global urbanization, economic and socio-political globalization variables,
calculated with indicators from various sources.
What result does it produce? Statistical metrics stating the probable relationship between
the variables, and a narrative explanation of how these factors are likely to shape technology
development.
3.4 CIDCM’s Negotiating the Net Model

Source: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/projects/leland.htm
What does it measure? The framework measures four categories of information for each
country:
1. Background and history – structural context (economy, education levels, existing
infrastructure), political structure and culture (type of government, policy making style),
cultural norms (religion, etc).
2. Key players in Internet development – responsibilities and objectives of relevant players in
government, local and foreign businesses, universities, NGOs, international financial
institutions, research groups.
3. Internet development and ICT policy over time – access, regulation, competition.
4. Negotiations between players in developing the country's Internet - each aspect of
Internet development and ICT policy is categorized into one of four stages (pre-
commercial, commercial, competitive, and consolidated).'Negotiation' between players is
the focus of the framework – the rest is supporting information.’
What result does it produce? The report comprises a detailed narrative describing the
processes and outcomes of negotiations between key players over the phases of
development. It also identifies major contentious issues likely to remain problematic in the
future.
3.5 The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): E-Business Readiness Rankings (report)
Source: www.ebusinessforum.com/index.asp?layout=rich_story&doc_id=367
http://graphics.eiu.com/files/ad_pdfs/eReady_2003.pdf
What does it measure? The e-readiness rankings measure the extent to which a market is
conducive to Internet-based opportunities, taking into account a wide range of factors, from
the quality of IT infrastructure to the ambition of government initiatives and the degree to
which the Internet is creating real commercial efficiencies. Nearly 100 quantitative and
qualitative criteria are organized into six categories: Connectivity (30%), Business
Environment (20%), e-commerce consumer and business adoption (20%), legal and
regulatory framework (15%), supporting e-services (10%) and social and cultural
infrastructure (5%). Since launching the rankings in 2000, EIU have repeatedly upgraded and
refined their methodology. In 2003, the methodology is unchanged from the previous
ranking, making direct annual comparison of scores possible for the first time.
What result does it produce? The rankings cover the world’s 60 largest economies, and
suggest areas to focus government policy and funds. They also provide a useful guide for
multinationals seeking to invest in technologically innovative countries and tailor their
Internet strategies to local conditions. The top sixty economies in the world are rated with an
e-readiness score (out of ten), and are ranked from one to sixty.
Only three African countries (5%) are included in the EIU rankings: South Africa, Nigeria and
Algeria. South Africa’s ranking of 31st (equal) place can no doubt be justified in terms of the
factors that EIU use to calculate the relative positions, but the reader could be forgiven for
thinking that on the basis of this ranking, South Africa is well on the road to achieving e-
readiness. Whilst this is true (to a degree) in the major conurbations such as Midrand, the
picture elsewhere in the country is far bleaker, where access to ICT is patchy – and
expensive. So while these reports provide a high-level picture of e-readiness in the countries
reviewed, they do not offer an in-depth assessment that can be used in the preparation of e-
strategies and action plans.
3.6 Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society (SIBIS)

Source: http://www.sibis-eu.org/sibis/
http://www.empirica.biz/sibis-mirror/files/SIBIS_Indicator-Handbook.pdf
SIBIS reports: http://www.sibis-eu.org/sibis/publications/reports.htm
See also: Benchmarking the Information Society: eEurope Indicators for European Regions
(BISER) Source: http://www.biser-eu.com/resultsdoc/H%20
%20biser_overv%C9w_july_2003.pdf
What does it measure? SIBIS measures benchmarking indicators in ten areas:

Telecommunication and Access; Internet for Research; Security and Trust; Education; Work,
employment and skills; Social inclusion; e-Commerce; e-Government; Health and Transport.
What result does it produce? 23 Statistical indicators that measure and monitor the
information society, for benchmarking and policy evaluation.
3.7 Metric-Net Worldwide IT Benchmarking Report (tool and report)57

Source: http://128.121.222.187/wwbprod.html and http://128.121.222.187/pdf/wwbanl.pdf
What does it measure? The Metric-Net Worldwide IT Benchmarking report measures IT

performance and productivity by organizations worldwide through survey methodology. It
also measures IT spending by industry.
What result does it produce? The survey results are analyzed to reveal "priorities" for IT
companies. The results enable organizations to self-assess their IT performance, and to
better align spending and performance with industry norms.
3.8 World Bank’s Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) (report)

Source: www1.worldbank.org/gdln/kam.htm and http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2004/
What does it measure? The 2002 KAM uses 69 metrics including the "economic and
institutional regime," "educated and skilled population," "dynamic information infrastructure,"
and an "efficient innovation system of firms, research centers, universities, consultants."
What result does it produce? A detailed, interactive statistical assessment of how well 100
country economies are prepared for an information economy and society.
3.9 World Times / IDC Information Society Index (ISI) (report)

Source: http://worldpaper.com/2001/xjan01/ISI/2001%20Isi%20in%20Brief.html
http://www.worldpaper.com/2003/oct02/isi2.html
What does it measure? The 2003 ISI report measures countries on four "infrastructure
pillars" or sub-indexes: computer use, Internet and e-commerce, telecommunications and
social factors, based on 23 indicators.
What result does it produce? 53 countries are scored on each variable, and then ranked
according to their ability to access and absorb information and IT in the future. It’s designed
for use by governments, as well as IT, dot-coms, and asset management and
telecommunications companies to assess the market potential of the various regions and
countries of the world.
3.10 Networked Readiness Index (NRI) in the Global Information Technology Report
Source:
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme
%5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report%5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report+2
002-2003+-+Readiness+for+the+Networked+World
The report is prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF), INSEAD and infoDev.
What does it measure? The NRI is defined as "the degree of preparation of a nation or
community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments". The index is a composite of
three components:
57
This tool does not appear to have been in use since the last tools comparison report (Bridges, 2001)
(i) The environment for ICT offered by a given country or community;

(ii) The readiness of the community’s key stakeholders (individuals, businesses, and
governments) to use ICT; and
(iii) The actual use of ICT amongst these stakeholders.
These three components are defined further:

(i) Environment is defined as 1/3 market + 1/3 political/regulatory factors + 1/3
infrastructure.
(ii) Readiness is defined as 1/3 individual readiness + 1/3 business readiness + 1/3
government readiness.
(iii) Use of ICT is defined as 1/3 individual use + 1/3 business use + 1/3 government use.
(iv)And these subcomponents are based on a set of 64 variables.
What result does it produce? Covering 82 countries, the NRI provides a quick and relative
benchmark of the overall success of each in participating in and benefiting from ICT. The NRI
permits business leaders and public policymakers to investigate the reasons leading to a
nation’s ranking and relative performance. It captures key factors relating to the
environment, and the readiness and usage of the three stakeholders in ICT (individuals,
businesses, and governments), and can be used to understand the performance of a nation or
even a region with regards to ICT development. The component index and sub-index rankings
serve to identify key areas where a nation is under- or over-performing.
The Global IT Report was produced in 2001. The report for 2002 – 2003 includes 8 African
countries (9.7%), and although there is a better representation of developing countries, the
focus is on those countries that are more developed. The GITR reports contain a great deal of
information, as well as regional analyses and country case studies, and much of this is of
value to those involved in planning and the development of strategy. But the country case
studies are limited in number, and while the country NRI tables provide a useful snap-shot of
the state of ICT development, they do not point to all of the obstacles to growth in the ICT
sector. The report also offers insight into the part that ICT can play in development, the need
to identify and disseminate best practice for the lessons to be learned by governments and
the private sector in terms of choosing appropriate technology as well as the value of
education and skills development. The GITR also looks at the impact of ICT on society. In
summary it is a useful resource for developing country policy-makers, but it does not provide
the answers to the searching issues and challenges that they face in terms of improving e-
readiness and meeting basic human needs.
3.11 InfoDev and Pyramid Research’s Information Infrastructure Indicators, 1990- 2010 (III)
Source: http://www.infoDev.org/projects/internet/375pyramid/
What does it measure? Indicators are based on actual data and "projections for total
investment, infrastructure and traffic" for the period 1990-2010.
What result does it produce? Pyramid research is developing a set of indicators and
defined empirical data to assess the information infrastructure worldwide, with special
emphasis on developing countries. The latest data is broken down by region.
3.12 Kenny’s Prioritizing Countries for Assistance to Overcome the digital divide (World Bank)
Source: http://www.idate.fr/an/publi/revu/num/n41/kenny_a.html
What does it measure? Focusing on "the gap in access to quality information

infrastructure", Kenny uses a measure of access that allows for the income per capita of a
country, while building on previous econometric studies looking at determinants of
information infrastructure penetration "allowing for, but going beyond, income."
What does it produce? The report identifies countries that have "both a lower than
expected level of ICT provision given their GDP level and a quality and cost of service that is
less than satisfactory" according to four indicators of the determinants of access and quality
(competition, rural needs, small economies and institutional investor). These are used to
prioritize countries for donor intervention.
3.13 AT Kearney/ Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index (GI)

Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2493
What does it measure? The Index is generated through four over-arching indicators:
Political engagement (e.g.: number of memberships in International organizations, foreign
embassies hosted and instances of UN Council mission participation); Technology (number of
Internet users, hosts and secure servers); Personal contact (International travel and tourism,
international telephone traffic and cross-border transfers) and Economic integration (trade,
foreign direct investment and portfolio capital flows, and income payments and receipts).
What result does it produce? The Globalization Index tracks changes across 62 advanced
markets and emerging markets, ranking them for 13 variables within the four indicators listed
above.
3.14 World Telecommunication Indicators (WTI)

Source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/
What does it measure? Telecommunication data is collected from questionnaires sent

annually to telecommunication authorities and operating companies. This data is
supplemented by annual reports and statistical yearbooks of telecommunication ministries,
regulatory agencies, operators and industry associations. The Indicators are also based on
data from national broadcasting authorities and other demographic and macroeconomic data.
What result does it produce? A comprehensive set of tables for 196 economies, including
basic indicators (population, GDP, total telephone subscribers), data on local telephone
networks, telephone tariffs, cellular subscribers, ISDN, International telephone traffic,
telecommunications revenue, equipment trade, IT, and network growth, among others.
3.15 ITU Digital Access Index (DAI)

Source: http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/press_releases/2003/30.html
What does it measure? Eight variables, covering five areas (availability of infrastructure,
affordability of access, educational level, quality of ICT services and Internet usage), provide
overall county scores. The Index is based purely on quantitative indicators.
What result does it produce? Countries are classified into one of four categories: high,
upper, medium and low. The results point to barriers in ICT adoption, and can be used to
identify a country’s strengths and weaknesses.
3.16 Orbicom’s Monitoring the Digital Divide… and beyond

Source: http://www.orbicom.uqam.ca/projects/ddi2002/2003_dd_pdf_en.pdf
What does it measure? As suggested by the title of their study, Orbicom’s research breaks
new ground in the realm of global ICT ranking reports by considering the issues from a
"digital divide" perspective as opposed to e-readiness as it is traditionally understood. The
approach’s innovation lies in its inclusion of existing education data and thereby going beyond
the usual indicators of ICT use and access.
What result does it produce? The emphasis on developing countries is an important shift
in focus for such "ranking reports", and results in a resource that is useful in assessing a
country’s comparative performance, relative strengths and weaknesses and, at a more
detailed level, linking the changes to specific initiatives and policies. The measurements are
explicit both across countries at a given point in time and within countries over time, in such
a way that comparisons are not reduced to changing rankings from year to year.
e-Readiness tools comparison tables
Kenny Metric-
Assessment Tool's Level of Detail KAM ISI NRI III GI WTI SIBIS SISA ASEAN
Net
Technology Infrastructure – Network, Tele- 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3

density
1 1 2 3 3 0 1 3 3 2
2
Pricing
1 0 2 1
2 3 2 0 3 1 3
Speed and Quality
3 3 1
2 2 3 1 1 3 1 3
Other Technology Issues
3 2
Economy 0 1 3 3 1 0 3 3 1
Use within Businesses
2 3
0 1 3 1 2 1 3 3 0
E-Commerce
0 2
1 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 0
Market Competition / Privatization
0 0
2 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0
Export Trade, Foreign Investment
1 1
3 0 3 0 1 2 1 1 1
Other Economic or Business Factors
Policy (Privacy, Trade, Intellectual
Property, Electronic Signatures) 2 0
Government 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0
Regulations
2 3
0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0
E-Government
3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Political Openness, Democracy
Education 0 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1
Use in Schools
2 1
2 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0
Tech Training in Schools
0 2
3 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 1
Availability of Trained workforce
2 1
Social 1 0 3 0 0 0 3 1 1
Use of ICT in Everyday life
Utilization of Technology throughout 2 1

2 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 1
Society (Inequality)
Basic Literacy, Poverty, Other Social 1 0

3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
Factors
0 2 0
0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0
Locally relevant Content
1 0
0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0
Consumer Trust
Unique Political, Business, Social 3 1

2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
History
MI
Assessment Tool's Level of Detail CSPP CID APEC WITSA C&R CIDCM Mosaic USAID EIU DAI Orbicom
Technology Infrastructure – Network, Tele- 2 3 3 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 3

density
0 2 3 1 2 0 1 1 1
0 2 0
Pricing
2 2 3 0 2 0 1 2 0
1 2 3
Speed and Quality
0 3 3 0 1 0 2 2 3
Other Technology Issues 2 1 2
Economy 1 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 2
Use within Businesses 3 1 0
1 2 3 3 1 0 0 1 3
E-Commerce 2 0 0
2 0 3 1 2 0 2 3 2
Market Competition / Privatization 2 0 0
0 0 3 0 2 2 2 2 2
Export Trade, Foreign Investment 2 0 0
3
0 0 3 3 1 0 2 2
Other Economic or Business Factors 3 0 1
Policy (Privacy, Trade, Intellectual
Property, 1 2 3 2 3 0 3 2 3
Government
Electronic Signatures) Regulations 3 0 0
1 2 1 0 2 0 1 1 3
E-Government 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0
Political Openness, Democracy 0 0 0
1 2 2 0 2 0 1 1 1
Education
Use in Schools 1 1 1
1 2 2 0 2 2 1 1 1
Tech Training in Schools 0 0 0
1 0 2 3 2 0 1 1 1
Availability of Trained workforce 3 1 2
1 2 2 0 2 2 1 2 0
Social
Use of ICT in Everyday life 1 2 2
Utilization of Technology throughout

1 2 1 0 2 2 1 2 0
Society
(Inequality) 0 1 1
Basic Literacy, Poverty, Other Social 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 1 0

Factors 0 1 1
0 2 1 1 0 0 1 0
Locally relevant Content 0 0 0
1 1 0 3 0 0 1 1 1
Consumer Trust 0 0 0
Unique Political, Business, Social 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 2

History 0 0 0
Average level of detail in assessment tools
Technology
Infrastructure – Network, Tele-density 2.57
Pricing 1.48
Speed and Quality 1.57
Other Technology Issues 1.83

Economy
Use within Businesses 1.52
E-Commerce 1.52
Market Competition / Privatization 1.17
Export Trade, Foreign Investment 1
Other Economic or Business Factors 1.39
Government Policy (Privacy, Trade, Intellectual Property,

Electronic Signatures) Regulations 1.35
E-Government 1
Political Openness, Democracy 0.48
Education
Use in Schools 1
Tech Training in Schools 0.96
Availability of Trained workforce 1.3
Social
Use of ICT in Everyday life 1.26
Utilization of Technology throughout Society

(Inequality) 1.22
Basic Literacy, Poverty, Other Social Factors 0.65
Locally relevant Content 0.48
Consumer Trust 0.61
Unique Political, Business, Social History 0.87

Annex 4. Beyond e-readiness: digital divide assessments 58
E-readiness assessments usually concentrate on measures such as ICT infrastructure, and the
use of ICT in the economy, while some look at the use of ICT in government and education.
The assessment tools comparison table above shows that very few focus on those whose
marginalization for whatever reason (socio-economic status, gender, age, geographic
location, level of education etc) renders them unlikely to have access to ICT. Digital divides
mirror existing inequities both between and within countries. This annex briefly outlines what
is understood about the digital divide, and explains what digital divide assessments are, and
how they are different from e-readiness assessments. The Real Access / Real Impact
approach to digital divide assessments is described, together with an example of a study
conducted at the city level using this methodology. Ideas for extending the reach of the tool
to the national level are offered. Digital divide assessments are presented as more
appropriate than their e-readiness counterparts for the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
The digital divide59

Real disparities exist in access to and the use of ICT between countries (the international
digital divide) and between groups within countries (the domestic digital divide). There is a
wealth of real and anecdotal evidence to support this statement. The volume of statistics is
impressive and persuasive: "With more than 13 percent of the world’s population, Africa
accounts for only 0.2 percent of the world’s total international Internet capacity" (Goldstein,
2004). "More than half of the world’s population is technically or financially out of reach of a
telephone, and over two-thirds of the human race have had no experience of the Internet"
(CTO, 2004). "The US has more computers than the rest of the world combined" (Nielsen,
2001). Underlying trends are often lost in the heated debate over how to define the problem,
but a pattern emerges from within the statistics:
• There is an overall trend of growing ICT disparities between and within countries;
• In highly developed countries a different process appears to be occurring, but upon
further examination, it is the same pattern of growing ICT disparities;
• Underneath the apparent widening and narrowing of the ICT divides, the underlying trend
is that privileged groups acquire and use technology more effectively, and because the
technology benefits them in an exponential way, they become even more privileged.
The digital divide is not a simple concept, but a multi-faceted and complicated network of
varying levels of ICT access, basic ICT use, and ICT applications among countries and
peoples. Information "have-nots" are increasingly excluded from jobs, participation in
government processes, and public discourse on the issues that affect their lives, leaving them
politically and economically powerless. Moreover the infusion of ICT can intensify existing
disparities based on location (such as urban-rural), gender, ethnicity, physical disability, age,
and, especially, income level and socio-economic position. ICT alone is not enough to solve
long-standing imbalances, and can make inequalities worse if they are not applied wisely.
However, countries and communities face the threat of being left further behind if they do not
address the growing digital divides (bridges.org, 2002).
58
59
This section draws heavily from Bridges.org (2001) Spanning the Digital divide.
What makes digital divide assessments different from e-readiness assessments?

In keeping with the findings of the e-readiness assessment tools comparison study, the
difference between e-readiness and digital divide assessments is essentially a function of
varying definitions and understandings of what constitutes "e-readiness". A country's digital
divide hampers its overall e-readiness, and thus needs to be a focus of any e-readiness
assessment work. It is important to ensure that those areas with relatively high levels of e-
readiness do not detract the attention of policy-makers and program planners from those
areas where e-readiness is low.
The discussion of how to bring the opportunities offered by ICT to the people who need it
most has similarly been muddled by arguments over exactly how to define the problem: is it
about insufficient access to personal computers (PCs)? Training? Local content? Poverty?
There are many perspectives on the digital divide with different connotations and focus.
Some argue that computers, connections and training will solve the problem, but there is
disagreement about whether they should be provided by government, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) or the private sector, or if the market will solve the physical access
problem on its own. Others contend that government action (or inaction) hinders the
development and use of ICT, and until policies are changed, the digital divide cannot be
solved. Many see beyond the physical access problem and focus on lost opportunity for
people that are unable to effectively use ICT because they do not know how to use it or they
do not understand how it can be relevant to their lives. Underlying social issues like basic
literacy, poverty, and healthcare also loom large, and some question whether and how
technology can become part of the solution to these critical problems.
The digital divide is a complex problem that manifests itself in different ways in different
countries. It presents both practical and policy challenges. Moreover, it is apparent that
solutions that work in the developed countries cannot simply be transplanted to developing
country environments: solutions must be based on an understanding of local needs and
conditions, and this is what digital divide assessments seek to initiate. Digital divide
assessments are different from e-readiness assessments in that measuring the access to ICT
a community/city/province/country has is only the first step. They go further than e-
readiness assessments by focusing on those sectors of society without access to ICT. Most
digital divide assessments seek to assess and understand the factors contributing to divides
in order to narrow them.
The Real Access approach to digital divide assessments

Inherent in undertaking an e-readiness assessment is a commitment to create and implement
a strategy. A country establishes its e-readiness, designs steps towards improving this, and
then implements them. However, in much of the literature available, the focus is on the
assessment rather than the action. Little effort has been expended in developing relevant
indicators for closely monitoring the implementation of e-strategies and action plans that
follow e-readiness assessments (UN, 2003).
Digital divide assessments tackle the issues head-on, by conferring with and engaging
stakeholders from all sectors of the population. By examining the complex interrelated issues
around ICT beyond just those of access to technology, digital divide assessments begin
promoting e-readiness as they set about conducting the assessment. An example of such a
study is bridges.org’s (2002) Digital Divide Assessment of the City of Cape Town, which was
unique because it reached out to people in small organizations and some of the poorest
communities in Cape Town to gain an understanding of their particular experiences and
desires, as well as to alert them to the issues at stake.
Digital divide assessment of the City of Cape Town

National-level assessments study e-readiness by compiling information from government
agencies, big companies, business associations, and other secondary sources. The Cape Town
study started with that approach as a first step. It then went further to collect direct input
from communities, small businesses, and community organizations, to gauge the need for ICT
services among the public and depict the real-life constraints -– and opportunities -– that
people and institutions face as they work to harness technology.
While the aim was not to ascertain the precise status of ICT across the entire population of
Cape Town, the study took a wide-angle view of the issues, and focused on a sample of
communities and organizations to paint a mosaic of the overall ICT landscape in Cape Town.
At the same time, the study assessed the interest and capacity of the City's communities,
businesses, academic institutions, and government agencies to assist in bridging the divide.
This method allowed the study to look ahead, so that practical options and recommendations
could be framed to guide the City Council as it moves forward with its own plans in this area.
The broad approach used to frame the assessment is summed up by the concept of Real
Access to ICT, as explained in the methodology section of this evaluation report.
Gauging the number of computers and connections that the people of Cape Town had was
relatively easy, but measuring the level of effective use of ICT was far more difficult. For
instance, there were many examples of ground level initiatives that provided technology
access in underserved communities, but it is factors like training, affordability and locally
relevant content that determined whether people used ICT successfully. The concept of Real
Access / Real Impact offers a holistic framework for examining whether people could use ICT
and whether they actually are using it, including looking at the underlying factors that affect
whether they do (or do not) and why.
Cape Town in South Africa was the first city to conduct a digital divide assessment at this
level in an attempt to understand the problems faced by its population and identify ways of
narrowing the divide within and between parts of the city and its communities. Many lessons
were learned, and the city has embarked on a long-term program to follow the
recommendations that were made at the end of the assessment. But perhaps the most
significant lesson was that while tackling a problem at country level may be impossible for
many developing countries because of the enormous cost involved, tackling the problem at
city level has a greater chance of success because cities are small enough units to work in
and bring about change, but large enough for projects conducted at this level to make a real
impact. Municipal governments (be they at the city or community-level) are an important,
often overlooked, partner in such efforts.
For this reason alone, digital divide assessments should be considered as an alternative to e-
readiness assessments, not to mention cost – they are generally less expensive to conduct.
And it is important to remember that this will benefit urban communities first. The lessons
learned should be used to develop programs to create rural access so that existing
urban/rural divides are not exacerbated. E-readiness assessments are expensive and time-
consuming, and rely heavily on quantitative input. They provide a benchmark for e-readiness
at the national level, and they are a useful but not mandatory first step in understanding the
problem at provincial and city level. Digital divide assessments take us to the next level of
granularity, and if properly implemented and researched can offer solutions to some of the
problems and challenges faced in the developing world.
Extending the tool's reach: assessing national digital divides

Governments considering the use of digital divide assessments, as opposed to those
measuring one or other definition of e-readiness, may need to consider expanding the reach
of such an assessment beyond the city, as was the focus in the above-mentioned report.
Country size is a determinant factor in shaping possibilities for the tool’s reach, as it would be
more difficult to garner stakeholder input in a large country, and wide-ranging qualitative
participatory research is likely to be prohibitively expensive. However, in countries where
most of the economic activity centers around one major city, assessing this city would
achieve much in measuring the positive use of ICT and engaging with stakeholders. And work
conducted in the surrounding rural areas would be tackling the issues as they are experienced
by people without much access to, information about or capacity to use most ICT.
Digital divide assessments enable swifter transformation, in that many of the issues usually
addressed only in the implementation stage of e-readiness assessments -- stakeholder
engagement, raising awareness, identification of best-practice ground level and policy
initiatives --are essential elements of the study methodology. The methodology goes beyond
collecting national statistical data. In digital divide assessments, this consideration is only an
initial step at outlining the picture. While these point to digital divide assessments' superior
efficacy, they would also mean incremental increased cost if scaled up to the national level.
The methodology would work effectively at the provincial level, but where the scope extends
nationally, it is suggested for large countries that the more resource-intense and in-depth
aspects of the work is carried out at various strategically relevant areas representative of a
range of typical settings in a country. While each area of a country is unique, the translation
of best practice to areas with similar conditions has proven effective. In-depth understanding
of the issues as they affect communities generates information that has usefulness for similar
communities within a country that far outweighs a superficial, statistically engendered
national overview of positive use. Digital divide assessments essentially plot the course for
bridging digital divides by highlighting what needs to be done for achieving real access to ICT.
Annex 5. E-readiness assessments: Who’s done what, and where? 60
The following represents the results of a bridges.org survey on where e-readiness

assessments have been conducted and with which tool. Bridges.org first published this survey
in March 2002, and it was most recently updated in January 2005. Once again, the data
shows that significant duplication of effort has occurred in some countries, while others are
devoid of useful data.
However, there are four caveats. First, not all of the assessments that have been conducted
are included here, since many are not publicly available or are not known about. Second, no
two assessments are exactly alike; each has a different goal and measures different data.
Third, global competitiveness reports, that rank numerous countries, have been included.
These are not country-specific e-readiness assessments conducted as the basis for e-
strategies, although they are useful for strategy in that countries can learn from those ranked
both higher and alongside themselves in specific areas contributing to e-readiness. Finally,
some of the assessments have been repeated intentionally, with a baseline study being
replicated over time to map progress.
In compiling the data on e-readiness assessments, the goal is not to judge one assessment
over another, or to diminish the value of work that has already been done. Rather it is to
provide a resource to policy-makers and others who want to use e-readiness assessment
results to plan for the integration ICT in society, and to organizations that are considering
new assessments. It is hoped that this information will have the effect of eliminating
duplication, making better use of scarce resources and helping decision-makers to move
beyond assessment to planned action.
The survey is presented in six tables below: Africa; Asia and Pacific; Central and Eastern
Europe, and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); Latin and South America, and
Caribbean; Middle East; and North America.
60
Africa
Asia and Pacific

Central and Eastern Europe, and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Latin and South America, and Caribbean

Middle East
North America
Annex 6. Background on Y2K and e-readiness
The transition from the year 1999 to 2000 incited worldwide panic as all the governments,
companies, institutions, organizations and individuals reliant on interconnected business
systems and technological equipment anticipated them crashing or operating incorrectly. In
this annex, the "Y2K problem" will be unpacked. As this discussion is primarily concerned with
the issue of e-readiness, those activities that came to be of value to the topic at hand will be
highlighted. A concise description of the problem, how it was tackled, and what the outcomes
were, will be followed by a discussion exploring the benefits that the various Y2K initiatives
held for e-readiness.
What was the Y2K problem?

Owing to the cost of disk storage space in the 60’s and 70’s, programmers formatted dates
with two digits for the year. For example, the two digits "80" were used to indicate the year
1980, and so on. Dates are the most common type of information stored, and this system for
recording dates has been replicated many times over. As a result most computers, date
embedded systems and software packages would display and interpret the year 2000 as "00",
which would also mean 1900. This, along with the fact that the Year 2000 was a leap year,
while 1900 was not, brought the expectation that all the computer or date embedded
microchips with dates attached to them would fail (World Bank, 1999).
How was it tackled?

The Y2K problem was addressed through various programs at the levels of region, country,
sector and organization. As disruption at any location in today’s networked world would have
far-reaching effects, stakeholders joined forces in preparing the world for the first global
challenge caused by Information Technologies (IT).
The World Bank’s infoDev program and the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP),
along with governments and other multilateral and bilateral aid mechanisms, set about
establishing programs and structures through which the world could adequately prepare for
the date change. Other partners involved in infoDev’s initiatives included International
Telecommunications Union, Intelsat, International sectoral organizations and associations and
various NGOs.
A meeting in December 1998 brought together representatives from 120 countries, and
regional working groups were formed. In 1999, the International Y2K Cooperation Center
(IY2KCC) was established to "promote increased strategic cooperation and action among
governments, peoples and the private sector to minimize adverse Y2K effects on the global
society and economy (IY2KCC, 2000)." The IY2KCC supported the Regional Coordinators, who
helped to collate information and grant requests for multinational reporting efforts and
assistance programs for infoDev.
Similar coordinators from both the International assistance efforts and the private sector
were established for important sectors that needed specific attention. These included Finance,
Energy, Nuclear Power, Health, Telecommunications, Aviation, Maritime Shipping, Chemicals,
Customs, Government Services, Education and Utilities. These coordinators were assisted by
the IYCC and infoDev to leverage the work already being done, and engage providers in their
countries as part of the national and global Y2K effort. The IYCC and infoDev also worked
together in providing sector experts directly to national coordinators (IY2KCC, 2000).
InfoDev’s overall Y2K strategy focused on the following issues to help governments in
developing countries and transition economies manage and develop contingency plans for the
Y2K problem:
Providing grants. The infoDev Y2K assistance program administered over $40 million to
over 70 countries in the developing world (infoDev, 2003). Although modest when
compared with the estimated $200 billion spent worldwide in the Private Sector (IY2KCC,
2000), these planning grants, to support the development or improvement of Y2K
National Action Plans, and Implementation Grants, to support the implementation of
National Action Plans for remediation, testing and evaluation, ensured that the problem
could be addressed in governments’ most critical systems. $25.7 million was allocated to
co-finance the planning and implementation of national remediation efforts. Ninety-four
countries received infoDev grants, beginning as early as August 1998 (infoDev).
Raising awareness. High-level national and regional awareness seminars were held to
promote understanding, foster support, share information, create regional networks, and
assist in accessing funding. Regional and Global conferences, including the UN Global Y2K
Meetings in New York and the International Meetings of the Y2K Steering Committee,
were effective in establishing cooperation among national Y2K coordinators. InfoDev sent
National and Sector Y2K Coordinators from more than 150 countries to 25 international
conferences (infoDev).
Providing relevant information and technical assistance. Information of the nature and
scale of the Y2K problem, its potential effects on society and the economy, and ways to
address these were disseminated in the following manner:
o InfoDev’s toolkit was a resource for Governments to assess the risks and develop
strategies for managing them. The toolkit included outlines for action, including
developing a national action plan and establishing a Year 2000 organization. The
toolkit also provided resources for conducting inventories, risk assessments,
contingency planning, vendor management, check lists and references to other
relevant sources of information (infoDev, 1998).
o A website (www.worldbank.org/y2k) that was accessible in five languages, a list-serve
and the dissemination of publications ensured that quality information was available.
o InfoDev spent $2.9 million on technical assistance for cross-border issues, economic
sector risks and contingency planning. 51 expert missions, that were sector- or
country-specific according to needs, evaluated and improved contingency plans
(infoDev, date a).
A methodology for country level Y2K risk assessments. infoDev’s Y2K risk assessment
methodology, with its aim towards achieving a degree of consistency across countries to
promote ease in information sharing, identified three main tasks:
(1) To prioritize those sectors, functions or activities within a country which are critical
to the country’s operation. The principle adopted for prioritizing was country self-
assessment, as a country’s political, governmental, administration and
socioeconomic infrastructures are clearly best placed to evaluate what is important
critical to their operation.
(2) To conduct a Y2K risk assessment. InfoDev’s methodology statement was designed
for implementation by personnel without a detailed technical knowledge, or even
comprehensive understanding of the Y2K problem. Risk is measured by the potential
impact of the risk on the sector or entity under examination, and the probability or
likelihood of the risk happening.
(3) To utilize contingency planning templates to begin national contingency planning

processes. The objective of business continuity planning was to have plans available
to counteract disruption in governmental/business activities. "The possibility of
power failures, security breaches, interrupted communications, system
malfunction/shutdown, system performance degradation, transport and distribution
failure and much more" needed to be anticipated, and plans for addressing these
had to be made (World Bank, 1999).
Outcomes and lessons learned

As the most critical aspects of Y2K were addressed, the full threat posed by the date change
is unknown. As the year moved from 1999 to 2000, there was very little disturbance, and
while this could have been a result of the remediation efforts, there were countries where
little preparation had been executed who were barely affected. In a report to the Bank’s
President’s office on Y2K activities in operations, these countries are said to have benefited
from the lessons learned in the leading countries in terms of Y2K efforts, particularly
regarding decreased public anxiety as noted in the second semester of 1999. The report
explains that "if the threat of the bug had been ignored by all, we could have witnessed much
more dramatic speculative movements in 1999 with significant economic and social costs for
our clients" (infoDev, 2000).
The great expenditure of money and effort across the globe in preparing for Y2K seems
excessive in light of the minor problems experienced by those who did not disburse much in
preparing for the date change. However, there were many important lessons learned, and
much of the structures and processes implemented for Y2K readiness have laid the
groundwork for national efforts in e-readiness. (infoDev, 2001)
Networking, Co-operation and Transparency

The interdependency among nations brought about co-operative efforts in addressing
Y2K. Deepened understanding of the mechanisms of cooperation between multiple
stakeholders meant that any future problems could be addressed more easily
Universally successful Public-private partnerships, with International organizations,
governments and private companies working together to mobilize appropriate resources
and tackle technical solutions verified the usefulness of cross sector collaboration.
The regional networks of Y2K coordinators facilitated communication between countries
and with international bodies. These channels promoted information sharing and
improved international public relations.
Large effort was expended in reassuring the public that Y2K problems were under control,
and the importance of the role of public information was a significant lesson learnt
(IY2KCC, 2000).
Benefits of leapfrogging
Although the cost per line of business mainframe software code to make Y2K repairs was
expected to rise owing to a shortage of skilled programmers, it actually fell exponentially
owing to the accuracy and efficiency of automated Y2K tools
Late starters could bypass the unnecessary work conducted by those who had tested
every system and address only those known to require attention (IY2KCC, 2000).
The sharing of information on an unprecedented scale and at an unprecedented speed not
only reduced the cost of fixing bugs but also allowed late starters to leapfrog ahead in
terms of solutions.
Those countries with large installed infrastructures were required to address such issues
as systems that manage the telephone wires to each household, while developing
countries with smaller infrastructures could adopt alternate technologies such as wireless
to avoid the need to actually "fix" any systems; that is, they simply added new ones.
Sharing of best practices for creating a national Y2K office, for managing the program of
Y2K assessment, repair, testing and for preparing and exercising contingency plans meant
that late starters could benefit from the knowledge of the leaders, being able to efficiently
and cost effectively "catch up" (infoDev).
Effective program design

InfoDev designed its Y2K program with the capacity to expand as resources and needs
required. Beginning with surveys determining the level of awareness and preparation, the
program grew to include seminars, information resources, grants and technical assistance
as further funding was provided by donors. The needs assessments continued throughout
the process, ensuring that individual countries received that financial and technical
assistance required most. This flexible and responsive process proved most effective.
E-readiness
National IT coordination agencies were established to (a) deal with IT policies, regulations
and infrastructure planning and procurement and (b) to create awareness of the
usefulness of a reliable IT infrastructure in improving government, business and other
organizations’ functions. Several countries transformed their National Y2K Centers into
National IT Centers, "taking advantage of the human and physical resources, networking
capacity, knowledge and wealth of data gathered during the Y2K exercise (infoDev,
2001)." This focused awareness of ICT and its usefulness and effects brought about new
learning and skills, infrastructure and planning, and engaged thinking about ICT in a more
encompassing manner. Gearing up for Y2K meant that countries’ e-readiness were
enhanced at the turn of the new millennium.
Infrastructure: Many countries developed inventories of their IT systems for the first time.
This information is very useful for e-readiness assessments, and is a resource for
assessing and planning.
Policy: Regulations and policies that hindered the remediation effort, and could continue
to obstruct future efforts to upgrade public services were identified. The mapping of the IT
supply chain was useful for improving understanding and management of IT systems and
procedures. Additionally, the understanding that successful remediation required the
highest political prioritization was an important lesson for future work in this field
(IY2KCC, 2000).
Human Resources: Nations sent excellent people, in many cases their best managers, to
form what became the global Y2K team. These people learned a great deal in working on
the Y2K problem, and the skills and understanding which developed through their work in
1999 stood them in good stead to work effectively with IT issues in following years
(infoDev).
How is Y2K related to e-readiness assessment?

Although most of what is remembered of the "Y2K problem" is the great hype which in the
end seemed unfounded, something useful and positive actually came of it. Despite the very
technical nature of the work carried out to address the Y2K problem, the infrastructure,
human resources, procedures and processes all proved to be useful assets for addressing e-
readiness.
In addressing the "problem", countries were forced to better consider issues around
infrastructure, human resources, how systems are managed, and procurement, among
others. The development of National Plans to address the problem was useful in that it lead to
more holistic thinking about ICT.
Engaging stakeholders in e-readiness assessments and action plans is powerful. While many
of the lessons harnessed from Y2K operations have been discussed above, there are two
additional factors that ensured that countries were better equipped for the date change which
are yet to be fully leveraged for e-readiness work:
(1) The global network of programs, organizations and governments achieved a great deal
within a very specific and definite timeframe. A great deal was achieved, with the
focus on action in preparation for 0h00 on the 31 December 1999. Countries and
working groups addressing e-readiness need to develop more of a sense of urgency,
with more focus on action plans, than expending too many resources on assessments
which don’t lead to or result in anything concrete.
(2) "The central lesson Y2K taught the world was that relationships are at the heart of
success. Relationships between individuals, organizations, and countries, must be
strong enough to support the requirements of the challenges they face." Y2K Lessons
and the Roadmap to the Future, John Smith, Kenya Y2K Team (IY2KCC, 2000).
Annex 7. RFP for infoDev e-readiness assessment grants
The Information for Development (infoDev) Program is pleased to announce a Call for Proposals for grants
to fund assessments of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure and E-readiness
in developing and transition countries. This initiative will build upon earlier efforts by infoDev (such as the
Y2K initiative) to help developing countries evaluate their information infrastructures. Grant-funded
activities should be completed within six to eight months of the awarding of the grant.
The Internet provides unprecedented opportunities and challenges to the private sector, the public sector,
and civil society in developing countries. However, the ability to take advantage of these opportunities and
meet these challenges depends on the readiness of the country, its infrastructure and its institutions - "E-
readiness". Many groups have approached the measurement of E-readiness
(http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness/methodology.htm). The best approach depends on circumstances: what
kind of assessment is needed and for what purposes? What is already known, and which assessment process
is most appropriate? Certainly E-readiness depends on the connectivity of the information infrastructure
and the readiness of policy and regulatory framework to utilize the infrastructure. Another issue that is
important in this context is the adequacy of human resources for ICT activities in the country. For most
purposes, assessments must also include the readiness of the policy environment to facilitate the needed
increase in connectivity and utilization. As a guideline, infoDev suggests that the ICT Infrastructure and E-
readiness Assessment effort should:
• Be carried out by a government organization or its designee with the ability to facilitate
communications among all relevant ministries with responsibility for ICT policy, planning, and
implementation;
• Be conducted using methods jointly agreed upon with infoDev and the Facilitation Center;
• Involve a coordinating group within the government to promote consistent and coordinated policies
across government;
• Involve all key stakeholders, both public and private, with industry and civil society participants to
advise the government on appropriate policies and programs to promote ICT development;
• Result in an assessment using an appropriate methodology that is tailored to identify strategic
opportunities for progress and key obstacles/bottlenecks that must be removed, with special attention to
the policy framework and the availability of qualified human resources.
A Readiness assessment should serve to develop an Action Plan which addresses the opportunities and
bottlenecks identified. The geographic focus of an assessment should be national, although an assessment
for multi-national regions or regions within large nations may be considered. Similarly, an assessment
could be multi-sectoral, or could focus on a critical area such as E-Commerce or E-Government. Grantees
may be invited to present their work at infoDev sponsored events.
Further information on preparing a Grant Proposal is available online at:

http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness/
You should review this site periodically as it will be updated as new information becomes available.
Submitting a Proposal
A Proposal Outline is attached. Each Proposal must be submitted following the outline. The proposal
should be presented in English, French, or Spanish.
Proposals may be submitted at any time until program funds are exhausted. The website will be periodically
updated with the status of grant funding. If a Grant Proposal is unsuccessful in its first review, infoDev may
request that the proposal be substantially revised and resubmitted.
Please submit your Proposal electronically in MS Word or Word Perfect, formatted for Windows, by email
to:
ereadiness@worldbank.org
Alternatively, Proposals may be mailed in either of the two above formats on a 3.5 inch disk to:
The infoDev Program
The World Bank
1818 H St. NW
Room F5P - 156
Washington, DC 20433
For further information on the infoDev ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness Assessment Initiative you may
contact:
email: ereadiness@worldbank.org
phone: (202) 473-7005
fax: (202) 522-3186
web page: http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness
Proposal Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria will be used in evaluating the Proposal for funding:
1. Quality of the plan for the ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment: This would include the
appropriateness of the Assessment, the purposes it is to serve, capacity to coordinate such Assessments;
skills and background of key participants, and approach to managing the transparency and objectivity of the
Assessment.
2. Demonstrated support from key constituents, especially the government, the private sector and non-
profit organizations. Support from other partners such as donors would be considered. Support can be
demonstrated by letters of commitment, proceedings of preparatory meetings, memoranda of
understanding, etc. Matching funds will be considered a strong demonstration of support.
3. The likely impact of a successful ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment on social and
economic development: Does the Assessment meet real needs for information? Is the policy environment
conducive to efforts to enhance ICT applications and E-readiness and to build commercial, governmental
and other applications of information and communication technologies?
4. Sustainability: Priority will be given to proposals which are likely to result in a timely understanding of
e-readiness in their countries, and from organizations that have the ability to utilize this knowledge
effectively in promoting social and economic development on a continuing basis.
infoDev reserves the right to select proposals to achieve a geographically balanced portfolio. Preference
will be given to proposals from poorer countries, especially IDA countries. Proposals identifying matching
funds from sources other than infoDev are preferred. Past performance and diligence on previous infoDev
grant funded activities, such as Y2K related grants, will be given due consideration.
Proposal Review Process
This initiative will accept proposals until funds are exhausted. infoDev expects to fund about 20-30
proposals with an average of about $50,000 per grant. Grant funding will be negotiated for successful
proposals on the basis of the proposed budget and its review.
A highly expedited panel review process will be used for the evaluation of these proposals. The panel is
expected to review proposals on a bi-weekly basis. Notification of successful proponents should be made
soon thereafter. Grants should be awarded within 30 days of notification of the results. Proposals will
generally be rated as "acceptable" or "not acceptable." In a few cases, the Review Panel may defer decision
on a proposal in order to obtain information clarifying a critical issue; in such cases the Panel will
reconsider the proposal in its first meeting after the required information has been received.
As long as funds are available, infoDev will initiate grants for all acceptable proposals as soon as each
proposal review has been completed. Grant funds should not be committed by the Proponent before the
execution of the Grant Agreement.
Proposal Content
A Grant Proposal should address the following issues:

• The scope and purpose of the ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment;
• The existing information on ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness in the country and specifically in the
area being proposed;
• The method to be used in assessments and the rationale (if already selected), and if and how you would
modify that method to better meet your assessment needs (in collaboration with the Facilitation
Center); (http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness/methodology.htm)
• Evidence of support from key constituents;
• The likely impact of a successful ICT infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment on social and
economic development; and
• How the efforts initiated under the proposed grant will be sustained after the infoDev funds are fully
utilized.
Proposal Outline
1. Title Page. Should include the name of the recipient entity, and the name of the contact person and an
alternate, with complete contact information (email address, phone number, fax number and mailing
address). Identify collaborating organizations, if any.
2. Discussion of the ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment

The Proposal should clarify the role that the Assessment will have for the country or region. What
purpose(s) will it fill? What assessments already exist, and what is now known about E-readiness?
3. Statement of Objectives of the ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment Grant

The Proposal should provide a clear and brief statement of the objectives of the proposed grant activity.
What needs would the assessment fulfill?
4. Activities for the Grant Resources

The Proposal should identify those Assessment activities necessary to achieve the objectives. Products
(Deliverables) to be produced with Grant funds should be specified. The Proposal should identify critical
constraints to producing those products that are to be solved with Grant resources. The Proposal should
include a time line, identify the participants and the responsibilities of the senior personnel. It should
describe how the assessment is to be managed. Include a one page biography of each key project official in
an Annex.
5. Qualifications of the Proponents

The proposal should identify the qualifications of the proponent organizations. If the proponents have
already produced an earlier ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness assessment, please describe that work in an
appendix to the Proposal.
6. Budget and Budget Justification

The Proposal should itemize the infoDev funds and counterpart funds separately. Categorize the budget
presentation into Salaries (list by title and % effort. infoDev funds may not be used for granting honoraria
to government employees.); Materials; Travel; Transportation and Per Diem (justify purpose, and give
location, timing and duration in the Budget Justification); Consultation (justify purpose, and specify
duration, source, amount, and rate in the Budget Justification); and Other Costs.
7. Evaluation Plan
As part of each Proposal there should be an evaluation plan. It should define indicators such as the
utilization of the Assessment, the completeness and accuracy of the Assessment, evidence of consultation
efforts during the Assessment. Where possible these indicators should be quantitative. The Proposal should
specify how you will measure these indicators and when the evaluation results will be reported.
Deliverables
We suggest deliverables such as the following:

• A report identifying the organizational structure of the initiative's Coordinating Group and a description
of its main duties.
• A document presenting the final methodology to be used in performing the Assessment.
• The E-Readiness Assessment report outlining the critical issues that need to be addressed.
• An Action Plan for follow-up and use of the Assessment along with proposed strategies/next steps in
addressing these issues.
• A report providing the evaluation results.
• A final report on grant activities, in conformance with the template to be developed by the Facilitation
Center.
• Presentation, if requested, of the Assessment process, findings, and Action Plan.
Annex 8. RFP for the infoDev e-readiness Facilitation Center

The Information for Development (infoDev) Program invites Proposals for establishing and maintaining a
Facilitation Center to provide coordination, organizational, and technical support to developing and
transition countries that receive infoDev grants for assessment of ICT infrastructure and E-readiness. The
Facilitation Center is expected to begin initial operation in March 2001 and work under infoDev's overall
guidance in providing such support for a period of one year to the estimated 20-30 grant recipients for
country level assessments.
Description of the ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness Assessment Initiative to be Supported by the
Facilitation Center infoDev seeks to promote the dissemination of information and communication
technologies for social and economic development, especially that benefiting the poor. Its programs are
described on its web site: http://www.infodev.org
Among its special initiatives was a program conducted in the late 1990's to encourage developing countries
to plan to deal with the Y2K problem. Another recent initiative provides grants to assist developing
countries to plan Country Development Gateways.
We are now offering grants to countries interested in conducting ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness
Assessments. These assessments should provide the basic information for development of policies and
programs to improve the infrastructure and E-readiness, as well as establish a baseline for the evaluation of
such programs. The guidelines for submitting proposals for such grants are available on our website
(http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness/rfp1.htm)
In summary, these ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment efforts funded for country assessment
activities will:
• Be carried out by a government organization or designated agency with the ability to facilitate
communications among all relevant ministries with responsibility for ICT policy, planning, and
implementation;
• Be conducted using methods jointly agreed upon with infoDev and the Facilitation Center;
• Involve a coordinating group within government to promote consistent and coordinated policies across
government;
• Involve all key stakeholders, both public and private, with industry and civil society participants to
advise the government on appropriate policies and programs to promote ICT development;
• Result in an assessment using an appropriate methodology that is tailored in advance to identify
strategic opportunities for progress and key obstacles/bottlenecks that must be removed;
• Lead to the development of an Action Plan that will address the opportunities and bottlenecks identified
in the readiness assessment to further the objectives of the country, as stated in the Grant proposal.
This invitation is for proposals for a Center to provide support and assistance to the grantees as discussed
above.
Description of the Facilitation Center Functions:
The purposes of the Facilitation Center will be to:

• Help grantees in the Assessment program to conduct sound and useful studies, and to conduct those
Assessments in such a manner as to maximize the probability of positive future impact;
• Coordinate the assessment efforts of various grantees;
• Make available to them the best practices in the assessment and planning of ICT infrastructure.
The coordination effort should assist the grantees in mastering Assessment methodology, and enable
grantees to document findings in comparable formats which facilitate sharing of information and lessons
learned. To aviod conflict of interest, the recipient of the Facilitation Center grant should neither solicit nor
receive subcontracts from the country grants.
• The specific purposes of the Facilitation Center are to:

• Develop and disseminate a toolkit that would include a taxonomy of existing assessment
methodologies, showing strengths and weaknesses of each to address varying needs and situations, an
indicative outline of the process to be followed, and templates of reports;
• Develop "best practices" on coordination and partnerships, based on experience of in a variety of
countries in conducting similar Assessments (and ultimately amplifying the understanding of best
practices from the experience of the infoDev Assessment grantees);
• Share these "best practices" and successes, especially focusing on solutions to improve national IT
infrastructure as relates to e-government, e-commerce, and e-learning;
• Assist grantees in mastering assessment methodologies and in development of ICT Infrastructure and
E-Readiness Action Plans;
• Develop an outline of what elements need to be addressed in a typical National ICT Infrastructure and
E-Readiness Action Plan.
infoDev suggests that in order to meet the Center's objectives, the following types of activities will be
appropriate:
(1) Develop an Assessment Toolkit;

(2) Develop a "Best Practice Guide" on the conduct of Assessments;
(3) Maintain an electronic mail list of ICT focal points from Bank member countries;
(4) Provide technical assistance and guidance to country recipients in the conduct of their Assessments;
(5) Organize and lead regional and global assessment workshops at start of program in which
participants from grant receiving countries can be trained on assessment methodologies and
development of Action Plans;
(6) Create and maintain dynamic, interactive web pages covering information on current projects,
development of best practices, lessons learned, and other related information;
(7) Propose and facilitate discussion among the Assessment grantees on a list-serve or other electronic
bulletin board;
(8) Disseminate information and translate significant postings to the web page and mail list into
English, French and Spanish;
(9) Develop a template for the Final Report to be prepared by recipients of country assessment grants;
(10) Prepare a report, summarizing the experiences of countries that will avail of the infoDev grants,
highlighting results and achievements of grant recipients as well as other relevant E-readiness
assessment reports available.
Further information on preparing a Grant Proposal is available online at:
http://www.infodev.org/ereadiness/
You should review this site periodically as it will be updated as new information becomes available.
Submitting a Proposal
How to Submit a Proposal
A Proposal Outline is attached. Each Proposal must be submitted following the outline. The proposal
should be presented in English, French, or Spanish.
Proposals are due by the close of business, March 1, 2001.
Please submit your Proposal electronically in MS Word or Word Perfect, formatted for Windows, by email
to:
ereadiness@worldbank.org
Alternatively, the Proposal may be mailed, in either of the two above formats on a 3.5 inch disk to:
The infoDev Program
The World Bank
1818 H St. NW
Room F5P - 156
Washington, DC 20433
For further information on the infoDev ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness Assessment Initiative you may
contact Mr. Vivek Chaudhry at infoDev
email: vchaudhry1@worldbank.org
phone: (202) 473-3880
fax: (202) 522-3186
Proposal Evaluation Criteria
A. Quality of the plan for the Facilitation Center: Factors involved in this judgment would include the
appropriateness of the proposed activities, and approach to support the assessment initiative.
B. Demonstrated capacity to support the Initiative: Relevant work in this area, and the skills and
background of key participants, command of the literature on E-Readiness Assessments (especially that
pertaining to developing countries), etc.
C. A demonstrated understanding of the technical, policy and regulatory issues: in order to provide
assistance in such areas to grant recipients.
D. Management Effectiveness: The quality of the plan for providing assistance to the Assessment
Grantees in a timely and useful fashion.
E. Cost: The proposed effort which offers adequate support to meet the needs of the Assessment Grantees
at least cost will be funded.
Proposal Review Process
This initiative will accept proposals until March 1, 2001. A highly expedited panel review process will be
used for the evaluation of these proposals. Funding will be negotiated for a successful proposal on the basis
of the proposed budget and its review. In principle, infoDev intends to allocate no more than $250,000 for
the Facilitation Center.
The successful proponent will be notified by March 8, 2001 and is expected to be able to begin support to
the Initiative by March 15, 2001. Contract funds should not be committed by the Proponent before the
execution of the Grant Agreement.
Proposal Outline
A Contract Proposal should address the issues highlighted in the Call For Proposals and include the
following:
1. Title Page: should include the name of the recipient entity, and the name of the contact person and
alternate, with complete contact information (email address, phone number, fax number and
mailing address);
2. Objectives: The Proposal should provide a clear and brief statement of the objectives of the
proposed facility;
3. Background: The proposal should discuss methodology for ICT Infrastructure and E-Readiness
Assessments, identifying existing "best practice" studies, and should consider briefly the issues in
the conduct of such assessments;
4. Activities: The Proposal should clarify the role of the Facilitation Center and propose a timeframe
for the activities necessary to achieve the objectives;
5. Deliverables: A description of the deliverables to be provided under the grant;
6. Qualifications of the Proponents: The proposal should identify the qualifications of the proponent
organizations. If the proponents have been involved in similar work, please describe that work in an
appendix to the proposal;
7. Budget and Budget Justification: The Proposals should itemize the infoDev funds and provide
justification for the cost categories under Services, Materials, Travel, and Other Costs. All
budgeted items must be directly related to activities in support of the Initiative.
8. Management Plan: Describe how the effort will be managed to provide assistance to 20 to 30
Assessment teams in different countries, in order to assure that the Center will maintain contact
with all teams regularly, and provide needed help in a timely and effective manner.
9. Evaluation Plan: As part of each Proposal there should be an evaluation plan. It should define
indicators such as the utilization of the assessment, the expected completeness and accuracy of the
assessment, evidence of consultation efforts with all stakeholders during the assessment. Where
possible these indicators should be quantitative. The Proposal should specify how these indicators
will be measured and when the evaluation results will be reported.
Deliverables
We suggest deliverables such as the following:
• A Toolkit for implementing the assessments;
• A draft "best practices" manual;
• Assessment workshops for training country recipients;
• A brief monthly status report on the network membership and activities to infoDev;
• A maintained list of current network members and contact information for dissemination;
• A final Best Practices Manual;
• A status report on the Center's activities at the next annual infoDev symposium in Oct/Nov 2001.
• A Final Report on the activities and recommendations, at the end of the first year of operation.
Annex 9. Study questionnaire for grantee countries

Completed by e-readiness assessment teams as part of the study of infoDev’s e-
readiness initiative
1. Respondent’s details
Name:
Position:
Organization:
Phone number:
Address:
Email address:
Date:
2. General Project Information

2.1 Project title:
2.2 Grant recipient organization:
2.3 Other participating organizations, if any:
2.4 Grant period: From ___________to _____________
2.5 Date report was published:
2.6 Project team members:
Mailing address,
Position and name of Role in the project
Name telephone, fax, web
institution
and e-mail address
3. Background
3.1 How do you define "e-readiness"?
3.2 What were the overall objectives in conducting this assessment?
3.3 Who were the key stakeholders in the e-readiness process? (Please be sure to include
government, constituencies, private sector, academic centers, NGOs and any other group
that had a key interest in the execution and results of your study). Is there anyone else
that should have been included?
3.4 Which stakeholders were more actively involved in the assessment?
3.5 What challenges did the stakeholders encounter, and were there any conflicts of interest
between them? (e.g. government departments with different agendas and priorities for
ICT)
3.5.1 What other e-readiness assessments have been conducted in your country?
3.5.2 Who conducted them?
3.5.3 Who funded them?
3.5.4 What methodologies did they use?
Methodology
3.6 What assessment tool -- or combination of tools -- were used?
3.7 What were the main criteria for selecting this approach?
3.8 Were there benefits to using this assessment tool? If so, what were they?
3.9 Were there any disadvantages to using this assessment tool? If so, what were they?
3.10 In retrospect, if you could do the assessment again, what, if anything, would you do
differently?
3.11 Were steps were taken as part of the study to assess the inclusion, participation,
readiness and access to information of different communities and groups of people,
particularly those traditionally excluded on the basis of socio-economic status, gender,
age, race or religion? If not, why? If yes, which steps, and which groups?
4. e-Readiness and the Broader Enabling Environment

infoDev and bridges.org61 recognize that ICT can only have a substantial developmental
impact if access to ICT is supported by a broader enabling environment. The following
questions are designed to better understand the broader enabling environment including the
linkages between policy, regulation, government capacity, the balance of public and private
investment, and related issues of social capital and government-civil society cooperation in
creating information-rich societies and economies.
Please rate the extent to which each of the following issues were considered in the
assessment, and provide a short explanation.
0 = not at all
1= mentioned once
2 = measured at a basic level
3 = measured adequately
4 = measured properly
5 = measured extensively
4.1 Available infrastructure and physical access to it

Most e-readiness assessments measure elements of access to ICT.
How thoroughly was access to different ICT in different contexts measured in the
assessment?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.2 Costs and affordability of technology

People will use ICT only when it is affordable.
Was the cost of ICT and its use considered in the assessment? Was this compared with the
average household income or some such indicator to establish how affordable the use of and
access to ICT is for the general population?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.3 Appropriateness of technology to local needs and conditions

Information and communication needs and wants vary across different contexts.
61
These twelve questions are based on bridges.org’s Real Access criteria.
Did the assessment consider whether the ICT that is available is appropriate to how people
need and want to put it to use, and whether it fits within the reality of their daily lives?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.4 Capacity and training

Often people are limited in their use of ICT because they lack training.
Did the assessment include indicators for the capacity of the population (and the various
groups that comprise this) to use ICT, and did it explore whether the training people need is
available?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.5 Locally relevant content and services

People and organizations need to access relevant content that meets their everyday
information needs. To what extent was the availability of locally relevant content and
services, especially in terms of language, considered?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.6 Integration into people's daily lives

People are unlikely to use ICT if it adds further burden to their daily routine.
Did the assessment consider the extent to which ICT is integrated into people’s daily lives?
Did it explore whether the population considers ICT easily accessible and useful or a further
burden?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.7 Socio-cultural factors that inhibit ICT use

The digital divide mirrors other inequalities. People must not be limited in their use of ICT
because of their gender, race, age or other socio-cultural factors.
Did the assessment consider the use of ICT by people of different genders, races, income
groups, ages, religions and other socio-economic/cultural factors?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.8 Trust in the use of ICT

People need to have confidence in and understand the implications of the ICT they use.
Did the assessment measure whether people trust ICT and feel confident and informed about
things like electronic privacy, data security and cybercrime?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.9 Legal and regulatory environment

The legal and regulatory frameworks that govern a country can either foster or hinder
technology use, depending on the principles that shape them and how they are implemented.
Did the assessment deal with the laws and regulations that govern ICT use? Did it include
recommendations for creating an environment that fosters the use of ICT?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.10 Local economic environment and sustainability

The local economic situation will determine the level and frequency of technology use. It
needs to support and sustain ICT use over the long-term.
Did the assessment consider the various local economic environments across the country,
and how this impacts on the use of ICT?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.11 Macro economic environment

The national economic policy must be conducive to widespread ICT use.
Did the assessment report deal with the macro economic environment, and explore how this
impacts on the use of ICT in the country?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.12 Public support for technology use and political will to drive change
National governments can play a fundamental role in creating an environment that will foster
the use of ICT, but they must have the political will to drive change and need strong public
support. Did the assessment report explore the government’s political will for promoting the
use of ICT across the country?
Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Explanation:
4.13 Do you think these 12 "Real Access" criteria are relevant for consideration in
e-readiness assessments? Why?
4.14 Which, if any, do you think are most relevant for considering your country’s
e-readiness?
5. Findings
In this section we wish to learn about the conclusions and results of the assessment. Feel free
to annex any additional documentation.
5.1 What were the key findings of the assessment?

5.2 What were the key recommendations made in the assessment? (Feel free to provide
additional documentation).
6. Outputs
This section requires input regarding the concrete deliverables produced.
6.1 Describe the main dissemination activities for making the assessment results widely
known. If the results were not disseminated, please explain why.
6.2 Was a website established to share information, methodology and assessment reports? If
so, what was the overall impact of the website? Please provide any statistics on its usage
and the web address.
6.3 Were any tangible products (books, reports, seminars, etc.) produced? Please provide
quantitative information such as distribution or participation in numbers.
7. Outcomes
By "outcomes" we mean the things that happened as a result of the findings.
7.1 Did the assessment change the behavior of any of the stakeholders; produce new
policies; organizational structure; laws; norms or practices? If so, please briefly describe
the most important outcomes.
7.2 To date, how has the Assessment Report been received by government? To what extent
have the findings been adopted and used?
7.3 To your knowledge, have any policy documents been informed by the findings of the
report? (Please tick all those applicable and provide a reference/URL):
Action plan/ e –strategy

Ref:
P Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)

Ref:
P National development strategy

Ref:
P Sector-specific development strategy e.g.: Education, Health, Agriculture etc. (please

specify)
Sector:
Ref:
Other (please specify)

Policy doc:
Ref:
8. Evaluation of report and process

8.1 Were the project team’s efforts evaluated, and if so by whom? Please provide a brief
summary of the results.
8.2 Please comment on the assistance the project team received from infoDev. Please tick
the box that most closely reflects your experience. (This excludes financial support)
8.2.1 InfoDev’s overall level of support was:
Too involved, too top-down or too heavy handed. They prevented us from conducting the
assessment in our own way
Just right and was a balance between offering support and affording us independence in
our process
Useful at times but they were not always available
They did not provide sufficient support

8.2.2 In preparing the assessment report, infoDev gave us:
A great deal of useful support
Adequate support
Very little support
8.2.3 In preparing the action plan, infoDev gave us:
A great deal of useful support
Adequate support
Very little support
No support
8.3 Did you use infoDev’s outline in preparing your report? If so, why? Was it useful? And if
not, why not?
8.4 Did you use infoDev’s outlines for generating the assessment report? If so, why? Was it
useful? And if not, why not?
8.5 Please describe any positive effects of infoDev’s input.
8.6 Were there any negative aspects of their input? If so, please explain.
8.7 How useful were the toolkit and facilitation center? How often did you refer to these
resources? What was most useful? What was least useful?
8.8 What were the key internal and external challenges faced in conducting the assessment?
How were they addressed?
9. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and e-readiness

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are concrete targets agreed upon by 147 heads of
states and governments in September 2000. The Goals commit the international community
to work together, developing a global partnership for development (goal number 8) in
addressing specific aspects of poverty (goals 1-7). Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) is increasingly viewed as tools to employ in the global campaign to reach
the Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals are:

(i) Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
(ii) Achieve universal primary education
(iii) Promote gender equity and empower women
(iv) Reduce child mortality
(v) Improve maternal health
(vi) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
(vii) Ensure environmental sustainability
(viii) Build a global partnership for development
9.1 Have you come across the MDGs in your work at all? If so, in what context?
9.2 Do you know anything about the programs your country is implementing towards
reaching the MDGs? If so, please describe briefly.
9.3 Has your country set about aligning its ICT policies with poverty reduction? If so, please
explain what is being done.
9.4 What, in your opinion, are the priorities for development in your country in the context
of the MDGs?
9.5 How do you think ICT can be harnessed to address these priorities?
9.6 Do you think that being "e-ready" is beneficial for reaching the MDGs? Please explain
your answer. (A country is "e-ready" when it meets the requirements for "e-readiness" -
please use the definition of e-readiness you provided above when answering this
question.)
9.7 If you were given more resources for continuing the e-readiness activity, what would be
the priority areas for further action?
10. Final comments

Do you have anything further that you would like to share with us?
Many thanks for your time in completing this questionnaire

Annex 10: Study interview questions and discussion points

For country workshops (accompanying the written questionnaire)
(1) How have things changed in the field of e-readiness in <country> since the report was
produced?
• Has your understanding/definition of e-readiness changed at all from the definition used
for the assessment?
• Please provide a broad overview of where the country is in terms of e-readiness, and how
this is impacting on its socio-economic development?
• Please tell us about some of the main initiatives in the country that are addressing the
digital divide/ issues raised in the assessment report.
• According to our updated "Who What Where" report, <country> has been assessed <X>
times. What do you think is the value in having more than one e-readiness assessment,
with updated information and different methodologies applied?
(2) To what extent do the digital divide issues in this country have political will backing efforts
to address them? What are some of the major governmental efforts (both policy and
implementation) in this area?
(3) What value can the Real Access/ Real Impact criteria offer for thinking about e-readiness
in <country>?
<RA/RI slide repeated as final slide. Review the criteria and think about issues specific to
the country within each criterion. Reflect on the extent to which the assessment
addressed each one/ how addressing them would be useful>
(4) What is the value of assessing/ addressing <country>'s e-readiness within the framework
of the MDGs?
Are you aware of major efforts (again, policy and implementation) addressing the MDGs in
<country>?
Which MDGs are most pressing for <country>?
Do you think that ICT can be harnessed to address them?
What kinds of indicators can you think of that could measure this kind of impact?
Do you think that assessments looking at progress towards the MDGs through the lens of
ICT for development would be useful in this country?
(5) How was the overall experience of conducting the assessment and producing the
assessment report?
• What was the grant period for your assessment? Did you complete the assessment within
the expected time? How long did the assessment process take in total (including
assessment and drafting of the report)? When was the report published? (Has it been
published yet?)
• What were the greatest challenges you faced in conducting the assessment and/or
drafting the report?
• What were the most positive aspects of the assessment process? What was the easiest
part?
• What were the most negative aspects of the assessment process? What was the most
difficult part?
• What would you do differently if you were to do the assessment again?
• What lessons have you learned about e-readiness assessments? What would you
recommend to others who are about to embark on an e-readiness assessment process?
(6) Which e-readiness assessment tool did you use for this assessment?
• Did you develop it yourself (or in-country)? Why did you choose this particular
assessment tool? Were you aware of others? How did you find the assessment tool you
chose / developed?
• What were the most relevant features of the assessment tool? The least relevant?
• Did you encounter any problems in using the tool, in terms of its usefulness or
applicability to your country’s situation?
• Did you change anything about this tool when you used it? Would you recommend
changes in the tool? Would you use this tool again?
• What was the best or most useful feature of this particular assessment tool? The worst or
least useful?
(7) What were the key findings and recommendations of the assessment?
• Were the findings consistent with what you expected to see? What were surprise
findings? What was already expected and then confirmed?
• Are there any further recommendations you would make now, in addition to those in the
report?
• What is the most important information related to ICT use in your country that can be
gleaned from the assessment? Lessons? How can this be put to use in your country?
• What is your overall impression of the role of ICT for development in your country? How
“ready” do you think your country is to adopt ICT and put it to effective use in business,
government and civil society?
• Where are your country’s greatest advantages in the ICT area? Greatest weaknesses or
obstacles?
(8) What outcomes followed publication of the report and plan of action?
• How it has been presented/ disseminated to other policy-makers?
• Have any changes/ developments in policy occurred as a result of the findings and
recommendations presented in the report?
• How could the results of the assessment be put to the greatest use? How could the effect
of the report be maximized? Do you think the report could be used in other ways? What
would be needed to make this happen?
• Is there any potential for the use of the report outside of the current channels? (If it is a
government process, is there any way to get it used by other government agencies, or the
private sector? Civil society?)
(9) Please describe your experiences working with infoDev in this project.
• How did infoDev support your work (besides funding)?
• How was infoDev most helpful to your assessment process? Were they available to help?
What was infoDev’s greatest contribution to the assessment process?
• What has been your experience with the infoDev e-readiness assessment Facilitation
Center and the infoDev toolkit materials? Did you make use of them as part of your
assessment process? Were they helpful?
• How were your interactions with infoDev during the assessment process? Were you
assigned to an infoDev staff member? Was infoDev responsive to your needs? Did they
communicate effectively with you regarding your grant? Your assessment?
• How could infoDev improve its work with in-country grantees?
Annex 11: MDG targets and indicators
Goal Target Indicators

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and Halve, between 1990 and Proportion of population below $1 a day
hunger 2015, the proportion of
people whose income is less National poverty headcount ratio *62
than $1 a day
Halve, between 1990 and Poverty gap ratio at $1 a day

2015, the proportion of
people who suffer from Share of poorest quintile in national
hunger consumption
Prevalence of underweight in children under 5
years of age
Proportion of population below min level of
dietary energy consumption
2. Achieve universal primary Ensure that, by 2015, children Net enrolment ratio in primary education
education everywhere, boys and girls Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who
alike, will be able to complete reach grade 5.
a full course of primary Primary completion rate *
schooling Literacy rate of 15 to 24-year-olds.
3. Promote gender equality and Eliminate gender disparity in Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary
empower women primary and secondary and tertiary education
education preferably by 2005 Ratio of literate females to males among 15-
and in all levels of education to 24-year-olds
no later than 2015. Share of women in wage employment in the
nonagricultural sector
Proportion of seats held by women in national
parliament
4. Reduce child mortality Reduce by two-thirds, Under-give mortality rate
between 1990 and 2015, the Infant mortality rate
under-five mortality rate
Proportion of one-year old children immunized
against measles
5. Improve maternal health Reduce by three-quarters, Maternal mortality ratio
between 1990 and 2015, the Proportion of births attended by skilled health
maternal mortality ratio personnel
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and Have halted by 2015 and HIV prevalence among 15- to 24-year-old pregnant
other diseases begun to reverse the spread women
of HIV/AIDS Condom use rate of the contraceptive prevalence
rate *
Condom use at last high-risk sex
Percentage of population aged 15-24 with
comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS*
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Ratio of school attendance of orphans to school
attendance on non-orphans aged 10-14
Have halted by 2015 and Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
begun to reverse the Proportion of population in malaria-risk areas using
incidence of malaria and other effective malaria prevention and treatment measures
diseases Prevalence and death rates associated with
tuberculosis
Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured
under directly observed treatment short course
(DOTS)
7. Ensure environmental Integrate the principles of Proportion of land area covered by forest
sustainability sustainable development into
Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity
country policies and program to surface area
and reverse the loss of Energy use per unit of GDP
environmental resources
Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) and
consumption of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons
62
These have been proposed as additional MDG indicators, but are yet to be adopted
Proportion of population using solid fuels *

Halve, by 2015, the Proportion of population with sustainable access to
proportion of people without an improved water source, urban and rural
sustainable access to safe
drinking water and basic Proportion of population with access to improved
sanitation sanitation
Have achieved, by 2020, a Proportion of households with with access to secure
significant improvement in the tenure
lives of at least 100 million
slum dwellers
8. Develop a global partnership for Develop further an open, rule- Net ODA total and to least developed countries, as a
development based, predictable, percentage of OECD/DAC donors' gross income
nondiscriminatory trading and Proportion of bilateral, sector-allocable ODA of
financial system (includes a OECD/DAC donors for basic social services (basic
commitment to good education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water,
governance, development, and sanitation)
and poverty reduction—both
nationally and internationally)
Address the special needs of Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC
the least developed countries donors that is untied
(includes tariff-and quota-free
access for exports enhanced ODA received in landlocked countries as
program of debt relief for proportion of their GNI
HIPC and cancellation of
ODA received in small island developing states as
official bilateral debt, and
proportion of their GNI
more generous ODA for
countries committed to
poverty reduction)
Address the special needs of Proportion of total developed country imports
landlocked countries and (excluding arms) from developing countries and least
small island developing states developed countries admitted free of duties
(through the Program of Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on
Action for the Sustainable agricultural products and clothing from developing
Development of Small Island countries
Developing States and 22nd Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as
General Assembly provisions) a percentage of their GDP
Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade
capacity
Deal comprehensively with Total number of countries that have reached their
the debt problems of HIPC decision points and completion points
developing countries through (cumulative)
national and international Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
measures in order to make Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and
debt sustainable in the long services
term
In cooperation with Unemployment rate of 15- to 24-year-olds, male and
developing countries, develop female and total
and implement strategies for
decent and productive work
for youth
In cooperation with Proportion of population with access to affordable,
pharmaceutical companies, essential drugs on a sustainable basis
provide access to affordable,
essential drugs in developing
countries
In cooperation with the Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100
private sector, make available population
the benefits of new Personal computers in use per 100 population
technologies, especially
information and
communications Internet users per 100 population
Annex 12: List of references on e-readiness and MDGs
E-readiness and general
A co-operative effort to implement the Information Society in Europe: Action Plan, prepared
by the Candidate Countries with the assistance of the European Commission, June 2001
"Social Policy in Brazil: Targeting the Poor" The Economist, Vol.268 No. 8337, 16 August
2003, pages 31-33
Bui TX, Sebastian IM, Jones W, Naklada S, E-Commerce Readiness in East Asian APEC
Countries – A precursor to determine HRD requirements and capacity-building, APEC,
http://www.apec.org/apec/apec_groups/other_apec_groups/new_economy_-_e-
apec.downloadlinks.0006.LinkURL.Download.ver5.1.9
DOI, Creating a Development Dynamic: Final report of the Digital Opportunity Initiative, 2001
Dymond A, Oestmann S, A Rural ICT Toolkit for Africa, African Connection: Center for
Strategic Planning Intelecon Research & Consultancy
http://www.infodev.org/projects/telecommunications/351africa/RuralICT/Toolkit.pdf, also at
www.inteleconresearch.com
ECA, E-Strategies: National, sectoral and regional ICT policies, plans and strategies, Sub-
committee on Information and Communication Technology: ICT and Governance. Third
meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 10 17
May 2003
EC, eEurope+ Action Plan: A co-operative effort to implement the Information Society in
Europe, 2003, prepared by the candidate countries with the assistance of the European
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Case Studies Reference List
Belarus
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2003, http://www.e-belarus.org/news/200306261.html
Bolivia
Rodrigo Arce Jofré, "Consolidated E-readiness Assessment Report for Bolivia", October, 2002
Bulgaria
Dinka Dinkova (ARC Fund) et al, "Bulgaria: ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment",
May, 2002
Costa Rica
Ricardo Monge, Federico Chacón, "Bridging The Digital Divide in Costa Rica Access to and Use
of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)", 2002
Estonia
Andre Krull, "ICT Infrastructure and E-readiness Assessment Report: ESTONIA
PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies", 2002-03
Jamaica
Central IT Office (CITO), "Jamaica’s e-Readiness Assessment", 2002
Kenya
Department of Finance and Planning, "Kenya ICT Infrastructure and E- Readiness
Assessment", October, 2002
Kyrgyzstan
Maxim Kan and and Murat Rakhimov, "Kyrgyzstan ICT Infrastructure And E-Readiness
Assessment Report", 2002
India
Department of Information Technology, National council of Applied Economic Research,
Indian Market Research Bureau, "INDIA: E-Readiness Assessment", April, 2003
Indonesia
Ministry of Communication and Information Republic of Indonesia, "ICT Infrastructure and E-
Readiness Assessment: Empowering the Province and District’s through the use of
Information Technology", April, 2003
Pakistan
No reports.
Panama
Secretaria Nacional De Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacion (SENACYT), "Panama Readiness for
the Networked World Project", the report is yet to be published.
Philippines
Dr. Aldaba from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and Gmelina Guiang, "Macro and Micro
ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Report", the report is yet to be published
Romania
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, "eReadiness Assessment of

Romania", 2003
Russia
Sergey Shaposhnik et al, "Russia e-Readiness Assessment: ICT Infrastructure and E-
readiness Assessment Project", 2003
Tanzania
Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), "ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness
Assessments for Tanzania", the report is yet to be published
Trinidad and Tobago

The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBT&T), "E-Readiness Assessment – Trinidad and
Tobago", April, 2002
Uganda
Ashwin Shankar and Rajeev Agarwal from consulting firm Techno Brain, "E-Readiness
Assessment Abridged Report", the report is yet to be published but the copy has been
available since January, 2004

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E-Ready for What?

E-Readiness in Developing Countries: Current Status and

Prepared for infoDev

For more information contact:

PO Box 715, Cape Town 8000

Information for Development Program

Annex 1. Case studies on grantee countries’ e-readiness assessment processes .. 95

However, the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments is increasingly questioned, as

The infoDev e-readiness initiative

Findings of this study

Who assessed what: authors and objectives

How assessments were conducted: tools and methodologies used

Key findings and recommendations of the infoDev-supported assessments

Macroeconomic environment affecting ICT use: Some reports considered

Government's role in driving e-readiness: Governments were usually involved in the

Analysis and discussion

Use of e-readiness assessments: content and measurements

The following opportunities for improving content and measurements in e-readiness

Usefulness of e-readiness assessments: outputs and benefits

The assessment process: management and implementation

⇒ No matter how enticing the opportunity, do not duplicate.

⇒ Communicate, communicate, communicate with funders and clients.

⇒ Target funding more directly to country project needs.

Linking e-readiness strategies and the MDGs: opportunities and obstacles

⇒ Be context specific and think local.

This report was funded by a grant from infoDev.

Acronyms used in this report

However, the use and usefulness of e-readiness assessments is increasingly questioned, as

There is an abundance of organizations in the strategy-formulation game, with specialists in

2.1.1 What do e-readiness assessments actually do?

A range of assessment tools have been developed to measure a country or economy’s e-

E-readiness assessment tools are presented as ready-to-use questionnaires, case study

2.1.2 E-readiness assessment: who’s done what, where, and how?

2.2 About the infoDev e-readiness initiative

2.2.1 E-readiness assessment grants

Grantees were expected to produce the e-readiness assessment report, an ICT-based

Grants awarded under the infoDev e-readiness initiative

2.2.2 E-readiness resources: Facilitation Center, toolkit, and guide

GeoSINC's guide to e-readiness assessments, strategies and action plans

2.3 Overview of the Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

2.3.1 The role for ICT in MDG strategies

3 Study of the infoDev e-readiness initiative

Framing this study with the Real Access/Real Impact framework

 Background documents: Background information was collected primarily from infoDev

assessments, e-strategies, and development strategies. The workshops investigated

Study deliverables: the report and case studies

Limitations of this study

4 Findings of the study

4.1.1 Who assessed what: authors and objectives

4.1.2 How assessments were conducted: tools and methodologies used

involved stakeholders predominantly within government.

4.2 Key findings and recommendations of the infoDev-supported assessments

4.2.1 Measuring physical access to ICT

Background documents: Background information was collected primarily from infoDev

The Jamaican report includes the foundation for an action plan.