* The Digital Freedom Initiative
As an American who has never lived outside my own country, I often takes things for granted. I have never known what it is like to live in poverty or total economic despair, as people in many Third World countries do. When it comes to IT and what it can do for me, I am indeed privileged – as are you.
It is our good fortune to live during the Information Age, marked by the rise of globalization and the World Wide Web, and notably by our country’s nearly 100% increase in per capita income since the start of the Information Age (roughly in 1989). Statistics from the CIA World Factbook, 2004 edition, show that U.S. per capita income has reached $37,800, compared to just $19,413 in 1989. I’m inclined to believe that the rise in IT is at least partly responsible for that increase.
Now consider what is happening in countries that are falling into “the digital gap” – that is, developing countries that have not been able to enter the Information Age for one reason or another. In such countries, per capita income actually decreased by 1% over the last decade. This creates a bigger imbalance between the world’s Haves and the Have-Nots.
While on the surface this appears to be strictly an economic problem, it also is a matter of national security, as the Have-Not countries grow increasingly resentful toward the Have countries like the U.S. Thus, it is in our best interest to develop and support programs that encourage developing countries to enter the Information Age.
It is in this context that the U.S. federal government launched a program in March of 2003 called The Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI). The goal of the DFI is to promote economic growth by transferring the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the developing world. According to the program’s Fact Sheet, “Appropriately designed ICT in developing countries can provide inexpensive and critical access to domestic and global markets, allowing the invisible hand of the market to be a helping hand to the poor.”
The initiative is a partnership between various U.S. government agencies and private sector companies and organizations. Government agencies included in the initiative include the Department of Commerce, the State Department, the Small Business Administration, USAID, USA Freedom Corps and the Peace Corps. At this writing, more than 90 U.S. companies and non-profit organizations represent the critical private sector part of the team. Such companies participate in the DFI in a number of ways, including: providing vision, strategy and business expertise to all phases of the DFI; providing volunteers and other resources that build upon activities supported by the U.S. government; and partnering with private sector entities in the DFI countries to identify and implement activities that promote economic growth and opportunities.
The initiative started with a pilot program in Senegal, one of the world’s poorest countries with a 2003 per capita income of $470. Since then, it has expanded to include Jordan, Peru and Indonesia, with the intention to expand to more than 20 countries in the next few years.
In a September 2003 report on the Senegalese pilot project, the following accomplishments or current projects were cited:
* A private university created a Web portal that enabled registrations, courses and a library to be hosted online.
* A doctor’s office has been computerized, including patient records.
* Staff members in telecenters and cybercafés underwent training to strengthen their capacities in management, access to markets, and access to financing and equipment.
These appear to be small accomplishments to us in the U.S., but they are huge in a country that ranks 156th out of 175 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI). HDI measures human development by combining three dimensions of development-longevity (life expectancy at birth), knowledge (adult literacy and mean years of schooling), and income.
The U.S. government has a relatively small investment in DFI, but the payback in helping to bring developing countries into the Information Age can be enormous. It all goes back to the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
DFI is still looking for private sector partners. If you or your company would like to explore how you can help, contact Ken.Ferguson@technology.gov
Linda Musthaler is vice president of Currid & Company. You can write to her at mailto:Linda.Musthaler@currid.com
