Delivering public services to the bottom of the pyramid

Documents

• Information Lives of the Poor: Fighting poverty with technology

  Information and communication have always opened opportunities for the poor to earn income, reduce isolation, and respond resiliently to emergencies. With mobile phone use exploding across the developing world, even marginalized communities are now benefiting from modern communication tools. This book explores the impacts of this unprecedented technological change. Drawing on unique household surveys undertaken by research networks active in 38 developing countries, it helps to fill knowledge gaps about how the poor use information and communication technologies (ICTs). How have they benefited from mobile devices, computers, and the Internet? What insights can research provide to promote affordable access to ICTs, so that communities across the developing world can take advantage of the opportunities they offer? The core of this book synthesizes the findings from groundbreaking research conducted with IDRC support in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This research catalyzed policy changes that helped improve access to ICTs by all levels of society. Information Lives of the Poor compiles the evidence across regions and brings together regional perspectives on this important topic. It concludes by presenting policy recommendations and some directions for future research. Author(s): Laurent Elder, Rohan Samarajiva, Alison Gillwald, and Hernán Galperin Publisher(s): IDRC  November 25, 2013 ISBN: 9781552505717 89 pages e-ISBN: 9781552505748 […]

• PRESENTATION: Delivering government services to the BOP in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Telecenters, mobile or both?

  Ranjula Senaratna Perera CRPsouth2013 Mysore, India

• Report: Delivering public services to the bottom of the pyramid

  Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have embarked on government funded e-government and telecenter initiatives, with internet access at telecenters as a central delivery channel for e-Gov services. However, are telecenters still relevant in the delivery of citizen services and should they be subsidized by government? To answer this, a survey was conducted amongst 2,750 poor citizens, who have had a government interaction and who live within 5km of 275 randomly selected telecenters in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Higher awareness and use of telecenters was seen in Bangladesh, with 68 percent of the Bangladeshi sample having heard of the telecenter, and 52 percent having visited a telecenter and used its services. Telecenter awareness in the Sri Lankan sample was lower, at 46 percent, with usage even lower, at 16 percent amongst those who were aware.  The study recommended having awareness campaigns aimed at the BOP who are the main target of telecenters be conducted in Sri Lanka. These campaigns should emphasize the types of services including government services that can be accessed at telecenters. The survey showed that only 28 percent of telecenter users in Bangladesh used alternatives to telecenters (such as commercially run communication shops to access the internet and e-Gov […]

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Blogs and Updates

• Information Lives of the Poor: Fighting poverty with technology
  Information and communication have always opened opportunities for the poor to earn income, reduce isolation, and respond resiliently to emergencies.
• PRESENTATION: Delivering government services to the BOP in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Telecenters, mobile or both?
  Ranjula Senaratna Perera CRPsouth2013 Mysore, India
• Report: Delivering public services to the bottom of the pyramid
  Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have embarked on government funded e-government and telecenter initiatives, with internet access at telecenters as a central delivery channel for e-Gov services.