Importance
of ICT for school children
Mohammed Muhsin, CIO/Vice President of the World Bank
discusses the "e-Sri Lanka Development Project" in an
interview with Sri Lanka's ICTA (Information Communication Technology
Agency).
What
is the general World Bank strategy for ICT?
The bank for many years has been known for its project
lending, but increasingly we believe that the bank has strengths
on advice - economic advice as well. For that we believe, knowledge
and information is critical. When one talks about technology one
tends to talk only about computers, when in fact, the bridging aspect
of development is information and knowledge. Information Technology
therefore is a very critical element in enabling global knowledge
sharing and information sharing. The Bank's own strategy is to use
the technology that is available to reach the various sectors of
economy; not only for schools but also for the public and private
sector. This is an exciting time because technology has evolved
and the Bank itself has evolved and in its own thinking has been
able to imbibe information technology into its own internal working.
The
World Bank has been responsible for a major component of the funding
of the e-Sri Lanka initiative. It's been almost two years now, what
would you say about the progress so far?
I would start by saying that the software companies of
Sri Lanka and CINTEC, ICTA's predecessor, were all actively involved
in promoting information technology, even before the ICT agency
was formed. However, what is different is that this is one programme
that has a comprehensive approach as apposed to piecemeal projects.
In our view, the e-Sri Lanka project, from all of the projects the
World Bank has had the privilege to work with, has one of the most
comprehensive of frameworks seen thus far. It is if fact the only
programme in the world where such comprehensiveness is seen: from
the onset there are several different projects; in the end, each
separate project comes together in a well-integrated manner to fulfil
the e-Sri Lanka mandate. Therefore, this is a shining example of
an integrated approach; the integrating aspect of bringing people,
knowledge, resources and technology together is a critical part
of getting people involved, whether they are children, public servants
or private sector.
To
your question about how the programme itself performed over the
past two years: as with any project, there is the starting phase,
which is quite challenging and sometimes controversial as well because
people have different views. I think it is important to have a controversy,
it is important for debate to occur, because out of that comes a
solution that may better serve the country and its people. The Bank
has been very impressed about the level of dialogue, the consultation
that has gone into the making of the programme and also the team
that has been put together at the ICTA. For us what is significant
is that the ICT Agency is a very small agency, so there should be
no presumption that the ICT Agency is going to do everything. The
ICT Agency is the catalyst and really a mover and a shaker as opposed
to a repository of people who are going to do every thing. There
is no way a programme of this nature would be successful if it was
being done centrally. That's where the integrating aspect -of the
software, hardware, the information people, even the schools and
the public sector -comes in. I have to say the schools progress
has been very good; I don't say this as a "feel good"
statement but more importantly to realize that this has been a challenging
programme which has been handled in a very deliberate manner. There
has been strong leadership both from the government, from the private
sector and from ICTA staff as well. The World Bank holds it as an
example of what can be done in a comprehensive manner to serve a
country.
What
is the possibility of taking this model to other countries?
I have to say that because this has been so successful,
we at the Bank are holding it up as an example of a framework that
has the force of all parts of the economy - various constituencies
and stakeholders coming together. Also there has been a lot of interest,
not only in countries where there has been development of technology
- for instance Ghana; Nigeria, the largest country in Africa and
even in India -there has been interest in the comprehensiveness
of the programme. What is unique here is the integration. That each
component comes together to serve a common purpose, so there are
no broken links and also that technology is not being pursued just
for its own sake. So we are very proud that Sri Lanka has embarked
on this. Now, there will be people who will say that we did not
achieve what we wanted to achieve and again I think that that is
a good debate to have, because I believe out of that will come an
impetus to do more and also to look at areas which perhaps has not
been covered in the programme itself. One footnote: e-Sri Lanka
is not going to solve all problems. This programme is only a catalyst,
an impetus to do more.
Can
we expect to see results of e-Sri Lanka in the very near future?
One needs to realize such projects do take time to implement.
Like with any construction, for example if one was building a house,
the architectural design will take time and bringing the elements
together takes time. The real outcomes of this project, I believe
will be about a year or two from now. As for results, the framework
that is being built and the processes that are being carried out
to implement the plan are very sound. We need to have some patience
- all of us, including at the World Bank, and allow the professionals
who are developing the programme to do their work properly. Short-term
experiences can be problems in the long-term. If we rush hastily
into some of the projects, they may not be successful. I am of the
view that we are on the right path, like with everything else it
will take time for results to come in. From our side, we would be
coming in often to ensure that this programme is on the right track
and if it is not we will correct it. So far, we have come about
four times since the project was approved and we are very pleased
with the design, we are very pleased with the processes that are
in place and also with the energy and commitment of the people running
the programmes.
What
would be the benefit to the average Sri Lankan citizen?
The rural tele-centres will be very important to address
the gaps. If we don't address the rural needs we will not address
the bigger picture. We can end up having very successful projects
in the cities but that is not going to help the vision of broader
economic growth, poverty reduction and use of opportunity. I would
subscribe strongly to awareness programmes in the villages, through
TV programmes, awareness programmes in schools and so on.
Spending-wise,
how does the e-Sri Lanka project compare to other projects?
Frankly the administrative costs of the e-Sri Lanka project are
very low. The government and the Agency and the World Bank have
been very sensitive to the fact that these funds should be going
into delivering the programme.
Any
final comments?
Yes, let me add one remark, we feel that it is very important
to get the young people, the school children trained in ICT. Because
they are, after all, the next generation and they are in fact going
to be the drivers, just as much as my children will drive me, for
aggressive use of technology. Let me also add one other aspect,
there is a function which technology plays, that can reduce cost
and make Sri Lanka much more competent, in terms of public services,
in terms of the manner in which information systems are done, banking
and so on. There is a whole range of re-engineering that can be
done that can make Sri Lanka much more efficient.
And
in that respect, we have a long way to go, but the fact that the
information and technology infrastructure is being put in place
and the enthusiasm is being raised, augurs very well, coupled with
the fact that we will have a new generation of people who will switch
on very quickly to the use of technology, will bring in a new era
of a much more efficient country, where you can get your work done
quickly, imports, exports and that would be the competitive edge
that we would have in any of our development projects. |
