The Digital Village: Towards a sustainable community technology center

Author : Cyril Dadd
Date added : 2000-08-31

Brief Project Background

Introduction

15 year old Thapelo Chuene hopes to be a computer “guru” some day. But the obstacles Thapelo faces each day prevent many like him from achieving the goals to which he aspires. Thapelo lives in Soweto, not far from the streets in which Steven Biko and South African freedom fighters marched, and in which young student protestor Hector Peterson was shot dead by police, sparking the unrest of 1976 which eventually helped topple apartheid.

Today, Soweto is as diverse as any community one could imagine. Tin roof shacks share the vast location of more than a million residents with middle-class homes and BMWs. However, while not all Soweto residents share one socio-economic category, life in Soweto remains difficult. Unemployment above fifty percent, staggering crime and violence statistics, and one of the highest HIV/Aids infection rates in the world must offer little encouragement to students like Thapelo. However, in the midst of challenging surroundings, Thapelo has a window to the world through a local community technology center.

Since 1997, the Soweto Digital Village has offered training in and access to information technology to Soweto residents disadvantaged by decades of apartheid inequality. Since its inception, the Chiawelo Digital Village has served more than 2000 members. The site currently houses more than thirty-five (35) personal computers, Internet, digital camera, fax machine, printer, scanner, and video conferencing equipment for its more than 500 active members. Daily classes provide members with basic computer skills, Internet and Email, Windows basics, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access training. The center is supplied with the latest in multimedia educational CD Roms, including Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia, Atlas, My Personal Tutor, and Magic School Bus software.

Modeled after the traditional African “village” concept, the Soweto Digital Village was intended to provide a central location around which a community could bond and learn-through the medium of “digital” technology. Local community members both manage the center and train its residents. Lillian, a Soweto Digital Village trainer, conducts computer basics classes in both English and often Zulu or Sotho languages.

This paper intends to outline the history of Africare’s work with the Digital Village project, presenting both the successes and challenges involved in striving towards a sustainable community technology center.

Results

Africare

Africare is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Washington, DC with programs in 28 African countries. Since 1971, Africare has provided agriculture, water, environmental, health, and emergency assistance to countries throughout Africa.

Project History

Since 1997, Africare and its partners have implemented the Digital Village project, an initiative aimed at making “educational, cultural, and business resources available through the ‘computer technology superhighway’ in an accessible, affordable and sustainable way for the development of disadvantaged communities throughout South Africa.”

Digital Villages are computer education and resource centers located within disadvantaged communities intended to provide training in and access to information and communication technology (ICT). Africare works with disadvantaged communities to support the establishment and operation of viable, sustainable community technology centers for use by marginalized communities.

Other Digital Village Sites
In addition to the Chiawelo Digital Village, Africare and its partners have supported the establishment of three more centers in South Africa:
a. Orlando West, Soweto township, Gauteng Province
b. Galeshewe, Northern Cape Province
c. Cape Flats, Western Cape Province

Additionally, Africare has been approached by numerous communities for the establishment of Digital Villages in their areas throughout South Africa and elsewhere on the continent.

Digital Village Program Model

Management
During the initial stages of Digital Village formation, Africare works closely with community members and existing Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to ensure that the Digital Village meets the real needs of the community and that there is genuine commitment to the project. Day-to-day operation of the center rests solely with the on-site Digital Village manager/trainer, a local resident hired by the Digital Village. Policy decisions lie with a management committee of local community leaders.

Membership
Community residents become members of their Digital Village for which they receive access to training courses and Digital Village resources. Africare works with Digital Village management to design a specific fee structure which meets the needs of its respective community while generating adequate income to support operating costs. Digital Villages require users to pay small membership fees in an effort towards ownership and investment in the center by community members. Similarly, membership fees contribute to cover the operating costs of the Digital Village, in an effort towards self-sustainability of the center.

Training and Access
Digital Village operating hours are divided between training and access times, allowing members access to IT education, as well as time to utilize these resources for whatever they desire, including Internet and Email, Adult Basic Education, Small Business Entrepreneurship, Vocational Skills, and Personal Finance Management.

Self-sustainability
Through membership fees and Print Shop revenue, Africare intends that each Digital Village eventually become a self-sustaining operation, able to pay salaries, maintenance, and running costs itself. Additionally, Africare works with Digital Village management and staff to explore income-generating activities specific to the needs of its respective community, including consulting, facility rental, technical support, and equipment maintenance.

Location

MPCCs
Africare intends to locate Digital Villages within Multi-Purpose Community Centers (MPCCs), which often include community halls and libraries. MPCCs are generally centrally located, and provide access to a broad range of community residents. More recently, South African government has mandated that schools also function as MPCCs, providing resources and services to community members beyond its immediate student population.

Local CBOs
Africare attempts to locate existing Community Based Organizations (CBOs) with whom to partner from within the community in which it seeks to establish a Digital Village. These CBOs generally have a stronger relationship with and better understanding of the community, as well as existing management and financial structures to assist Digital Village operations.

Digital Village Print Shop
In an effort towards self-sustainability of the Chiawelo site, the Digital Village has opened a Business Services Center to provide desktop publishing, graphic design, faxing, copying, and printing services for the local community. Chiawelo intends that this center work in conjunction with the Digital Village, providing useful services to community members while earning money to support operating costs. Africare envisions that all Digital Villages will operate a similar business to ensure sustainability of each center.

Partnerships
Since the project’s inception, Africare has worked closely with several private sector organizations on the Digital Village initiative. Partner companies provide not only funding for the project, but technical expertise to ensure the success of each center. Current partners include Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, DeBeers, Intel, Kodak, Compaq and ForwardZone Sports Marketing Agency. Grant funding has been donated by the Kodak Foundation, St. Paul Group of Companies, and Microsoft Corporation.

Digital Village Working Group
In February 2000, Africare held the first meeting of the Digital Village Working Group, a collection of organizations dedicated to the success of the Digital Village project. Participating organizations included both existing and potential partners in the project, each of whom represent a diverse background of fields, including software, hardware, networking, training, telecommunications, imaging, Internet Service Providers (ISP), and government. Whether member organizations provide advice, funding, supplies, or technical support, Africare intends that this group convene on a regular basis in an effort to keep partners abreast of Digital Village happenings, to inform partners of Digital Village project needs, and for the Group to act as a managing body on issues surrounding the project as a whole. Regular attendees to Working Group meetings include representatives from Africare, Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, DeBeers, Compaq, and ForwardZone. Africare intends that this Working Group oversee the project as it expands across South Africa. Recent projects initiated by Working Group meetings include the Digital Village logo contest, and the development of a review process for existing and potential Digital Village business plans.


Expansion of Digital Village Programs

The Digital Village seeks not only to empower members through education and computer literacy, but envisions that the center provide other services, including small business development, adult basic education training (ABET), distance learning, and cultural programs. In particular, Africare has begun to look closely at the implementation of programs in line with its primary focus of work in Southern Africa: HIV/Aids prevention and agriculture development.

HIV/Aids Prevention
Because Africare South Africa also supports an Adolescent Reproductive Health initiative throughout Southern Africa to increase awareness around HIV/Aids, Africare is in the unique position to integrate HIV education with Information Technology. Digital Village staff and representatives of Africare’s Regional Adolescent Reproductive Health Project have recently begun discussion surrounding implementation of an integration program intended to provide HIV/Aids awareness through Information Technology resources available at Digital Villages. Previously disadvantaged youth from across Africa could utilize Information and Communications Technology to gather health related information and communicate with students around the globe. Africare has witnessed the way in which Digital Villages naturally become “youth centers,” attracting young community members lured by interactive technology and recreation. Given the present problem with which HIV/Aids now presents South Africa in particular, it is imperative that Africare utilize the captive audience present at Digital Villages to address community health needs. Thulani, a Soweto Digital Village trainer, has recently begun Friday afternoon classes engaging Sowetan youth to use the Internet to gather HIV/Aids information.

Agriculture
Africare intends to target existing and future Digital Village communities for integration of an agriculture development program in partnership with its existing REAP (Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Development) Project. The Galeshewe Digital Village, a semi-rural disadvantaged community outside of Kimberley, presents an excellent opportunity to target marginalized South Africans with agriculture development through Information Technology.

In March 2000, Africare met with representatives from the University of Zululand, an historically disadvantaged University in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), to discuss establishment of a distance learning initiative. Black, rural KZN farmers could receive access to up-to-date market, weather, pricing, innovations, discussions, and news relating to agriculture through an innovative network of Internet-equipped computer centers throughout the Province. Based at the Department of Agriculture’s offices within the University, computer centers-or Digital Villages-strategically positioned within reach of rural farmers and cooperatives, could both disseminate and gather agriculture-related information for the benefit of disadvantaged farmers, University researchers, government officials, and interested parties across the globe.


Obstacles

Local Management
Foremost of the obstacles the project has faced to date is the issue of local management. In the early stages of establishment of Digital Villages, Africare gathered teams of local leaders to meet in the form of a Digital Village management committee. While members of the committee were initially enthusiastic, most tended to disappear soon after the center became established. Thus, the bulk of management duties have rested with Africare. This becomes especially problematic in the Kimberley area, since Africare offices reside in Johannesburg, more than 400km away. Africare has learned that a far more successful approach is to locate existing community based organizations (CBOs) for partnership from within the community in which it intends to work (see “lessons learned”).

Internet Rates and Access
During the early formation of the Chiawelo Digital Village in 1997, a local Internet Service Provider (ISP), the Internet Solution, partnered with Africare and others to support the center. To this day, ISP costs are supported by the Internet Solution. However, other Digital Villages are forced to support the cost of Internet access on their own. Since almost none have reached a level of sustainability, Africare has been forced to allocate donor funds for this cost. Similarly, the Orlando Digital Village, Soweto, still does not have Internet access because Telkom, the South African telecommunications monopoly, has been slow to install needed phone lines in the area. While internet access in the United States costs approximately US$20 per month, African subscribers pay approximately US$240 per month, due in large part because local telephone calls are charged per minute rates, and competition for ISP business is small. For a local area network (LAN) with 22 computers, the Cape Flats Digital Village currently pays close to US$330 per month to provide Internet access to members.

Staff Training
Because Digital Villages operate within disadvantaged South African communities, locating skilled and professional locally-based staff members is often a challenge. Therefore, from inception, Africare envisioned that considerable training would need to be provided to Digital Village staff in order to empower targeted communities. Unfortunately, verbal commitments by project partners have failed to actualize, therefore leaving the majority of Digital Village staff to empower and train themselves. Similarly, skills necessary for effective operation of Digital Villages include both IT as well as business skills. Africare has learned that capacity building of both Digital Village management and staff, in both technical and business skills, is imperative to the success of Digital Villages after Africare relinquishes ownership.

Africare capacity
Because Africare has operated on a minimal initial grant to support this and other Digital Villages, it has been unable to even support a full-time program coordinator to service the project’s needs. Time split between the Country Representative-whose duties include supervising all Africare projects-and various interns and volunteers has been used to manage the Digital Village project until this point.

Lessons Learned

Local Management
Based upon its experiences with the Digital Village, as well as discussions with partners and results of the evaluation, Africare must look closely at its approach to community development. It seems as if the model Africare has used relies too heavily upon the benevolence of community members to oversee management of community resource centers such as the Digital Village. Pulling together a selection of local leaders to sit in the form of a managing body does not, perhaps, take the steps necessary to instill the teamwork and ownership important to such a project. The Cape Flats Digital Village exemplifies a functional management committee, due in large part because Africare has partnered with an existing local CBO, the Cape Flats Development Association (CAFDA), who, because of their existing management and financial structure, is better able to effectively take over control of Digital Village operations. Rather than attempt to establish a management committee from scratch, Africare should identify existing CBOs with which to partner for establishment of Digital Villages. The existence of a determined, locally based managing body to oversee operation of Digital Villages will lead to effective operation and successful service delivery far into the future.

A recent evaluation of the Digital Village project completed by the Joint Education Trust reports that “In establishing the centres, Africare has taken pains to engage with community structures in as comprehensive manner as possible, including lengthy negotiations and the development of management committees which should be representative of the community concerned. At present, the centres have varying levels of community involvement. However, it would seem that the centres are struggling to achieve community involvement in the management and administration of the centres. At present there seems to be a gap between the expectations of the community and Africare, with respect to the role that the community should be playing. At Cape Flats, where there was an established community organisation, it was easier to establish these roles.”

In the absence of such a suitable, existing local organization, however, future projects must develop a clear criteria and plan for establishment of the management body which is to oversee Digital Villages. Establishment of this body should occur during early preparatory stages, and the committee should be tasked with the majority of project planning stages in cooperation with the donor organization.

Ownership and Handover
In conjunction with the location or establishment of a determined local management committee or body, handover of Digital Village resources should occur at the beginning, rather than at the end, of the project timeline. To form a management committee without entrusting it with management responsibility defeats its purpose and decreases the likelihood and eventuality of it owning the project. Similarly, without being adequately tasked with establishment of the Digital Village, handling of resources, or decision making processes, community members and management will tend to perceive of their Digital Village as an “Africare project.” As outlined in Africare’s “Implementation Model” (see below) and as recommended by the Joint Education Trust, care must be taken to ensure that responsibility for the project rests with the community itself. Africare’s experience with local management bodies shows that central to this goal is the formalized handover of Digital Village resources and equipment to the local organization at the outset.

Size and Capacity
Because the success of each Digital Village rests in its ability to achieve financial sustainability, the center’s readiness to serve a considerable number of community residents impacts its chances of survival. Any centre like a Digital Village will necessarily have a certain amount of fixed costs associated with its operation (salaries, telephone, rent, electricity, supplies). Therefore, a Digital Village must be able to generate a certain amount of income to meet those costs. Since Digital Villages operate within disadvantaged communities, it is imperative that they offer their services at affordable rates. If a center has only fifteen (15) computers, it can serve a much smaller number of users than a center with fifty (50) computers. While the Chiawelo Digital Village has been able to reach a relative level of self-sustainability, Africare realizes that its ability to do so rests to a large extent in its capacity (40 computers) and membership numbers (+500 active members). Those centers with fewer computers and, consequently, fewer members, have had more difficulty in reaching financial sustainability. Therefore, it is important that future initiatives think critically about the number of computers necessary to effectively operate a Digital Village.

Fee Structure
It has become clear that current price structures at existing Digital Villages must change to fit the individual needs of each center. The goal, of course, is always to provide the most affordable resources and services to community members. However, because Africare cannot (nor does it intend to) support Digital Village operating costs for the length of the project, it is essential that Digital Villages generate income to support operating and maintenance costs. While the current rate of approximately R360 ($50) per year may have worked for the Chiawelo Digital Village, both increased number of computers and subsidized ISP costs contributed to that success. Other Digital Villages, therefore, must generate an individual price structure which both covers necessary expenses and meets the needs of community members. Given the fact that private IT training institutions charge more for one day of training than a Digital Village does for a year of its services, DV staff ought not shy from increasing user fees. Similarly, the basic membership structure, which affords paying members flat access to training and resources, ought to be examined. A more detailed pricing structure might more adequately meet user needs, while generating income based upon customer use.

Implementation Model

Based on its experience over the past four years, Africare has outlined the following implementation model for establishment of new Digital Villages, in an effort to achieve maximum community ownership and sustainability:

The following guidelines are outlined as follows:
Phase number: Title. General timeframe.
Primary objectives

Total duration of model: 48 months

Phase 1: Exploration. Months 1-6
Present idea of Digital Village to wider community; establish and/or locate management committee; Register management committee and adopt constitution; Locate potential sites.

Phase 2: Planning. Months 7-12
Management committee to develop business plan in cooperation with Africare, with particular attention to financial plan and timelines; Draft and sign Memorandum of Understanding between Africare and management committee, outlining roles and responsibilities, stipulating handover process; Secure project location.

Phase 3: Infrastructure. Months 13-18
Management committee should be tasked with establishment of infrastructure; Donor organizations tasked with delivery of equipment.

Phase 4: Capacity Building. Months 19-21
Management committee should be assisted to locate suitable staff members to manage daily operations and training courses at Digital Village; Africare and partners should support staff training and development, with particular attention paid to building capacity in areas of technical, business and management skills.

Phase 5: Implementation. Months 22-24
Open Digital Village bank account; Configure equipment, including Internet access; Set launch date with timeline of events.

Phase 6: Operation. Months 25-30
Management committee, in close association with Africare, should implement plans set out in business plan; Regular meetings of management committee are essential to attend to all issues which necessarily emerge.

Phase 7: Review. Months 31-36
Management committee, in close association with Africare, should meet regularly to asses ability of Digital Village to reach goals set out in business plan, with particular attention to ability of center to meet customer demands and achieve financial sustainability.

Phase 8: Exit. Months 37-48
From date of launch, Africare’s financial support gradually decreases; Twenty four (24) months from launch date, all operating costs are supported by and the responsibility of Digital Village management; Periodic skills development and technical assistance by Africare continues; Regular reports submitted to Africare by Management committee.

Conclusion

Evidenced from Africare’s work over the past four years with the Digital Village project, there clearly exists tremendous potential available from, and great need for, Information and Communications Technology in the developing world. While the potential benefits of ICT and Internet connectivity might lead some to rapidly deploy expensive resources to developing communities, Africare’s experience in the establishment of sustainable community technology centers suggests that careful attention paid to the management and planning capacity of local stakeholders will more readily ensure that resources made available now continue to exist far into the future.

“The Soweto Digital Village has helped me a lot. I think I have improved so much in computer skills especially after going to the web page designing workshop, which gave me skills to create a professional web site. In future, I think I would be a computer guru in the Internet and anything concerning computers. The workshop has paved my way for a career in computers. If it was not because of the Digital Village, I would not have had an opportunity to take part in [the web page design workshop] and achieved what I did. Thanks to the Soweto Digital Village.” Thapelo Chuene, Soweto.

Lessons

Cyril Dadd
Africare
+27.11.403.3235
CyrilD@africaresa.co.za

You can visit Thapelo’s web-site at: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/7901/Chuene.html

Project Information

Total budget in US$ : -

Contact Information

Cyril Dadd

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