By Azhar Razak
Governments and policymakers in developing countries should take full advantage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to combat poverty reduction, a recent research report has highlighted. ‘The Information Economy Report 2010’ prepared by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) highlights that mobile phones will be the best medium to combat poverty, as the penetration rate for this medium of communication is significantly higher than that of other ICTs and is even used by the people at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP).
“A recent study by LIRNEasia of some farmers near Dambulla found that they were able to obtain a premium of 23.4% on the average daily market prices at the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centre (DDEC) by having access to timely and accurate market price information via their mobile phones,” the senior research manager at the regional policy think tank LIRNEasia, Sriganesh Loganathan, told a recent press conference organised to release the UNCTAD report.
He said that poor people often lack information that is critical for their work, for example, market-prices (such as the service offered by Tradenet in Sri Lanka), income earning opportunities, crop advisory, weather forecasts, agricultural best-practices, health, finance and even information on disaster risk reduction.
“There is an informational dimension to poverty. Lack of access to information increases the vulnerability of the poor. However, the rapid diffusion of mobile phone technology is making it possible for poor people to have access to this information as well as to engage in interactive communication,” Loganathan said.
Meanwhile, Founding Chair and CEO of LIRNEasia Professor Rohan Samarajiva outlined the UNCTAD report that micro-enterprises in low-income countries are rapidly adopting mobile phones as key tools for advancing their commercial activities.
“In more and more low-income countries, it has been found that people at the BOP such as farmers, fishermen and small-time entrepreneurs are using mobile phones to assist their livelihoods, as the technology is now simple and affordable enough,” he said adding that new jobs have arisen catering to local demand for mobile phones and the associated applications and services.
“Many low-income people are selling airtime or mobile money services on the street or in shops as this work can be done by people with few formal skills,” Professor Samarajiva analysed.
Over the past few years, the penetration rate of mobile phones in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) has surged from 2 to 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
In Sri Lanka, it has been estimated that more than 75 percent of households have some kind of phone in them.
“However, during our survey in Sri Lanka we also found that only 50 percent of the time spent on mobile phones is being used for productive purposes whereas in countries like Bangladesh and Philippines it is over 90 percent,” LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Ayesha Zainudeen said.
Therefore, she suggested that the attitude towards mobile phones need changing in Sri Lanka and that we should encourage the evolvement of trade facilities (through mobiles) such as Cellbazaar in Bangladesh to make productive use of mobiles.
Multiple SIM usage
Meanwhile, Professor Samarajiva commenting on the recent decision taken by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) to limit the number of SIM cards registered under one individual to five, said that the authority should not have placed such a restriction since it curtails consumer choice but should put in place a central database where mobile users can check on how many SIM cards have been registered under their specific names which could increase the overall transparency in the system.
“Pakistan has now put in place such a database and it is now possible for users there to check how many SIM cards are registered under their names,” he said.
He elaborated that during a survey in Pakistan, it was revealed that a person who was using only two SIMs for himself had found that another 90 SIMs were registered falsely under his name when he had checked the database.
“It as an issue for national security as well,” Professor Samarajiva noted.
LIRNEasia launched UNCTAD’s Information Economy Report 2010: ICTs, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation in Colombo last week. It is learnt that senior researchers from LIRNEasia had also been involved in the preparation of the UNCTAD’s report.
Governments and policymakers in developing countries should take full advantage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to combat poverty reduction, a recent research report has highlighted. ‘The Information Economy Report 2010’ prepared by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) highlights that mobile phones will be the best medium to combat poverty, as the penetration rate for this medium of communication is significantly higher than that of other ICTs and is even used by the people at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP).
“A recent study by LIRNEasia of some farmers near Dambulla found that they were able to obtain a premium of 23.4% on the average daily market prices at the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centre (DDEC) by having access to timely and accurate market price information via their mobile phones,” the senior research manager at the regional policy think tank LIRNEasia, Sriganesh Loganathan, told a recent press conference organised to release the UNCTAD report.
He said that poor people often lack information that is critical for their work, for example, market-prices (such as the service offered by Tradenet in Sri Lanka), income earning opportunities, crop advisory, weather forecasts, agricultural best-practices, health, finance and even information on disaster risk reduction.
“There is an informational dimension to poverty. Lack of access to information increases the vulnerability of the poor. However, the rapid diffusion of mobile phone technology is making it possible for poor people to have access to this information as well as to engage in interactive communication,” Loganathan said.
Meanwhile, Founding Chair and CEO of LIRNEasia Professor Rohan Samarajiva outlined the UNCTAD report that micro-enterprises in low-income countries are rapidly adopting mobile phones as key tools for advancing their commercial activities.
“In more and more low-income countries, it has been found that people at the BOP such as farmers, fishermen and small-time entrepreneurs are using mobile phones to assist their livelihoods, as the technology is now simple and affordable enough,” he said adding that new jobs have arisen catering to local demand for mobile phones and the associated applications and services.
“Many low-income people are selling airtime or mobile money services on the street or in shops as this work can be done by people with few formal skills,” Professor Samarajiva analysed.
Over the past few years, the penetration rate of mobile phones in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) has surged from 2 to 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
In Sri Lanka, it has been estimated that more than 75 percent of households have some kind of phone in them.
“However, during our survey in Sri Lanka we also found that only 50 percent of the time spent on mobile phones is being used for productive purposes whereas in countries like Bangladesh and Philippines it is over 90 percent,” LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Ayesha Zainudeen said.
Therefore, she suggested that the attitude towards mobile phones need changing in Sri Lanka and that we should encourage the evolvement of trade facilities (through mobiles) such as Cellbazaar in Bangladesh to make productive use of mobiles.
Multiple SIM usage
Meanwhile, Professor Samarajiva commenting on the recent decision taken by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) to limit the number of SIM cards registered under one individual to five, said that the authority should not have placed such a restriction since it curtails consumer choice but should put in place a central database where mobile users can check on how many SIM cards have been registered under their specific names which could increase the overall transparency in the system.
“Pakistan has now put in place such a database and it is now possible for users there to check how many SIM cards are registered under their names,” he said.
He elaborated that during a survey in Pakistan, it was revealed that a person who was using only two SIMs for himself had found that another 90 SIMs were registered falsely under his name when he had checked the database.
“It as an issue for national security as well,” Professor Samarajiva noted.
LIRNEasia launched UNCTAD’s Information Economy Report 2010: ICTs, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation in Colombo last week. It is learnt that senior researchers from LIRNEasia had also been involved in the preparation of the UNCTAD’s report.
