IGF 2020 Lessons Learnt from Evidence-Based Research

Information

Session

Time:

Friday, 6 November, 2020 - 17:10 to 18:40 UTC

Room:

Room 2

About this Session:

This session aims to share insights on (1) digital skills, (2) health, (3) community networks, based on 120 case studies on ICT-based initiatives from 50 countries and to provide practical takeaways for practitioners.

DC:

Dynamic Coalition on Innovative Approaches to Connecting the Unconnected

Round Table - U-shape - 90 Min

Theme:

Inclusion

Subtheme:

Community Networks
Digital Skills
Gender

Description:

In this session, we seek to introduce new synthesis of our case studies in three domain areas, namely digital literacy, health, and community networks based on the further analysis of our 120 case studies from more than 50 countries and present the existing trends, impact, and data gaps as well as roadmap for sustainable ICT-based initiatives in these areas. The panel will also focus on gender access in each area, highlighting the barriers and opportunities for women to accessing to and using of digital skills, mobile health, and community networks initiatives. Following each presentation, an expert from different multi-stakeholder groups will react and respond, sharing insights utilizing from their own expertise and lessons learnt from their own work and/or initiatives. The session will trace the arc of the coalition's work, and yield concrete outputs to feed into ongoing work in different areas.

Relevance to IG:

One of the central problems confronting the world is increasing the number of people connected to the Internet. According to estimates, only 3.1 billion of the 7.3 billion world inhabitants were connected to the Internet. The adoption problem is particularly acute in Africa and Asia, where adoption rates continue to lag behind the global average. Of equal concern are the facts that in recent years, the growth rate of Internet users has started to flatten and that women and other segments of the population are often excluded from Internet connectivity. IGF has already begun to identify new strategies for connecting the next billion as part of its intercessional work. The IGF would benefit from a Dynamic Coalition that would consolidate, extend, and share this work by collecting and disseminating information about practices that have proven effective in improving broadband adoption.

Relevance to Theme:

This session will focus on disseminating existing practices that have proven effective in connecting the unconnected in around 50 countries in the Global South as well as roadmap for sustainable ICT-based initiatives, particularly in the areas of digital skills training, health, and community networks. The panel will also focus on gender access in each area, highlighting the barriers and opportunities for women to accessing to and and using of digital skills training, mobile health, and community networks initiatives.

Organizers:

Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania Muge Haseki, University of Pennsylvania Leon Gwaka, University of Pennsylvania

Speakers:

Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania, USA Muge Haseki, University of Pennsylvania, USA Leon Gwaka, University of Pennsylvania, USA Leandro Navarro, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, SPAIN Claire Sibthorpe, UK Sarbani Banerjee Belur INDIA

Onsite Moderator:

Sharada Srinivasan, World Bank, USA

Online Moderator:

Muge Haseki, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Rapporteur:

Leon Gwaka, University of Pennsylvania, USA

SDGs:

GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-Being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequalities
GOAL 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Reference Document: http://1worldconnected.org/

Report

4. Policy Recommendations or Suggestions for the Way Forward:

What policy sector(s) does this fall under? (leave blank if not sure):

Social-cultural

Technical

Overarching governance issues

Issue and Recommendation:

In this DC, we addressed issues and gaps in three demand side areas based on the analysis of our 120 case studies on connecting the unconnected: 1-digital skills, 2-health and gender, 3-community networks and 1-Digital skills: (i)Our case study analysis has shown that majority of digital skills training programs target students (43%) while the seniors and the disabled are the least represented groups, (ii)the top technology choice for training delivery is computer-based (65%) while the most used technology in these countries is mobile phones. (iii) There is no standard curriculum, which makes it hard to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs (iv) There is no standard duration and frequency of digital skills training, ranging from 2 hours to 1 week, 3 months to 6 months for basic ICT training. 2-Health and gender: Our analysis shows that women in marginalized areas face multiple barriers simultaneously (e.g., low-literacy, financial, social norms, etc) but more often ICT-based health interventions tend to address a single barrier (e.g., providing free service), which is not effective or cost-effective. 3-Community networks: Our analysis shows that lack of supporting infrastructure, poor business models and vague regulatory frameworks frustrate efforts to develop and operate community networks.

Who should take it?:

All stakeholders

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IGF 2020 Lessons Learnt from Evidence-Based Research

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