tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58320405215542381572024-03-14T15:59:41.080+05:45Universal Connectivity NepalUniversal access has been a buzzword in the various IT and ICT related policy documents. Specifically broadband Internet has been promoted by various technology-enthusiasts with potential to be a significant contributor to the national GDP and as a platform that is fair and equal. This blog provides an insight into the variation in access and use of the Internet and related technological platforms such as fixed-line broadband and mobile telecommunication from the local perspective.Nischal Regmihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04873076145291925445noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-88525417915585032192018-06-23T17:24:00.002+05:452018-06-23T17:24:38.503+05:45Moving Beyond Access: The Landscape of Internet Use and Digital Inequality in Nepal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<i>This research brief sketches the information characterization of the “have-less” in Nepal by unveiling Internet (data) consumption and online activity quantitatively. You can find the brief at <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/Research-Brief-23_English.pdf">http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/Research-Brief-23_English.pdf</a></i>]<br />
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Conventionally, digital inequality has been seen as a deviance that can be fixed by increasing access. We argue that such framing shifts our focus away from critical issues about how Internet is used, who benefits and who is excluded in the end or even during the drive for increasing connectivity. We suggest that in an evolving landscape of digital expansion, the distinct in-between tier of the information have-less appears. The formation of this have-less group is a result of particular social transformations where communication technologies start to play crucial roles in the lives of the marginalized groups such as migrant workers, unemployed youth, and the old. We show that in utilizing the binary categories of “haves” vs. “have-nots,” the dominant narrative of Nepali Internet misses out the information stratification in Nepali society. Consequently, Internet policies, based on inaccurate ground assessment, will have no or limited impact on the lives and livelihood of the very users for whom the massive investment in the digital infrastructure is being rolled out. We call for a new set of policies that explicitly recognize the information stratification and make use of distinct technosocial characteristics of the information have-less in striving for the universal connectivity in the country. </div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-29579095093185280432018-01-03T10:59:00.004+05:452018-01-03T11:00:40.823+05:45Changing connectivities and renewed priorities: Status and challenges facing Nepali Internet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Abstract</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px;">Evidence available after the devastating April 2015 Nepal earthquake (Gorkha earthquake) illustrates uneven coverage and poor data consumption in Nepal in spite of impressive mobile Internet subscription numbers. Places with favourable terrain, higher population densities, and higher income have better connectivity. Online activity levels, on the other hand, do not always correspond with these factors. Overall, ownership of digital technologies and its use exhibit clear regional unevenness and a large urban-rural inequality. These geographical factors reflect differences in socio-demographic characteristics. Unfortunately, in Nepal, dominant discourses on the Internet brush aside these linkages. With deep structural inequalities, a resource-scarce economy, and a track record of poor governance, broadband connectivity will not reduce this development chasm. This paper calls for Nepali Internet discourses to be grounded in reality, detaching from a ‘self-evident’ development vision of connectivity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px;"><b>Read the full paper at</b> <a href="http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/8071/6613">http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/8071/6613</a></span></div>
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shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-90403725120831267752017-04-02T12:47:00.000+05:452017-04-02T12:47:14.920+05:45The bandwidth bottleneck - Inclusive internet policies have to acknowledge the inequality in income distribution <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Internet policies of developing countries have long dreamt of an inclusive internet that can bridge the proverbial digital divide and noticeably contribute to economic growth. The path towards realizing this dream warrants broadband internet access to 45 percent of the Nepali households. This becomes probable when the entry-level home broadband connection is priced at less than 5 percent monthly income (ie, GNI per capita) of an individual. Broadband policy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy envisage these to provide impetus for the sector to contribute 2.5 percent to GDP. The latest versions of the policies were drafted in 2015. A 45 percent broadband penetration rate is expected by 2018, with visible economic growth by 2020. These are the rates at which the necessary conditions translate to observable growth statistics. To understand the arguments, it suffices to equate broadband internet with ‘wide’ (bandwidth) and ‘fast’ connections.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Policy planning</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Affordability of bandwidth is at the heart of broadband policy planning. In Nepal Rastra Bank’s fifth budget survey, the average income of households that fall in the richest 20 percent bracket is Rs53,578. This roughly equates to Rs11,906 per person. An entry level fibre broadband connection costs around Rs1,200 which is double the 5 percent affordability requirement. This cost is six times the affordability requirement for the poorest 20 percent bracket. What’s more, Rs1,200 is actually a low cost for advertised bandwidth and speed. Nepal has just above 1 percent broadband subscription.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Policies stipulate 512 Kbps (Kilo-bits per second) as the minimum download speed for a broadband internet connection. Interestingly, this minimum is the same in India, where the recent decision to classify 512 Kbps as broadband has been roundly criticised, with some labelling it “a joke”, “meagre”, “archaic and useless”, “out of touch with reality” and a “move back to the dark ages”. Such criticism comes due to the telecom regulators buckling under pressure from the telecom operators, which are also internet service providers (ISPs), for a U-turn on the original 2Mbps (Mega-bits per second) recommendation. The ISPs stated that without throttling, they cannot provide fast internet at an affordable price. Two options were suggested to the regulators: either set the minimum at 64 Kbps or allow unrestricted throttling. Regular home internet users would regard 64Kbps speed as a relic from the dial-up era. A crawling internet will also not contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The only realistic option on the table was to allow unrestricted throttling.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Throttling internet speed</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like their Indian counterpart, Nepali ISPs can throttle a fast internet speed as part of their ‘fair usage policy’ (FUP). Historically, the internet bandwidth was shared among six to eight subscribers. Sharing-ratios allowed ISPs to guarantee unlimited data volume. Upon the arrival of volume based packages (data cap), FUP mechanisms and tools such as throttling, sharing-ratio became an obsolete mechanism for bandwidth control. Throttling has been a thorny issue worldwide with frequent reports</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of intentional throttling by the ISPs. Such measures raise questions on the nation’s net neutrality ambitions. A popular Nepali ISP defines ‘fair’ use: “Day to day surfing, checking emails and occasional downloading will not get you into trouble. However, downloading a 200-300 MB movie clip/data every day is almost certain to. The key is to keep an eye on the amount that you are downloading. Then if you’re classed as a heavy or excessive user, restructure your internet usage pattern so that you are not uploading or downloading at peak times. If you don’t heed their warnings, the system will slow down the speed of your connection after your data limit.” Worryingly, there is nothing a user can do about this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Broadband internet and data cap with throttling is an oxymoron, considering high speed internet connection is being sold for high bandwidth applications. An internet user with a 10 Mbps connection will exhaust the 80 GB data cap after just 18 hours of usage. A four-hour per-day usage can extend access to this ‘fast’ internet for only five days, leaving 25 days for a buffered browsing experience. For some users, the data cap might seem to last longer. There are two likely explanations: ISPs give the promised 10 Mbps at certain time slots, the rest are throttled; or customers use the internet for low bandwidth applications such as browsing and VoIP (Viber/Skype).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no quick fix to the affordability conundrum. First, Nepali ISPs presently buy bandwidth from Indian ISPs at their dictated price. But as the Indian experience has recently shown, owning state of the art infrastructure in a competitive market does not necessarily translate into broadband affordability. Second, if affordability was to be defined in line with the meaningful use of the web, such as data usage of regular internet users, 512 Kbps is a ‘something is better than nothing’ target. Third, affordability demands a revision from the perspective of all income groups. Inclusive internet policies have to acknowledge the inequality in income distribution. Equipped with this new understanding, the entry-level broadband might have to be priced at 2 percent or less of the average monthly income.</span></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pandey is a researcher affiliated with Martin Chautari</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Source:<a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-03-21/the-bandwidth-bottleneck.html">http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-03-21/the-bandwidth-bottleneck.html</a></span></div>
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shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-2399816523598701972017-04-02T11:34:00.000+05:452017-04-02T11:37:45.146+05:45Free Float Internet Policies (Findings from access and use survey)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Here we list the findings from the quantitative analysis of the household surveys conducted in 2014/15 to understand the access and use of the Internet technologies, including the fixed and mobile broadband. The research was carried out by Martin Chautari (2014-2016) with support from the Ford Foundation. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of the local partners. We would like to thank Nasancha Pucha: (Panauti), Himalaya Milan Secondary School (Tangting) and Progressive Women Society (Changunarayan) for their facilitation, assistance and support. We are also grateful to Bhagabati Gautam for her assistance and volunteering work in Pragatinagar.</span></div>
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[ <i>Note: The paper is available in the journal “Studies in Nepali History and Society” (SINHAS), Vol. 21 No. 1. It is also available online <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/SINHAS-Articles/SINHAS-Vol.21-No.1_Shailesh-Pandey-and-Yogesh-Raj.pdf">here</a>. The full set of briefs and papers can be found in our <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/index.php/projects/?pid=1">Universal Connectivity page</a>. </i>]</div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">A family spends 7 percent of their household income on mobile phone bills.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Though reported penetration of mobile phone has well crossed the cent percent mark (120%), the five locations had 72 percent household ownership (and similar individual ownership among the respondents). Therefore, NTAs subscriber count is likely to be sim counts.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Only half of the mobile phone owners had ever used internet from their sets.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Only 8 percent of the households had a fixed internet connection.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Less than 3 percent households in Dapcha own a computer (laptop or desktop). Except Panauti which has around 35 percent household ownership of computers, the four site averages to around 8 percent penetration. This is similar to statistics reported by the World Bank (8.9% in 2015).</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Anything better than a weak statistical association among the Internet use and socio-demographic variables could not be found. For example, people with higher education did not exhibit a tendency to use the Internet for education and employment activities.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Income groups were indistinguishable in their use of mobile Internet.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Results on the ethnicity-Internet link show that in a particular settlement the ICT penetration and ownership of devices seem to reinforce the socio-economic exclusion. Across the sites, however, people belonging to the single ethnic group have varied access levels of ownership such as the Newars in Dapcha and Panauti or Gurungs in Changunarayan and Tangting.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Location advantage offered a better explanation of Internet adoption than chasing the ethnicity and income threads.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Over two-third of the people in the survey said home Internet was “not required”. The indistinguishable usage pattern across income groups and age levels indicate main reason for non-use could be the absence of any compelling need for such technology.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">In our survey sites, only Panauti and Pragatinagar had households with more fixed broadband penetration than the unflattering national average.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Only 12 percent of the total Internet users have used the Internet or mobile-apps for private or government electronic-services (e-services). Only 27 percent of the respondents say they have ever used Internet for obtaining government information.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Four out of five mobile phone using respondents, including the broadband Internet users, complained about regular “network problems.”</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">There is dearth of evidence to unlock association between local content, Internet infrastructure and affordability to forge meaningful ICT policies.</span></li>
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The IT policy documents will do better if they accept that the outcome of a technological intervention depends on the use people find for the technology. There is no denying that the relationships among the digital divide, poverty and education are enormously complex, particularly when, for instance, the difference in relative and absolute poverty will make available studies about the relationship questionable. The complexity also becomes obvious when policy interventions could frame questions of the divide variously as problems of access, or skill, or content. Our survey reinforces the understanding that adoption decisions are primarily need-driven and based on cost-effectiveness of the investment. Farmers of Dapcha, for instance, are likely to revert to existing information channels if Internet do not offer content tailored to their information requests.</div>
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shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-8653082604226277832017-03-29T16:13:00.000+05:452017-03-29T16:13:05.232+05:45Research Bites: Universal Connectivity (information and communication technologies)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post contains short summaries of research briefs broadly related to Information Technology and Communication. The research was carried out by Martin Chautari during 2014-2016. The homepage of the research is <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/index.php/projects/?pid=1">http://www.martinchautari.org.np/index.php/projects/?pid=1</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief12-UniversalConnectivityInNepal_APolicyReview.pdf">Universal Connectivity in Nepal: A Policy Review</a></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UC-related
policies assume a levelling effect of the ICTs, and little consider that
technologies are themselves socially constructed artefacts. They have provided
a rationality for mobilizing public resources, for erecting new institutions
and facilitating the sustaining of certain business interests, particularly
that of the IT elite in Nepal. The solution lies in formulating evidence based
UC policies while openly acknowledging the limitations of the technologies in
mainstreaming the marginalized and vulnerable section of the population.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief15-StakeholdersForUniversalConnectivityInNepal.pdf">Stakeholders for Universal Connectivity in Nepal </a></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UC-related
policies in Nepal should focus on developing the scientific and technological core
and not simply on facilitating acquisition and diffusion of new Internet-based
technologies. As a topmost priority, the design of digital ecosystem should
address particularly ways to manage immense power demand. It should not be left
as an issue belonging to another ecosystem or to be managed by yet another
ministry. Past endeavours have sufficiently demonstrated ambitions to transform
the country with diffusion of imported technologies have not worked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief18ENGLISH.pdf">Deliver Through Mobiles First </a></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lack of
benchmark studies such as on speed, penetration and price hinder setting achievable
targets. But the real problem of ‘digital divide’ can only be dealt
meaningfully by situating it in the context of broader socio-economic divide in
the country. Widespread diffusion of the mobile phones provides an opportunity
to direct, shape and fine-tune existing policies. Instead of leaning unreliably
on the capacity-centric development model, Nepal’s IT policies need to frame
ways to integrate user’s everyday experience of mobile phones into the drive
towards universal connectivity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/mc/files/ARegressionAnalysisintoNepaliICTsEnergyConsumptionAndItsImplications.pdf">A Regression Analysis into Nepali ICT's Energy Consumption and its Implications</a></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even with the
most lenient assumptions regarding the behaviour of the ICT sector, it is a
significant consumer of energy at the national level. The chase to parallel the
energy demands of the transportation sector will see gains when large data
centers are established to support e-governance, e-commerce and other data
intensive always-online services. An energy audit of the ICT sector along with
large scale studies on the context of technology has to be done simultaneously
for Nepal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-59628866072118864212017-03-02T13:22:00.001+05:452017-03-02T13:22:03.175+05:45ICT and Development – Is there a connection? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The idea that Information and
Communications technologies (ICTs) are instrumental in national development has
become the faith of the policy circle in the last decade. It is upon this premise that a robust ICT
infrastructure would lower communication and transportation overheads, catalyze
creative activities and eventually catalyze development activities. The impact
of ICT on economic growth in the industrialized nations has been deeply
explored and heatedly debated as an academic topic. Yet we are no closer to a
formula linking characteristics of ICT technologies, their experience and
inclusive development. The idea that ICT connects to growth is still a
hypothesis. It remains unproven on scales, replication and its universality. There
are several criticisms on the findings of ICT and Development (ICTD)
literature, specifically in context of the economically least developed
countries (LDCs).</div>
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There is a methodological
criticism of the ICTD research, which is applicable to a wider range of
empirical research. The major findings are based on the statistical technique
called regression analysis and on a concept known as ‘p-value’. There have been
critiques of the empirical paradigm from the very beginning. The mainstream empirical
research relies heavily on the notion of p-values because it makes quick
inferences possible, without necessitating a thorough understanding of the underlying
phenomena. Researches that employ p-value without well-reasoned scientific
argument are available in a significant volume. Owing to misuse and
misinterpretation in the social sciences and psychology research, the American
Statistical Association floated a notice in 2016 that inferences based on the
p-value should not be used specifically in the policy making processes. A
leading journal of psychology has completely banned the use of p-values. The ICT research needs to be re-examined from
the newer perspective; a perspective that does not rely on the short-cut of
p-values. </div>
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There are other methodological
issues regarding the findings of ICTD research. As the ICT and economic growth
relation has been examined chiefly on the dataset of the industrialized OECD
countries, one can also raise doubts regarding the generalization of the
results to the LDCs. Similarly, the reliability of dataset is in the LDCs is
itself questionable. For instance, the MIS reports of the Nepal Telecommunication
Authority claim a hundred percent penetration of mobile phones, which clearly
is an overstatement. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Besides the doubts on the
methodology of ICTD research, several socioeconomic arguments can be provided that
cast doubts on the universality of the “ICT for development” phenomenon. I will
state a few. The strongest argument is regarding the affordability of Internet.
A popular criterion considers that an Internet connection affordable if its
tariff is within the five percent of per capita income. This criterion renders
even an entry level Internet unaffordable to a vast majority of the Nepali
population. The slow economic growth creates a pessimism that broadband would
remain unaffordable to the majority of Nepalis in the decades to come. The
proponents of “ICT for development” would argue that investments in ICT will
eventually boost the economic growth and Internet will be affordable to the
masses in the LDCs. But such a miracle has not been observed. The World Bank
mentions that the benefits of ICT are not observable in the countries that lack
so-called ‘analog compliments’ for a digital economy, i.e. the triplet of
favorable business climate, strong human capital, and good governance.
Imprecise as these terms are, they nonetheless imply that the relation between
ICT and development is far from being universal. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Another criticism on the
relevance of ICTD research to the LDCs is based on the interdependencies of the
critical infrastructure. The dependencies between critical infrastructures are
observed during both the development and execution phases. The underdeveloped
roads have posed challenges to Nepal Telecom’s ongoing project of laying
optical fibers in the mid-hills. On the execution phase, a fully fledged usage
of ICT demands a robust electricity infrastructure as it prerequisite. A
research by Martin Chautari has shown that the Nepali ICT has already become a
significant consumer of electrical energy despite Internet penetration is still
low in the country. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
One could argue that the ICT
infrastructure can be run on imported electricity or diesel based generators.
However, a dependence on imported energy would widen Nepal’s trade deficit. The
trade deficit would also rise due to the import of ICT goods and related repair
and maintenance materials as Nepal does not produce them. Thus any would-be
benefit of a Nepal wide ICT infrastructure has to be seriously analyzed and
contrasted with the trade deficits incurred by ICT goods imports. Such an analysis has not been done hitherto
by the policy makers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My intention is to convey that ICT is not a
mystical mantra that cures the illness of the society; the findings of ICTD
research are based on several controversial methodological assumptions and
socioeconomic premises. It is despairing
that the popular media has been highlighting the one sided version of the ICTD
research. The views of the critiques also require acknowledgements. In summary, investments for national ICT
infrastructure should be preceded by a series of thorough investigations at the
user end. “ICT for development” could be a target, but it is not an accepted principle. </div>
</div>
Nischal Regmihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04873076145291925445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-42974807716271923202016-12-01T21:58:00.000+05:452016-12-08T22:06:49.941+05:45What’s with the 512 Kbps?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">512 is a number that
we are likely to encounter if we have been using internet in Nepal. Nepali homes
with internet pre-fibre and post-dial-up are likely to have installed a 512 Kbps
unlimited cable internet connection. If you have subscribed to Nepal Telecom’s volume based ADSL internet, you have 512 Kbps speed. We can find 512 multiple times in
current Nepali information technology narratives, visions and policies. Here
are a few ways to look at 512 Kbps in the context of Nepal:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It is the proposed minimum
download speed for wired-internet. For mobile-phone internet there is no
minimum set in the documents.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Connections offering download speed
of 512 Kbps and above are labelled as broadband in the IT/ICT/Broadband
literature.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It is the common default fallback
speed on high-speed fibre internet plans after the data volume has been exhausted.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ISPs can also throttle your
Mbps internet speed down to 512 Kbps anytime as part of their ‘fair usage
policy’. If you are wondering why your 10 Mbps internet is delivering no faster
than a 512 Kbps connection, data limit and throttling are usually the two main
culprits.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It will take you 1 minute to
download a smart-phone quality photograph from the Internet or 21 hours for a DVD-movie
with a constant speed of 512Kbps.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">You will be charged Rs. 1 every
17 seconds on a Rs. 1 per MB mobile-phone Internet tariff delivering the data
at a stable speed of 512 Kbps. If you are not paying at that rate means you are
getting data at a much lower speed or browsing mostly text content.</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>Notes:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In IT related policy documents
you can find targets mentioning 512 Kbps such as: “Broadband access will be
expanded across the country with the goal of achieving a broadband Internet
user penetration rate of 30% at a minimum of 512 kbps and making available at
least 10 Mbps download speed on demand in urban areas by 2018” (Source: <a href="http://www.nta.gov.np/en/component/joomdoc/Broadband%20Policy-Draft.pdf/download">www.nta.gov.np/en/component/joomdoc/Broadband%20Policy-Draft.pdf/download</a>).
It is same as in India where the decision to classify 512 Kbps as broadband has
been heavily criticized with some labelling it as ‘a joke’, ‘archaic and
useless’, ‘out of touch with reality’ and a ‘move back to the dark ages’ (Too
many to list here. Readers can google or bing: <i>trai India broadband 512</i>
and find out for themselves). The criticism comes due to the telecom regulators
buckling to pressure from the telecom operators and a u-turn from the original
2Mbps recommendation given a few months earlier. Currently India’s average
Internet speed puts it at the slowest in the Asia-Pacific region. A minimum of
512 Kbps now is akin to a dial-up connection where most countries in the world
are far ahead. Such actions do not match with Nepal’s digital ambitions
expressed in the policy documents. The (speed) gap is wide as ever.</span></li>
<li>The data cap and throttling
creates a paradox. High speed internet is meant to be used for high bandwidth
applications such as high-definition video and live TV streaming but data cap
restricts such possibilities. For example, an internet user on a 10 Mbps connection
will exhaust the 80 GB data cap after just 18 hours of full usage. A 4 hour per
day usage can extend access to ‘fast’ internet for 5 days only, leaving 25 days
on the buffered browsing experience. The reasons to why it may seem to last
longer to a customer are because: (i) ISPs give the promised 10 Mbps on certain
time slots only as an realization of their ‘fair usage policy’; and (ii) customers
mostly use the internet for low bandwidth applications such as web browsing and
VoIP (viber/skype voice chat) services anyways.</li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Regulations do not cover the
minimum speed at which ISPs can throttle the internet in Nepal. Currently ISPs actively
throttle the bandwidth under the ‘fair usage policy’ (FUP). For example, ISPs
can penalize the users that are responsible for heavy use of the bandwidth by
slowing their connections to those applications. Throttling has been a thorny
issue worldwide with frequent reports of intentional throttling by the ISPs. Such
measure also raises questions on the nation’s net neutrality ambitions. The
usual response from the ISPs, as is the case in India, is that without
throttling they cannot provide fast internet at an affordable price. Therefore,
though India wants to set the minimum at 512 Kbps, ISPs want it to be set at 64
Kbps at best. Nepal has no minimum but we can rest assured that we are being
actively throttled at promised speeds and will be throttled down to a lower
speed after data cap is hit. Worryingly, there is nothing we can do about it. Here
is an example definition of what ‘fair’ is: </span>“Day to day surfing, checking emails
and occasional downloading will not get you into trouble. However, downloading
a 200-300 MB movie clip/data every day is almost certain to. The key is to keep
an eye on the amount that you are downloading. Then if you’re classed as a
heavy or excessive user, restructure your internet usage pattern so that you
are not uploading or downloading at peak times. If you don’t take heed of their
warnings, system will slow down the speed of your connection after your data
limit.” (Source: <a href="https://www.classic.com.np/support/fair-usage-policy-fup/">https://www.classic.com.np/support/fair-usage-policy-fup/</a>)<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">To put it simply</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">, ISPs and telecoms want the users’ to stick to text-based website browsing.</span> Ironically they themselves sell fast internet so that you can enjoy the multimedia experience. Indian telecom operators such as Airtel recently recommended a minimum of 64 Kbps, or an alternative, not set minimum speed on throttling in order for internet to be affordable. The original recommendation from TRAI (telecom regulator in India) was for a minimum of 2 Mbps broadband speed, which was quickly pulled down to a <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">neither-here-nor-there</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;"> 512 Kbps. The original recommendations were based on studies of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">internet traffic and applications</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">which </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">suggested a minimum of 1 Mbps for India. Given that our fibre internet connections comes from such Indian operators at </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">their dictated price</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "noto serif" , serif; font-size: 17px;">, throttling and data cap is even severe in Nepal. And its your fault for not adhering to the 'fair usage policy' if your connection speed slows down. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>A bit on a bit:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The space taken
by a file stored in a computer is usually mentioned in Kilo Bytes (1 KB = about
1000 Bytes) or Mega Bytes (1 MB = about 1000 KB) or Giga Bytes (1 GB = about 1000
MB). From a users’ perspective, measurement in KB, MB and GB is commonly
associated with average sizes of text documents (e.g. word document), images (e.g.
pictures taken from a smart-phone) and movies (e.g. DVDs) respectively. It
therefore makes intuitive sense for Internet data tariff to be mentioned in
‘per KB’ or ‘per MB’ usage. But download speed of an internet connection is
historically stated in ‘bits per second’ (bps) because ‘a bit’ is the smallest piece
of information that can be transmitted over the network. Since a bit is a very
small unit we are familiar in seeing interned speed expressed in kilobits per
second (Kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>For those who
worry that 1000 is not 1024:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">“It's convenient
within the computer to organize things in groups of powers of 2. For example, 2^10
is 1024, and so a program might group 1024 items together, as a sort of
"round" number of things within the computer. The term
"kilobyte" above refers to this group size of 1024 things. However,
people also group things by thousands -- 1 thousand or 1 million items.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">There's this
problem with the word "megabyte" .. does it mean 1024 * 1024 bytes,
i.e. 2^20 which is 1,048,576, or does it mean exactly 1 million, 1000 * 1000.
It's just a 5% difference, but marketers tend to prefer the 1 million,
interpretation, since it makes their hard drives etc. appear to hold a little
bit more. Also, the difference grows larger and larger for the gigabyte and
terabyte sizes. In an attempt to fix this, the terms "kibibyte"
"mebibyte" "gibibyte" "tebibyte" have been
introduced to specifically mean the 1024 based units. These terms do not seem
to have caught on very strongly thus far. If nothing else, remember that terms
like "megabyte" have this little wiggle room in them between the 1024
and 1000 based meanings. We will never grade off for this distinction ..
"about a million" will be our close-enough interpretation for
"megabyte". The "error" at the megabyte level is about 5%.
At the terabyte level the error is about 10%.” (Source: <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-gigabytes.html#alternate">https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-gigabytes.html#alternate</a>)</span></div>
</div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-61122154018788522512015-09-24T21:41:00.002+05:452015-09-24T21:42:59.845+05:45Some experience from preliminary connectivity assesments<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been currently given the responsibility of assessing
Internet infrastructure in the project areas of Changunarayan and Panauti . Evaluation
of mobile Internet connectivity is a part of my role as a technologist. I noticed an interesting gossip about poor
telecom service quality at Changunarayan – people believed the poor service
quality of telecom was due to signal interference between towers of different
network providers. Some of the local
residents were extremely furious against the installation of a tower by
WorldLink, which is an Internet service provider but not a telecom operator. I
could not flatly deny such interference, because though this should not happen
theoretically, malfunctioning of the towers or improper parameter settings can
still lead to such undesired effects. I
did not have any specific device to test signal interference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today I performed tests at Panauti. So far the results
indicate service quality of Ncell is superior to that of Nepal Telecom, in both
areas. At Changunarayan, signal quality of Ncell was poor. I came to know from
the local people that there were no towers of Ncell at Changunaryan; the signal
should have come from towers at Sankhu
and other nearby locations. In contrast,
there were about eight Nepal Telecom (NTC) towers, but services quality was
embarrassing. Though NTC’s signal
strength was in an acceptable range, service access delays and call drops were
high, and mobile internet connectivity was terribly poor. Surprisingly, quality
of Internet provided by Ncell was still
better than that of NTC. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My experience shows wherever Ncell’s signal quality is
better, its Internet service is better. This is not true with NTC. But the managing director of NTC claims </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #477784; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Geneva; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"In the present competitive scenario, Nepal Telecom is the only service provider that has been providing rich and quality network services at affordable price throughout the country. " (www.ntc.net.np)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The claim appears as a joke. It is a serious question why NTC, a government owned company
having a superb infrastructure,
is not providing quality service.</div>
Nischal Regmihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04873076145291925445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-91182458077482187122015-09-08T16:58:00.000+05:452015-09-08T16:59:12.827+05:45Call for Abstracts: Seventh Annual Media Research Conference - 2016 - Kathmandu, Nepal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Media Research
Conferences hope to augment critical and interdisciplinary discussions on
various aspects of Nepali media. The sixth edition was jointly organized by
Martin Chautari and Department of Languages and Mass Communication, Kathmandu
University. Diffusion of new technologies has always been linked with
development and considered instrumental for a global partnership. The seventh
edition focuses on broadband Internet as one such technology for South Asia. The
conference is an opportunity for researchers to come together and discuss the
key issues we are facing today and provoke discussions, on the following theme.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Theme<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #00000a; font-family: 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">The broadband Internet is at the core of several national digital
initiatives in South Asia. The ambitious 'Digital India' programme, and the
recent vision document for 'Digital Nepal', places the broadband Internet as a
key to the social transformation with overarching growth and equality. There
is, however, a need to assess these programmes in the light of ground realities
of varied access and applications, uncertain future technologies and markets,
unsatisfactory modes of governance. These factors will shape policy, regulatory
and technology regime in the emerging economies of South Asia.</span>We call for
abstract of original research papers, case-studies, comparative analysis and
review papers from academia, research and industry on the following topics,
including but not limited to:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 2.75pt; mso-border-insideh: cell-none; mso-border-insidev: cell-none; mso-padding-alt: 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: white; border: none; padding: 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt; width: 229.6pt;" valign="top" width="306"><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Digital divide and digital literacy</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Digital economy</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Media and digital literacy</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Universal access</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Universal service frameworks</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Perspectives on ubiquitous Internet</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Telecommunication infrastructure, partnership and regulation</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Mobile broadband adoption and diffusion</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">National broadband policies</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Spectrum management</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Public-private partnerships in the broadband infrastructure</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border: none; padding: 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt; width: 13.2pt;" valign="top" width="18"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: white; border: none; padding: 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt 2.75pt; width: 238.95pt;" valign="top" width="319"><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Competition and regulation in the broadband environment</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Regulations for affordable pricing</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Barriers to reform</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">National and international cyber security policies</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">State and Internet governance</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Net neutrality</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Political economy of institutions</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Broadband for inclusive development</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">ICT in agriculture, health and education</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Socio-economic impact of mobile broadband</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Important
Dates<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-border-insideh: none; mso-border-insidev: none; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1152;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">September 2, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Call for abstracts<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">November 20, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Abstract submission deadline<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">November 30, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Announcement of accepted submissions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">February 14, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Deadline for paper submission<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">February 25, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #EBFAFF; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Announcement of accepted papers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.8in;" valign="top" width="173"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">March 20, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 207.9pt;" valign="top" width="277"><div class="TableContents">
<span lang="EN-GB">Conference opens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Funding<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Limited funding support
is available to cover travel and accommodation of the participants.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Abstract
guidelines<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Abstract can be in English or Nepali
and should not contain more than 500 words.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">The title of the proposed paper, a
short description of the research base, and paper's main arguments/findings
must be clearly stated.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">A one-page short biography of the
authors including their current contact details should follow in the
abstract.</span></li>
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Word or PDF format only.</span></li>
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submission will be acknowledged by an e-mail.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Abstract and
queries should be sent to </span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">ucnepalconference@gmail.com</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> or by post to</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Martin Chautari</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">P.O. Box 13470</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">27 Jeetjung
Marg, Thapathali</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Kathmandu, Nepal</span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #00000a; font-family: "Liberation Serif","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lohit Marathi"; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Droid Sans Fallback"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Phone: (+977 1) 4102027/4238050/4240243</span></div>
</div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-488619924927916942015-09-08T13:22:00.000+05:452015-09-08T13:26:25.067+05:45Article on Energy and ICT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<span style="color: #444444;"><i>This post summarizes the arguments presented in the op-ed article by Nischal Regmi and Shailesh Pandey appeared in the NagarikNews oped of September 8, 2015. Regmi and Pandey are researchers affiliated to Martin Chautari The article is in Nepali and can be found <a href="http://nagariknews.com/opinion/story/44949.html">here</a></i>]</span>.<br />
<br />
The vision documents related to Nepali ICT/IT such as the proposed ICT policy and e-government master plan are critically short on discourses related to the energy infrastructure to support such a large-scale development. The reality of the proposed ideas can be attacked from various angles. We make two technological arguments on why Nepal is not prepared and might not be able to sustain the demands of a pervasive technology.<br />
<br />
System Argument: The energy profile of the large scale ICT projects can change drastically based on what devices and units are excluded from the system boundary. If we are to take out personal computing devices, data centers and amplification and refrigeration units from the energy equation then the energy used by other components of ICT/Internet are very low. By excluding/hiding these components a hopeless plan can look realistic and sustainable. In 2013, the data centers in the USA consumed electricity that could power New York twice over. Similarly, including personal devices, servers and network devices the energy consumption can change by one or two orders of magnitude (i.e. from 10 to 100 times). The argument that efficiency derived from innovative applications of technology to industry does not work in case of Nepal. The industrial sector only consumes about 5.25% of total energy production. And, the increase in efficiency is being caught up by the demand, aka Jevons effect.<br />
<br />
Technology Limits: There are fundamental limits to how fast the computation and communication technology can improve. The computers (chips) cannot get powerful and efficient indefinitely at a blinding pace we are accustomed to for the last two decades. Some say that the halt will come in effect as early as 2036. Similarly, the user demands are stretching the improvements (increased capacity) that an optical fiber can give. The industry will only take interest in the development of a new technology as long as it finds an investment in its return. This could effectively move the deadline even closer.</div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-63821960213618976322015-08-28T11:47:00.003+05:452015-08-28T12:04:51.484+05:45Utopian visions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<span style="color: #444444;"><i>This article by Shailesh Pandey, Harsha Man Maharjan & Yogesh Raj appeared in the Kathmandu Post oped of August 28, 2015. Pandey, Maharjan and Raj are researchers affiliated to Martin Chautari The article can be found <a href="http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2015-08-28/utopian-visions.html">here</a></i>]</span>.<br />
<br />
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The draft National Information and Communication Technology (NICT) Policy 2015, floated for public discussion by Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) on August 4, repeats the flawed visions about the miraculous power of ICTs. We call for the policy to be more evidence-based.</div>
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The NICT Policy aims to supersede the related IT Policy 2010, which envisages the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE) as the lead agency. Accordingly, DoIT has floated a draft implementation plan ‘National IT Roadmap.’ The NCIT Policy, prepared by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), proposes to restructure both the ministries as well as the NTA. The contention over jurisdiction is expected to flare up in coming days, but we would like to draw attention to four more critical concerns in this piece.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Seduction of the internet</span><br />
The proposed policy claims that ICT will reduce/remove inequality, poverty and enhance economic growth of a nation and quality of life of its citizens and presents ICT as a “tool available to reduce the development divide”. The relationship between internet connectivity and poverty is, however, poorly understood. The draft puts the delivery of the minimum speed at 512 kbps. Notwithstanding the fact that many governments and organisations consider this as a narrowband, the cost of a 512 kbps-leased line is around Rs 2,500/month, and a 2 mbps broadband will cost Rs 16,000. In the best case, a majority of Nepal’s poor will be stuck with the lower limit and sub-standard quality access.</div>
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Empirical studies related to the claim are sparse, but they indicate that investments in the internet lead to the growth of the super rich IT-using industries and firms and the knock on effect on country’s growth indicators is visible. The growth rarely trickles down to the poor, disadvantaged and less privileged. Employment records of Instagram, WhatsApp, Skype and Twitter show that these billion dollar internet businesses do not significantly change the job market. The policy has indeed got the direction of the causality wrong. While increased income of a population could have led to the diffusion of the mobile technology, the reverse has not been attested. The past claim that a large-scale diffusion of computers would increase the income has failed. Same was the case for the first generation internet.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">The coded numbers argument</span><br />
Some of the crucial numbers in the draft are global averages. Local evidences are lacking for setting them as a five-year target. Further, few numbers are not interpretable. The goal to establish ICT industry and services to account for at least 7.5 percent of the GDP by 2020 is a global industry average and not even the ICT average as per the publicly available World Bank data. So, why 7.5, and why not 15 or three, is a question to ponder.</div>
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The coded number comes from the expansion of the telecommunication sector in Nepal. The goal to achieve a 90 percent broadband internet penetration is optimism fuelled by the mobile phone subscription number. There are two major flaws here. First, this is a subscription percentage and not the percentage of the population having mobile phones. This number can go well beyond the 100 percent as more than 120 percent is a common sight and some countries have surpassed the 200 mark. So what explanation does a 90 percent offer is not clear although this number has been referred to as an impressive achievement to formulate goals 6.3 and 6.4 and the justification behind the promotion of mobile phones for e-services.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Always turned on</span><br />
In the proposed draft, ICT has encompassed agriculture, industry, health, government and tourism. The policy plugs ICT technologies where it must be always ‘on’. For a nation with chronic loadshedding, the notion is a hard sell. Critically, the policy has failed to consider the scale and pace of national energy infrastructure developments required to power the digital dream.</div>
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First, the saving of critical energy resources due to the adoption of ICT and its efficient use will be buried by the growth expected from it. The increase in the processing power and the exponential increase in the number of computers over the years have cancelled the gains over the years. The Nepali ‘Green by IT/ICT’ and ‘Green in IT/ICT’ enthusiasts have failed to give due attention to this rebound effect. Second, the optimism of self-improvement faces numerous challenges. The halt in the innovating pace is far nearer than expected (as soon as 2036). Demand for a faster broadband internet and communications have pushed the optical fibre design to the fundamental limits. The semi-conductor industry is already voicing that the halt is near with the Intel CEO recently voiced a similar concern.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">The open argument</span><br />
Even in the developed countries, software prices have not reduced although the price of broadband access has come down. This is a huge bottleneck for a home user and even for small- and medium-sized institutions. There is thus a reason for a flourishing software piracy. Recently, it was reported that the municipality of Pesaro in Italy which had trained 500 of its employees to use Open Office switched back to Microsoft Office due to costs in deployment and IT support among others. Clearly, a piecemeal approach to limit the use of the free and open source software to government offices only is not a solution. Related is the issue with the vague term ‘open-standard’ in the draft. Some definitions focus either exclusively on standards and ignore the notion of open access while others rather refer to degrees of ‘openness’. The open-source community generally agree that most explanations of the term rarely allow free adoption, implementation and extension.</div>
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Our concern chiefly stems from the number of abandonment of the e-government programmes in developing countries. The key contributor to these failures is the gap between the design of the future in these programmes and their poor understanding of the present. From the start, the claim of affecting good governance by technologising the government is contrary to the evidence from developing countries. For instance, corruption has continued as favouritism and bribery despite their move to e-government.<br />
The technology-enthusiasts, optimists and experts should be honest in their depiction of the digital society. The faith in the transformative potential of the ICTs is as dated as the early optimism shown towards old technologies such as road, radio and television. While the internet (wires) and the Web (the content and its presentation) are indeed significant human inventions, the ICT with the broadband Internet kept at its core should be seen for what it is: an important tool. It is not a miraculous solution for all the ills in society but yet another technology embedded in the geo-socio-political structures.</div>
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shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-11221869516194707172015-08-21T16:43:00.000+05:452015-08-23T11:09:46.739+05:45Universal Connectivity in Nepal: A Policy Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<span style="color: #444444;"><i>This text has been extracted from the Policy Brief published by Martin Chautari under the Universal Connectivity research. </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">The brief can be downloaded from Martin Chautari's website <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief15-StakeholdersForUniversalConnectivityInNepal.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">[</a><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief12-UniversalConnectivityInNepal_APolicyReview.pdf">Link to Policy Brief</a>].</i></span>]<br />
<br />
Nepal’s UC-related policies envisage both general and specific roles for
the technologies related to IBTs in realizing the country as a well-connected, knowledge based
society. The policy phraseology has enabled both the state and the private sector
to mobilize huge resources to create new institutions, burgeoning market spaces, and
influential discourses in the last two decades. The UC-related policies in Nepal are yet to be consolidated
with grounded knowledge and empirical content. Available literature on existing policy practice is generally ambivalent
with proponents preferring anecdotes and critics falling
short of employing verifiable large-scale reviews of evidence.
Instead, those looking at ICT4D as a form of foreign-aid
driven technological dependency in developing countries
merely wish to preserve the credibility of the campaign. Others calling e-governance a myth attribute it a power to
“inspire people to strive for realization of issues that matter,
whatever the cost.”<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the policies have provided
a rationality for mobilizing public resources, for erecting new
institutions and facilitating the sustaining of certain business
interests, particularly that of the IT elite in Nepal. This
review calls for going beyond the promotion of vague and
shaky phraseology as they may well turn into opportunities
misspent. Specifically, the fate of some non-operational
slogans in recent Nepali history, such as ‘Let Us Splash the
Source of Development’ and ‘The Asian Measures’ show
that empty policy phrases make citizens disillusioned about
program intentions rather quickly. The solution does not lie in
ever inventing new catch-phrases, but in formulating evidence based
UC policies while openly acknowledging the limitations
of the technologies in mainstreaming the marginalized and
vulnerable section of the population.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-77875990607157392912015-08-21T16:26:00.001+05:452015-08-23T11:08:33.713+05:45Stakeholders for Universal Connectivity in Nepal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<span style="color: #444444;"><i>This text has been extracted from the Research Brief published by Martin Chautari under the Universal Connectivity research. </i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">The brief can be downloaded from Martin Chautari's website <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief15-StakeholdersForUniversalConnectivityInNepal.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;">[</a><a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/ResearchBrief15-StakeholdersForUniversalConnectivityInNepal.pdf">Link to Research Brief</a>].</i></span>]<br />
<br />
The Internet ecosystem has changed drastically in
Nepal in the last seven years. The ISPs are no longer the
dominant actors. Telecoms own a large percentage of
the communication infrastructure, individual customer
base and are institutionally capable of rapid large scale
expansions. The rural market does not offer an
attractive investment-return and the penetration there
relies on the effective use of the RTDF funds to meet
the universal service obligation for telecommunication.
The investment guarantee to translate the sound promises of the policies and roadmaps to the poor and
the marginalized is non-existent. The proponents claim
that the promises in the literature have not been acted
upon because the government has failed to prioritise IT.
They point to the absence of a dedicated IT ministry,
delays in implementation by NTA and in establishing
the payment gateway.<br />
<br />
More pressing issues, however, are:
first, existing policies and plans should be reshaped with
primary research on connectivity, access and use of the
Internet; second, the design of digital ecosystem should
address critical issues related to adjacent technologies,
particularly ways to manage immense power demand
and e-waste production; and the last, the rights of the
poor and the marginalized in e-Nepal should be ensured
particularly when the technology shows strong divisive
capabilities. The present activities of the key actors in the
Internet ecosystem therefore need to orient away from
the case of business as usual. From a preoccupation with
the struggle to be relevant now, these activities need to
cohere around a unified grounded vision for universal
connectivity. </div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-26360187958465122832015-08-21T16:16:00.003+05:452015-08-23T11:07:04.992+05:45An Insight into ICT’s Energy Consumption and its Implications<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<i>This is a short introduction to the paper of the same title that was presented at "The Fourth Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and Himalaya" on 23 July,2015. The full paper can be found at Martin Chautari's website <a href="http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/AnInsightIntoICTsEnergyConsumption.pdf">[Link to Paper</a>].</i>]<br />
<br />
The recently floated ICT policy draft and the IT policy of 2010 have both missed to address the energy demand of the proposed
infrastructure and service developments beyond hinting it as a barrier. The wholesale developments in the ICT infrastructure
to support online services that caters virtually every aspect of the society can bring the power infrastructure to its knees and
by its own. There are fundamental limits to how far and fast the efficiency of the digital technology can evolve. The potential
of ICT to improve the energy scenario assumes that the digital technology will be situated in every aspect of our lives to
extract every tiny drop of efficiency from transportation, power and electricity, telecommunication to lighting our streets. The
idea can be described as a move from the material to immaterial resource.<br />
<br />
There are obvious flaws to such arguments for a
country like Nepal. The saving of critical resources such as the energy due to the adoption of ICT and its efficient use
will be buried by the growth that is expected from the IT and ICT policies themselves. This is not a new observed effect in
the realm of technology and market dynamics. Since the early days of computing, ICT sector has seen massive improvement
in the amount of energy consumed by computations. However, the necessity of the increase in the processing power and the exponential increase in the number of computers over the years have well and truly cancelled the gains over the years.
The energy (specifically electricity) required by the computations have overtaken the efficiency in computing. Alarmingly
the “Green by IT/ICT" and “Green in IT/ICT" enthusiasts have failed to give due attention to this rebound effect.<br />
<br />
The optimism placed in the digital technology to self-improve at a pace in order to be sustainable relies on technological
assumptions some of which require the fundamental limits to be pushed by technological innovations. The improvement of
the semiconductor industry is closely tied with the economics of the computer industry. The improvement in the technology
to meet the doubling effect of number of electronic components inside the chip requires huge research investment. It is widely
acknowledged that as long as the industry is getting the returns, the empirical interpretation of the Moore’s law is likely to
continue. However, there are numerous challenges to such claims, that the halt in the pace is nearer than expected (as soon as
2036), as they rely on the transistors size to shrink beyond the current fundamental limits.Similarly the demand
of the users’ for a faster broadband Internet and communications have been pushing the fundamental limits of the optical
fibres specifically the Shannon’s limit Ellis.<br />
<br />
These challenges to the trends, the regression effects and the halt in efficiency gains as the technology approaches the
fundamental limits is likely to be seen in our lifetime and not in next-generation or beyond. These should have serious
implications on the shape and size of the policy interventions regarding situating ICT as the key driver to economic growth
expecting it to deliver sustainable growth while these unanswered questions are on the verge of bringing the house down.</div>
shaileshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720354903189013435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832040521554238157.post-16138340384500269712014-12-12T22:45:00.002+05:452016-12-08T22:21:13.509+05:45Universal Conectivity and Access<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Universal access has been a buzzword in the various IT related policy documents.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;"> ICT and specifically the broadband Internet has been </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">promoted by various technology-enthusiasts (institutions and actors) with having a potential to be a </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">significant contributor to the national GDP providing a outlet out of poverty for similar significant </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">numbers, as a platform that is fair and equal to all irrespective of the variations in all spheres of the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">society. This blog is a small step to provide an insight into the variation in access and use of the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Internet and related technological platforms such as fixed-line broadband and mobile </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">telecommunication from the local perspective. The blog will showcase results from the projects run by Martin Chautari on Universal Connectivity which includes field </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">research, policy reviews, stakeholder interviews, technological surveys and historical analysis of the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Internet-based technologies. The field research included household questionnaire survey, in-depth </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">interviews, focus group discussions, case-studies and ethnography of the institutions and actors </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , "tahoma" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">involved in the Internet construction, maintenance and use.</span></div>
</div>
Birodhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16676696624896705984noreply@blogger.com0