When You Do Not Have a Computer: Public-Access Computing in Developing Countries

Abstract

In developing countries, people who do not have computers or the Internet go to public-access computing (PAC) venues such as libraries, telecenters and Internet cafes. What is the nature, scope and impact of the services offered by these PAC venues? Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a mixed-methods investigation of libraries, telecenters and cybercafés in 25 developing countries around the world shows that there is a strong ecosystem of PAC venues in developing countries, and that users are shifting away from libraries in favor of commercially driven Internet cafes that provide good customer service and support to meet their information needs. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the benefits of using public-access computers indicates that while users enjoy faster and cheaper access to more sources of information, PAC venues appear to be used more for building and maintaining users' social networks, personal relations and entertainment, and less for education, health, e-government or e-commerce activities. We discuss the success factors that emerge in the study, the implications of the choices in public-access venues to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in developing countries and the focus on personal relations as a critical information need for underserved populations.

Keywords:

• public access
• library
• telecenter
• cybercafé
• development
• underserved
• ICT
• social network

Notes on contributors

Ricardo Gomez is Assistant Professor and Chair of the Information & Society Center at University of Washington's Information School. He specializes in the social impacts of communication technologies, especially in community development settings. He is also interested in qualitative research methods, and in group facilitation and process design. He seeks creative ways to communicate complex ideas and research results in everyday language. He has worked with private, public and non-profit sectors around the world, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the University of Washington he worked with Microsoft Community Affairs, and with the International Development Research Center in Canada. He holds an MA from Université du Québec à Montréal (1992) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1997).

Notes

1. Country Selection criteria: Demographic criteria helped to focus on a subset of 90 out of 237 countries around the world, excluding countries with very small populations (under 1 million), those with very large populations (India and China), those with high per capita income (over $11,116) and those countries with lowest human development index (below 0.5). Feasibility criteria helped to focus on 74 of these countries by excluding those where independent research was not feasible due to political unrest (US Department of State travel advisories) or restrictions on freedom of expression (Freedom House index over 6.5). Ranking criteria helped to further narrow the sample to 30 countries based on composite measures that we called needs and readiness criteria. Needs criteria included measures of inequality (Gini index), ICT usage (CIA World Factbook) and ICT cost (ITU). Readiness criteria, on the other hand, included composite measures for politics, skills and ICT infrastructure. Tipping factors: Drawing from these 30, the final selection of 25 countries included in the international study was based on tipping factors such as regional distribution, anticipation of planned infrastructure or policy changes in the countries and availability of qualified local research teams to conduct the fieldwork within the timeframe and requirements of the research project.