linking ic ts to rural development
TRANSCRIPT
Linking ICTs to Rural Development: China’s Rural
Information Policy
Jun XiaGovernment Information Quarterly 27(2010) 187-195
Lia PuspitasariUniversity of Tsukuba
AGENDA
IntroductionStatus of China’s ICT (before 2010)Characterization of the Rural Information
Policy System in ChinaConclusions
Access Application
Village Informatization program (VIP)
VAPs
INTRODUCTION
Intended to ‘informatize’ China’s rural communities by:◦Improving rural access to communications infrastructures, including telephone, television, and the internet; (kasih ilustrasi devicesnya)
◦Providing applications of so-called ‘comprehensive information services’, including township government websites, information service stations, and agriculture-related websites and e-commerce portals.
INTRODUCTION
Integration of access and applications in China’s rural communications policy has been more a practical coincidence than based on a rigorous and intentional theoretical deliberation.
The disparity in economic reform between rural and urban areas has emerged unbalanced economic development and social stability.
INTRODUCTION
The absence of explicitly defined objectives and effective organization, the nationwide VIP activities have appeared to be uncoordinated.
Lack of coordination results:◦Inadequate investment;◦Wasteful duplicate construction;◦Information projects tend to be low in utilization
rate and poor in maintenance.
STATUS OF ICT
Current Status (before 2010)
Level of major indicators in terms of residents’ access to telephones, television and the internet services in rural communities of China roughly 1/3 of urban counterparts.
- Being a rural dweller mean accepting an extremely unfavorable status in almost all socio economic aspects.
- The deployment of ICTs in rural areas has profound political, economical, and socio cultural implications.
- Rural informatization is in need.
Two phases of informatization initiatives1. The Village Access Projects (VAPs)
Objective: telephone/television to each villageconventional line-ministry system in China remains a practical governance solution in mobilizing and organizing nation wide resources for public projects.
History of VAPs
Access penetrati
on reached
99.7%
2006 – 2008
Renewed by The
MIIAccess
task distribut
ed to 6 carriers
2005
Suspension due
to industry
restructuring
1998 - 2004
Executed by
China telecom
Before 1998
2. The Village Informatization Program (VIP)
Universal service/digital
divide
Comprehensive information
service
Weaknesses1. Objectives are vague;2. Institutional arrangement is not clearly defined;3. The regime left the implementation to department and/or
regional interpretations and discretions.4. Execution mainly relied on disconnected, sporadic,
departmental and/or regional initiatives, and so called ‘action projects’ or ‘model projects’
Characterization of current rural information policy system
Too many various documents as guidance Diversified or decentralized and fragmented
across various departmentGovernment department more often engaged
in independent projectsUnable to capitalize on its merit side in he
absence of a coherent system of policies and organization
Suggestion to the next move1. Definition of objectives2. Technical solutions3. Institutional design, should be evaluated
based on:• Integrity• Measurability• Transparency• Equality• Consistency• Neutrality• Cost-effectiveness
CONCLUSIONBiggest problem are objective, and sustainable
institutional arrangementLayer based localization regulatory is the best
model which highlights the role of local government.
Lessons drawnHow to translate the implementation of a
national rural information strategyUnique case in which ideological/political forces
are capitalizedHow to integrate into a single national public
program which tend to the multi-channeled and regionalized/localized.