The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES)
Table of Contents
TOC \o “1-3″ \h \z \u Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Stakeholder Analysis
Primary Stakeholders
Secondary Stakeholders
Conclusion
References
Appendices
Appendix A: The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES) Case Study
Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development: The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES)
Introduction
The case study about the women’s information resource electronic service or WIRES is part of the case study series on ICT-enabled development of the International Institute for Communication and Development or IICD and bridges.org, that shows how ICT contributes to the development in Africa and help ground level initiatives to image the possibilities of application of ICT in order to overcome the different development obstacles in successful manner, thus contribute to the existing body of knowledge regarding the digital divide.
The case study focuses on the application of WIRES, an Internet-based Information Resource center that was designed in order to offer relevant information to the women in Uganda that holds the primary goal of empowering small-scale entrepreneurs. The project targeted 60 women in different rural areas and 30 women in Kampala, the largest urban center in Uganda.
The said project was implemented by the Council for the Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa or CEEWA – Uganda Chapter, in cooperation with the Women of Uganda Network or WOUGNET. The WIRES is supported financially by the International Development Research Centre or IDRC, Hivos and the World Bank. The effort of CEEWA-Uganda began its effort towards ICT in 1999.
The project is creating telecentres and conducting training for women in Uganda in order to use ICT in order to access financial credit, marketing as well as acquiring business tips. The said project helps to raise awareness of common issues that are related with the agricultural community.
Aims and Objectives
The main objective of the project is to disseminate information to the women of Uganda, a place in Africa, where in women are not receiving fair and the same treatment as men in the community. The project or initiative focuses on focusing on the help of information in order to boost up the current position of women in the Uganda’s community, particularly regarding the issue about business and money.
On the other hand, the goal or aim of the case study is to show best practice example of how ICT has been successfully used by ground level initiatives in order to alleviate poverty. Thus, case studies can be considered as best too in examining what works best, what fails and the reason behind it.
This paper will focus on analyzing and evaluating the social, economic and political context of the case study towards the current situation of Uganda and its connection with ICT, globalization as well as development. It will analyze the different stakeholders that are involved or can be affected by the said change, and how it influenced their lives, both in positive and negative way.
Stakeholder Analysis
A stakeholder is an individual or organization that is either actively involved in the project or might be affected or influenced by the execution and completion of the project. It is important that a stakeholder may be positively or negatively affected by the project, that’s why the process of identifying them is considered as a vital aspect during the management of information technology initiatives or projects (Taylor 2004, p. 117).
The following are the stakeholders of the project:
Primary Stakeholders
- CEEWA – a non-government and non-profit making organization or NGO of professional women with diverse backgrounds and experiences who have committed themselves to work towards empowering grass root women of Uganda. Its main mission is to promote the economic empowerment of women in the process of development via the process of increasing the level of access and control of women to the different economic resources such as credit, land and agricultural extension services (CEEWA 2006). CEEWA is the primary organization that implements and controls the entire operation of WIRES initiatives.
- WOUGNET – a non-governmental organization that was initiated in May 2000 by different women’s organization in Uganda in order to develop the application of ICT among women as a tools to share information and address different issues in collective manner. CEEWA worked together with WOUGNET, due to the fact that the second has over 90 women organizations as a member, thus majority of its member are urban areas or district towns where there is some Internet access and few in rural areas (WOUGNET 2008).
- Women in Uganda – the most important stakeholder in the WIRES initiative are the women in Uganda, who will undergo the project. This is due to the fact that they are the direct respondents or participants in the project, and they will be the primary basis whether the project will be successful or not. Furthermore, they are considered as the beneficiaries of the different information that can be offered by WIRES, and how it can be used in order to gain individual competitive advantage.
Secondary Stakeholders
- IDRC – a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with the different researchers from the developing world in their search for the means and approach in order to build healthier, more reasonable and more prosperous societies. It helps developing countries to use science as well as technology in order to find practical, long-term solutions to the different social, economic as well as environmental problems that the nations are facing (IDRC 2008). It helps all the primary stakeholders in terms of financial and monetary aspects.
- Hivos – Humanistic Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries, a Dutch non-governmental organization hat is inspired by humanist values. It has relationship with different local organizations in many developing countries. The main objective of Hivos is to contribute to have a free, fair and sustainable world, where in the citizen, both men and women have equal access to the different resources and opportunities that can be used for individual and social development, thus will enable them to equally participate in the process of decision-making that can help to determine their life, their society as well as their future (Hivos 2004). Just like IDRC, Hivos also supports the project in financial aspect.
- World Bank – an internationally supported bank that is considered as an important source of financial as well as technical assistance to the different developing countries in the world (World Bank 2008).
- Government – the government is considered as a secondary stakeholder, due to the fact it will not be directly connected with the project, however, the result of the project can be used in the policy making that are related to the status of women in the society as well as possible future projects and programs that will handle on the needs of women in the society in terms of information.
- Business – the business will also be affected in the said project, due to the fact that different players in the said field can cooperate in the project in order to promote about their business by offering different information regarding their business, and how those women can achieve success by offering different hints that can boost their confidence.
- Civil Societies – it is important to take note that the success of the entire society will depend greatly on performance of each and every individual within that society. If each and every woman will be informed, it can help to boost their confidence that can help them to become more productive, thus it can help to change the position of women in the society. Above all, women play an important role in the society.
- Families – the family will be affected directly by the influence of the project towards the women, this can affect in their financial situation as well as emotional and social aspect.
Critical Analysis
Technological Determinism
The theory of technological determinism shows that we are now living in the new age of technology has never experienced before, as a result, the way people think, act as well as feel is being affected by new electronic media. The evolutions of communication have a direct impact over the existing society and the channels of communication are the primary cause of cultural change. Nothing exists that is not affected by the technology that is applied in the communication process (Huster 2000).
In the case of application and installation of ICT in Uganda for the benefits of the women, the said theory can be applied on how it can affect the lives of women, as well as the entire society in economic, social and political way.
Primarily, the said initiative can help each and every woman in the urban places in Uganda to improve their knowledge and learning on how to access and avail different resources that can help to improve the quality of their lives and family. In terms of economic, it can help women to have an independent financial source; this is due to the fact that women in Uganda are dependent to their husband in financial and monetary manner. This can help each and every family to have an extra income; therefore will help to increase the rate of two-income family. In terms of social aspect, it can help to improve the current position of women in the society because it can help to inform women regarding the different aspects that are connected to business and related subjects. More knowledgeable and improved citizens will mean more improvement and development for the place and the entire country.
Social Shaping
On the other hand, the theory about the social shaping or social determinism can also be applied in the said case. The said theory believes that it is the human race that shapes the technology and not the other way around. For example, a technologist would be simply a dreamer if he or she did not have the finance to put his idea into action and that finance can only come from the profit that accrued from the past ideas which the society has openly accepted (Bilton n.d.).
In the case study, it can be showed that the primary reason for the application of ICT in Uganda, as well as its focus on women is because, there have been different developed countries who have applied the said technology, and it had showed positive result. Furthermore, it had also helped different organizations and individual in other part of the globe, thus it had been proposed to be applied in the said place.
In addition, according to the social determinism theory, a product that has no particular use to the society or poorly designed or too expensive r even too far ahead of its time, will not sell (Bilton n.d.). This can be observed in many developing countries, particularly in Uganda. Prior to the WIRES initiatives, people are not aware to the importance of information as well as computer and Internet due to the fact that the cost of having Internet connection at home is high, and in the current economic condition of the country, people are not fully accepting the use and vitality of ICT towards their daily living and development.
In addition, the social status of women in the place regarding their financial dependency to their husband, they don’t tend to access to any resources that could help them to start a business. But due to the ongoing global perspective and changes in terms of women’s right and position in the society, it had helped different non-governmental organization to focus on the demand of Uganda women.
In that condition, the society will have shaped, whether accept or reject the technology that was initially shaped, designed and constructed by a technologist (Bilton n.d.). In the case, the project had been successful due to the support of other organizations and individuals.
Actor Network Theory
The actor-network theory focuses on the networks that engineers and scientists create in order to get their projects and program done, that emphasize on the fact that no one acts alone. The main difference between the first theories that have mentioned and this one is that it does not distinguish that much the relationship between human and non-human actors (Goguen 1998). This is due to the fact that the initiatives focus on the process of translation, where in the innovators focuses on creating a forum or called a central network where in the different actors will agree that, that specific network is worth building and defending. The project begins in the process of problematization, where in CEEWA and WOUGNET focuses on the different factors and the methods that were used in order to entrust the group of people that will represents the actors. The next moment focuses on the interessement, where in the two organization focuses on negotiating with the actors regarding their importance and role to the project. The next process is the enrollment, where in the actors’ start to be involved in the project, and the mobilization of allies that will determine that success and activeness of the enrollment support (Latour 2005).
In the case of implementing of WIRES in the women of Uganda, it can be observed that the officials and organizations, together with the participants are considered as the actor as well as a network that works together.
Conclusion
The main advantage of the case is that it had been able to show the economic, social and political importance of the initiatives towards the women of Uganda. In addition, the author had been able to show and include the different theories that are related and connected with the application of technology to a new environment and its social impact. On the other hand, the said project also follows the 8 habits of highly effective ICT-for-Development initiatives as a guideline; therefore, it gives the authorities the information of what to do in the long run.
On the other hand, based on the lesson learned part of the case, it had been said that one of the problems that was faced by the authorities was their lack of knowledge and skills regarding ICT. It is important to consider that the reason why the projects was implemented is to introduce and teach the importance and uses of ICT to the women in Uganda, in that case, the managers only knew basic skills during the preliminary stages of the initiative. It is important to know that, if the managers of the project don’t have that much knowledge regarding ICT, it will reflect to the perspective of the participants or it will affect their entire impression towards the initiative. That’s why it will be important to have the enough knowledge, in order to tackle the important details regarding the project such as how it will affect their lives, both in positive and negative way. At the same time, it will also important to show or provide different solutions or answer regarding the negative impact of the project.
Aside from that, the case study did not mention that, the project communicates with the family, particularly with the husband, regarding their initiative of empowering the women. This is very important because the family plays an important role in the success of failure of the project, because women are considered as more family-oriented compare to men. Thus, the support of the family, especially the husband is very important motivator for the women.
References
About Us: World Bank 2008, World Bank, viewed 25 November 2008, < http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,pagePK:50004410~piPK:36602~theSitePK:29708,00.html >
Bilton, J, Social Determinism, The UK Technology Education Centre, viewed 25 November 2008, <http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/trinity/social.html>
Goguen, J 1998, Actor-Network Theory, Social Aspects of Technology and Science (October 30), viewed 25 November 2008, <http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~goguen/courses/268D/5.html>
Hivos – a Short Introduction 2004, Hivos, viewed 25 November 2008, < http://www.hivos.nl/english/english/about_hivos/short_introduction >
Huster, K 2000, Technological Determinism, The Marshall McLuhan Center on Global Communication, viewed 25 November 2008, < http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~kh380597/TD.htm>
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) 2008, IDRC, viewed 24 November 2008, <http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-8513-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html>
Latour, B 2005, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Taylor, J 2004, Managing Information Technology Projects: Applying Project Management Strategies to Software, Hardware, and Integration Initiatives, AMACOM Div American Management Association
Women and Entrepreneurship Development (WED): Programme – ICT Project 2006, CEEWA (June), viewed 25 November 2008, <http://www.ceewauganda.org/ceewa/annual_04.pdf>
Women of Uganda Network 2008, WOUGNET, viewed 25 November 2008, <http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php>
Appendices
Appendix A: The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES) Case Study
Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development: The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES)
Submitted by Editor on 12 November, 2003 – 02:23.
An initiative of IICD and bridges.org
The bridges.org/IICD Case Study Series on ICT-Enabled Development sets out to illustrate how ICT contributes to development in Africa. The aim of this series is to help ground level initiatives imagine the possibilities of what can happen if they use ICT successfully to overcome development obstacles, and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the digital divide.
I. Overview
Initiative: The Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES) is an Internet-based Information Resource Centre designed to provide relevant business information to women in Uganda with the goal of empowering small-scale entrepreneurs. WIRES provides online information on animal rearing, crop growing, trade, and women’s issues, and each subject area covers best practices, market prices, support organisations, and the type of support they give. Initially a pilot project, WIRES started by opening telecentres in three sub counties within Uganda.
Implemented by: The Council for the Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA) – Uganda Chapter, which is affiliated with the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET). WOUGNET is a non-profit organisation with a mission to help women use information and communication technologies (ICT) as a tool to share information and address issues collectively.
Funding or financial model: CEEWA is a non-profit organisation and the WIRES programme is supported by funders including the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Hivos, and the World Bank. The WIRES project is currently supported solely by donor funding, but CEEWA-Uganda is researching how to make its telecentres sustainable.
Timeframe: CEEWA-Uganda was formed in 1995, and its efforts in ICT and entrepreneurship began in 1999.
Local context: Approximately 35% of the population in Uganda live under the poverty line with 82% of the labour force working in agriculture (CIA World Factbook, 2002). This heavy reliance on farming underscores the predominantly agricultural nature of the economy. In rural Uganda, it is primarily women who provide for households, either by doing most of the farming or starting small local businesses. Despite this role, men, not women, usually have access to credit and local business exchanges. In terms of access to ICT, the vast majority of those with Internet access live in urban areas, and connectivity is prohibitively expensive. Typically, a dial-up connection costs per month for email only, and email plus Internet access costs per month. The minimum bandwidth leased line will cost 0 to set up, with an entry-level service accommodating a connection for ten workstations at 0 per month. Telephone line rates are .15 per minute.
The development problem/obstacle addressed: Women in rural Uganda face many difficulties in starting local businesses: they must obtain credit through their husbands, they do not have time to network locally in order to sell goods, and they are not taught basic business skills. ICT offers an effective tool to disseminate information and allow women to connect, but access to ICT is limited, and the costs of connecting to the Internet are prohibitively high for the typical woman in rural Uganda.
How ICT is used to overcome the problem: The WIRES initiative is creating telecentres and training women in Uganda to use ICT for accessing financial credit, marketing, and getting business tips. CEEWA-Uganda employs local people to manage the telecentres and provides computer-training courses on CD-ROM. So far women have been using the telecentres primarily to communicate with other entrepreneurs, which is helping to raise awareness of common issues among the agricultural community. They are learning about best practices and how to record accounting information for their local businesses.
Next steps: CEEWA-Uganda plans to expand its WIRES programme and create additional telecentres primarily in rural areas. Because men felt left out and have also been demanding ICT training, it will budget for training for males in the community as well. In addition, CEEWA-Uganda wants to expand its programme to show women how to use ICT in their daily lives as well as their businesses.
Geographical area targeted: The WIRES initiative targeted 60 women in rural areas and 30 women in Kampala (Uganda’s largest urban centre) in its original project. Namely, these sub counties were Nabweru in Wakiso District, Buwama in Mpigi and Nakawa Division in Kampala District.
II. Gauging Real Impact
This section considers whether and how the initiative has made a Real Impact at the ground level by looking through the lens of basic best practice guidelines for successful initiatives. The bridges.org 8 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives are used here as a framework to highlight what the initiative has done well.
The 8 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-for-Development Initiatives
1. Implement and disseminate best practice
CEEWA-Uganda is partnering with local organisations such as the Rural Women Information Network of Uganda ( RWIN-U) to bring its lessons to more rural areas, especially ones that it cannot reach with its telecentre projects. It shares best practices through seminars, workshops, and regular reports to its development partners.
2. Ensure ownership, get local buy-in, find a champion
The CEEWA-Uganda initiative started months before the project implementation began, by hosting meetings with local leaders and community members. CEEWA-Uganda made a priority of forming local management committees and hiring local people to manage telecentres.
3. Do needs assessment
CEEWA-Uganda has institutionalised needs assessments. It performed a baseline study to select the 90 women who were to participate in the project, to establish the women’s information and training needs, as well as to understand what non-technology factors would inhibit their success. The implementation phase directly followed from the findings of the needs assessment, concentrating on implementing ICT for marketing, teaching business skills, and access to credit, which were all specific needs identified beforehand.
4. Set concrete goals and take small achievable steps
CEEWA-Uganda’s efforts in ICT for development were strictly phased: (1) needs assessment, (2) implementation, and (3) monitoring and reporting. The necessary funding and timing was determined beforehand, and the study was limited to 90 women as a study group. After demonstrating success and learning from the initial project, CEEWA-Uganda is planning the next steps.
5. Critically evaluate efforts, report back to clients and supporters, and adapt as needed
CEEWA-Uganda formally monitored the project every two months, and produced a report at the end of every six months. Some of these reports indicated that many of the women did not appreciate information as a resource; they wanted money, not information. CEEWA-Uganda therefore had to teach women how to use the information both to improve the effectiveness of their local businesses as well as to find credit. CEEWA-Uganda also had to schedule activities and meetings in conversation with the targeted women, many of whom could not attend during normal business hours due to family responsibilities.
6. Address key external challenges
Literacy and education were key obstacles to women’s success in using the telecentres. CEEWA-Uganda has begun to provide information in local languages and plans to focus on these issues in its future projects. Another challenge arose because some of the targeted women lived too far from the telecentres and could come to the telecentre on a daily basis. Lacking daily interaction, many women did not become completely comfortable with using computer technology. CEEWA-Uganda will address this problem directly in future implementations.
7. Make it sustainable
The WIRES project is currently supported solely by donor funding, but CEEWA-Uganda is researching how to make its telecentres sustainable. They are aware that in the absence of funding, telecentres must find profitable business opportunities that serve real community needs such as business and entrepreneurship training, computer and Internet training, and business facilities and administration.
8. Involve groups that are traditionally excluded on the basis of gender, race, religion or age.
CEEWA-Uganda targets its activities toward women.
III. Lessons Learned
We invited Goretti Zavuga, who directs CEEWA-Uganda’s efforts in ICT and entrepreneurship, to share her views on the WIRES project’s greatest success, the challenges faced, key constraints and dependencies that affect the project, opportunities for future improvement, and other lessons learned. This is what she said:
“It is crucial that our managers are trained in ICT. When I began this project, my skills in ICT were still basic, and there was no provision for capacity building. I learned on the job, although it was very costly to make mistakes. One example of why this is important was during a contract negotiation. We found that networking consultants wanted to take lots of money for simple jobs. Once I understood what these jobs really entailed, I was in a much more powerful position to bargain.
In implementing projects on the ground, I have learned that you have to be patient with the audience. This often depends on age: the youth are quick to learn and the elderly are much slower.
You must also involve the people in their own destiny as it relates to information. You must have a participatory approach, even in your baseline study. The local people must own the ideas, and in order for that to happen, you must explain and come to a level at which they can understand you. They cannot consider you elite women from the city; they must see you as partners in the development process.”
IV. The Story
This section presents a narrative description of the initiative that highlights why this use of ICT for development is particularly interesting.
Rural Uganda is a difficult place for women. Many women are the primary providers for households, either responsible for doing much of the agriculture work, or running a small business. Despite this role as providers, men, not women, usually have access to credit and local business exchanges. The Uganda chapter of the Council for the Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA) tries to rectify this problem and help women find the financial resources they need directly. In addition, as part of its Women’s Information Resource Electronic Service (WIRES) initiative, CEEWA-Uganda recently brought information and communications technologies (ICTs) directly to the villages by building local telecentres.
Women business owners in the small rural town of Nabweru, where one of CEEWA-Uganda’s telecentres is located, however, wanted money, not the Internet. CEEWA-Uganda believed that empowering women with ICT would provide them access to credit in addition to dramatically improving the scope and method of their business. Of course, rural women took some convincing. Before building the telecentre, Goretti Zavuga, who leads CEEWA-Uganda’s ICT implementation in rural areas, held regular town meetings to get women involved and better understand local business problems. In addition to accessing credit, women had trouble finding time to network, and often needed to be coached in basic business skills.
Incorporating these needs and women’s unique schedules into the telecentre, CEEWA-Uganda began construction of its telecentre. Charcoal business owner Margaret Nabanja and chicken feed supplier Samailie Byabagambi now testify to what ICT can do for rural businesses. After training these women business owners to use computers and the Internet, they were able to find new sources of credit and change their entire way of doing business. They now order supplies using the phone and access market price information over the Internet. They have both been able to expand their businesses and are so sold on technology that they own mobile phones. Nabanja and Byabagambi, who had never touched a computer before, are now teaching their fellow villagers how to surf the Internet.
Men felt a little left out though, with all this attention being paid to their wives. In future WIRES projects, WIRES will also budget for training rural men and allowing them to use the telecentres. In addition, CEEWA-Uganda plans to develop training programs to help women use ICT to enhance their daily lives as well as their businesses.
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