1

2 perspectives of rural

Solomon Islands……..

Solomon Solomon Islands People Islands People First NetworkFirst Network

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Solomon Is. – The Solomon Is. – The challengeschallenges

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The interventionThe intervention

• AIMS:AIMS: To promote and facilitate equitable and To promote and facilitate equitable and

sustainable rural development and peace building by sustainable rural development and peace building by enabling better information sharing and knowledge enabling better information sharing and knowledge building among and across communities forming the building among and across communities forming the Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands

BACKGROUND:BACKGROUND:SIDAPP 1998-2001 (UNDP/UNOPS/S.I.G.) SIDAPP 1998-2001 (UNDP/UNOPS/S.I.G.)

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1. Facilitate Facilitate point-to-point point-to-point

communicationscommunications

The ObjectivesThe Objectives

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2. Facilitate rural 2. Facilitate rural development development and peace-and peace-related related information flows information flows among all social among all social groups;groups;

3. Facilitate the 3. Facilitate the exchange of exchange of information information

between between communities and communities and

stakeholders;stakeholders;

Objectives cont.Objectives cont.

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ProgressProgress

Proven model for rural network Proven model for rural network Established revenue base (iCafe)Established revenue base (iCafe) Popular web site / portalPopular web site / portal Deployed 7 rural points of access Deployed 7 rural points of access Networking for:Networking for:

– Distance learning Distance learning – Agriculture and fisheries developmentAgriculture and fisheries development– Indigenous business developmentIndigenous business development– Rural Vocational TrainingRural Vocational Training

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Strategy for rural Strategy for rural connectivityconnectivity

Affordable appropriate technologyAffordable appropriate technology Sympathetic to local conditionsSympathetic to local conditions Connect large number of Connect large number of

communitiescommunities Centralised technical support and Centralised technical support and

revenue base revenue base

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Sustainability strategySustainability strategy

Participatory approachParticipatory approach AgreementAgreement Revenue sharingRevenue sharing Maintenance fundMaintenance fund Mutual support networkMutual support network On-air technical supportOn-air technical support Appropriate technologyAppropriate technology Central revenue-generating baseCentral revenue-generating base

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Gender strategyGender strategy

Professional opportunities for womenProfessional opportunities for women Income generating opportunitiesIncome generating opportunities Networking and ICT capacity building Networking and ICT capacity building

for women’s groupsfor women’s groups Indirectly, networking empowers Indirectly, networking empowers

everyone everyone Research shows balanced usage by Research shows balanced usage by

gendergender

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Choice of technologyChoice of technology

• HF radio emailHF radio email• Low running costLow running cost• Appropriate TechnologyAppropriate Technology• Affordable - SustainableAffordable - Sustainable• Solar poweredSolar powered• Can be upgradedCan be upgraded

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How is a rural facility How is a rural facility organised?organised?

Management CommitteeManagement Committee Operator assistedOperator assisted Single shared email account (initially)Single shared email account (initially) Customers pay nominal fee to send Customers pay nominal fee to send

an email messagean email message Other servicesOther services Daily and monthly reporting to PFnetDaily and monthly reporting to PFnet

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Rural NetworkRural Network7 sites deployed 7 sites deployed

• First station established Oct First station established Oct 20012001

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ApplicationsApplications

Community email Community email Distance Learning Distance Learning Agriculture and FisheriesAgriculture and Fisheries Indigenous Business DevelopmentIndigenous Business Development Disaster ManagementDisaster Management

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Usage Usage Statistics - 1Statistics - 1

From daily reports sent by rural operatorsFrom daily reports sent by rural operatorsFor December 2002For December 2002

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Email Traffic Email Traffic

Dec 2002Dec 2002 Nov 2001-Oct 2002Nov 2001-Oct 2002

SentSent 350350 3969 (ave. 3969 (ave. 330/month)330/month)

ReceivedReceived 575575 4391(ave. 4391(ave. 360/month)360/month)

TotalTotal 925925 83608360

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PFnet Sasamungga – email traffic per month

Sasamungga - Emails sent and received

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

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PFnet Sasamungga – Email station revenues

Sasamungga - Takings (SBD$)

$0.00

$100.00

$200.00

$300.00

$400.00

$500.00

$600.00

Oct-01

Nov-01

Dec-01

Jan-02

Feb-02

Mar-02

Apr-02

May-02

Jun-02

Jul-02

Aug-02

Sep-02

Oct-02

1 Solomon Dollar SBD = US 13c

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Email senders by age Email senders by age groupgroup

Sample size = 350From daily reports, all stations, Dec 2002

Users by Age Group

1

8

50

153

92

40

2

3

0 50 100 150 200

<16

16-19

20s

30s

40s

50s

Over 60

Unknown

Emails sent

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Email senders by genderEmail senders by gender

Sample size = 350From daily reports, all stations, Dec 2002

GenderGender NumberNumber %%

MaleMale 262262 7575

FemaleFemale 8888 2525

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Email senders by education Email senders by education levellevel

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

None

Primary

Up to F3

Up to F6

College

University

Postgraduate

Unknown

Sample size = 350From daily reports, all stations, Dec 2002

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Email destinationsEmail destinationsCountCount %%

DomesticDomestic 283283 80%80%

InternationalInternational 6767 20%20%Honiara 246Provinces 37Australia 11New Zealand 13Fiji 7Vanuatu 5PNG 3 Hawaii 3 Kiribati 2

French Polynesia 1Other Pacific Is. 1 UK 6 USA mainland 6 Italy 3Sweden 3 Japan 1Philippines 1France 1

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Reasons for Reasons for communicatingcommunicatingFamily correspondence 202

Business and investment 32Education 18Travel 17Finance and Banking 14Project / NGO 13Sports 8Ordering Supplies / Stocks 8Health / Medical 8Church 6Construction 6Fisheries 4Lands and Titles 2Government Administration 2Other/Unknown 9

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Usage Usage Statistics - 2Statistics - 2

Research interview resultsResearch interview results Sasamungga stationSasamungga station 120 interviewed120 interviewed 10 months after station deployed10 months after station deployed

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How many are using PFnetHow many are using PFnet

TotalTotal

Several members of familySeveral members of family 32 32 (27%)(27%)

The interviewees onlyThe interviewees only 14 14 (12%)(12%)

Other family members Other family members onlyonly

30 30 (25%)(25%)

No-one in familyNo-one in family 44 44 (37%)(37%)

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Profile of email station Profile of email station usersusers

Education Education LevelLevel

FemaleFemale MaleMale TotalTotal

PrimaryPrimary 55 88 13 13 (47)(47)

Jr. SecondaryJr. Secondary 44 77 11 11 (32)(32)

Sr. SecondarySr. Secondary 22 22 4 4 (20)(20)

CollegeCollege 99 66 15 15 (18)(18)

UniversityUniversity 11 22 3 3 (3)(3)

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How often do people use PFnet emailHow often do people use PFnet email

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Once only

2-5 times

6-10 times

Once/month

Twice/month

Once/week

Twice/week

Almost every day

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Main reasons people send email Main reasons people send email messagesmessages

Family correspondence (47%)Family correspondence (47%) Education (25%)Education (25%) Business (9%)Business (9%) Health (6%)Health (6%) Development (5%)Development (5%) Church (3%)Church (3%) Other (5%)Other (5%)

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How people say PFnet benefits themHow people say PFnet benefits them

I can send messages quickly (63%)I can send messages quickly (63%) I can send messages cheaply (51%)I can send messages cheaply (51%) I can send messages quickly and cheaply (39%)I can send messages quickly and cheaply (39%) Easy to pursue business dealings, make orders and Easy to pursue business dealings, make orders and

contact suppliers, and locate new suppliers (11%)contact suppliers, and locate new suppliers (11%) Gives me access to education servicesGives me access to education services Helps me (school Principal) in school adminHelps me (school Principal) in school admin Gives me health security as it helps the hospital Gives me health security as it helps the hospital

(17%)(17%) Helps me coordinate my development project Helps me coordinate my development project Helps me to send urgent messagesHelps me to send urgent messages Gives me access to international newsGives me access to international news

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Benefits to the whole communityBenefits to the whole community

FastFast and and affordableaffordable communications communications Community is better informedCommunity is better informed Supports local businesses by improving efficiencySupports local businesses by improving efficiency Improves access to education and quality of Improves access to education and quality of

educationeducation Supports local economy Supports local economy Supports health and medical servicesSupports health and medical services Religious groups can better coordinate activitiesReligious groups can better coordinate activities Gives community a voice to lobby decision Gives community a voice to lobby decision

makersmakers

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FundingFunding

Model proven. Now:Model proven. Now:

Need to expand for national impactsNeed to expand for national impacts Need to consolidate base operationsNeed to consolidate base operations Need to build capacityNeed to build capacity Original formulation for 2-year Original formulation for 2-year

programprogram Business plan requires expansionBusiness plan requires expansion USD 500K from multiple donorsUSD 500K from multiple donors