ICT projects social development in asia two case studies exploring options, opportunities constraints

Summary Telecentres, as a hub of Information and Communication Technology ICT services have widely proliferated, especially in the developing countries as a measure to bridge the digital

ICT PROJECTS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA: TWO CASE STUDIES EXPLORING OPTIONS, OPPORTUNITIES AND

CONSTRAINTS

MANJARI KISHORE

MASTER OF ARTS

COMMUNICATIONS AND NEW MEDIA PROGRAMME

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE

2007

Acknowledgement

This thesis is the end product of efforts, encouragement and support from several quarters My dad is no more but I firmly believe whatever good happens in my life is

only due to his good deeds “Thanks, papa!”

This CNM Master’s programme would never have happened in my life had it not been for the strong encouragement from my mother who nurtures a unique belief of earning more and more degrees

This thesis could take its final shape due to constant support of my supervisor, Dr.TT Sreekumar I am greatly indebted to him for his continuous guidance and support Coming from science and journalism background, he must have come across tough moments grooming me into a researcher and a thesis writer, but he advised and guided all through with utmost calm, patience and sincerity This task could really be accomplished only due to his efforts and guidance

Among other faculty members of CNM, I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr.Milagros Rivera, Dr.Lim Sun Sun and Dr.Hichang Cho for all their advices,

suggestions and tips on doing good field work and a good thesis

One person who finds special mention is Jayan Thomas for always being around whenever there was a need I really appreciate his help at almost every stage of my thesis Sudeep, my husband has been another pillar of support all through my second inning as a student I take this opportunity to thank him for all his support on the home front and in

IT related work during my research Sameeksha, my daughter has been very kind in leaving me with enough time and energy to complete my project and also giving me

moments of playful relaxation during stressful episodes of my work I am thankful to my brother, Manish for all his words of encouragement and help in getting me some relevant documents for my research

Although, they might be aware but I formally like to thank all my friends in the department whose constant support –emotional and otherwise – has made this journey of Master’s programme not only easy but also memorable I would especially like to thank Minu, Pratichi, Shankar, Nandini, Shansi and of course, Raj for always being there for

me

Last but not the least; I take this opportunity to thank Warren Wong and

Vasoontara for helping me with the leads for Thailand field study Had it not been for their support and co-operation, Thailand case study would not have been possible I sincerely appreciate your contributions

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement ii

Table of Contents iv

Summary vi

List of Tables viii

List of Figures ix

1 Introduction: Issues and concepts 1

1.1 ICT and Development 1

1.2 Digital Divide 2

1.3 ICTs, Women and Development: A Survey of Literature 7

1.3.1 Women and Development 9

1.3.1.1 Approaches to doing ‘gender’ 10

1.3.2 Women and Technology 12

1.3.3 Gender-ICT: A Recent Outlook 13

1.4 Bringing ICTs to the ‘Un-connected’ 16

1.4.1 Telecentres 16

1.4.2 Case studies focusing on Women’s Development 18

1.5 Concept of ‘Community’ 21

1.6 Concept of ‘Social capital’ 22

1.7 Issues and Concepts: Discussion 24

1.8 Research Questions 26

1.9 Thesis Structure 27

2 Methodology 29

2.1 Introduction 29

2.2 Social Sciences Research: Theoretical perspectives 30

2.3 Feminist perspective 32

2.4 Limitations of Qualitative Research 34

2.5 The Regional Focus: India and Thailand 35

2.6 Field Work 37

2.7 Questionnaire Construction 40

2.8 Issues in the Field 41

2.8.1 India 41

2.8.2 Thailand 42

2.9 Limitations of the Study 43

3 The two telecentres: Context and Background 45

3.1 Introduction 45

3.2 Seelampur Telecentre Project in Context 45

3.2.1 Status of ICT in India: An overview 45

3.2.2 Mission 2007 46

3.2.3 e-readiness of Indian states (New Delhi) 47

3.2.4 New Delhi: A glimpse of the demographics 48

3.2.5 Slums in India: An overview 49

3.2.5.1 Slums in New Delhi 50

3.2.5.2 Seelampur Context 51

3.2.6 The Seelampur ICT Centre Project 51

3.3 Jakkarat Telecentre Project in Context 53

3.3.1 Status of IT Industry: An Overview 53

3.3.1.1 Hardware Industry 54

3.3.1.2 Software Industry 54

3.3.2 ICT Policies of Thailand 55

3.3.2.1 IT 2000 55

3.3.2.2 IT 2010 55

3.3.2.3 ICT Master Plan for 2002-2006 56

3.3.3 Telecentres in Thailand 57

3.3.3.1 PDA 60

3.4 Jakkarat context 61

3.4.1 Jakkarat T-Centre: A background 62

4 ICT: A Gateway to Employment? 64

4.1 Introduction 64

4.2 India 65

4.2.1 An overview of IT industry 65

4.2.2 Employment in IT industry 65

4.2.2.1 Seelampur ICT Centre Project 67

4.2.2.2 Age distribution across Telecentre Users 68

4.2.2.3 Distribution of Educational Qualifications 70

4.2.2.4 Seelampur Women: Economic occupation remains elusive 71

4.2.2.5 Reasons for Adopting ICT training: An analysis 73

4.2.2.6 Employment Status: A Reality Check 75

4.2.2.7 Hopes Vs Reality 76

4.3 Thailand 77

4.3.1 IT in Thailand: An Overview 77

4.3.2 Human Resource in IT 79

4.3.3 Computer Usage Pattern in Establishments 80

4.3.4 The Jakkarat Telecentre under Thailand Canada Telecentre Project 81

4.3.4.1 Distribution of telecentre users across age groups 82

4.3.4.2 Distribution of telecentre users across educational levels 83

4.3.4.3 ICT: Associated perceptions 84

4.3.4.4 ICT: Expectations Vs Reality 86

4.4 Perceptions and Actions at the two telecentre locations: A comparison 87

4.5 Employment prospects of the two telecentre users: A Comparison 90

4.6 Conclusion 92

5 Telecentre: Potential Site for Community and Social Capital 95

5.1 Community Building: The influencing factors 95

5.1.1 Seelampur Telecentre: Birth of a community 96

5.1.1.1 The Physical infrastructure 97

5.1.1.2 Computer Activities 98

5.1.1.3 Location and Nature of the centre 100

5.1.1.4 Woman-Only telecentre 101

5.1.2 Jakkarat T-Centre 103

5.1.2.1 User Profile and pre-telecentre association 103

5.1.2.2 Socio-Cultural Historiography of Thai women 104

5.1.2.3 Jakkarat T-Centre: The physical set-up 105

5.1.2.4 Computer activities 106

5.1.2.5 Location and nature of centre 108

5.1.3 Role of Actors (In Seelampur and Jakkarat Telecentre Projects) 109

5.2 Conclusion and Recommendations for Social Capital Generation 112

5.2.1 Jakkarat Context, Thailand 112

5.2.2 Seelampur Context, India 114

6 Conclusion 117

6.1 Summary of Findings 119

6.2 Recommendations 123

6.3 Suggestions for Future Research 124

References 125

Appendix A 135

Summary

Telecentres, as a hub of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services have widely proliferated, especially in the developing countries as a measure to bridge the digital divide and connect the remote and marginalized populations, ultimately realizing the goals of social, political and economic empowerment

Feminist literature on women’s development in the trajectory of technological growth argues that historically the relationship between women and new technologies has been mediated by problematic assumptions deriving from the crucible of patriarchy But recent literature shows that ICTs have enabled social and economic empowerment of women by providing greater employment opportunities and redefining gender relations at the family and community level

This thesis aims to critically examine the extent of empowerment of marginalized women through employment generation and community formation brought about by ICTs For the purpose of this study, we narrow the broad area of ICTs to the sphere of telecentres, particularly in the developing countries

The study takes a cross-country perspective by selecting two telecentre sites –one, Seelampur ICT Centre located in a slum area in New Delhi in India and second, Jakkarat T-Centre at the Jakkarat village in Korat province of Thailand In-depth interviews were carried out with the aid of semi-structured questionnaire The sample size was 41 in India and 28 in Thailand case study; sampling frame constituted mostly of women

Based on the findings of the field study, this paper specifically answers the

question whether ICTs through the medium of telecentres, provide employment or

income-generating activities, and scope for community formation for enabling economic and social empowerment of women from the disadvantaged communities This research

is significant in that it is based on empirical research from a user-centered perspective

Findings show that the telecentres are being visited by the younger and the

relatively better educated among the local communities primarily with the hope of

securing employment The study finds that getting IT-based employment is contingent on the over-all social, educational and cultural context in which the telecentre users are embedded The study also highlights that though ICTs are enablers of offline community building, it is the social context of women in the respective communities that influence formation of a community

List of Tables

Table 1.1: Population, Internet users and Internet penetration of selected Asian countries4 Table 3.1: An outline of telecentre initiatives undertaken by various organizations in Thailand 58 Table 4.1: Qualification Level of Professionals in the IT Industry (India) 67 Table 4.2 : Age Distribution across telecentre users .68 Table 4.3 : Distribution of telecentre users and non-users by their level of education, (Seelampur ICT Centre Project, India, as % of total) 71 Table 4.4 : Distribution of telecentre users and non-users by their level of education, (Jakkarat Telecntre Project, Thailand, % of Total) 83 Table 5.1: The physical infrastructure at Seelampur ICT Centre and Jakkarat T-Centre 97 Table 5.2 : Rank Order of Computer Activities undertaken by telecentre users at

Seelampur ICT Centre, India 99 Table 5.3: Profile of the telecentre users interviewed at Seelampur ICT Centre, India 102 Table 5.4: Profile of the Telecentre users interviewed at Jakkarat T-Centre 104 Table 5.5: Rank order of Computer Activities undertaken by Telecentre visitors at

Jakkarat T-Centre, Thailand 107

List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Internet penetration by World Region 3

Figure 1.2: Unequal legal, social and economic rights between men and women in regions of the world 11

Figure 1.3: Gender disparities tend to be greater among the poor than the rich 12

Figure 3.1: e-readiness index of Indian states 48

Figure 3.2: ICT Development Programme under IT 2010 56

Figure 4.1: Distribution of Thai Internet Users by Location (in 2000) 78

Figure 4.2: Thai Internet market 78

Figure 4.3: Percentage of establishments against computer by reason and planning in year 2006 81

Figure 4.4: Computer Penetration in Thai Schools 90

1 Introduction: Issues and concepts

1.1 ICT and Development

Ever since the advent of the Internet and computer technology there has been great optimism about the development promises it holds out and the revolution that it could set off At the same time, a growing realization of the ‘inequities’ in the availability

of the digital opportunities across different sections of the world’s population has also prevailed Such inequities that have become an issue of great concern in the Information Age are to some extent a continuation of social, economic and gender-based inequalities This gap between those with access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and those without is called the ‘digital divide’ Around 85% of the world’s

population lack Internet experience (InternetWorldStatistics, 2007), indicating the

severity of the digital divide within and between nations The digital divide overshadows the ICT-related optimism, and portends real dangers that ICTs might exacerbate the existing social asymmetries

The severity of the issue and the dangers it entails is echoed in Kofi Annan’s (2002) statement,

“The new information and communication technologies are among the driving forces of globalization They are………… bringing decision makers

unprecedented new tools for development At the same time, however, the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is widening, and there is a real danger that the world’s poor will be excluded from the emerging knowledge-based global economy.”

ICTs, by themselves do not discriminate between individuals men or women However, in conjunction with other social and cultural dynamics, ICTs put women who

have been embedded within patriarchal contexts, in a severely disadvantaged position compared to men, leading to gender gap within the digital divide

Realizing the threats of the gender digital divide, the state, civil society and the market have come together to bridge the gap with strategic deployment of ICTs among the marginalized communities Some ICT initiatives are exclusively for women There is

a view that attention to ICTs means diversion of attention from basic necessities like food, shelter, health and education But technological optimists argue that addressing the problem of digital divide in the initial phase of the Information Age is urgent as

developing countries could derive huge benefits by leapfrogging into the new

technologies Another factor for urgency is the sheer ‘number’ of people affected by the digital divide

1.2 Digital Divide

The growth of the Knowledge Society and the growing divide between the

Information haves and have-nots has evolved almost in tandem.Although it is argued that this Information Age is only the second phase of the already existent Industrial

Revolution,the significance of ICTs is reflected in the fact that the present era has come

to be known as either Information Age or Digital Age What distinguishes the present era

of Information Age from the Industrial Age is the rapidity with which it is revolutionizing almost every aspect of our everyday living The rapidity in change has been such that globalization has become a much talked about ‘concept’ in the last two decades Nasir (2001) states that new technologies like wireless communications and the Internet are combining with the process of globalization to change the environment for development, leading to the creation of ‘Network Age’

Though the speed of communication has become phenomenal with the World Wide Web, what is crucial for our understanding is the nature of this ‘growth’ Even in this phase of intensive-globalization owed to ICTs, there is only a meager 16.6% of the world population that have experienced Internet (Internet World Statistics, 2007)

According to Internet World Stats (2007), Internet penetration in North America

is 69.4% while in Asia it is 10.5% and Africa 3.5% (See Figure 1.1)

Figure 1.1: Internet penetration by World Region

(Source: Internet World Stats, 2007)

The countries of Asia present diverging Internet usage statistics, with Hong Kong showing highest Internet Penetration at 69.2% and Japan, Singapore and South Korea showing 67.2%, 67.2% and 67% respectively, whereas poorer countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar have Internet penetration at 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively (See Table 1.1)

Table 1.1: Population, Internet users and Internet penetration of selected Asian countries

Asian Countries Population

(2006 Est.)

Internet Users (Latest Data)

Penetration (Percentage Population)

Llyod Morrisett, former President of Markle Foundation was the first to use the term Digital divide to mean the divide between the information ‘haves” and the

information “have-nots” Many of the researchers have tried to define ‘digital divide’ based on different factors like “access to the Internet, extent of use, knowledge of search strategies, quality of technical connections and social support, ability to evaluate the quality of information and diversity of uses” (Dimaggio, Haggittai, Neuman & Robinson, 2001) Nevertheless, Bucy (2000) and Van Dijk and Hacker (2003) argue that most of the digital divide work refer to such a divide in relation to Internet ‘access’ and not as much

on the differences in Internet usage Grabill (2003) also maintains that access to

information isn’t particularly useful; “people need to be taught how to use information… (and) produce content for computer networks to be meaningful spaces.”

Pippa Norris (2001) in explaining the multidimensional nature of digital divide gives a three-tier understanding of the concept based on three different aspects First is

the ‘global divide’ which looks at the discrepancies in the Internet access between the developed and the developing nations, second is ‘social divide’ which exists between information haves and have-nots within each country and third, ‘democratic divide’

which exists among the users of Internet between those who do and do not actively engage in using these resources to participate in public life

Keniston (2004) argues that there are four types of digital divide that separates those included in and excluded from the Information Age The first type exists within every nation whether developed or developing, between the rich, educated and powerful and those who are poor, uneducated and not powerful The second digital divide is

attributed to the linguistic and cultural factors; the third type follows from the first two by

furthering a divide between the rich and the poor nations and the fourth has emerged from the emergence of a new class ‘digerati’ii who with their education, brainpower and ability to live on the cutting edge of knowledge have become the true beneficiaries of IT evolution

These definitions and classifications reflect on the patterns of the digital divide,

an understanding of which is crucial as the need to bridge the digital divide is paramount

at a time when ICTs are increasingly being recognized as development enablers

One solution for bridging the digital divide has been telecentres Earlier research had put a lot of thrust on economic issues as factors responsible for digital divide But more recently, studies have focused on non-economic factors like social and cultural to

be equally critical for access, adoption and usage of ICTs And with extensive growth of cybercafés and Information kiosks the thrust on social and cultural dimensions is

increasingly escalating Keeble and Loader (2001) state , “…….To be without access to

the Web in the Information Age , it seems, is to run the risk of losing competitive

advantage in the race for economic prosperity Yet information, knowledge and its communication are not simply economic variables, they are also cultural assets.”

With the concept of community shared resources like that of telecentres that have emerged as an ‘effective’ way to reach the masses , particularly the disadvantaged in terms of lack of resources, ‘access’ to technology is no more the prime deterrent in technology adoption Yet digital divide persists Women face even more complex issues due to their positioning in the patriarchal context

As telecentres are based on the concept of shared resources of a community, the concepts of community and social capital, which is fundamentally a feature of a

community is of great relevance Hence, this study pursues a review of these two

theoretical concepts ultimately aiming to examine ICT’s influence on formation of community and social capital

1.3 ICTs, Women and Development: A Survey of Literature

Studies show that gender equality improves the development of society Hence,

‘women empowerment and promotion of gender equality’ received a separate mention as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) As is the case with other kinds

of gender inequities, gender digital divide too forms an area of urgent action because if women are not included in the formative years of Information Age, their voices would remain unheard even in the future, further exacerbating the gender divide in digital domain (Mitter & Ng, 2005)

Green (1993) argues that women’s use of new ICTs can provide opportunities for achieving unfulfilled gender needs or they can remove socio-economic barriers

threatening opportunities for women’s employment, their health, safety and

independence

Recent studies have shown that ICTs are having positive impacts on women’s development subsequently furthering gender equality However, evidences show that the expansion of ICTs is somehow reinforcing rather than eliminating such deeply embedded gender-based social divisions "Few countries collect gender ICT statistics and those that

do so are typically the countries where the gender digital divide is least marked Those countries where the gender digital divide is most marked are also those where the digital divide in general is hardest to document……Again, the available data reflects the fact that the gender data divide mirrors the global digital divide" (Hafkin, 2003)

Hence, the contested view that women are increasingly taking advantage of ICT

in all spheres of life, thus projecting ICT as a tool to promote gender equality and

enhance the economic, political and social empowerment of women, needs to be

reassessed

In this thesis, we draw attention to the fact that with the advent of telecentres, the issue of access to computer technology has been addressed to a great extent in the remote areas But still diffusion/adoption of technology remains a challenge Gender digital divide continues to remain an issue of concern for development practitioners

As we proceed, we will first look at the ‘women and development’ agenda and its importance in the discourse of development Next, we trace the various stages in which women and development issue evolved in respect of ‘doing gender’ with the ultimate aim

of empowering women The next section looks specifically at the feminist perspectives

on ‘gender and technology’ providing a backdrop for an understanding of more recent studies on women’s social and economic development through ICTs, including

employment generation This structure of literature review starting with the issue of development in respect of women and some feminist perspectives on ‘women and

technology’ provides a broad framework for the understanding of the following section

on the myriad ways in which ICTs are impacting women and their development

The latter section reviews the telecentre movements, its goals and impacts, and a few telecentre projects in developing countries Telecentre literature review has been separately incorporated as this study looks at ICTs and its impact on women through the telecentre lens The last two sections are a review of the concepts of ‘community’ and

‘social capital’ to understand their dynamics in relation to women’s development through ICTs

1.3.1 Women and Development

Information and Communication technologies in the last two decades have evolved as

a potent tool in transforming social, economic and political dimensions of everyday lives across the globe All the countries and societies of the world have to be a part of this fast-paced IT revolution to avoid any marginalization in this Information Age Speaking of marginalization, one section which draws utmost concern is women, as they are poor and they are ‘women’ Being ‘women’ assumes a peculiarly special meaning in the context of technological development as ‘women’s relationship with new technologies have

historically been mediated by problematic assumptions relating to the gender of

‘expertise’’ (Cockburn, 1981)

Studies show evidences drawn from comparisons at the national and sub-national scale that societies which discriminate on the basis of gender pay a price in more poverty, slower growth and a lower quality of life, while gender equality enhances development (Momsen, 2006) Hence, the internationally agreed eight MDGs mention separately of empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality (United Nations, 2005)

Today gender equality makes one of the major concerns in the development arena

as studies indicate that historically –until the early 1970s development policies were directed at women in the context of wives and mothers (Momsen, 2006) Boserup (1970) challenged the then conventional wisdom that the benefits of macroeconomic policies would benefit all including the poor, and the poor women would also benefit as the

economic conditions of their husbands would improve Boserup (1970) argues that

women were being associated with the backward and traditional and were losing status

1.3.1.1 Approaches to doing ‘gender’

A new thrust on women’s development was perceptible with institutionalization of Women in Development (WID) policies By the 1980s, the advocates of WID started to focus on how the development efforts are losing out by ignoring women’s actual or potential contribution The WID approach was criticized for considering women as a homogenous category which led to a distinction between ‘practical’ gender needs which improves women’s lives within their existing roles and ‘strategic’ gender needs which attempts to enable women to take on new roles and empower them (Moser, 1993) But many women activists and development practitioners, especially from the South,

continued to see the ‘women and development’ strategies as lacking the perspective of developing countries

In the 1980s, aiming to bring gender in the mainstream development strategies, the approach of empowerment through grassroots and participatory activities evolved as a weapon for the weak (Parpart, 2002, quoted in Momsen, 2006) Empowerment in this context meant enabling people to gain self-confidence and self-esteem by way of

allowing both men and women to actively participate in development decision-making (Rowlands, 1997) Another approach in the evolution of ‘gender and development’ discourse was ‘ecofeminism’ primarily advocated by Vandana Shiva (1988) who makes a case for environmental programmes to focus on women’s roles

Such approaches were also seen as not adequate in addressing the issue of gender and gender relations in a way which could ensure development for women which led to the

concept of ‘gender mainstreaming’ which would also overcome the problems of male backlash against women when women-only projects are successful (Momsen 2001,

2006)

Even though there has been progress in the agenda of incorporating gender in the

development discourse, with special emphasis on mainstreaming gender in development, since the Beijing Conference in 1995, figures show there is yet a significant gender gap

on various development parameters In no region of the world do men and women fare equally in legal, social and economic rights (See Figure 1.2)

The World Bank report (2005) indicates that violence against women persists and huge gaps in earnings continue in most countries It states that gender differences in work experience, employment characteristics and education explain only a fraction of this gap Women make 57% of the total 104 million children aged 6 -11 years not enrolled in

schools, and they make two-thirds of the 860 million non-literates worldwide (UNESCO, 2003)

Figure 1.2: Unequal legal, social and economic rights between men and women in regions of the

world

Note: the value of 1 indicates low gender equality in rights, and value of 4 indicates high equality

(Source: World Bank, 2001a, quoted in World Bank, 2005)

Studies also show that gender disparities are greater among the poor than the rich (See Figure 1.3) Women continue to be greatly underrepresented in positions from where they could influence decision –making Women make only 16.9% of the total of both the Parliament houses combined worldwide (Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), 2007)

Figure 1.3: Gender disparities tend to be greater among the poor than the rich

(Source: World Bank, 2001)

In the last three decades, strides have been made in improving the status of women and establishing gender equality in terms of education, labour force participation, health and other areas However, gender inequalities persist in matters of exercising rights, decision-making, access to opportunities and making voices heard (World Bank, 2001)

1.3.2 Women and Technology

Modernization of which technological evolution makes a part and restructuring

of traditional economies, “often increases the disadvantages suffered by women as the modern sector takes over many of the economic activities… A majority of the new and

better-paid jobs go to men and male income is less likely to be spent on the family” (Momsen, 1991) With regard to technology, the feminist perspective argues that

technology has often been constructed as masculine and non-social, amid beliefs that the practices of women are almost always non-technological (Wajcman, 1991) Cockburn (1985) also argues that technology is “…both the social property and one of the formative processes of men …The appropriation of muscle, capability, tools and machinery by men is an important source of women’s subordination; indeed it is part of the process by which females are constituted as women”

In the context of the Information Age, Wajcman (1991) argues, “computer has

become socially constructed as a male domain” Admitting the potential of

computing/computers “as a completely new type of technology to break the mould”, Wajcman (1991) further states, the fact that boys outnumber girls in the usage of

computer technology, “our culture has already defined computers as pre-eminently male –machines”

In the backdrop of such a constructed meaning of technology through feminist perspective and historiography of women’s progress amid technological development delineated by feminist observers, it emerges that women remain in the deepest troughs of the divide between the beneficiaries of technological revolution and non-beneficiaries,

worse off than men whose hardships they anyway share

1.3.3 Gender-ICT: A Recent Outlook

Information and Communication Technology already considered a force in

transforming the economic, social and political life is already being seen in some ways as gender equalizer within the ICT domain even in the developing countries The shift

towards ICT-based services in the Information Age has led to a rapid growth of call centres, Business Process Outsourcing and IT Enabled Services (ITES) that provide a wide-range of off-site services to corporate clients within and without nations The last few years have seen a phenomenal growth of such centres in developing countries where ITES are increasingly outsourced to low-waged, multi-lingual countries with relatively low overhead costs (Ng & Mitter, 2005)

Studies have shown that a growing number of workers in these ITES are women Though many research emphasize on the negative impacts of such feminisation of labour

in IT sector leading to exploitation of women in the workplace (Gurumurthy, 2004) and

on its negative impacts on women’s working conditions like erosion of “even the basic rights at work” (Remesh, 2004), there is a growing body of research that acknowledges ICTs’ positive impacts

Pearson (2000) argues that affordances made possible due to globalization and IT enabled work has resulted in increased involvement of women in production and paid employment.Other studies too acknowledge ICT’s benefits in developing countries in terms of creating opportunities for employment (Mitter & Ng, 2005) and the ways in which women have negotiated gender relations at the family and community level

(Kelkar & Nathan, 2002) Castells (2000) also argues that network technologies have made patriarchy a ‘contested domain rather than a sphere of cultural reproduction,

leading to fundamental redefinitions of gender relations, family and sexuality’

Highlighting women’s employment opportunities in the ICT sector, some studies argue that in Malaysia, women’s presence in ICT sector is almost as perceptible as men’s (Ng, 2005) and in India, almost 45% of 160,000 employees in the call centres are women

(Mitter, 2005) There are arguments that ITES like call centres, back office work

processing, medical transcription, etc are going to significantly increase employment opportunities for women unlike traditional manufacturing sector (Mitter, 2000)

Kelkar, Shrestha and Veena (2005) in their work on IT industry in India also point out that the nature of IT work characterized by networking capacities and tools and the individualization of these capacities have increased women’s decision-taking

capacities thereby enhancing their agency

Research on ICT and women in Asia points out that the outsourcing phenomenon would provide major opportunities for the economic empowerment of women An

expected 500% increase in India’s ICT services and back office operations involving jobs

of some four million IT workers by 2008, is expected to provide an immense

employment opportunity for women in this sector (Kripalani & Engardio, 2003)

In the Indian context, NASSCOM-McKinsey Report (1999) predicts the

employment in the ITES sector would exceed that generated by software development by

2008 But one common denominator emerging from the studies on the impacts of ICT in the recent years is that it is mostly the better-educated, urban elite among the women with better articulation and cognitive skills who get into the ITES sector There are studies which report that women from convents or English medium schools are preferred (Kelkar et.al, 2005), employment opportunities would be open for urban elite who have the advantage of knowledge of spoken and written English, thus not making any

transformation in the aggregate employment patterns in the near future (Vijayabaskar, Rothboeck & Gayathri, 2001)

Hafkin and Taggart (2001) in their work on IT and gender in Developing

Countries argue that the jobs gained by women in the IT sector are largely associated with areas with high rates of female literacy in Latin America and Asia, notably in

Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

1.4 Bringing ICTs to the ‘Un-connected’

The role of ICTs in sustained development has been clearly acknowledged by policy makers and development practitioners leading to an array of ICT-based initiatives at various levels with the similar goal of ‘development’ for all the world’s population Some concrete steps taken in the direction by the United Nations alone include formation of UNICT (United Nations Information and Communication Technology) Taskforce in

2001 for formulating strategies on how to deploy ICT for development Also, the World Summit on Information Society was planned in two phases in 2003 and 2005,

underscoring the urgent need for ensuring benefits of ICTs for all

The enthusiasm about ICT and its potential to transform the social, economic and political dimensions of life has fostered further growth in the form of research,

workshops, telecentres and other activities, all targeted at IT-based development which ultimately targets to bridge the growing digital divide between the Information ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’

Centres, Infocentres, Community Technology Centres, Communication Multimedia Centre, are basically centres with latest ICTs to connect the information have-nots to the digital world Although this concept first originated in the Scandinavian countries in Europe as ‘tele-cottages’ to fight against the marginalization of the remote rural areas (Colle and Roman, 2002), it soon became widespread across the globe especially in the developing regions as a way to put the remote and disadvantaged populations on the ICT map

Recent years have witnessed a fast growth of telecentre movement worldwide Theoretically, it has the potential to revolutionize the social development process in the disadvantaged territories especially with its generally applied model of keeping the usage costs much within the affordability range of the underprivileged It is difficult to find a universally accepted definition of a telecentre but as a concept it means a publicly or privately owned physical place which provides information and communication services using a variety of technologies like phone, fax, computers and the Internet (Whyte, 2000)i It is being argued that telecentres across the globe are helping in empowering communities, creating economic opportunities, giving people a voice, ending isolation and educating the public.iii

Even though there are claims of such beneficial outcomes of ICTs through

telecentres, there are numerous studies questioning the viability and sustainability of telecentres in the absence of a continuous funding from an external agency Colle and Roman (2001) recognize that the multilateral donors such as International Development Research Centre (IDRC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNESCO and the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) remain important in the incubation of telecentres, especially those aiming for social change and alleviation of poverty But in the next stage, the focus would shift beyond connectivity and physical infrastructure concerns to the effective usage of telecentre for development (Colle & Roman, 2001)

Some studies address the issue of sustainability by suggesting practical models for telecentre operation Best and Maclay (2002) argue that market approach driven by the private sector and entrepreneurs is the fastest and most efficient way to include rural communities of developing nations in the Networked World They also foresee

telecentres to include mobile and wireless access in the coming years, offering a new set

of opportunities to enhance sustainability and value

The studies on telecentres’ impacts and speculations by Information Society researchers has highlighted telecentres as a critical concept in meeting the objective of empowering the poorer and underserved sections of the populations

1.4.2 Case studies focusing on Women’s Development

There have been a number of effective and productive ICT projects for women, for example the Grameen Phoneiv in Bangladesh but for the purpose of this research we will review only telecentre initiatives, especially those in developing countries

The United Nation’s Report (2005) states that many public access centers

(telecentres) in Latin America like Somos @ telecentros Virtual Community project, which is coordinated by Chasquinet Foundation (Ecuador) and supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) have had positive impacts of democratization of the internet, increased participation of women, stimulation of social uses of the Internet and active and informed inclusion of the marginalized sections

The women associated with the Badurai ICT Centre in West Bengal, India

reported that after acquiring ICT skills at the ICT Centre they gained more respect in the local community and the younger women felt that now they could approach the job market with greater confidence (UN, 2005)

The Nakaseke Telecentre Project in Uganda has demonstrated that poor, rural women of Africa who are mostly illiterate benefited from the project This IDRC-funded project involved creation of CD-ROM of ICT based learning materials on micro-

enterprise using local languages, which ultimately benefited women to know the market prices of goods and take better marketing decisions (UN, 2002b)

The initiative by private corporate groups to distribute WAP enabled cell phones

to women agriculturists in rural Senegal is reported to have been appreciated by the women for the economic benefits it brought to them, and other women were also

interested in becoming a part of the project An Argentina-based NGO, PRODEMU trained poor rural women in the use of ICT for better design ideas and marketing of their handicrafts Later, by packaging their products better and putting them online on a

webpage, they reported increased sales keeping them profitably employed in their

community (UN, 2002b)

The community based learning centers in western Kenya under the Kenya AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group taught poor women including widows and also older vulnerable children from HIV affected families, about nutrition, trained them in skills needed to become socially and economically empowered, and also in taking care of those infected with AIDS The trained women were further organized into radio listening

groups and were trained in audio-video recording equipments, drama and story-telling a tools for learning and development.v

The Women Mayors’ Link initiated in twelve countries of Stability Pact Region reports 50 direct women beneficiaries in the region and has been successful in promoting networking among the women mayors of the region (UN, 2005)

Farmwife Project in Malawi is reported to have helped women farmers increase their agricultural production (Miranda, 2004) This report also claims to have doubled the agricultural productivity of the Zomba district in Malawi

The Government of Republic of Korea in 2001 and 2002 launched several IT projects for the economic empowerment of women The Gyeonggi Women’s

Development Centre established in 1997 was an initiative which launched IT training programmes for women since 1999 in several phases The training course was designed for women in different life situations.vi A study on this Centre, as quoted in UN Report (2005) states that two-third of the total of 600 women enrolled have either found

employment or started their own enterprise The success of the project is largely

attributed to the project design which accommodated the local women’s needs and

constraints for greater participation

Mehra (1997) in her study of Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) projects in India reports that the project has been able to improve the economic status of women especially in the informal sector as they worked on the premise that women are a fundamental component in the process of economic development The Information centres in 11 districts of Gujarat (India) by SEWA provide computer training and skills

and builds capacity of women organizers and strengthen micro-enterprises (Mishra, 2004)

1.5 Concept of ‘Community’

One of the classical theories of 'Community' (Gemeinshaft) has been postulated

by Ferdinand Tonnies who defined it as an indivisible, single unit formed by an essential will, and is self-fulfilling For example, the unit of family or neighbourhood “The sense

of unity is maintained even when people become separated” (Tonnies, 2001)

Tonnies (2001) draws a parallel between the unit of a family and the unit of community, where fatherhood is the clearest foundation for the concept of 'authority' within the community, and “greater power in general means greater ability to render assistance [to others]” He also views that where there is a decisive difference in power, reciprocal sentiments of affection and reverence stand as the twin pillars that form the very foundations of Gemeinshaft In his theory, it is because of such feelings that a kind

of community relationship is possible

Classifying community into three categories: Community by blood, Community of place and Community of spirit, Tonnies (2001) views that the last one makes the highest form of human community The first of three, Community by blood, even when not limited by the four walls “can find its own nourishment” while the second, community of place even though more difficult than the first can persist even when people are absent from their neighbourhood ; it has to be sustained by fixed habits of getting together and

by customs regarded as sacred And the last type, Community of mind or spirit results from similarity of work or opinion “The community of mind implies only cooperation

and coordinated action for a common goal [it] expresses the community of mental life”(Tonnies, 2001) It makes the highest form of human community

According to Karp, Stone and Yoel (1991), the three elements that define a

community are: 1) sustained social interaction, 2) shared attributes and values and 3) delineated geographical boundaries However, Hagel and Armstrong (1997) argue that

“the notion of community has been at the heart of the Internet since its inception”

Thereby, it implies that the view of a community being bound by geographical

boundaries is challenged in the Information/Network Age as the communities are free from its spatio-temporal confines

As telecentres are based on the concept of shared resources, there is an inherent dynamics leading to the formation of a community around it, which constitutes

fundamental elements of sustained interaction and shared values and opinions This unit

of a community can further its shared objectives and goals by realizing the ‘capital’ that it contains within its structure, which brings us to the concept of social capital

The next section is a brief review of the concept of social capital which enhances our understanding of how communities especially underpriviledged, can achieve

development goals by capitalizing on the concept of social capital

1.6 Concept of ‘Social capital’

According to Coleman (1990), "Social capital is defined by its function, it is not a single entity, but a variety of different entities having characteristics in common: they all consist of some aspect of a social structure, and they facilitate certain actions of

individuals who are within the structure" Putnam who takes a political science

perspective defines social capital as, "…networks, norms, and trust that enable

participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives" (Baron &

Schuller, 2000) He specifically attributes it as a capital of the communities and not

individuals And he argues that social capital is much more than just “feelings…of

community pride” as it affects our lives in many different ways He also suggests that the more people working together more social capital is produced and the less people

working together the more social capital is depleted (Cooper et al., 1999) Coleman

(1990) also argues similarly in that social capital can get depleted if not replenished Healy (2001) also holds that “social ozone” needs to be protected and strategies must be devised to maintain and protect it

Fukuyama (1995) who treats the subject within an economic framework

established relationship between social capital and enhanced economic achievements through greater trust and lower transaction cost He stresses that it is the inherent trust in

a given society that conditions its level of democracy and economic competence

Although there are arguments that the concept of social capital is being “adopted indiscriminately, adapted uncritically, and applied imprecisely…" (Lynch et.al, 2000), research shows strong correlation between social capital and desirable outcomes Work of Baum (2000) is relevant here which shows that before 1981 journal articles with social capital as the key word numbers 20 while between and 1996 and early 1999, the number soared to 1003 Putnam (2000) argues for social capital by saying that it has “forceful, even quantifiable effects” on many aspects of our lives

Putnam (2000) further states three types of social capital—bonding, bridging and linking He argues that "….bonding social capital constitutes a kind of sociological super

glue, whereas bridging social capital provides a sociological WD 40…" (Putnam, 2000) While the former is significant for “getting by” the latter is critical for “getting ahead” Linking social capital is the relations between individuals and groups irrespective of the social strata to which they belong in a hierarchy where power, wealth and social status are accessed by all (Cote & Healy, 2001).

Although there are some criticisms for attributing too many virtues to social capital, it is widely agreed that social capital is productive in many ways and one element fundamental to it is trust within the social structure which contains it Some view it as an outcome of social capital while others think of it as a component constitutive of social capital, and some like Cote and Healy (2001) consider it to be both

1.7 Issues and Concepts: Discussion

Section 1.3 reviewed select literature on gender’s role in development agenda and the different stages in which the two have interacted in the last few decades to achieve the goal of gender mainstreaming It also presented the feminist perspective on ‘women and technology’ where scholars maintain that technologies have been constructed as

‘masculine’, ‘non-social’ and ‘sources of women’s subordination’

In the backdrop of such an understanding of women’s position in the trajectory of technological development, Section 1.3.3 drew attention to more recent studies and arguments made in favour of ICTs, where ICTs have been argued to be a factor for social and economic development of women community in various regions of the developing world The genesis of telecentres and a snapshot of some of the telecentre projects in the region targeting women as beneficiaries further provided an illustration of the beneficial

outcomes in terms of women’s economic development, including creation of employment opportunities

An increased use of ICTs specifically telecentre, has reportedly shown varied

positive impacts on the society and also the women within As ICTs are increasingly impacting the communities, there are perceived prospects of ICTs being able to play a crucial role in defining community formation and building social capital The generation

of social capital could be further utilized to make ICT adoption and diffusion effective and meaningful to the communities in order to realize the goals of empowerment It must

be highlighted that these arguments are speculative in nature and is imported from the belief in the enabling nature of ICTs This study attempts to enquire empirically about ICT’s enabling nature in terms of women’s social empowerment through community and social capital generation

From the overview of literature on women and ICTs , community and social capital, the two areas that emerge as critically significant are: first, ICT’s employment potential for empowering women and second, network sociality mediated by ICTs would facilitate the creation of social capital for the sustenance of the benefit stream generated by

development projects The implied argument is that ICTs are directly related to

employment opportunities and creating social environment for sustaining economic empowerment through social capital

In literature, we find that these two areas emerge as critically important in

understanding the role of ICTs in changing the socio-economic opportunities available for women This thesis looks at the potential of ICTs for employment and social capital

generation in a comparative setting It draws from one case study each in India and Thailand

1.8 Research Questions

The premise of this study is the very discourse of ICT which promises

development and empowerment to all But amidst such optimism the question that seeks attention is are these promises being delivered to all alike?

This thesis attempts to examine telecentre initiatives undertaken to bridge the digital divide, by making ICTs available in remote and underserved areas It looks at the social and cultural contexts that shape the adoption of ICTs, guide the usage behaviour and mould the expectations and understanding of ICTs by marginalized communities The study retains its focus on gender and particularly examines gender-ICT interaction within these communities For the purpose of this study, we look at ICT through the lens

of telecentres

Specifically, the following questions are raised in order to meet the larger objective of the study:

• Who uses the ICTs provided in telecentres and why?

• What are the perceptions and experiences of women with ICTs, particularly with respect to ICT as an instrument for employment generation?

• How far do ICTs enable community formation and social capital generation furthering women’s empowerment?

• What are the factors guiding women’s interaction with telecentres?

• How effective have ICTs been in bringing about economic and social

1.9 Thesis Structure

In chapter 2 on ‘Methodology’, we first review some theoretical perspectives on social sciences research and then elaborate on qualitative and quantitative methods We further look into the feminist perspective on qualitative research and later touch upon the limitations of qualitative research method In the next section, the rationale for choosing the particular telecentre projects in India and Thailand is provided Detailed description

of the field study including the sampling frame is provided Further, the issues faced in the field at the two different locations are described and finally, the limitations of the study are discussed

Chapter 3 tries to put the two telecentres in context for a clearer understanding of the cases being studied The structure breaks the chapter into two segments—Seelampur telecentre and Jakkarat T-Centre Under the first segment, an outline of ICT policies in India including the e-readiness of the Indian states is given Next, a brief demographic profile of New Delhi is provided to understand the city context of the telecentre followed

by demographic description of slums in India and those particularly in New Delhi After

a description of Seelampur –Zaffarabad area where telecentre is exactly located, there is a full description of the Seelampur ICT Centre Project

Similarly, for the next section on Thailand case study, an overview of IT industry

in Thailand is presented followed by an outline of IT policies and plans of the Thailand government After a brief idea of the telecentre context in Thailand, details of the

Thailand Canada Telecentre Project (TCTP) is provided as Jakkarat T-Centre is a part of this project Lastly, a demographic profile of Jakkarat is provided with the last section giving details of the Jakkarat T-Centre project

Chapter 4 first provides an overview of the IT industry with specific focus on the employment scenario in the last few years which has seen rapid expansion of Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) Next, against the backdrop of this scenario the chapter places the findings of the study, and finally analyses the issue of women’s

development through employment generation in both the countries— India and Thailand

Chapter 5 presents the findings on the community formation aspect at the two telecentre sites being studied It also takes a separate look at the operations of the

telecentre projects implementing agencies furthering the discussion on translation of community formation into social capital generation as a way to empower women

Chapter 6 concludes by summarizing the study, its main findings and discussing the scope for further research

iii See further http://ebook.telecentre.org

iv Professor Yunus Muhammad won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for Grameen Bank initiative started in Bangladesh; Grameen Phone is a spin-off of Grameen Bank

v See further http://www.kaippg.org/

vi See further http://www.womenpro.or.kr/

2 Methodology

2.1 Introduction

Social science research in the field of technology has generated a variety of scholarly studies Nevertheless, the complexities of bringing together the two streams in the domain of research, and churning out valid and reliable findings remain a very

complex pursuit As ICT is a relatively new field and has its own uniqueness, studies suggest that there is a need for theoretical perspectives and methodological rigour in the area of research in the ICT domain

This study too faced methodological challenges and after careful consideration of the research agenda and the limitations of the study, it was decided to opt for the

qualitative method and conduct detailed structured interviews Henceforth, structured interviews were carried out with the help of short-item questionnaires Data on socio-economic conditions of the respondents and their association with telecentres was collected to compile information that could lend support to the arguments

semi-As this study aims to understand the role of ICTs in empowering women from disadvantaged communities and also in forming communities, and what are the factors that influence ICT adoption by women, it was decided to take a community–level, cross-national perspective in order to have a point of comparison for each field study to get a deeper understanding of the significance of socio-cultural elements in gender-ICT

interaction It must be categorically mentioned here that although the study takes a comparative approach for a clearer understanding of the case studies, it does not aim to

be a comparative study of the two telecentre projects in India and Thailand

This chapter would take us through the review of some theoretical positions in social sciences and the one chosen for this study and justifications for it It would also explain in detail, different methodologies, their limitations, methodology chosen for this study and the reasons for it The sampling framework, issues in the field and limitations

of the method would be elaborated upon It also explains the reasons for selecting India and Thailand, and the two specific telecentre projects in these countries-–Seelampur ICT Centre Project and Thailand Canada Telecentre Project—for the purpose of this study 2.2 Social Sciences Research: Theoretical perspectives

Broadly, there are two methods—qualitative and quantitative—adopted in social sciences research Arguably, selection between the two depends on the research objective and purpose

The two dominant theoretical perspectives in social sciences are positivism and phenomenology, which provide the foundation to discuss the question of the importance

of data in social science research Positivism seeks to understand the causes of social phenomena as observed outside the subjective attributes of individuals whereas

phenomenologist seek to gain an understanding of the same through the actor’s point of view (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984).Hence, quantitative research appear to be based more on positivistic epistemological position which tests , predicts and provides evidence while qualitative research takes into account diverse epistemological positions including

positivism, post-positivism, phenomenology, interpretive, feminist, postmodernist, ethnomethodology, critical and standpoint (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2004) And as

qualitative research is inclusive of such diverse positions it allows for a wide range of questions for understanding of complex sociological process

According to Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2004) if the qualitative were to be

distinguished from the quantitative by a list of words, the following list would give the description:

Value-free politics/social activism

Hayes (1996) states that the selection between the quantitative and qualitative methods depends on the research purpose of gaining more depth or breadth on the subject under study For studying an issue in greater breath, which entails a good number of respondents, quantitative method is more suitable but for studying few issues with greater depth qualitative method is more applicable Quantitative method which allows putting a limited set of questions to a good many number of respondents helps to generalize the findings whereas qualitative method which allows for a greater depth is a source of rich data about a limited number of respondents Qualitative research makes way for “thick description” of social life (Geertz, 1973)

As this study attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the views, beliefs,

experiences and understandings of computer technology by the underserved communities being studied, and their reasons and ways of interaction or potential interaction with it, an