Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Connectivity – The Macha Story

Interview with Gertjan van Stam, Technical Director of LinkNet, Zambia

eLA: What progress has been done on LinkNet until now?

Gertjan van Stam: LinkNet has been involved with the provision of Internet access in rural Macha since 2004. The technical solution is simple and customised to the needs of the community – the infrastructure technology is low-cost and appropriate for the local conditions. It includes VSAT satellite connections to the Internet, a wireless mesh network, a network server and connections for personal computers. Internet in Macha is provided to local research institutions, the hospital and to schools. Individuals can access the Internet in a public Internet café or by a connection at home. The most important usage of the Internet is personal communication via e-mail and hosted application services. Furthermore, the provision of Internet connectivity to the Macha community has yielded several innovations that were not anticipated when the Internet was first introduced. These innovations have led to significant socio-economic benefits.

eLA: Who are the partners?

Gertjan van Stam: Collaboration has been established between LinkNet and the University of Zambia (UNZA), Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ), the Meraka Institute – Africa's main applied research institute in ICT based in South Africa – and the Global Research Alliance, among others. The Communications Authority of Zambia is a keen supporter of the LinkNet initiative in its striving for Universal Service Provisioning and the establishment of rural ICT expert centres in Zambia. With its partners, LinkNet is addressing the main problems through applied research and innovation and it is targeting an upscaling of its activities with the local communities throughout rural Zambia and beyond.

eLA: Who is training who at Macha and what kind of training do they receive?

Gertjan van Stam: LinkNet (http://www.link.net.zm) has relied heavily on self-directed study as the primary means of training. This initial plan directly focussed on instilling both a sense of personal responsibility as well as personal discipline. This self-guided training has proven to be beneficial. Now we have implemented LinkNet Information Technology Academy (LITA) which endeavours to take a holistic approach to training.

Macha, Students at LITA

Instead of offering only computer training, we now also provide life-skills development within the LITA curriculum, especially for people from rural villages and schools. In addition, some basic training on working for a business and how to excel in the LinkNet business environment was added. Finally, LITA sought to provide a venue in which to utilise the training skills and knowledge of the ever-growing list of visiting LinkNet IT professional partners. LITA currently has three basic modules of training: lectured-based ICT, Life Skills and continued education seminars. And training never ends, and continues very much “on the job”.

eLA: How many men and women have been trained so far at Macha?

Gertjan Van Stam: We have trained at least 15 Information Technology (IT) experts, 6 students from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and quite a number of users in specific software applications like SmartCare – the standard for registering health information in Zambia and hundreds of people in computer literacy.

eLA: What are your main energy sources and what challenges do you face with the project?

Gertjan van Stam: The main energy sources at LinkNet implementation sites are electricity mains from the electricity grid. There are plans to work with bio-diesel generators or solar energy, but these plans are still in their infancy. Working in rural areas has challenges not often encountered in urban areas. For example, a large number of computers are damaged by power interruptions, high temperatures and dust.

The power problem is just one of the many problems that need further research. This research is being done together with the University of Zambia, with which LinkNet has signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Other problems are frequent hard disk failures, the high cost of the VSAT connections for Internet services, bandwidth and network management and implementation of billing systems.

However, the main challenge was not to be sidetracked and to keep focus on the holistic approach involving all the stakeholders including government, the local community, local institutions and donor organisations with a focus on rural progress.

This has worked, and after just three years of operation, there are 100 computers in Macha, 200 local people have been trained in basic computer literacy, more then 10 locals from Macha have been trained as IT technicians and many new jobs have been created. The IT technicians are not only using their skills within Macha but travel around the country to help in other rural areas, as well as provide services to institutions in urban areas.

Additionally, the community has provided data entry services (of thousands of documents) to a company in the developed world. The provision of access to the Internet, coupled with a solid supporting structure, has shown that the local people can empower themselves to improve their lives and create new opportunities.

eLA: Is Macha done with the implementation of an ICT hospital including tele-health, linking up of schools and assisting other rural areas outside Macha?

Gertjan van Stam: Macha is the proof-of-concept for further implementation of telecommunication services in other rural areas. It has been scrutinised by users and research institutes alike. In essence, the concept deployed key telecommunication infrastructure and basic IT services such as e-mail and Internet for the people of Macha. The hospital, a secondary school, the research institute and large parts of the housing infrastructure for these institutions have been connected. Next month, a proof-of-reproduction site will be fully operational in Mukinge, a village in the north-western province of Zambia. LinkNet is currently in the process of working on four implementations outside of Macha, and has committed to deploy many more sites during 2008.

eLA: Gertjan, many thanks for your time.

More information: http://link.net.zm/

April 10, 2008

Newsportal: eLearning and Inclusion