The British Council supporting information society development in Ethiopia

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UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Distr.: GENERAL

E/ECA/DISD/CODI.1/CRP1 21 June 1999

Original: ENGLISH

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA First Meeting of the Committee on

Development Information (CODI)

28 June-2 July 1999 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

THE BRITISH COUNCIL SUPPORTING INFORMATION SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT

IN ETHIOPIA

Submitted by Mr. Abebe Chekol, British Council, Ethiopia

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The British Council Supporting Information Society Development in

Ethiopia

Prepared for

The First Meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI), 28 June - 2 July 1999, at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis

Ababa

If you have any enquiries, please contact:

Abebe Chekol

Development Information Officer The British Council

P.O. Box 1043 Addis Ababa

Ethiopia Tel. 251-1-55 00 22 Fax 251-1-55 25 44

E-mail: Abebe.Chekol@bc-addis.bcounciI.org Website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/ethiopia

1. Background

1.1 Ethiopia is in the initial stage of the IT continuum. Various studies show that the telecommunication industry is now well below what is needed for the country to become competitive in the emerging global information economy in

the 21st century.

1.2 Ethiopia with telephone density of 0.3% is among the countries with very poor telecommunication infrastructure compared to the global average of

13.3 % and is significantly lower than the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 1.5%.

1.3 Although the present situation in Ethiopia is not ideal, a small breakthrough has been achieved in the last couple of years.

1.4 Ethiopia introduced its first domestic connection to the Internet with a capacity of 5,000 clients in January 1997. Since then, access to the Internet service has been available to anyone with essential networking tools (i.e. Telephone line, computer, modem and communication software). Although the Fidonet e-mail service at the PADIS is still there, the Ethiopian Telecommunication

Corporation is the only Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Ethiopia.

2. The British Council Ethiopia Internet Service

2.1 Started in June 1997 just six months after the introduction of Internet in Ethiopia.

2.2 Services

Open to British Council library members

The British Council encourages the use of all the Internet facilities:

WWW - USENET Newsgroups

E-mail - Listserv - mailing list

Telnet - FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Chat - Gopher, etc.

2.3 The range of users of the service include:

University/college instructors University/college students Medical doctors

Consultants Teachers Journalists Business men Professionals Project Managers Civil Servants, etc.

2.4 A small survey on the use of this service indicated that:

2.5

57% of the total users use e-mail.

7% of the total users use only the WWW.

27% of the total users, use both the WWW and e-mail.

1% of the total users use Telnet.

3% of the total users use the Chat facility e.g. aol etc.

Our monthly statistical record shows that 60% of the users are males and 40%

' are females.

2.6 The statistics from the beginning of the service shows the increasing number of users as indicated in the graph below:

300

200

The British Condi Internet User;

June '97 December'97 June '98 December'98 April '99

2.7 Internet training

1,563 library members have been given Internet training since June 1997.

156 key government officials, department heads, professionals

including journalists have been trained in 97/98. The participants were from the following organisations:

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House of the Peoples' Representatives Prime Minister's Office

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Information

CRCCH-Ministry of Information

Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation Ministry of Health

Ministry of Agriculture

Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission

Addis Ababa Culture and Information Bureau Addis Ababa Finance Bureau

Oromiya Regional State Council

Ethiopia Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund (ESRDF)

Addis Ababa University Administration Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University

Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University

Department of History, Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University Libraries

Oromiya Water, Mineral and Energy Bureau Oromiya Finance Bureau

Oromiya Education Bureau

Oromiya Planning and Economic Development Bureau Oromiya Agricultural Development Bureau

Oromiya Health Bureau

Ethiopian Orthodox Church - Development and Interchurch Aid Cooperation

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation

3. Multipurpose Community Telecentre Project

Wolliso and Debre Berhan Multipurpose Community Telecentres

3.1 The very limited information and communication technologies available in

Ethiopia are concentrated mainly in the capital. The British Council in

Ethiopia has therefore initiated an outreach project to establish telecentres in two public libraries 105 km and 130 km from Addis Ababa i.e. in Wolliso and Debre Berhan. This initiative, in line with the Ethiopian government's policy

for the development of modern information facilities in the regions, also

responds to the call of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) for

NGOs to work with government and the private sectors.

3.2 The objectives of the project are;

• To make the world's pool of information accessible to the communities at large

and to develop awareness of the use of the emerging technologies and resources.

• To reach influential members of the regional authorities through modern information provision and to demonstrate concern for the social and economic development of Ethiopia outside Addis Ababa. :.

• To act as a model centre for encouraging similar local initiatives in the future.

• To support distance learning.

3.3 The centres will provide public access Internet service , e-mail, multimedia CD-ROMs, fax and telephone service, application software usage, computer literacy training, overnight loans and reference use of IT books, photocopy service, etc. A home page on the local web server, a newsletter and a brochure of the centres will be published.

3.4 Potential users of the services include Local government officials at zonal level; Experts involved in research and development activities; Educated civil servants working in the town; Secondary school teachers; Secondary school students; Educated members of the community in the private sector.

3.5 Target users as investigated will include local government officials,

professionals, and the general public. The number of major target groups in Wolliso per their level of education are 9 medical doctors, 55 first degree holders in various fields, 101 diploma holders in various fields.

3.6 Our partners are:

• Local government authorities who will cover the costs of premises, one year's salary of IT assistant, security guard, furniture, telephone rental and electricity.

• The Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission who will be providing computer training for users.

• The British Embassy in Ethiopia which has provided £38,000, to cover remaining costs and the purchase of equipment.

The centres will be inaugurated according to the time table below. An evaluation at the end of the one-year project will be used as a basis for measuring their sustainability.

3.7 Telecentre Resources

3.7.1 Physical facilities and information resources

3.7.1.1 Building (a 4x4m room (this is available in Wolliso Public library premises, the Debre Berhan public library is to arrange a similar space)

3.7.1.2 Furniture

tables

tables - 3 computer tables

2 tables for copier and fax machine

1 office table chairs

5 metal framed and plastic covered sponge chairs Display screens

3.7.1.3 Computer and communication facilities

3 Multimedia PCs loaded with Windows 98 1 UPS which can support 3 PCs

1 DeskJet printer (color) 2 modems

3 direct telephone lines (for Internet and the fax) 1 fax machine

1 photocopier (canon PC 740)

Electricity accessories (extension cords, adapters, sockets, etc.)

3.7.1.4 Information sources

Internet (WWW) access including e-mail in 2 lines.

CD-ROM information sources include:

Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia

Encarta (a complete interactive multimedia encyclopedia)

Guinness Multimedia Dictionary of Records

World Atlas

PICKUP (professional, industrial and commercial short

courses)

World tables (World Bank's on going economic, demographic, and social data)

IT focused book collection

Information Technology and Basic Skills Internet for Beginners

Learning the Internet: A Workbook for Beginners

Webster's New World Pocket Internet Directory and Dictionary

Harley Hahn' s Internet and Web Golden Directory Manual for Microsoft Excel, Word and Access, Windows, etc.

An address list of selected WWW sites (to be compiled

by the British Council)

3.7.2 Consumables Stationery items:

50 reams computer/photocopy papers

Cartridge/toner 12 for printer, 4 for copier and 4 for fax machine

other stationery items

3.7.3 Personnel

1 System Administrator to be employed for one year contract basis at grade 3

British Council salary scale level.

1 IT Assistant - to be trained on the job from the Wolliso and Debre Berhan

public libraries staff.

1 Security guard

Telecentre project implementation - time table for Wolliso and Debre Berhan I Centre Establishment Activities

Time

Activities Wolliso Debre Berhan

Project initiated Nov '97 Nov '97

Project draft finalised and agreed with ORSC, ACTIB, OCIB, WSCID, WCC*

IT equipment and books ordered 3 direct telephone lines installed Internet subscription arranged Centre administrator recruited

Physical set up, installation and testing Administration procedures and regulations

of the centre and its service worked out Sept '99 Oct '99

Telecentre brochure, homepage

and newsletter published Oct '99 Nov '99

Centre Inaugurated Nov '99 Dec '99

II Initial post opening activities

Publicising the centre (arrange public visits

and demonstrations) and registering users Nov '99 Dec '99

Arranging and conducting successive IT

skills training for users Dec '99 - Feb '00 Jan '00 - Mar '00

May Feb July July Aug

'98 '99

'99 '99 '99

June Feb' Aug Sept Sept

'98 99 '99 '99 '99

ORSC=Oromiya Regional State Council

OCIB=Oromiya Culture and Information Bureau

ACTIB=Amhara Culture, Tourism and Information Bureau WSCID=West Shoa Culture and Information Department WCC=Wolliso City Council

4. Development Information

The British Council Development Information Centre has been established in June 1996 to provide information on development issues in general and on Ethiopia in particular; to establish a central point for the networking of development information

and organisations.

4.1 The development information service includes:

• Information enquiry service by personal visit or telephone;

• E-mail based enquiry service;

• Bibliographies on development subjects;

• Database search for both bibliographic and non-bibliographic information;

• Proactive information service - both hard copy and e-mail based service using

Insight Science, Health news, ID21 news {Information for Development in the 21st

News), etc. which bring the latest and best UK-based development research

• Computer, printing and communication facilities (E-mail, fax, telephone),

photocopy;

• Internet service;

• CD-ROM Service

Access to the following CD-ROM databases:

- Bookbank (Whittakers' Books in Print);

- Britain in Brief;

- Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia;

- Control of Communicable Diseases Manual;

- Course Finder: English in Britain 1999;

- Dangerous Creatures: Explore the Endangered World of Wildlife;

- Directory ofAdvanced Training Opportunities in the African, Caribbean and

Pacific (ACP) Countries (DTOACP);

- ECCTIS 2000 (containing information on short, medium and long term

courses in the UK);

- Encarta - a complete interactive multimedia encyclopedia;

- English in Medicine Audio CD;

- ERIC (Educational Information Resource Centre) containing literature in

Education;

- EthioSoft: The Multimedia Learning Tool;

- ISBI (Independent Schools of the British Isles) the Educational Database;

- Inside Science (literature in pure and applied sciences);

- Inside Social Science and Humanities;

- MEDLINE (literature on medical sciences);

- SERLINE (Serials in medical sciences);

- SIGLE (System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe);

- Women, Water and Sanitation;

- The World Bank's World Development Sources 1998.

• Development projects database- plan to compile in the near future

• content development (Homepage)

• Training on the use of CD-ROMs and Internet

4.2 The Development Information Centre holds over 2,500 source documents on development issues including government policies (regulations, proclamations, published policy guidelines, government official data (statistics, economic data), conference proceedings, papers and reports, studies undertaken in development subjects, publications of non-governmental organisations, multilateral and international aid agencies and the World Bank publications.

4.3 Target audiences include researchers, academics, planners, policy makers, consultants, those working in international aid agencies and in local and international NGOs and the British Council library members.

4.4 The Centre incorporates the World Bank information service in Addis Ababa and will, in future, include providing access to the Bank's information on-line.

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