Information Communication Technology and Poverty Alleviation: a Case Study in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

The effective use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in development, is enhanced through the use of a Community Empowerment Model, which focuses on outcomes based on local needs, and where the access centre is transformed into a centre for community development. The use of ICT in development is not well understood, nor has its implementation achieved the claimed potential. This research investigates the role of ICT, especially the way it can leverage against the underlying structural inequalities that cause poverty. The research took place through analysis of the implementation and outcomes of a development project, using internet telecentres, in the Peruvian Andes. The project successfully impacted upon underlying causes of poverty in the communities: low quality education, social and cultural discrimination and low productive capacity. Outcomes were achieved by individuals using the technology to bring about change in their lives. This was influenced by a number of contextual factors, which were mediated through the use of local intermediaries, who managed the social and cultural factors that interface between the user and the technology. The telecentre implementation model, however, risks reinforcing existing social hierarchies. Disparities between the centre and periphery are potentially accentuated by this model, especially in topography such as the Andes. Therefore, in such environments, telecentre models must develop towards decentralisation, utilising wireless rural network technology. Moreover, traditional problems with telecentres being unsustainable and underused can be overcome by use of the Community Empowerment Model and by transference to municipal ownership, as opposed to private ownership, after the project phase.