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"Communication
Information Center (CIC)
for development of Nepal
Abstract:
Community Information
Center (CIC) can
reduce poverty by
improving poor
people’s access to
education, health,
government and financial
services. CIC can also
help rural farmers by
connecting them to
markets. This paper
outlines a simple
explanation why a
digital divide may exist
between rich and poor.
1.
The
poverty-reducing
potential of CIC
The World Development
Report 20003: identifies
three priority areas for
reducing poverty:
increasing opportunity,
enhancing empowerment,
and improving security.
Opportunity makes
markets work for the
poor and expands poor
people’s assets.
Empowerment makes state
institutions work better
for poor people and
removes social
barriers. Security
helps poor people manage
risk.
The use of CIC
applications can enhance
poor people’s
opportunities by
improving their access
to markets, health, and
education. Furthermore,
CIC can empower the poor
by expanding the use of
local services.
2. CIC projects for
poverty reduction in
rural areas
Although most of the
rural people in Nepal
are isolated from the
information revolution,
there are several
examples where CIC can
be implemented to
contribute to poverty
reduction in the rural
areas of Nepal.
Following are the
examples of
implementation of
Community Information
Center.
2.1. Developing the
local market: Milk
collection centers in
local areas
Local farmers living in
rural areas generally
lack access to
information about
prices, data about the
new agricultural
products, weather
conditions and market
opportunities. CIC can
remedy such information
asymmetries and
stimulate poor people’s
entrepreneurship by
better connecting them
to markets.
For examples:- In
Gujarat, computerized
milk collection
centers with integrated
electronic weights,
electronic fat testing
machines and plastic
card readers are
ensuring fair prices for
farmers who sell milk to
dairy cooperatives.
Computerized milk
collection centers have
increased transparency,
led to faster
processing, shorter
queues and immediate
payment to farmers.
2.2. Improving access
to basic services:
Telemedicine
Telemedicine can reduce
the cost of long
distance travel for
medical diagnosis.
Furthermore, CIC can
simplify medical data
collection and record
management.
2.3. Improving access
to government services:
Syangja
CIC can be used by
government offices and
institutions to
transform relations with
citizens. After the
development of the
government websites,
rural villagers need not
have to travel long
distances to government
district headquarters in
order to submit
citizenship applications
and passport
applications.
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