Sustainability and strategic partnerships in ICT4E

TIM UNWIN7 September 2006

Outline

• Sustainability and partnerships

• Existing frameworks and institutional agendas for sustainability and partnerships

• Towards an alternative framework of sustainable ICT4E partnership

ICT4E Partnerships and Sustainability

• “Partnerships” and “Sustainability”– Two of the dominant rhetorics of contemporary “development”– Of particular salience in ICT4E context– But “partnerships” often poorly thought through

• Why have partnerships been so prominent in the ICT4E context?– The central role of the private sector

• Not without controversy (CSER agendas)!

– The complexity of the processes– The role of partnership organisations such as the Global

Knowledge Partnership– Realisation of value of partnerships in achieving sustainability

Examples of ICT4E partnership

• Global Knowledge Partnership– Multi-stakeholder emphasis

• Partnership exploration, building and maintenance (mainly government, business and civil society)

– Sharing knowledge; building partnerships– Seven principles for success (2003)

• Focusing mainly on internal mechanisms of successful partnership functioning

• Jordan Education Initiative– McKinsey report (2005)

• Focus on private sector partnering with government• Partnership model flexible but undefined• Designed to be sustainable

Examples of ICT4E partnership

• UN ICT Task Force and GeSCI (Global eSchools and Communities Initiative)– GeSCI’s three types of partner

• Local and Government; Growth; Knowledge

• NEPAD and ISPAD (Information Society Partnership for Africa’s Development)– Private sector companies leading consortia

• Again, partnership model not clearly formulated

• India’s Mission 2007– Partnerships at village level

Dimensions of sustainability• Five dimensions in ICT4E are often defined:

– Educational sustainability– Technological sustainability– Social sustainability– Political sustainability– Economic/financial sustainability

• This leaves out important dimensions such as– Environmental sustainability

• Costing in the satellites!

– Cultural relevance and sustainability

• And is derived from an accountancy framework

GeSCI: “a complete and sustainable model”

• Key inputs:– Goals and strategy– Actors– Funding

• Value delivery system:– Deployment of ICT platform– Content– User training and support– Technical support– Monitoring and reporting

• End-user– Schools– Communities

• System must be:– Comprehensive– Demand-driven– Capable and efficient– Efficiently co-ordinated

GeSCI partners

• Local and governmental partners– Government ministries, NGOs, Private companies,

Academic institutions

• Growth partners– Private companies, philanthropic organisations,

governments, and individuals who provide insight, innovation, and resources

• Knowledge partners– Experts from all sectors, including NGOs and

academia, provide expertise

GeSCI Total Cost of Ownership Model

• The approach undertaken by McKinsey was to develop an overall framework for thinking about benefits, costs and feasibility of e-school technology options for developing countries and then to identify a representative list of 10-15 technology platforms for detailed assessment using the framework.

• The team created a sophisticated analytic tool that models total cost of ownership (TCO) for all technology options under different country conditions -- the goal is for this tool to be put online to be used by e-schools planners (at multiple levels: schools, districts, regions and country level) in developing countries in implementing ICTs in education.

• Aimed to be available online in November 2005 - but still not up on their site in September 2006

Four issues from previous examples

• The meaning of partnerships is often poorly defined– Partnerships often seen as unproblematic– A term simply used when different organisations

collaborate

• Focus largely on public-private– Often tends to ignore other kinds of organisation

• Emphasis mainly on supply side– Although this is changing (GeSCI)

• Insufficient attention paid to partnership processes

Key partnership ‘needs’ for successful partnerships

• Need to understand what makes partnerships work– Not just take them for granted

• Need for focus on the different interests in partnerships

• Need to combine demand with supply• Need to conceive of dynamic multi-sector

partnerships– Not just ‘public-private’

ICT4E Partnership Framework

• Two groups of partners– Demand

• End beneficiaries

• Local partners

– Supply• Funding agencies

• Private sector

• Civil society

• Global organisations

• Research and learning institutions

• ‘Indicative’ framework: a way of thinking

Towards a partnership model

Types of Partner

Demand Supply

Benefits from partnership

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Contributions to partnership

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The types of partner

Demand Supply End Beneficiaries

Local Partners Funding agencies

Private Sector

Civil Society Organisations

Research Institutions

International Organisations

Local communities; people with disabilities; teachers; health workers; learners

National and regional governments; local private sector; local civil society organisations; religious groups

Multilateral and bilateral donors; International Financial Institutions; Charitable foundations

Companies providing hardware, software, networking, content, infrastructure, media organisations

Community action groups; non-governmental organisations; voluntary organisations; international advocacy and relief agencies; religious groups

Universities; consultancies; knowledge providers; innovators

Global organisations such as UNESCO; GeSCI; UN ICT Task Force

Contributions and benefits

• Partnership contributions– Human resources– Physical ICT resources– Social networks– Infrastructures– Financial contributions

• Partner benefits– Corporate identity– Networking opportunities– Economic returns– Research and development opportunities

Human resource contributions

Demand Supply End Beneficiaries

Local Partners Funding agencies

Private Sector

Civil Society Organisations

Research Institutions

International Organisations

Partnership Contributions Human resources Knowledge

of relevant demands

Linguistic skills

Cultural sensitivity

Labour Knowledge

of relevant health and educational initiatives

Technical support Indigenous

knowledges Cultural sensitivity Linguistic skills Labour Capacity building

skills

Expertise in ‘development’ practice

Procurement expertise

Advisory capacity

Staff skilled in technology

Media skills Project

manage-ment skills

Network engineering skills

Training expertise

Research and develop-ment skills

Staff secondment

Technical support

Expertise in delivery of practical activities

Local knowledge and networks

Knowledge of development practices

Project management

Linguistic skills

Advocacy skills

Staff secondment

Generic research skills

Knowledge of information and resources

Teaching and capacity building skills

Monitoring and evaluation skills

Staff secondment

Expertise in ICT and ‘development’

Expertise in delivery of educational initiatives

Lobbying expertise

Key principles for sustainable ICT4E partnerships

• Must be based on trust• Need for a clear focus on delivery• Importance of charismatic leaders and

champions• Sustainability must be built in from the start• Balancing demand and supply agendas• Time must be spent on sustaining

networks• Transparency and a sound ethical basis

The real benefits of partnership for sustainability• Helps to ensure sustainability

– Many stakeholders involved

• Combines shared expertise– Building on individual strengths

• Delivers appropriate solutions– Through focus on users’ needs

• Facilitates ‘joined up writing’– Limits duplication of effort

• Can frequently be delivered very swiftly– One of the strengths of the private sector

• Can be very cost-effective

Key questions that remain…

• Given the effort needed to maintain partnerships, is it cheaper simply to issue contracts to deliver outputs?

• How best to get the balance right between supply and demand?

• How to deliver ICT embedded solutions in the most marginalised places and for the ‘poorest’ people?

• How best to manage the partnerships?• Will this actually lead to ‘better’ lives for poor

people?

For further details…

• The ICT4D Collective– http://www.ict4d.org.uk

• UNESCO publications for WSIS– http://unesdoc.unesco

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