Objective Oriented Technology Innovations for ICT Adoption in the Remote Rural Areas

C. E. Tan, PhD Associate Professor

Institute of Social Informatics and Technological InnovationsFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

ISITI-CoERI is supported by:Long Lamai JKKK, Rurum Kelabit Sarawak

Background

• Common Challenges in the Remote Rural– Extremely difficult to access– Usually much more costly transportation– Electrical power provision usually standalone,

individually own, or none – Commercial telecommunication coverage almost

none existence– Community are usually not economically fit to

afford ICT services – Community has relatively large literacy gap

Background

• Common energy sources for off-grid rural– Diesel Power Generator– Micro / Pico hydro system – Wind Turbine– Solar Power

• Common Challenges of Power Provision in Rural Areas– Logistically challenging– High recurring materials supply cost (for fuel type generator)– Limited suitable location (Hydro and Wind)– Usually couldn’t provision enough power

Social Challenges

• With the available of power on-site, – More home appliances will be adopted– Misconception of renewable energies are “free”– Rural-Rural migration

• Results in More and More Power is Required!

Technical + Social Challenges

• As demand increases, more power is needed.

• Possible Solution? – Upgrade the current power system to higher

capacity? Challenging and Costly.

• As the demand and supply gap gets larger, – Frequent blackout occurs due to system overload!

Objective Oriented Design Philosophy

ReliabilitySustainability

Everywhere (Mobility)

Our long term engagement with the rural communities has given us a better understanding on

the local needs and problems

OO Design Philosophy

• Reduce system dependency • Promote system modularity• Focus on simplicity• Enable greater portability• Ease local sustainability• Promote energy efficiency• Prioritize local needs

Modular Power Initiative:Long Puah Electricfication

~200km from MiriMostly logging trail

1 hour long boat ride

Electrification in Long Puah

• Main objectives – To provision electrification via solar energy to

fulfill the daily basic need for lighting– To promote solar solutions that are highly

available and sustainable by local community– To encourage more social economy and

educational activities after dusk– To promote the adoption of renewable and green

energy by the community in remote rural to improve the quality of living

Project Coverage

• 27 households (doors) and 1 church will be lit– Self-sufficient lighting system for each household

(door)• To empower knowledge based value creation

and awareness in adopting renewable energy for the remote rural– To induce greater sense of belonging and

responsibility to the system– To motivate self maintenance of the system by

the rural community

Solar Home Lighting Solution

• A new way of lighting implementation that– lit more places in the house with control over the

usage for energy saving and conservation– Sustainable and maintainable by the users in term

of cost and new knowledge– Transportation friendly especially into the rural

and remote areas

Long Puah Electrification

Virtual Telecentre Initiative

• Higher impact coverage with a single investment on the Internet Gateway

• Faster deployment schedule with highly modular system modules

• Lower overall program budget as modules can be easily reallocated to new sites when urbanization development reaches existing site

• Maintainable and sustainable by local communities as the modules are simple function devices with gentle learning curve

Background on ICT Deployment in Rural Areas

• Limited by the readiness of backend supporting resources such as power and connection gateway– Service interruption – Program delay

• Adoption of technology based on urban industry standard– Overwhelming dependency– Low energy efficiency friendliness

• Limited scalability– Upgrade involves changing the entire system

Challenges in Rural Deployment

• Overwhelming Implementation Cost– Transportation cost– Installation cost– Maintenance cost

• Reduction in Impact – Smaller coverage footprint– Limited accessibility – More time required

Technology Innovation Philosophy

ReliabilitySustainability

Virtually Everywhere

Virtual Telecentre Concept

Long Range Wireless Deployment for Virtual Telecentre in Bario

Micro Telecentres Initiative

• Telecentre Programmes for Orang Asli (TPOA)• Adopting the Mother-Daughter Telecentre concept• One mother with a few daughters (Micro

Telecentres)• To increase the coverage of a conventional

Telecentre with many smaller scale replicas that are modular in nature

Modular Design of Telecentre / Micro-Telecentre

Modula Rural ICT equipment with Independent Power Supply

Proposed Micro-Telecentres Deployment for Orang Asli in Pos Lenjang, Pahang, West Malaysia

Proposed Micro-Telecentres Deployment for Orang Asli in Pos Sinderut, Pahang, West Malaysia

Thank you for your attention

© UNIMAS Please email cetan@fit.unimas.my if you would like to use any part of this presentation

cetan@fit.unimas.my / cetan@ieee.org