Final Paper – Focal Institution: The Dominican Telecommunication Institute (INDOTEL)
December 15, 2010
“We see the future full of hope because we know what we have to do throughout this decade ahead of us: prepare ambitious action plans to ensure compliance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and learn to use the ICTs as the leading mechanisms to achieve them” (Cedeño de Fernandez, 2005).
The Dominican Republic (D.R.), a Latin American country with 10.1 million citizens, and a per capita GNI of 4,510 dollars has increasingly promoted Information Communication Technologies (ICT) as a way in which to increase economic production, improve the quality of the education system, and strengthen communications with Dominican emigrants (World Bank, 2010; Ferguson, 2003; Sachs, 2005). ICT not only affects education, but also has a strong impact on government efficiency, accountability and transparency (e-government) as well as business efficiency through increased communication (e-commerce) (Kirkman et al, 2002). Because of the multilateral effects of ICTs, ICTs in the D.R. and throughout the world are promoted by both the government and the private sector (San Roman, 2009; Stern & Townsend, 2007; Stern, 2006; Kirkman et al 2002; Khelladi, 2009; Moura Castro et al, 2000).
Yet, despite the strong promise of ICTs and their rapid rate of improvement, the impact of ICTs on education has been moderate and widely debated (Trucano, 2005; Chapman & Mahlck, 2004). With Open Education Resources (OER) becoming broadly available and the costs of technology decreasing over time, ICT hold great promise for education (Norris, 2001; McKenzie, 2007; GAID, 2009; OECD, 2006). Through the establishment of the Dominican Telecommunication Institute (INDOTEL), the Dominican government has promoted the expansion of ICT and ICT for Development (ICT4D). This essay will take a macro to micro approach, focusing on INDOTEL as an institution and how its initiatives are reducing the digital divide, explaining it detail it’s most researched program, the Community Technology Centers (CTCs). While, ICT use has expanded in recent years, with a broken education system, the Dominican government should increase its general expenditure on education, while promoting the use of m-learning and ICT programs for marginalized Haitian immigrants, or broader and more inclusive initiatives such as One Laptop per Child (OLPC) (IDB, 2010; Naslund-Hadley et al, 2009). The D.R. should promote greater community participation through institutions such as INDOTEL in the decision making process of its projects.
Historically and currently, the D.R. has underachieved regionally in both primary and secondary education levels (Moya Pons, 1992; Murray, 2005; OECD, 2008). As it is the case in most Latin American countries, educational underachievement is closely correlated with socio-economic conditions, with the poorest sectors of the population performing worst. With a long history of inequality, the D.R. is not an exception. In 2008, 42% of the population lived below the poverty line and 12% of the population was living on less than a dollar a day (UNESCO, 2010; CIA, 2010). While the economy of the D.R. has improved in recent years, inequality has been pervasive.
One way in which the income of many Dominicans has increased has been through remittances. With over a million Dominicans living abroad, and most Dominican migrants living in the United States, remittances currently represent 6.8% of the GDP of the Dominican Republic. Immigrants from the D.R. are known to travel and contact their family members more often than most other Latin American migrants (Duany, 2010; World Bank, 2010; Ferguson, 2003). With over 400,000 Dominicans living in New York City, most emigrants have been widely exposed to the capabilities of modern media (Appadurai, 1996). As such, it is not surprising that many Dominicans express a strong support for investments in ICT (Prado, 2009). With a strong desire to communicate with their loved ones, migrants have likely helped to increase the cell phone subscription density of the D.R. to .91 (INDOTEL, 2010). Such a high density illustrates the pervasiveness of one form of ICT throughout the country. Paradoxically however, despite the government’s promotion of ICTs and the extensive use of mobile technology for development, the use of mobile technology for education has not been promoted (Heeks, 2008; Donner, 2008).
Hoping to remain competitive, Caribbean and Latin American states have expressed their commitment to reducing the digital divide and promoting regional cooperation through the eLAC 2007 and eLAC 2010, setting 103 goals for the increased use of ICT as a long term strategy for national development in line with the Millennium Development Goals (CEPAL, 2005; CEPAL, 2008). The eLAC Plan of Action 2007 promotes increased access and digital inclusion, capacity-building and knowledge creation, public transparency and efficiency, participatory policy instruments, and an enabling environment for development (CEPAL, 2005). Reaffirming the eLAC 2007 commitment, the eLAC Plan of Action 2010 promotes the increased use of ICT to improve the quality of education, infrastructure and access, health sector, public management, production sector, and reforming policy instruments (CEPAL, 2008).
In accordance with the 8th MGD, target 8f, the D.R. and other Latin American countries have invested in increasing access to telephone lines, cell phone coverage, and internet use throughout the country. To achieve these and other MDGs, the D.R. has developed various programs that increase access to ICTs. Particularly during the administrations of Leonel Fernandez (1996-2000), (2004-2008), (2008 until 2012), the government created and invested in institutions that promote the use and expansion of ICTs. Among these initiatives are the establishment of the Technological Institute of the Americas, (ITLA) in 2000, INDOTEL in 1998, the Cyberpark of Santo Domingo in 2001, and the new Network Access Point (NAP) of the Caribbean in 2008 (INDOTEL, 2010; PSCD, 2010; ITLA, 2010). Of these institutions, INDOTEL has played the greatest role in promoting the inclusion of rural and impoverished communities into the digital age.
INDOTEL was established through the enactment of the General Law of Telecommunications of 1998 with the objective of improving the telecommunication sector by providing universal access to telecommunications, and through it improving the nation’s socio-economic conditions (Congreso Nacional, 1998). INDOTEL was founded following the parameters encouraged by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with the intent of increasing competition, increasing privatization, learning from past mistakes of previous institutions and opening the market within the telecommunication sector (Ramió, 2007). Latin America’s long history of “delegated democracy,” weak institutions and non-existent regulatory organizations, strengthened the appeal of similar market-oriented changes and the importance of regulatory reforms across the region (O’Donnell, 1994; Ramió, 2007; Linz & Stepan, 1996).
As part of a regulatory movement, Ramio (2007) argues that INDOTEL has been successful in increasing efficiency and transparency but has failed to promote participation. INDOTEL originally developed as a small meritocratic institution, but after a few years it experienced a brief period of clientelism, during which it increased its employees from 300 to 4,000. However, INDOTEL subsequently underwent a period of reorganization, managing to reduce the level of clientelism and cut the number of employees down to 500 (Ramio, 2007).
Within ICT for education, the Dominican Republic and INDOTEL have promoted a movement towards an information society through the Fund for the Development of Telecommunications (FDT). The FDT and INDOTEL are financed by a 2% tax that is charged to every telecommunication sale, which is then allocated to providing universal access to telecommunications (Kirkman et al, 2002). INDOTEL has used these funds to provide access to ICTs for the poorest sectors of society. 1.8% of the tax is invested in the FDT, while .2% is used to run INDOTEL’s administration (ibid).
Programs promoted by INDOTEL through the FDT include: installing 40 more CTCs across the country; a pilot program to increase access to broadband internet to 100 education centers; providing computers to 3000 outstanding students from poor families in the country; providing computers and ICT training to 5000 teachers; installation of 10 digital rooms for students with disabilities, installation of 600 computer rooms to rural and impoverished urban; establishing a pilot program in six universities to create a broadband network among these education institutions, allowing them to collaborate in their research and education projects; establishing Wi-Fi access in public places across the country; increasing fiber optics access to areas not previously included; providing broadband access to areas with over 300 inhabitants; providing with ITLA scholarships (1,100 so far) to promising students to study technologically oriented careers; and creating an youth oriented online education website, JUVENTEC. As part of their promotion of transparency, the progress and cost of these initiatives are regularly updated at INDOTEL’s website: http://www.indotel.gob.do/proyectos-indotel/. Nevertheless, Despite the extensive aim of these programs, if some children are unable to access these new technologies, new inequalities will develop (Norris, 2001; Trucano, 2005). As of yet, there are no major initiatives to provide personal computers to every child (OLPC). No m-learning initiatives are currently being promoted.
During the past few years there has been a rapid growth in the use of the internet and cell phones in the D.R., this success may be partly related to INDOTEL’s effectiveness as a regulatory organism. Internet accounts increased from 183.687 in 2006 to 508.603 Internet accounts by June 2010. Based on the average users per Internet connection, INDOTEL believes that 33% of Dominicans, or 3,214,371 people, had access to the Internet by June 2010 (INDOTEL, 2010). In addition, the telecommunications industry has grown by over 15% annually between 1997 and 2004, with most of the traffic from the D.R. destined for the United States (Stern, 2006).
However, despite the government commitment to increasing access to new technologies, INDOTEL has implemented programs without substantial participation of local voices and communities (Granqvist, 2005). Haitian immigrants, poorer than many rural Dominicans, has not been identified as a priority or area for future action (Narayan, 2000). An in-depth study of CTCs, and INDOTEL programs, reveals how participation could have increased the initiative’s success. CTCs originated from the Costa Rican Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS) initiative, built in partnership with the MIT (Granqvist, 2003; Granqvist, 2005). LINCOS were built by refitting and using a decommissioned container that was in a good enough condition to house a computer lab (MIT, 2001). The project proved very appealing to donors, attracting considerable funding from a number of sources.
However, although this model was interesting to donors, it was seen as foreign, temporal, and inconvenient by Dominican users. The LINCOS project began in Costa Rica, but it was exported soon after to the D.R. where it was subsequently modified. Granqvist (2005) argued that the lack of participation by the community led designers to ignore the fact that the containers felt crowded and hot, and that some of the materials, including the operating system on some occasions, were not in Spanish (Granqvist, 2005). Eventually, the container model was dropped for a traditional building during the administration of Hipolito Mejia (2000-2004). It was further modified during the second presidency of Leonel Fernadez (2004-2008) to not only house a computer room but also meeting rooms and even a radio station (Prado, 2009). They are also hoping to include libraries and other educational materials within the CTCs in the future. Working in collaboration with the Technological Institute of Monterrey, a pioneer in virtual education and OER, the CTCs currently provide access to a variety of educational software and material (ibid).
Originally, most of the software and programs were in English and were limited in scope, yet this has increasingly changed as the program has developed (Granqvist, 2005). By the spring of 2009, there were 49 operational CTCs (Prado, 2009). The Office of the First Lady, in cooperation with INDOTEL, hopes to build 135 more CTCs across the country during the upcoming years. In addition, while CTCs are built in the poorest areas of the country, Prado’s (2009) study showed that, despite being located in rural areas where there is a higher poverty rate than in the cities (54.1%), most of the users of the three CTCs she surveyed had a higher level of education than that of the average population (World Bank, 2010; World Bank, 2008; Prado, 2009). According to Prado, 61.5% of the CTC users in the locations she studied had completed high school, a level which is significantly higher than the national average of 40% (2004). In addition, 12.8% of the CTC users had a university degree, compared to a 3% nationwide enrollment rate in higher education in 2008 (ibid).
Therefore, is ICT reducing or increasing the digital divide? Being unable to find a job with computer or IT skills in rural areas, individuals who become competent in ICT are likely to migrate to the cities. ICTs also do not seem to be targeting individuals of Haitian descent. Prado’s (2009) studied showed that, as a consequence of anti-haitianismo, none of the individuals surveyed at CTCs labeled themselves as Haitian or of Haitian descent (Prado, 2009). Hopefully these ICT initiatives will also have positive repercussions for neighboring Haiti. It is estimated that one million Haitians live, mostly illegally, in Bateyes (low income, temporary housing) throughout the D.R. To be truly considered inclusive, ICT projects in the D.R. cannot ignore this important sector of the country’s society. Furthermore, the rate of return for ICT investments varies and has not been easy the evaluate (Trucano, 2005). Increasing participation and democracy within the program will likely increase the programs appeal with marginalized communities. After increasing the participatory element of the CTC development process, individuals increased their support for the project (Granqvist, 2005; Prado, 2009). INDOTEL could benefit from increasing participatory element within their projects.
Despite the achievements of INDOTEL and CTCs in reducing the digital divide, current international indicators show that the Dominican public education system is failing to meet the MDG for universal primary education, while only a portion of the students are benefiting from their ICT initiative. To address this problem, the D.R. should increase the budget allocated to public education (2.2%) of a percentage of GDP closer to the international average of (4.6%) as well as achieve universal access to ICTs, provide every child with access to or with a computer, and construct CTCs in all communities. In order to leapfrog and properly meet the challenges facing the D.R. in the 21st century, a much greater emphasis needs to be given to both formal and informal education (Davison et al, 2000; Moravec, 2009). In addition, INDOTEL could promote a transition towards ICT4D 2.0 through the increased use of m-learning and other new technologies (Heeks, 2008).
Borrowing from Peet and Harwick (2009) this paper supports a critical modernist perspective. Countries and communities should appropriate technological improvements to promote their own voices, regulate capitalism and decrease inequalities (Peet & Hartwick, 2009). Despite their promise, ICT initiatives can increase rather than decrease inequalities (Hernes, 2006), While capitalism and technology have fueled an improvement of overall socio-economic conditions (Sachs, 2005; Mason, 2006), inequality has been pervasive. Through the Internet local communities can develop their own OER, improve their socio-economic status and increase their access to information. Yet, without a participatory development approach and the identification and inclusion (if they would like to participate) of the most remote communities, ICT development policies in the DR may increase inequalities (Narayan, 2000). The D.R. has done very little to include Haitian Bateyes into their ICT initiatives, and the voices of a large segment of the poorest communities in the D.R. remain marginalized.
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