ICTs for Poverty Reduction In South Asia (eight project sites: Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka) A crosscutting theme project Putting information & communications technologies to work in the hands of the poor At least five effective access models to be developed and tested. Ethnographical action research programme in each project sites to determine to what extent ICTs can be utilized in support of poverty reduction.

ICTs for Poverty Reduction In South Asia (eight project sites: Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka) A crosscutting theme project By Mr. Wijayananda Jayaweera Regional Communication Advisor for Asia

Site development  Time consuming.  Need special skills.  The solutions are more information retrieval oriented and less effective in providing facilities for community communication.  Need special skills to modify, revise and upload information.

Community needs Information categorization in the net may not be relevant. Information categorization in the net may not be relevant. Provisions to provide community inputs are lacking Provisions to provide community inputs are lacking Communication needs within and between communities are not met. Communication needs within and between communities are not met. Available solutions limit possibilities for experimentation. Available solutions limit possibilities for experimentation. Research data on access habits is not available Research data on access habits is not available

Information search Time consuming Time consuming Surfing is costly by access time Surfing is costly by access time Searching skills are necessary Searching skills are necessary Relevancy and authenticity cannot be judged immediately Relevancy and authenticity cannot be judged immediately