ICTworks by Inveneo

There are two recent developments that have significantly lowered the cost of solar power systems for powering computer installations in remote or rural areas:

1. The power consumption requirement of low-cost computers and peripherals has come down considerably.
2. The cost of solar panels has dropped dramatically, with some panels selling in the US for as much at 70% less than typical 2008 prices.

If you are thinking about deploying computers in remote rural locations or in countries with erratic grid power, the cost of reliable, long-term, low-maintenance power has never been lower. To help you, we have developed these solar power resources ICT projects:

White Papers and How-to Guides:

1. Solar Power for PC Deployments: Enabling ICT Beyond the Grid provides basic knowledge to help the reader prepare a budget for a solar deployment, and to be able to effectively communicate the requirements to an installer.
2. Inveneo Solar Power Deployment Guide is a how-to guide to specify, design and build a small-scale self-contained solar power system, emphasizing a "hands-on" approach with step-by-step methods to designing and building truly practical solar systems.
3. Off-Grid Solar Power Solutions Webinar is an interactive discussion of solar power options with Bernd Nordhausen of Intel and Bob Marsh of Inveneo that combines the two resources listed above

Insolation Maps:

Planet Earth
Central & North Africa
North-West Africa
North-East Africa
Southern Africa
Northern part of South America
Southern part of South America
Central America & Caribbean
All of Africa, insolation in kW/m2/day

Miscellaneous technical information:

Ohm's Law and Power tutorial
Grounding/Earthing#1
Grounding/Earthing#2
Batteries, how to estimate state of charge
Wire size tables for different system voltages
Power consumption of typical appliances and equipment (use with caution)

Sample Solar Panel data sheets:

Sunwize 130W poly-crystalline
Sharp 80W poly-crystalline
Sharp 115W-128W thin-film panels
SolarWorld 230W mono-crystalline for 24V or higher systems

Salim Mvurya, Plan Kwale's District Area Manager

Plan’s Kwale District office in Kenya has been very successful in building innovative community-led programming that incorporates new ICTs. I had the opportunity to interview Salim Mvurya, the Area Manager, last week, and was really struck by his insights on how to effectively incorporate ICTs into community-led processes to reach development goals and improve on child rights, child protection and governance.

In this video, Salim gives some background on how Plan Kwale has been using ICTs in their programs since 2003 (1:11). He shares ideas about the potential of new ICTs (3.42) and some key lessons learned since 2003 (5.03).

Watch the video to get the advice straight from Salim. Or if your internet connection is slow or you’re like me and you like to skim through an article rather sit still and watch a video, the transcript is below.

ICTs and development Part 1

My name is Salim Mvurya, I’m the Area Manager for Plan in the Kwale District. My core responsibility as an area manager is to provide leadersip to the Kwale team in both program issues and also operational issues within the organization. This week we have been here in a workshop where we’ve been focusing mostly on issues of ICT for development and particularly what we’ve been learning here is the issue of mapping.

We’ve also learned Ushahidi. We’ve also learned from our colleagues in Kilifi on mGESA (a local application of mGEOS that Plan Kenya, Plan Finland, University of Nairobi and Pajat Mgmt are developing) and basically we have been looking at this workshop as providing opportunities for using ICTs for development, but more particularly for us in Kwale is the issue of child protection and youth governance.

How has Plan Kwale been using ICTs for issues of child rights, child protection and child participation?

ICT in Kwale has a bit of a long history and it’s because of the issues on child rights. Kwale has a number of issues. Child marriages, issues of violations of child rights through sexual exploitation, and child poverty. So the efforts to do media started in Kwale in 2003 when we rolled out our first video that was done by children at the time to profile some of the issues of child marriage. But more importantly in 2005, we began to think greatly how we can bring the voices of children to duty-bearers and at time we thought of having a children’s community radio.

Because of lack of experience, we were thinking maybe at the end of that year we could launch the radio station. But then it took longer than we envisioned because we needed to roll out a participatory process. Alongside the same time, we had ideas of community-led birth registration which was being done in one community based organization. But later we also thought about looking at how ICT can help us in moving that direction.

Then we also had this idea of inter-generational dialogue, where children and youth can sit with duty-bearers and discuss critical issues affecting them, so we began using youth and video there, children and video, and showing those videos in a community meeting where then people could discuss the issues. Alongside the same time we were partnering with various media houses and also rolling out radio programs where people could listen and also foster some discussions on children.

So it’s been a long journey but I think what we are seeing is that we need now to consolidate the gains, the experiences and efforts so that we can have a more strategic approach to ICT for Development and this workshop basically provides us with an opportunity and a platform to think much more.

What potential do you see for some of the newer ICT tools for your work in Kwale?

I see great potential in some of the tools that have been learned here this week, more particularly to get information at the click of a button from the ground. We could use the tools to map out resources out in the community, to map zones where there are a lot of issues on child protection, areas where we have issues like low birth registration… There is great potential for the tools that we’ve learned here to assist us not only in planning for projects, but in issues of social accountability. For example if you map out the areas where we have projects for Constituency Development Fund you can easily see where we have projects that have been done well but where we also have projects where maybe communities will need to discuss much more with duty-bearers to be able to, you know, foster issues of social accountability.

What are your biggest challenges? What mistakes have you made?

One thing that we’ve been learning in the process… well, you know sometimes we have ideas that we think can work in the next week, like for example the children’s community radio when we were thinking about it we were thinking that it could take off in about 2 months. But what we learned is that there are processes to be involved. Communities have to be prepared well for sustainability. Children have to be trained, there needs to be capacity building. You have also to conform to government procedures and processes.

The same also with birth registration. We thought in 6 months we could send an SMS and get your birth notification, but what we have also learned is that it takes a process. It takes awhile. You have to get the government buy in. You also have to work on software, where the government is having a critical input. Because, although it is a pilot, we also think that if it works well then it has to be replicated, so it has to conform with the thinking in government. Also, with the issues of youth and media, one thing that has to be very clear is that you have to get youth who are committed, so you start with a bigger group, and you end up with those who are passionate

So I think it’s very critical when somebody is thinking about ICT for Development that, one, you look at the context: is it relevant to that area? What kind of skills are needed? What kind of processes for sustainability? but also getting the passion. Getting people who are passionate to lead the process is also a very critical lesson.

Originally published as Salim’s ICT4D advice part 1: consider both process and passion

Computer lab deployment at Luteete Secondary School in Wobulenzi, Uganda

Being the first to do anything is tough. It is filled with challenges and unknowns. Thankfully, you don't have to be the first to deploy ICT in East Africa. In fact, you'll follow in a long line of others who have tried - some with failure others with success.

I'd like to help you be the latter group. So here are a few hard lessons-learned from deploying new technology for youth in East Africa. It is written in hopes that you will find it useful when planning your first deployment of development-focused technologies.

1. Never expect people to do what they say they will.

• Test the technology yourself in the conditions it will be deployed. Do not operate under the assumption that the company that produced it has done so already. If you are going to put your name, or the name of your organization, behind a new technology, do some checks and tests yourself over an extended period before committing.
• Make a detailed written agreement with all stakeholders about who is expected to do what and provide what. Include clauses for negative eventualities, such as recourse when one or both parties fail to meet commitments, or the procedures for dissolution of the partnership. It is best that this is in a written, legally binding form.
• Make sure the company selling the hardware and software have fulfilled or made arrangements to fulfill its commitments before the project is deployed. Here are some guiding questions:
1. Has the company selling the hardware fulfilling the promises they made in marketing?
2. Am I getting a new, untested technology?
3. Have all of the proper licenses needed to run whatever software is on the system been bought?
4. Am I getting new parts in this technology, or is some of it recycled when it should not have been, and therefore may cause erosion issues sooner than expected?
5. Does the final package have all of the parts advertised?

2. Keep everyone on the same page.

• Make sure your implementers fully understand what they are getting into. If it is a pilot, tell them it is a pilot. If it is expected to be fully operational (i.e., not a pilot), tell them what you expect. If you're not sure, it is up to your discretion to tell or not to tell your people on the ground, but, as your grandmother may have told you, honesty is the best policy.
• Communicate what is going on in the head office to your people on the ground. It creates a feeling of control even if there is no real transfer of power.

3. Make sure your hands are never tied.

• Part and parcel to never expecting people will do what they say they will do, expect that you are going to have to negotiate and make compromises with various stakeholders. Make sure that you have ground on the negotiations when/if they do occur.
• Retain your bargaining power by building mechanisms that allow you to have equal footing into your written agreements. Pay special attention to the following stakeholders:
  1. The technology providers
  2. Your implementers on the ground
  3. Technical support

4. Build in accountability tools

• If you are working with private contractors, make sure that they know their requirements up front, and that you have that you have recourse when they do not fulfill their requirements.
• If you want regular reporting from anyone involved, make sure there is some sort of punishment for failing to report.

5. Get regular reporting

• Especially during a pilot, reporting is key. Knowledge of what is going wrong and right on the ground can be used to improve future deployments.
• Regular reporting may include a lot of expenditure on your part, but if you really want to know what's going on, you may have to spend the money to call your people on the ground.