Grassroots communities need to get their hands dirty in shaping how information and communications technologies (ICTs) affect their lives, rather than passively leaving it up to governments and big business to decide.
This is the view of Kenyan-based ICT consultant Muriuki Mureithi, whose issue paper, Business models for equitable access, looks at ways of making ICT for development projects sustainable. A “win-win” situation is needed, argues Mureithi, where communities see government as a facilitator, and actively begin to form partnerships with the private sector to foster local entrepreneurship.
Mureithi’s paper is one of a series on aspects of equitable access to ICT infrastructure commissioned by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).