Bolivian ICT4D network participates in National ICT Policy

Red TICBolivia (Bolivian ICT4D network: www.ticbolivia.net) includes 16 (a mix of public, private and non-for-profit) organisations who implement 14 projects in the sectors of livelihood opportunities, good governance and education. Small farmers, leaders of indigenous communities, community-based organisations, secondary school students, teachers, and government ministries are amongst the 50.000 end users. Indirectly, the experiences reach around 1.000.000 people in the rural and urban areas through the Internet, on-line and offline publications, as well as radio programmes.

Many public policies are developed by high-level technical experts, in a very top-down manner, and unfortunately not always grounded in practice. Red TiCBolivia has sought to address these challenges in Bolivia’s National ICT Policy process. The network has therefore been actively involved in the policy formulation process - both at the national and the local level. Other organisations involved are civil society organizations (a/o Enlared, CRIS); Vicepresidencia de la República; Agencia para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad de la Información en Bolivia (ADSIB); Viceministerio de Electricidad, Energías Alternativas y Telecomunicaciones (VEEAT), Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (SITTEL); UNDP; SDC; IICD. Together, these organisations aim to reach all of the Bolivian population (9 Million).

Red TiCBolivia has helped organizing stakeholder consultations, served as facilitators, presented concrete ICT4D experiences in Bolivia, reviewed the draft document and are currently part of a Task Force mandated to write up the final policy document and strategic proposal.

Red TICBolivia’s main contributions to the National ICT Policy Process include:
1. Awareness raising regarding ICTs as a tool to empower people and to realise sustainable development;
2. Facilitating participatory policy development from beginning to end;
3. Feeding practice-based learning experiences into policy process (reflecting Bolivian realities);
4. Advocating for: connectivity in marginal areas, local content generation, development of human capacities, legal framework for democratic and universal access and use of ICT, and sustainability in all its dimensions (technical, financial, institutional, social/human, environmental)

Key features: Cross-country, cross-sector and multi-stakeholder participation. The network is a “community of practice” of ICT4D stakeholders in Bolivia.

Key success factors: Firm belief in the value of ICTs as a tool for national development; Willingness and pride to share its experiences; Internal level of organization and mobilization; Commitment to participatory processes.

Key challenges: General elections at end of the year will shake the political landscape and the next government may ignore the consensus reached over the National ICT Policy.
• Will civil society - and the marginal groups it represents - really benefit from the implementation of the policy?
• Will the implementation mechanisms be effective, democratic and representative?
• What role can a practice-based network, such as Red TICBolivia, serve in the policy implementation phase, for example by providing a feedback loop (contributing experiences from the field) to policy makers?
• Will stakeholders invest (time, money and people) in applying methodologies for learning and sharing of experiences in the policy process?

Story by Ms. Loeki Schaeffers (IICD) and ms. Heleen Weeda (Fundación Redes).