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Tag Archive for: South Sudan

GBI Tech Series: “Bringing Telecomms to the Rural Edge”

GBI hosted its monthly Tech Series last Thursday, this time focusing on “Bringing Telecommunications to the Rural Edge.” Speakers shed light on the need, challenges and opportunities involved in the process of expanding connectivity to rural areas and promote development.

Ian Walter of Altobridge discussing low cost telecommunications solutions.

Photo credit: Laurie Moy

Ian Walter, Vice President of Technology at Altobridge, presented on “Low Energy, Low Cost Wireless Communications for Remote Communities,” an overview of the remote communities market and its size, key challenges and opportunities ensuring remote locations have access to affordable mobile and voice connectivity.

With the number of mobile subscribers set to exceed 6 billion by 2014, operators need to find innovative and cost-effective ways to expand connectivity to 2.1 billion living in rural areas, based on World Bank estimates.

“A combination of competition between the equipment vendors, government subsidies and initiatives such as the GSMA’s ultra-low cost handsets have combined to drive down the network and handset cost for service providers but site, backhaul and power costs remain high,” said Walter speaker on the key challenges of expanding connectivity in remote communities.

“None of the above initiatives address the operational costs that operators face when deploying sites in remote communities”, he added.

The solution is the solar powered Altobrige lite-site, which enables mobile network operators to bring mobile connectivity to remote communities at low cost. Meeting the needs of up to 1200 subscribers, the Altobridge lite-site has been specifically designed to optimize satellite bandwidth and minimize power consumption.

Troy Etulain speaking about USAID's connectivity project in the DRC

Photo credit: Laurie Moy

One project that will put these technologies into the field is headed up by Troy Etulain, Senior Advisor for Media Development at USAID. Mr. Etulain spoke about “Low-Cost Cellular Infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: LRA Affected Areas”, a case study on expanding connectivity in remote conflict areas.

Etulain offered contextual background on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a militant group operating in Central Africa accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, to name but a few.

According to Etulain, the project’s goal is to empower civilians with the communications infrastructure to monitor and report LRA activity. This consist of partnering with public radio to report LRA incidents on a daily basis and installing on top of church buildings—for safety and higher access points—a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site, a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment and a network.

Eric White, ICT Sector Economist for GBI, showcased the “Broad Applicability of Low Cost and Low Power Telecoms Solutions,” that advance development such as mobile apps used in agriculture, health, and education.

The GBI Tech Seminar Series is hosted monthly at USAID headquarters and covers a range of topics from connectivity and telecommunications access to content and applications. A video of this months program will be available online shortly.

November 21, 2011/by actualize

South Sudan joins ITU, dialing code goes live!

The International Telecommunication Union is proud to announce that the world’s newest country, South Sudan, has joined ITU to become the Union’s 193rd Member State, effective from 3 October 2011.

The country, which gained its independence on 9 July, 2011 has already been allocated the international dialling code +211 by ITU, following the country’s recognition by the UN General Assembly. The dialling code became active on 28 September 2011.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome South Sudan as an ITU member state so soon after attaining full nationhood. The government of South Sudan clearly recognizes the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) as an engine of social and economic development. We will work alongside the national authorities to leverage the power of technology, to help lift the country to new levels and fulfill the national motto of ‘Justice, Liberty, Prosperity’,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

The accession of South Sudan as an ITU Member State implies its adhesion to the Radio Regulations, the international treaty which governs the use of radiocommunications among the world’s nations, giving it full access rights to the frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources managed by ITU.

A high-level ITU delegation led by Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, recently met with government ministers in South Sudan with the aim of acquiring first-hand information on the country’s needs and challenges in the area of ICT development. The first such visit by ITU, the mission paves the way for the delivery of focused assistance to the country as it embarks on its development path.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Fiber Connections Between Kenya and its Neighbors

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of ICT in Kenya. He explained how Kenya is very close to being linked to all of its neighbors, and how the national backhaul system is fully operational. In a country with such massive economic and social disparity, I am hopeful that Ndemo’s efforts to bring ICT services to all of Kenya will serve as a catalyst for stability and equality of opportunity.

To where are Kenya’s cables extending?

Kenya has the most extensive backhaul terrestrial system, and they are reaching out to adjacent countries. According to Ndemo, Kenya has three cables into Tanzania, as well as three cables into Uganda. Some of these cables make up part of the East African Backbone system, which also includes Rwanda and Burundi, and cables from Kenya to those nations are still under construction. Laying the connecting cables has been more difficult for Burundi, since this is a new experience for them and they have lower capacity in this space.

Photo: BBC News

Ndemo also confirmed that there are current discussions and plans to bring fiber to South Sudan, though no construction is currently underway. There is only 60 kilometers between Kenyan cables already laid and the South Sudan border.

The possibility of connecting Somalia, however, is contingent on the political situation. Though Kenya has a microwave only 2 kilometers from the border of Somalia in the state of Mandera, they will not bring the connection across without complete assurance that there will not be privacy infringements. Both of these nations are quite close to being a part of the East African Backbone system.

August 17, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

How Broadband Will Get To Somalia Before You Know It

Child participates in USAID's Interactive Radio Instruction education program, the only possible ICT project currently in Somalia.

Last week, I interviewed Mohamed Ahmed Jama, CEO of Dalkom Somalia and board member of Frontier Optical Networks Ltd (FON) in Kenya. Mr. Jama described four potential Broadband cables that could be a part of a terrestrial backbone throughout East Africa, including in Somalia. A fifth was announced yesterday in Somaliland.

Though all three of these proposed links are just that—proposals—they are indicative of the rapid growth of Broadband connectivity in the region. Most East African governments are actively engaged in rolling out backbone terrestrial networks, while four years ago the World Bank called East African connectivity the world’s only “missing link.” South Sudan is working with the CTO to develop an ICT strategic plan, Burundi recently received funding from the World Bank, and Uganda has also invested as well. And private companies are facilitating the expansion of Broadband cables as well; they are working with the national governments to lay the cables and to fund the projects. The East African Backhaul System, recently announced as a combined $400 million partnership between Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo governments and a variety of private telecoms. The unique partnerships between the public and private sector make the ICT space in East Africa distinct from other regions.

Potential backbone networks in Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are listed here and can be seen on the following map (forgive the rough estimations, I did not draw this exact):

1. Somalia’s Connection to EASSy Cables (blue line)

According to Mr. Jama, Dalkom Somalia has built two cable landing sites in Somalia from the EASSy submarine cable, one in Somaliland and the other in Mogadisho, Somalia. Unfortunately, the government of Somaliland revoked Dalkom’s license last year before the cable was completed (scheduled to be finished in October, 2010). The Somaliland government claimed that they had already signed an agreement with a local company, SomCable. However, no additional work has been carried out since last year, leaving construction at a stand still and the region unconnected. In Mogadisho, on the other hand, the landing cable lays ready to be used, but remains unconnected due to security issues at the site. To make matters more frustrating, Dalkom has funding, contracts awarded and the regulatory approval to extend the cables from the landing site inward, creating a national terrestrial backbone. Security issues in the area are the only contingency.

2. Mombasa—Nairobi—Moyale, Ethiopia Cable (green line)

The EASSy submarine cable has been extended inland previously from Mombasa to Nairobi. For the past year, discussions have been underway been the Kenyan and Ethiopian government on possibly constructing a terrestrial cable from Nairobi to Moyale, on the Ethiopian border. However, with FON’s assistance, the cable has been built, but is yet to be lighted. The only remaining holdup is to sign an agreement of understanding with the Ethiopia government, which has historically been reluctant to work with private sector ICT companies.

3. Somalia—Kenya Connection (black line)

According to Mr. Jama, there is 560 km remaining between fiber optic terrestrial backbone cables in Somalia and the state of Mandera in Northeastern Kenya. Mr. Jama proposes that the Kenyan government bring the fiber to the border, and then Dalkom Somalia would complete the Somali side. This connection would connect Somalia to the African backbone network. However, there has been intermittent violence on the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera, with the most recent issue being a land mine blast that killed eleven Kenyan officers. The volatility of the border could potentially lead to another security standstill before lighting the fiber, like in Mogadisho. Dalkom and the governments, then, need to concern themselves not only with the technical issues and construction of the remaining fiber, but also on the political instability of the region.

4. Juba—Lokichogio Link (red line)

Southern Sudan and Kenya plan to construct a fiber optic cable link between the two nations as part of a larger project entitled “four-in-one.” The project includes the construction of a railway line from Lodwar-Lokichogio to Juba, road rehabilitation, an oil pipeline, and fiber optic cables. Currently, the governments need to conduct a feasibility test given the mountainous nature of the route, especially the Great Rift Valley. In all likelihood, the project will not be finished before 2015.

5. Djibouti—Somaliland SomCable (orange line)

SomCable, supported by the interim government in the territory of Somaliland, reportedly signed an agreement to buy the necessary buildings and licensing in Djibouti to route the EASSy cable into Berbera and throughout Somaliland. The President of SomCable, Mr. Mohammed Gueti, announced his recent acquisitions just yesterday. Mr. Gueti has strong ties with the president of Djibouti’s family, arguably giving his company an advantage over Dalkom Somalia at winning the contract. However, as Mr. Jama points out, construction has yet to begin on this cable line, possibly suggesting that the announcement is merely a political move by the government of Somaliland as Mr. Gueti does has any rights to extend the EASSY Cable. Neither purchases any capacity from the members of the Consortium.

July 14, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Kenya and South Sudan Sign Fiber Agreement

The Deputy Director of Kenya Southern Sudan Liaison Office (KESSULO), Albert Origa explained: “We have developed a paper which has been presented to the Cabinet for approval. If approved, we will embark on the reconstruction of the railway and roads network, roll out a fiber optic cable and oil pipeline to connect the two countries.”

If connected, the cable will provide a stable information link for South Sudan to connect with the rest of Africa’s terrestrial fiber networks. And, of course, the railway line and oil pipes are promising economic developments for both nations.

Railroad station in North Sudan, similar to the places where the railway and adjacent fiber will be placed. Photo: Tim McKulka/UN Photo

Mr. Jama Mohammed, board member on Kenya’s Frontier Optical Networks (FON), also confirmed the plans. In a personal interview last week, before the Kenyan and South Sudan governments reached an agreement, Mr. Mohammed told me that the Kenyan government had built fiber to Lokichogio already, and was looking for a private telecom to manage the system and light the fiber. FON, however, was originally hesitant to sign until receiving a license in South Sudan, who announced recently a suspension of all telecommunications licenses until further notice. With the agreement reached this week, however, it appears that the Government of South Sudan will be willing to work with a private business to manage the system.

July 8, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Who’s Who in South Sudan’s New ICT Industry?

The interim Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has requested that telecoms companies operating in the region suspend work until the administration publishes new regulations for the sector, with no specific target date for the regulations to be published. Some early regulation methodologies were discussed in February of this year, when leaders in the ICT industry affiliated with South Sudan met with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and discussed a possible three-year strategic plan for the new nation.

Photo: CIO East Africa

In October 2010, CTO helped GoSS organize a conference, entitled ICT4D: Southern Sudan. From the conference and a previous ICT strategy report created by Pricewatershouse Coopers LLC in 2008, GoSS and CTO drafted an inception report during the consultation visit in February 2011, but they did not create any official policies. The strategic plan includes involving ICTs in all sectors of Sudan’s infrastructure and economy. CEO Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah of the CTO exclaimed his excitement: “This new nation will have the opportunity to not merely leap-frog, but to cheetah pole-vault over other nations, if it is methodical about its approach in the ICT and other sectors.”

Currently, though, telecommunication companies in South Sudan are in limbo. CEO of Zain telecoms, Hisham Mustafa Allam, said he could not be ‘100 per cent’ sure that the company’s mobile license would be valid in South Sudan after July. ‘There’s potential for South Sudan, but there are big challenges,’ he said, adding: ‘One of the problems we have right now is it costs lots of money to build sites and do a rollout (of fiber) in the south.’ South Sudan will have to rely on fiber from Kenya and Uganda, making the costs potentially quite high. Zain has reportedly invested 20% of its total expenditures in the south of Sudan, including around 150 base stations.

South Sudan carried out a national survey in 2009, but did not include questions regarding Internet access. However, only 15% of households own a phone, including 8% in rural areas and 59% in urban areas (primarily in the capital city, Juba). The lack of households with phones indicates a lack of electricity and connectivity possibilities in general.

Despite these difficulties, broadband connectivity is within reach. There are three current submarine cables that run to Port Sudan, in the north. From Port Sudan, there is a terrestrial backbone network that extends to major urban areas in the north of Sudan. However, no cables have been laid in South Sudan and there are no plans to connect the backhaul cables in the north with the south, as seen in the map pictured. These cables are:

EASSy – (an East Africa Submarine Cable System with endpoints in South Africa and the Sudan)
FLAG FALCON – (FLAG Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network) – (Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, India, Maldives)
SAS-1 – (Saudi Arabia-Sudan)

Map: Mohamed El Bashir Hiraika

However, there are a series of cable networks near South Sudan that could potentially be expanded into the country:

KDN – Terrestrial cables have been laid and are under-construction in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Discussions are underway to route the cables north to Juba.
Seacom – Involved in the undersea EASSy cables along the coast of East Africa. They announced in June 2011 that they were going to move inland, working with governments of Burundi, Southern Sudan, and Somalia to make a terrestrial cable link in the Somali Cluster (also known as the East African Community – EAC). Most likely, Seacom will partner with KDN and Altech, among other partners.
WIOCC – The largest investor at 29% in the EASSy cable system, the West Indian Ocean Cable Company is comprised of the main telecommunications firms in twelve African countries (listed below). They are constructing East African terrestrial backhaul cables, including a cable line from Kampala, Uganda to Khartoum, Northern Sudan. This line appears to run directly through Southern Sudan, with no plans to land the cable until Khartoum.
- Botswana Telecommunications Corporation
- DALKOM Somalia
- Djibouti Telecom
- Gilat Satcom Nigeria
- Government of Seychelles
- Lesotho Telecommunications Authority
- Onatel Burundi
- TDM Mozambique
- Telkom Kenya
- UCOM Burundi
- Uganda Telecom Limited
- Zantel Tanzania.
INTELSAT – Their satellite New Dawn has alleged potential to cover most of Africa, with the highest bandwidth in West Africa. No private companies in Sudan, nor the Sudanese government, has partnered with them to construct a point of contact.
Umojanet – The African Union program “Nepad” wants to create a terrestrial cable system throughout the African continent, which they call Umojanet. Nepad first expressed this dream in 2000.

In addition to private sector investments in broadband infrastructure, national governments near in East Africa are also investing in fiber optic cables. Their willingness to politically and financially support national broadband networks makes the possible of public-private partnerships more possible. As reported by Seacom in June 2011:

The governments of the East African Community (EAC) are investing over US$400 million in their respective national backbone infrastructure. The cables cover more than 20,600 km.
Rwanda completed a 2300km cable costing more than $60 million.
Tanzania continues to lay its $170 million, 10,000km plus cable.
Burundi is also laying out the cable of 1300 km with the help of $10.5 million grant from the World Bank.
Uganda, acquired a Chinese loan of about $102 million to implement the 2,000km plus cable.
Kenya is also investing $60 million in the National Optic Fiber Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI). Some 5,000km of the cable had been laid down by June 2010.

Given these investments, South Sudan will feel pressure to compete with its neighbors in the ICT industry, potentially leading the government to support their own national networks and backhaul system. Yet, given the tremendous financial burdens that the government will have in all of its sectors of development, much of the success regarding the ICT and telecommunications industries will depend on public-private partnerships.

July 8, 2011/by actualize

Basic Education, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Its All About Radio in South Sudan

Photo: NDI

ICT4E projects are needed in South Sudan for two major reasons: (1) the majority of the population is illiterate, and (2) 83% reside in rural areas. Illiterate adults and rural populations can both be served via radio services. Adults can listen to the radio while completing other tasks and people in rural areas often do not have access to education among primary school, as the distance to secondary schools is too large. Some radio projects have already been conducted in South Sudan, but their success is unknown.

Map: Mohamed El Bashir Hiraika

The current status of education in South Sudan among the 8.26 million people in South Sudan is particular grim, as seen in the national survey collected in 2009.

52 students per teacher
129 students per classroom
37% of the population above the age of six has ever attended school
27% of those 15 years and above are literate.
The literacy rate for males is 40% compared to 16% for females
53% of the urban adult population is literate, compared to 22% of the rural adult population
40% of the population between 15-24 is literate. The literacy rate for males in this age group is 55% compared to 28% for females.

With support from UNESCO, UNDP, and UNICEF, a few preliminary ICT programs in the national education system of Sudan proper have been implemented. However, many of the projects were cut short as a result of conflict, funding, and a lack of communication among associated parties. Others focused primarily on built capital, such as bringing computers to as many schools as possible, while neglecting social capital, like training people to use the computers well. Internet connections in schools, as well as Internet literacy training courses, were extremely limited in these programs. A few of the projects, as documented in a 2007 InfoDev report, are listed below. However, there has been a lack of monitoring and evaluation of the projects. Subsequently, it is unclear whether and to what degree the projects were successful in South Sudan.

Civic Education via Radio for Southern Sudan: In partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Education Development Center Sudan Radio Service has developed a new civic education radio series that will increase listeners’ knowledge of political developments and also promote increased discussion of political developments, tolerance of diverse viewpoints, and non-violent solutions to complex problems.
Sudan Radio Service: As part of an effort to increase the participation of the southern Sudanese, the Sudan Radio Service provides access to balanced and useful information through radio-based education and entertainment programs presented by local presenters in several local languages.
dot-EDU Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction (SSIRI) Program: This program designs, develops, and pilot-tests appropriate and cost-effective technologies such as interactive radio instruction in an effort to provide learning opportunities for children, adults, and teachers in southern Sudan.

July 8, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Health Systems, HIV/AIDS, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

HIV/AIDS: A window of opportunity for South Sudan

Photo Credit: antiimperialism.com

As South Sudan prepares for independence, the celebrations will be tempered by the grim reality that awaits them. The nation is plagued by numerous health burdens due to decades of civil war resulting in a lack of trained health workers and poor infrastructure, and inadequate health and education systems. One such burden is HIV/AIDS. Dr. Wichgoah Piny, the state’s HIV/AIDS commissioner said that about 116,000 people are known to be infected by the virus in South Sudan, 46,000 of which are being treated at hospitals within the region. This number lies in the middle ground when looking at the rest of Africa. East Africa generally has a higher prevalence whereas West Africa exhibits a lower prevalence of the disease. Some estimates say up to 4.7 million in South Sudan are at risk of acquiring the disease.

But those numbers could grow exponentially in the coming years. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described HIV/AIDS prevalence in South Sudan as “a ticking time bomb” and a threat which needs a cooperative and collective effort to fight in the new nation. Dr. Olivia Lomoro, the GoSS Undersecretary in the Ministry of Health who spoke at a South Sudan AIDS conference warned, “HIV/AIDS is a real issue in Southern Sudan despite the efforts we have put to fight it. It remains a threat and a time bomb we are expecting.”

UNAIDS officials in South Sudan

Dr. Mohamed Abdi, the WHO Director in South Sudan said that, “AIDS is a big problem in South Sudan and we need to fight it together.” He said that in more than two years he had worked in the region, very few people were getting treatment.

The consequences of a surge in HIV/AIDS could be catastrophic. The health infrastructure is already poor as it stands. An HIV/AIDS epidemic would paralyze the health sector for years and impair growth in other sectors. This could result in a crisis that no new government would be prepared to handle.

So in a sense, this is a defining moment for the future of health in South Sudan. As the new government establishes itself and its policies, it has the opportunity to be forward looking in the development of its health infrastructure. If HIV/AIDS is afforded a chance to “blow up” as WHO fears, the country will immediately be sunk further into a health crisis.

This presents an opportunistic entry point for the implementation of ICTs into the health sector in South Sudan.

Opportunities

A survey completed in 2006 by WHO revealed that over 910 health facilities existed in South Sudan. At the time, a majority of those facilities were claimed to be in a “deplorable state”. However, Dr. Lomoro recently pledged that Lakes state now has a new hospital which is going to be used as a teaching hospital to help in delivering quality health. She also mentioned investments through the Chinese government will be used to build new health centers and rehabilitate old ones. Incorporating ICTs in the rehabilitation process will pay dividends for the health sector in the future.

South Sudan is being held captive by a number of health issues such as measles, yellow fever and tuberculosis to name a few. Furthermore, South Sudan has up to 80% illiteracy rates in some parts, which make communicating through ICTs invaluable. The most basic forms of ICTs like radio, television and mobile phones can build a communication bridge for the illiterate to keep them connected and informed.

Dr. Lomoro also pointed out that the first target for the Ministry of Health in the Government of South Sudan is the training of health personnel in all the ten states of South Sudan in order to deliver quality health services to the population in a professional standard. One way to go about this would be to include ICT training in that workforce development. Taking this route would build workforce capacity and bolster the development of ICTs in the country.

The population returning from Sudan proper and surrounding African countries are also coming back with health work force skills. So there is a hope that as people return, their skills will be used in improving service delivery.

Several factors exist that support the idea of integrating ICT into the health infrastructure of South Sudan

Present ICT Usage

The market for ICTs is ripe and growing in South Sudan. The initiatives that would make a big impact in fighting HIV/AIDS using ICTs utilize mobile phones and radios as the media for communication. These media platforms are the largest in South Sudan.

Photo Credit: biztechafrica.com

A 2007 survey entitled “Media Access and Use in Southern Sudan,” showed that radio was the main source of information for the population as a whole with 59% of respondents citing the radio as a source of information, the highest out of all forms of media. Additionally, HIV/AIDS awareness radio programs make up 17% of the most popular radio programs. This indicates that HIV/AIDS discussions already have a base in South Sudan media.

Mobile phones on the other hand don’t enjoy such high rates of usage as radio due to 30% coverage rates. However, the mobile phone network has expanded considerably since 2005 and is predicted to keep expanding in the near future. Also noteworthy is that only 14% of South Sudanese get their information from newspapers and 13% from television according to a report. It’s clear that radio and mobile phones are the most widely used avenues of communication in South Sudan.

Plans to expand broadband cables

As recently reported, South Sudan is on the shortlist to receive fiber optic broadband cables. Broadband services make it possible to interconnect affiliated healthcare facilities around the country so that they can utilize and share scarce human and technical equipment resources to deliver quality and affordable healthcare services. These cables can establish a foundation for ICTs not just in health, but for all sectors in South Sudan.

Past Successful HIV/AIDS Programs

South Sudan won’t be the guinea pig for using ICTs for HIV/AIDS either. There have been quite a few successful HIV/AIDS programs in the past that succeeded in similar environments:

Targeting Nomadic Populations – USAID and other external NGO’s worked together in Nepal in 2005 to introduce a radio program on HIV/AIDS awareness by integrating entertainment into its programming

Capitalizing on existing media penetration:

o Radio – Tanzania also introduced the Tunajali HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Radio Program in 2010 with the help of PEPFAR.

o Mobile – Two mobile phone programs, Text to Change(TTC) and Freedom HIV/AIDS used mobile phones to reach thousands of people to educate them on HIV/AIDS

Photo Credit: freedom HIV/AIDS

South Sudan should approach some of the major NGO’s on the ground to help implement these initiatives that use ICTs. Organizations like USAID, WHO, UNICEF and the UN have spearheaded many initiatives like the ones described above in the developing world. They should at the very least try to do the same in South Sudan. They need to realize the opportunity at hand.

Possible ICT Policy

So the framework to set South Sudan off on the right foot is present just as they kick off their sovereignty. However, an HIV/AIDS epidemic is a threat. The markets for intervention exist, proven initiatives exist and they can be adopted using the aforementioned plans to establish new broadband cables. All of the stars have aligned. The tricky part is getting officials to the table and churning out an action plan. This will involve NGO officials talking with South Sudanese Government officials and making this opportunity a priority.

South Sudan has already seen its darkest days. They want to move now from being a hub for relief efforts to a hub for development. The health sector can benefit tremendously from using ICTs to prevent an HIV/AIDS disaster. Once HIV/AIDS is under control, the ICTs can be utilized strategically to tackle other health issues, as they are being done all over Africa and the developing world. If not, it may not be long before South Sudan encounters its darkest days once again.

July 8, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

How Mobiles Could Revolutionize Data Collection

Collecting baseline data in developing countries can be expensive and require many costs. Also, many have called into question the reliability of the data. To streamline the data collection process, the World Bank and South Sudan are experimenting with a new alternative—data collection by mobile phones, which World Bank director of Economic Policy Marcelo Giugale recently claimed is the “fast track” to actually listening to the poor, and subsequently meeting their needs.

Photo: GoSS

To conduct South Sudan’s national survey for 2011, the year of their independence, World Bank researcher Gabriel Demombynes worked with the Southern Sudan Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation and utilized mobile phones as a means to collect the data (a photo essay explaining the survey design can be seen here). In the Southern Sudan Experimental Phone Survey (SSEPS), 100 households in each of the capital cities in South Sudan’s ten states were identified, making for a total sample size of 1000 households. Each household received a free mobile phone. Researchers gave half of the households traditional Nokia phones and the other half solar-powered phones. For four months, the researchers contacted the households by phone and conducted the same survey, while adding a few additional questions each month. Those who answered the phone and participated in the survey were compensated with additional phone time each month; half received five Sudanese pounds of phone credit while the other half received ten pounds.

Photo: World Bank

This innovative survey design allowed researchers to accomplish two purposes: document the current state of South Sudan and experiment with many methods of mobile phone survey data collection. The results of the survey, and of the data collection experiment, will be available as a World Bank “Poverty Assessment” document in the coming months. For now, however, a quick summary of the survey data that has been processed thus far can be downloaded as a “Poverty Profile” of South Sudan. The results demonstrate stark differences between North and South Sudan.

In addition to collecting important data regarding the state of poverty in South Sudan, the study also provides interesting insights about the efficiency and potential of mobile data collection. Dr. Demombynes describes a few insights from preliminary analysis of the data (though these results may be different once all of the data is analyzed in the coming months):

There was approximately a 50% response rate for the entire four months among all participants.
Households who had a mobile phone before the survey were much more likely to respond each month to the survey.
- This indicates that other respondents had trouble knowing how to work the phone, lacked service coverage, or were less likely to remember to answer and use the phone without prior exposure.
- More efforts to train respondents on using the mobile phone are necessary and could potentially improve response rates significantly.
There was no difference in response rates between those who were compensated with five pounds and those who were given ten.
- There was no control group who received no compensation, so it is difficult to say what impact compensation of any form has on response rates.
There was no significant difference in response rates between those who received a Nokia phone and those who received a solar-powered phone.
- The solar-powered phones perhaps had to be in the sun for too long and could potentially be stolen. Also, although electricity is inconsistent, generators are common and local people know where to go to recharge their phones at affordable prices.

The potential for mobile phones as a means of data collection appears to be valid, as demonstrated by this experiment. However, additional research should be conducted such as a cost-benefit analysis of mobile collection versus traditional survey methods. If successful, then more data can be collected about the developing world, informing policy and leading to projects that better meet the actual needs of the poor as opposed to their perceived needs.

June 29, 2011/by actualize

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