| Abstract: |
In this paper we investigate an example of a very widely applied model for the
delivery of IT services to rural and poor populations. The model is one where
limited intervention to support infrastructure and coordinate resources is
combined with market-based delivery of IT services to the end user (what we
call here the “sustainable franchise model”). Though this model has been
deployed world-wide by governments, NGOs, and development institutions in the
past few years, there has been little research into the determinants of
success in such a model. In this paper we examine the example of n-Logue, a
franchise of over 1000 locally-owned, Internet kiosks in rural villages in
India. We seek to assess how this new sustainable franchise model has worked
in practice by analyzing data from 74 of n-Logue’s kiosks. Among other things,
we find that gender and education do not affect success, while location and
other measures of social standing (age and caste) do. We also find that the
uses that villagers have for IT services are not so different from those which
first world users have. The lessons we draw from this example are that while
local customs and practices must be taken into account (e.g. the caste
system), it is not a foregone conclusion that social biases (e.g. against
women) cannot be mitigated by good program design. |