PANOS MEDIA FELLOWSHIPS ON ICTs-ENABLED COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL
CHANGE
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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are recognised as a
powerful tool to facilitate social development. The flow of information
towards the poorest should increase, if poverty is to be reduced. ICTs
greatly facilitate the flow of information and knowledge offering the
socially-marginalised and the poorest of the poor unprecedented
opportunities to assert their own entitlements.

Leading international institutions, donor agencies, NGOs, academics,
researchers and activists have all been contributing to this development
strategy. Success stories and lessons-learned case studies of how ICTs have
transformed lives of the poor are abundant. The potential is real - yet
sceptics warn of the hype. Issues like the huge flow of funds from the
donor community, the sustainability of telecentres, and the usefulness of
these centres in the lives of the poorest of the poor are all key areas of
discussion.

'Louder Voices' (http://www.panos.org.uk/home/summary%20Study1.doc), a
recent study by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and
Panos London on strengthening developing-country participation in
international ICT-decision making, points out that developing countries are
poorly represented when agendas are set and decisions made.

Panos sees the need to have an independent account by journalists and
development experts who can reflect the range of perspectives among user
communities, the rural poor, government officers, development workers,
policy makers, and other stakeholders, as to what 'ICTs for development'
means in their societies. These views need to frame the debate around
ICTs-enabled development discourses.

What does Panos want to do?

Panos has been commissioning independent journalists for a decade to write
Panos Briefings to encourage and support informed debate on various
development issues. As part of the Briefings series, Panos plans to
commission journalists and development experts from the South to visit
telecentres in their regions. After a careful study of existing literature
on this topic, the following are identified as key issues:

I. Basic issues
- The use and effectiveness of telecentres
- On the needs and demands of rural communities where telecentres are
located - On the cost factor

II. Telecentres and sustainability

III. Telecommunications policy and rural welfare

IV. Dominance of non-native languages in Information and Communication
Technologies for Development sector

V. Flow of information - before and after the telecentre in a rural
setting

VI Innovative combinations of technology to increase the access to
information

Mini-briefings are available from Panos (see below) on the above topics
which explain the themes in detail. These mini-briefings are only
guidelines and applicants are encouraged to combine these issues when
formulating their proposal.

* After going through the mini-briefings, each applicant is
expected to write a succinct summary (1 side of A4) what s/he
intends to write about and how.

* Each fellow will be expected to write an analytical essay (ca.
3000 words), as well as publishing two stories in the local newspaper on
the same topic. The contents can, of course, vary to focus on the specific
needs of local media.

* The amount and duration of each Fellowship will be decided by
Panos London on an individual basis.

Please write to Murali Shanmugavelan (mailto:[email protected])
to receive mini-briefings.

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Panos Institute
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UK
Tel: +44 20 7278 1111
Fax: +44 20 7278 0345
URL: www.panos.org.uk