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GRAMEEN COMMUNICATIONS'
VILLAGE COMPUTER AND INTERNET PROGRAM (VCIP)
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Grameen Communications started the Village
Computer and Internet Program (VCIP) in June, 1999, in a place
called Madhupur—about 160 kilometers from Dhaka, the capital
of Bangladesh. The idea was to reduce this distance "virtually,"
helping to bring the kinds of opportunities available in the
capital to rural areas as well.
For example, people who used to rely on the postal service for
their communication needs - often waiting between 7 days and
a full month for their letters to reach destinations abroad
- can now use VCIP Internet facilities to send the same letter,
perhaps with a scanned photo or two along with it, in practically
no time at all.
Providing essential services. GC is
now developing and testing models meant to provide sustainable
new services, supported by modern information and communications
technologies, to rural villagers, organizations, and enterprises.
Services currently being offered include:
| Abdur Razzak Khan took courses in
MS Office and Visual Basic at GC's Madhupur center in
1999. "I understood that only a Degree Certificate
would not be enough for getting a job," he says.
"Also, I was jobless and had nothing to do at that
time. I heard that Grameen Communications had set up a
center which provides training. I felt interested and
went to see the facilities. I saw that there are more
computers than any local training centers there and they
give more time for each student." Now, Abdur works
for GC as a data entry operator. "You see, I am now
doing a job—and without this training, I could not
even apply." |
Access to information: Local data
on fisheries, livestock, health, education, agriculture, environment,
the job market, and more are entered into a village database.
Information about government schemes, NGOs, and other social
and business organizations is also increasingly available to
villagers via the Web.
E-mail facilities: Thanks to VCIP,
rural villagers are using e-mail to communicate with friends
and family as well as with local and international organizations—instantly,
and at low cost.
Computer training: The project offers
basic training in typing, operating systems, and programs like
MS Word and Excel, as well as higher-level courses in Visual
Basic, Web design and development, graphic design, hardware
troubleshooting, and so on.
Word processing
and printing: Villagers can use VCIP facilities to write
letters, resumes, and applications, and to put together documents
like newsletters, advertisements, and announcements. More difficult
word processing work, including small newspapers and magazines,
is being done with the technical help of GC staff.
Computer lab facilities: VCIP facilities
serve as computer labs for schools and colleges—not one
of the schools in Madhupur has a computer.
 Impact-driven
expansion. VCIP's pilot center in Madhupur has had a
significant impact on the local population. People from every
demographic segment are now using the center for education,
publication, e-mailing and more. Madhupur is financially self-sustaining,
using revenues from access fees, training courses, and computer-based
publishing to cover its operating costs.
VCIP is building upon its success and lessons learned to expand
to two additional sites. The new center in Sharishabari, in
Jamalpur district, opened its doors in October, 2000, with service
offerings similar to Madhupur's. But while the Madhupur center
connects to the Internet via an unstable dial-up, landline link—experiencing
slow connection and download times as well as frequent interruptions—Sharishabari
center connects via cell phone. This method is costlier but
smoother.
Sharishabari center has suffered losses since its inception,
due primarily to political unrest in the area. VCIP has decided
to shift the location of the center early this year.
Another center in Mirzapur opened two months ago, with financial
support from Grameen Trust. This center doesn't connect to the
Internet via phone line at all, but rather connects to the GC
head office via a microwave link. The GC office, in turn, connects
to the Internet using VSAT. This solution is expected to be
significantly faster and smoother than either of the other methods
VCIP uses—cheaper, too.
 The
Mirzapur center is seeing the number of e-mail users increase
day by day, almost doubling since opening its doors. Its inaugural
class of students will complete its first computer training
course on February 2.
The Mirzapur center, known as the Grameen Digital Center, also
serves two unique roles in the VCIP. First, the GDC plays host
to a number of research projects:
... a comprehensive study defining the socio-economic changes
GDC is expected to bring about;
... ongoing research on poverty alleviation through technology
intervention, including repeated surveys of market demand and
the degree to which VCIP's services meet this demand.
Second, Grameen Communications will operate out of the GDC to
provide local ISP services in Mirzapur. It has already connected
two local organizations to the Internet, with good results;
another five users will be connected by March.
 What's
New? Grameen Communications' Village Computer and Internet
Program will take up two interesting experiments in the near
future. First, its Madhupur Center will begin dialing through
Mirzapur to access the Internet. This is expected to cut its
access costs in half, since the call will be rural-to-rural
rather than Nation-Wide Dial (NWD).
Second, in conjunction with Digital
Divide Data of the US, Grameen Communications is exploring
opportunities to secure outsourced data entry or other computer-based
job work for its trainees—and thus to provide not only
skills, but also the chance to turn those skills into income.
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