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BUILDING SMART COMMUNITIES
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Reaching deep into Africa, Cisco believes it has a
connectivity and services model that will connect communities of
skills around the world, while uplifting the villages in which
they operate.
 Jim
Wynn, public sector director, Internet Business Solutions Group
at Cisco, believes that smart and connected communities across
Africa will help bridge the digital divide and provide citizens
with the tools they require for basic services, such as
healthcare, education and business opportunities.
Speaking at one of the focus group sessions at SITA's GovTech
2009, Wynn said Cisco has a vision of enabling social and
economic development of citizens and communities by applying a
blend of connectivity, services and skills in villages. He said
Cisco's strategy was to create an end-to-end service exchange
framework with affordable and focused service and application
options that will provide a complete community development
system for governments, service providers and entrepreneurs.
Wynn explained that Cisco aims to execute this strategy by
building a unified network of connected communities, with
targeted services and applications, as well as additional advice
from external companies with extensive expertise.
One such project is underway in Kenya, where the company wants
connected communities to drive mass adoption of connectivity
with content by extending from a government focus to citizen and
community services. The project aims to enable better services
in agriculture, healthcare and education by improving critical
co-ordination inside government with citizens, as well as with
global organisations.
Cisco has introduced the Pilot Pasha Centre portal developed by
the Kenya ICT Board, in partnership with Cisco and other
partners. The portal contains categories that enable access to a
wide variety of information including primary and secondary
learning materials, vocational study materials, access to
e-health and government information, to name but a few. The
portal builds on the Gava project, which provides a citizen
feedback mechanism, as well as Bashiri, an information gathering
and distribution system.
Wynn said key to the project's success is the service mix. Pasha
services afford users a flexible environment (GUI), which
enables tracking and charging of services, such as Internet
cafe's, for example. Additionally, as the community develops,
their entities can use this connectivity to build their own
add-on services, eventually reaching all community members in
their homes.
Wynn said the Internet also allows for rural communities to
develop sustainable produce, such as bean production, that can
be sold to overseas markets by collaborating online with
international buyers.
For a project of this magnitude to be sustainable, Wynn said
Kenya has to overcome key challenges. Community manager skills
are still in high demand, as well as the diversification of
services offered by the communities. Importantly, they still
have to grasp the business and operating models that can be
harnessed by the power of the Internet and connectivity.
Wynn suggested that communities embracing the Cisco services
offering should focus on branding their companies and services
that are relevant to the local culture and understanding of what
connectivity can do for them, to ensure that it is replicable,
scaleable and sustainable within their own country.
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