Internet: A preserve of urban elite		Internet-based conservation and ecotourism promotion is being actively pursued by some southern African governments such as the Seychelles, and also by many small local organisations such as the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust which promotes sponsorshop of their chimpanzee conservation programme and game reserve in Zambia via the web. In a few instances, Internet use is already reducing the isolation of marginalised groups. In some countries the lack of efficient postal services is being met by networks of email hubs which print out messages received and then deliver them to their recipients locally by bicycle. Women are also building an electronic network including a database of contacts and online discussions. At the moment, many of the activities described above take place in areas close to the capital cities because the concentration of economic and communications facilities there has stimulated sufficient demand to make them more viable to operate. However, it is expected that if awareness of the best models for success can be increased in rural areas and the costs shared amongst the variety of stakeholders, the wide variety of services that can now be delivered through a single telecommunications link will offer new possibilities to provide for the information and communication needs of the local population. In particular, there is growing interest in telecentres where personal computers (PCs) are added to community phone-shops, schools, police stations and clinics which can share the cost of equipment access amongst a larger number of users. (The author, Mike Jensen, is a South African-based Internet expert) Information technology: key theme for SADC Conference in Lusaka Smart partnerships needed to improve information technology Countries prepare for millenium computer bug Improving information access in SADC: The role of libraries Women in Media Belgian scholarship programme to benefit SADC students
While the Internet has spread rapidly through southern Africa’s capital cities over the last two years, internet services in the cities cannot provide access to many people, as over 70 percent live in rural areas. A few countries have expanded to the second major city and further, but for most people, it is still a prohibitively expensive telephone call. A computer is needed, a phone line, the skills to operate them and an important use to put them to. With most of these in seriously short supply, it is not surprising that there are so few users in southern Africa. These low levels are being addressed by the region’s policy makers and the international community who have launched (or are in the process of launching) a large number of national and regional ‘information society’ initiatives. But the current interest in bringing Internet connectivity to all corners of the region may seem out of place given the need for improvements in more basic necessities such as clean water. However, the information and communications revolution appears to have fundamentally changed the old logic. The convergence of the television, the telephone and the computer has combined with plummeting costs to provide completely new ways to deliver basic broadcast and communication services at far less cost. While the developed world has had to wait years to recoup the returns on the massive capital investments made in older communications systems (and deal with the huge vested interests involved), many now believe that Africa’s minimal infrastructure presents it with an opportunity to leapfrog this stage and move directly into the information age. However, many of the technologies are so new that to realise their full potential requires models for technical implementation and institutional collaboration which have yet to be developed. At the same time, monopoly telecom operators have been slow to change their tariff structures, but with the new emphasis on liberalisation and competition being adopted by a growing number of African governments, communications costs are expected to drop substantially.	Mike Jensen VIEW ON INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY As a result, there are currently few large-scale demonstrations of the benefits achieved through widespread access to communication and information - facilities that are taken for granted as a basic human right in developed countries. Nevertheless, there are many examples of the ingenious uses to which low cost communications are already being put by some of the more privileged who have been able to access these tools. Electronic mail in particular, has been adopted by almost every agency with international communication needs because of the drastically reduced costs - instead of a one minute international fax call costing up to US$20 in some countries, a one page email requires a local call of a few seconds. As with most other developing regions, the Internet has held special attraction for those engaged in trade and trade promotion. The very low cost of access to the Internet and its rapidly growing penetration, especially in the developed countries which contain the largest markets, offers new opportunities for poorly resourced suppliers to reach buyers at any distance. As many potential products do not have well established distribution channels, new relationships between buyers and sellers are being built through the Internet. In Tanzania, a small African shipping company, Sangare Clearing and Forwarding, has eliminated one of their biggest expenses. As agents for Fedex and Airborne Express they would go through three to four rolls of triplicate telex paper and now they only use email to send through waybill numbers and delivery times. Additionally, companies and individuals purchasing office supplies are now able to compare prices of local equipment with international markets and negotiate substantial discounts with local suppliers.