Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 17:09:41 -0400
From:Daniel PIMIENTA <[email protected]>

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS A NON-EDITED AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL IN SPANISH

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE REPLIES TO Kemly Camacho, A concern, 10/03/2000

Kemly says:

> The cooperation finances more and more projects that have components of
> NICT or that they are totally NICT.

and it worries.

People that we work in this field from more than 10 years has played us the period 88-97 when the cooperation agencies didn't understand the importance of the topic (and it was then very difficult to finance projects) and the current period where each department of each agency considers that it should have its project ICT with strategic vision...

Now many officials repeat with a lot of faith (including the faith of believing that it is new) the strategic limits that several NGO proposed in last decade! There are certainly more resources today for actions in this field but there is also the situation of inequality where the projects of the land actors compete with the projects of the international organisms (the project SDNP of the PNUD is a perfect example of this situation).

This situation motivated us the article the most corrosive that we have been able to write: (in English) "A provocative grassroot view of the role of international organizations (IO) in the field of information technologies (IT) and recommendations for a drastical change" (http://www.funredes.org/funredes/html/francais/publications/roloit97.html).

In substance, we suggest that instead of reinventing the design of the wheel (with an in arrears decade) and often to organize very expensive meetings to meditate on this same design (when in the land there are actors of lands that have the made design and they could carry out it with a fraction of the wornout budgets) it should be thought of another way of working.

The way that we proposed was the one of identifying to the land actors and its projects, to evaluate them in function of its actions, and to surrender to the that have demonstrated capacity the resources so that they drive its actions. That simple: -)

In little word we proposed that OI them instead of elaborating projects for the ICT they are devoted to value and to support the valid actions of the land inside their respective strategic marks.

To conclude, a recognition to the IDRC that allowed me to present that provocation during a meeting "PanConsultation" in Montevideo in December of the 1998 whose purpose was exactly of listening the land to elaborate its plans and... of having financed Mistica that seeks to be an instrument of the land.

They already know because we are not entitled to fail: -)

PS: We find that in spite of everything there are positive signs of changes in that field with the growth of the transparent mechanisms and in fair principle of selection of projects like for example Infodev or the French-Speaking Fund for the Infopistas.

http://funredes.org/mistica/english/emec/production/c4/0164.html
Last modified: 16/03/2000