Cyber Development Corps Minimize

Many community-based ICT4D programs primarily face scalability and sustainability challenges, the root causes of which can be traced to a) the lack of effective integration and linkages between community-based implementation and the national-community policy-strategy formulation and development program deployment and b) the need to induce the venture approach in community-based programs and a wider access to opportunity-creation for community-based programs. There appears to be a need to establish a community- or nation-specific virtuous eco-system for ICT4D synergizing both the community-based activities (market need) and the policy-strategy of comprehensive national development programs. In addition, given that ICT4D operates in a borderless world, local and national ICT4D programs, policies and strategies need to effectively dovetail with global ICT4D programs, policies and strategies to create a meaningful, global knowledge-based society and economy enabled by ICT. In essence, ICT4D programs cannot be effective if executed in isolation. If done in isolation, we can only expect limited success.

Objectives

The Cyber Development Corps initiative will establish a global outreach programme based on the spirit of volunteerism to help lesser-developed nations and communities benefit from global information and communication technologies, infrastructure and resources; and help enhance their national development plans towards becoming equal participants in the global information-knowledge society.

Modus Operandi

Cyber Development Corps is an active policy intervention initiative of G@ID creating both a co-development platform for bottom-up, application-specific programs and initiatives with top-down policy and strategy to accelerate comprehensive development enabled by ICT. To begin with it attempts to address capacity-building by creating a voluntary corps of young people who are professionally qualified to train others to develop ICT skills using a systematic approach to capacity-building, both for policy and community-based programs and projects. In the longer term, it offers to be a platform to develop a systemic approach to accelerate development of nations and communities engaging effectively to benefit and contribute to the development and advancement of global ICT4D programs. Key to Cyber Development Corps' success is localization of the program, with effective and active partnership of all its multi-stakeholders.

The Cyber Development Corps will realize its objectives by:

  • establishing a shared platform and a common framework for development to facilitate more-developed nations, organizations and individuals to volunteer to help less-developed nations and communities.
  • developing local capacity (capacity-building) by establishing local communities through a train-the-trainer approach.
  • establishing, leveraging and/or strengthening community centers to provide: awareness-raising on the potential benefits of ICT, access to global information resources and the application of ICT for specific socio-economic development activities.
  • synergizing community programs with national development policies and strategies.
  • building upon existing community ICT4D programs for scaling and coordination.

The initiative, although targeting the lesser-developed nations and communities to benefit from the mainstreaming of the global knowledge society, also provides a collaborative platform among the more-developed nations to shape the multicultural and multi-dimensional aspects of the world information economy and society. Cyber Development Corps attempts to create a partnership channel for governments, corporations, civil society organizations, community leaders, professionals and individuals.

Cyber Development Corps, at the community level, initially will concentrate on capacity-building for the four primary focus areas of G@ID (health, education, entrepreneurship and governance), supporting, promoting and strengthening new and existing community-based application programs, from which we could learn and, subsequently, develop, adapt or promote new development policies and strategies in a virtuous circle of development. Cyber Development Corps will therefore have a two-tier operational platform i.e. a) community-based capacity-building for ICT4D; and b) capacity-building for ICT4D Policy and Strategies for Comprehensive Development. The key infrastructure and enabling environment for Cyber Development Corp will include the following:

  1. Cyber Development Corps Development and Opportunity Creation Gateway;
  2. Cyber Development Corps Volunteers, Social Entrepreneurs and Experts;
  3. Cyber Development Corps Partners; and
  4. Cyber Development Corps Tools and Services.

Cyber Development Corps will be modeled along the south-south co-development model to allow for a more natural phased -- but accelerated -- development in partnership with the north, effectively providing the "digital bridge" for all in ICT4D towards creating a global information-enabled society. To address the issues of rapid growth in most ICT4D programs, Cyber Development Corps initiatives will primarily operate using the venture model allowing the program to be nurtured and grow in phases aligned with the policy-strategy imperative.

Cyber Development Corps will leverage, among others, the G@ID Communities of Expertise (CoEs) and other G@ID Flagship Partnership Initiatives from which Cyber Development Corps will source lessons learned, partners and resources. Cyber Development Corps can also help contribute and advance some of the CoE programs through its community programs as well as policy and strategy intervention efforts. Cyber Development Corps offers a more comprehensive implementation platform/channel for CoEs.

Deliverables

The expected outcomes of the Corps' work are to help strengthen and stimulate ICT-based development programmes (policies, strategies, infrastructure and applications) in lesser-developed nations; to provide a channel for community-based ventures opportunity; to create a structured channel for government, the private sector, civil society and professionals of more-developed nations and societies to volunteer services and technologies to lesser-developed nations and communities; and to strengthen inter-country and inter-community relationships.

The output of Cyber Development Corps can be realized in the following ways:

Short Term Output (two years)

  1. Establishment of the Cyber Development Gateway and Opportunity Creation Portal
  2. Roll-out of Cyber Development Corps Centers in selected communities: 1-2 per region that would enhance capacity-building for the socio-economic well-being of the selected communities
  3. Development of an accelerated, phased ICT4D framework (policy, strategies and development program) for least-developed nations

Medium Term Outcome

  1. Roll-out of Cyber Development Corps Centers in more communities and with more applications
  2. Cyber Development Corps framework becomes an integral framework for development in more countries (reference center/model) and community ICT4D initiatives globally ('consortium' of ICT4D)
  3. Community-based ventures are viewed as an engine for new wealth creation

Long Term Impact

  1. Cyber Development Corps evolve into new, focused knowledge areas/communities beyond infrastructure and community centers addressing different marginalized groups/communities with a focus on bridging the development gap
  2. Promotion of more inclusive global ICT4D policies, strategies, programs and institutions
  3. Community-based ventures are strengthened as a significant economic nucleus for national and global development programs and institutions

Lead organization

Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation, Malaysia

Partners

UNDP, Intel, Digital Opportunity Trust, regional development institutions and banks.