Executive Summary
Governments of developing countries face the question –
should they support space-based information and communication
technologies (ICT) applications? Are they really effective
in poverty alleviation? Are they affordable and ease accessible?
Should limited resources go to space applications in addition
to food, shelter, health, and education? The choice need
not be competitive. Space is a vital, attainable and economical
factor, when used convergently as described in this report.
With economies-of-scale and the ability to transcend traditional
barriers, space technology can greatly enhance and extend
the overall processes of poverty alleviation – in
areas such as literacy, education, health, inclusion and
empowerment in society. Related areas affecting the poor,
such as environmental and natural disaster management, and
sustainable development in relation to poverty alleviation,
are also helped with certain specific space technologies.
“Best practices” from developing countries demonstrate
the range of contributions that space technology can make.
This report aims to demonstrate the adaptability of such
examples to other countries.
One should use space technology for its cost-effective
benefits, not merely because someone claims that it worked
elsewhere. Against this backdrop, ESCAP organized an ad
hoc Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on 20-21 August 2003 at Bangkok
to advocate suitable strategies and policy frameworks supporting
the operational use of space technology for poverty alleviation.
The EGM specified roles that space-based ICT could play
in poverty alleviation, and mapped the road between prototyping
and operationalization of the technology. Nevertheless,
successful implementation requires a collective vision that
prioritizes poverty reduction in national and international
policy; recognizes the threat of disparity and marginalization
in the globalized society; and strategically commits to
the use of space-based ICTs for improving the lives and
livelihoods of the poor. The EGM identified specific priority
areas like promoting connectivity and access to such supportive
information and services as tele-education, tele-medicine,
disaster reduction, space technology-assisted community
teleservice centres (CTCs) – as local hubs for empowerment
– plus poverty mapping for decision makers to better
understand causes and cures of poverty. The EGM agreed that
the next steps included (1) creation of broader awareness
of the current effectiveness and affordability of space
technology for poverty alleviation, (2) demonstration to
stakeholders like health and education sectors that they
were beneficiaries of, not competitors with, appropriate
space technology applications, and (3) moving from pilot
projects to operationalization. All these are aimed at activating
enabling processes at technical, institutional and policy
levels, which may trigger larger-scale operationalization
of space applications in the areas of poverty alleviation.
In this report, Section I discusses poverty alleviation
in the context of information, communication, and space
technologies (ICST); Section II introduces trends and perspectives
of relevant space technologies for poverty alleviation;
Sections III addresses specific areas of poverty alleviation
from a space technology perspective; Section IV discusses
the relevant policy environment necessary for making these
applications affordable, accessible and useful; and Section
V summarizes recommendations made by the Expert Group Meeting.
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