The Asian Development Bank and UNESCAP signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) yesterday for the establishment of 20 pilot Community e-Centers (CeC) in South Asia. As part of ADBs South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program, the project will be jointly implemented by ADB and the Information and Communication Technology Applications Section of the Information, Communication and Space Technology Division (ICSTD) of UNESCAP. The project is funded by the Japan Fund for Information and Communication Technology (JFICT) of ADB.
The project aims to reduce poverty, empower communities and improve the quality of life in rural areas in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal through providing communities with access to information and communication technology (ICT). CeC will provide shared facilities for the public to use basic telecommunications services access the Internet and use various ICT applications for socio-economic activities.
Based on compiled and analysed success cases and lessons learned across the regions, the project will be implemented in three phases: 1) develop a sustainable CeC model according to the type of communities covered by the project and their needs; 2) establish at least 20 pilot CeC in rural areas based on the model and 3) build institutional and human capacity and share knowledge acquired by rural communities. The benefits and impacts of the project on the socio-economic development of the communities will be monitored, analysed and disseminated on the Internet.
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