Title: E-Government Adoption in Developing Countries; the Case of Indonesia
Author: Ali Rokhman
Pages: 9 pp.
ISSN: 2079-8407
E-ISSN: 2218-6301
Source: Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences, Volume 2 No. 5, May 2011
Publisher: ARPN Publishers
Date (published): May 2011
Date (accessed): 31/08/2011
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"Huge benefits and usefulness that offered by e-government and increasing number of Internet users Indonesia has raised government of the Republic of Indonesia to issue several policies on e-government development. The government has obligation to deliver better and faster public service through e-government. Since 2003 some e-government policies has been issued by the government but in facts year by year, the global rank of e-government readiness as well as regional rank of Indonesia still in low rank. Some previous studies found that success of e-government implementation is dependent not only government support, but also on citizen’s willingness to accept and adopt e-government services. The research is to find out how the acceptance of Indonesian Internet users to e-government services, in terms of relative advantage, image, compatibility, and ease to use variables. Online survey has been published and collected 751 respondents. There are more than 93 percent of the respondents who have intention to adopt e-government. Relative advantage and compatibility variable were proven as useful factors to predict intention of use of e-government, otherwise the variable of image and ease to use is not proven. This study provides a trigger for the Indonesian government both central and local governments to develop and implement better e-government since 45 million Indonesian Internet users have been waiting for e- government services."

Title: Fingerprints, the Next Big Thing in Banking
Authors: Alan Gelb, Caroline Decker
Source: Global Development: Views from the Center
Date (published): 21/07/2011
Date (accessed): 22/07/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"With the expansion of cell coverage and mobile banking, millions of poor and rural people can now access financial services. But as financial institutions reach new populations, it is becoming clear that there are other issues keeping people from formal banking, such as the need for identification. Thankfully, there seems to be an easy solution. Just as mobile phones have helped overcome the issue of proximity for banking, biometrics could do the same for identification.
...
Since 9/11 there has been increased pressure on governments in the developing world to implement policies consistent with international Anti–Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards. Included are the Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations requiring financial institutions to identify their clients to better record financial flows. Regulations typically require customers to present some form of official identification, such as proof of employment or address. For those of us in the developed world, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. But in sub-Saharan Africa where only 50 percent of the population has birth certificates, requiring formal ID excludes millions of citizens, especially poor and rural populations—women in particular.

To get around this, financial institutions have begun turning to biometrics. When Opportunity International (OI), an NGO which provides financial services to the poor, came to Malawi they quickly realized many of their target clients couldn’t provide the required KYC documents. OI approached the Central Bank for an exemption; instead of the required passport or driver’s license and proof of employment to open an account, OI clients are identified simply by their fingerprints. And to access their accounts clients use their fingerprints and smartcards at participating ATMs or points of service (POS)."

Title: The Claim: Wireless Technologies Help Alleviate Poverty in Indonesia
Authors: Susan Nickbarg
Source: BCLCL Blog
Date (published): 16/12/2010
Date (accessed): 22/04/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"...The claim that wireless technology can improve people’s lives across the developing world in this alliance makes the phrase "all boats rise" a truism as people get lifted out of poverty. “What’s startling is that after 4 months, 47% of the people enrolled in the Village Phone Microfranchising initiative, (in which local entrepreneurs sell cell phone airtime to villagers), moved above the poverty line,” according to Cheri Mitchell, Director of Institutional Relations, Grameen Foundation.

Sad to say, poverty alleviation has been going on for decades.

Yet, here is a showcase of breakthrough innovation whereby Qualcomm, Incorporated, a NASDAQ-listed company in the business of developing and delivering innovative digital wireless technologies, and Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit formed to help lift people out of poverty through microfinance and technology, partnered and scaled the Village Phone Microfranchising program with contributions from Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative...."
via http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/

Title: A Response to "A Dialogue on ICTs, Human Development, Growth and Poverty Reduction"
Author: Onno Purbo
Source: Publius Project
Publisher: Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Date (published): 21/09/2009
Date (accessed): 28/09/2009
Type of information: essay
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Unfortunately, in practice in the grassroots, a knowledge-based society is not about the concepts or terms “universal access”, “openness”, and “innovation”. It is more about *how* to create a movement within the society / community to get universal access, to embed openness in a culture, to help innovation flourish among the 240 million Indonesians. Unlike most western countries, we Indonesians cannot rely on the government too heavily. Create a self-financed, sustainable, self-propelled movement within such large number of people with minimal support from the government is an art in itself.

Title: ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks
Author: Rohan Samarajiva and Ayesha Zainudeen (editors)
Pages: 320 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-7619-3673-2
e-ISBN 978-1-55250-378-2
Publisher: Sage India, IDRC
Date published: 2008
Date accessed: 16/06/2008
Type of information: research publication
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
This book brings together scholars, practitioners, former regulators, and policymakers to address the problem of expanding information and communication technology (ICT) connectivity in emerging Asia. It centrally engages the widespread claim that technology by itself — independent of policy and regulatory reform — can improve access to ICTs. In doing so, it shows that while complex workarounds are possible, they are significantly less effective than the appropriate policy and regulatory reforms.

This book examines how theoretically optimal concepts actually get implemented in the hard terrain of emerging Asia. It gleans lessons from five Asian countries — Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka — based on their experiences with expanding ICT connectivity. It reports the findings of a cutting-edge 3000+ sample demand-side survey of telephone use at the "bottom of the pyramid" in India and Sri Lanka. It considers the problem of expanding connectivity from different angles: that of the user, the operator, the policymaker, the regulator, and civil society. And it sheds light on a range of situations and technologies, like telephone use in post-conflict regions of Sri Lanka, Wi-Fi deployment in Indonesia, and universal service obligations in India.

The Editors

Rohan Samarajiva is Executive Director of LIRNEasia, and former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in Sri Lanka. He is also former Team Leader at the Ministry for Economic Reform, Science and Technology, responsible for infrastructure reforms in Sri Lanka.

Ayesha Zainudeen is a researcher at LIRNEasia. She has a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.