Under the e-government facility, rural folks will be encouraged to use the Internet for online transactions such as bill payment. There will be a push for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in rural communities to use e-procurement application when conducting business with the Government. For this purpose, the RICs, which are community PC and Internet centres, will be provided with relevant card readers to enable online payment transactions between SMBs and the Government, according to a Ministry official. Under the e-learning facility, the Ministry plans to work with providers of e-learning content such as local institutions of higher learning to develop applications to enable rural residents interested to participate in e-learning.
“In terms of infrastructure for the RICs, we will upgrade the Internet access capability to 384-kilobit-per-second (Kbps) ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) connections. There is currently a mix of 384Kbps ADSL and 128Kbps ISDN (integrated services digital network) connections. As for PCs, we will maintain the existing number of six at each RIC,” the official told CompuTimes on Tuesday.
Under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, 42 RICs were built to increase information and communications technology (ICT) literacy in rural areas and thus bridge the digital divide.
Enhancements to the RICs are expected to take place in the coming national plan through a sum of RM20 million proposed for the initiative. In the pipeline are plans to add the number of RICs from its existing 42 locations.
“The additional number will be decided later after we assess the demand. The RICs have brought positive impact on community development in the rural areas they serve. They are meant to increase ICT literacy among rural folks, and by introducing e-Government and e-learning they could continue to increase ICT usage among these people,” the official explained.
From January to December last year, over 100,000 people used PC and Internet facilities available at the RICs, including 90,000 new users. This year, the Ministry expects a similar response from targeted communities with an average of 15 to 20 users per site each day.
The official said managing the RICs is part of the Ministry’s initiative to increase broadband penetration as outlined under the National Broadband Plan.
Each RIC is managed by a team of staff and assisted by its community members. “The responsibility to run activities at the RIC must also lie with the community to get the full impact. For Web site development, content will be collected by the RIC committee members comprising community leaders, who will be assisted by Web development consultants from the Ministry,” the official said.
Autor: Sharifah Kasim
Quelle: New Straits Times, 14.04.2005
