Active Community Participation is crucial on ICT4D project - A Success story from Baddegama

My memories go to dusty, harsh & arid environment with Silindu, Punchi Menika, Hinnihamy & Babun. “Village in the Jungle” or “Baddegama” is a well-known novel written by Leonard Woolf. Today, I can see only the big tamarind tree as mention in the novel. The environment is still arid. But the infrastructures have been developed. Instead of foot paths, new tar roads have been built, schools, irrigation cannels, new buildings, information infrastructure, are the symbols of new development which is being witnessed by tamarind tree over two hundred years. Today this area is called as Migahajandura.

His name is Pushpakumara Munasinghe, 38 years old, live in Migahajandura. He started his learning journey from Sooriyawewa National Schools, and graduated in Human Resource Management from University of Jayawardanapura. This story is a good illustration to prove the community involvement in ICT for Development.


Pushpakumara had to sit for several governments’ competitive exams to find the best fit in job for him. Every time he sat for exams, he had to find past papers, model papers as he wanted to face the exam with best pre-preparation. Pushpakumara said that “I spent at least two to three days to find the past papers, sometimes I had to go to Mathara or to Colombo, there are no classes nearby, these past papers are not to be found in libraries as well as book shops.”

Finally he joined the government sector; again he faced the same problem, when he sat to Efficiency Bar exam (EB). “I feel that the future generation should not face the problems that I had to go through. So that is why I decided to develop a web site with Question papers and model papers targeting the government exam. I have also prepared a project proposal for ICT Agency of Sri Lanka’s Community Assistance Programme (CAP) they have assisted me a lot to complete this project”


Lankaexamhelp (http://www.lankaexamhelp.com) website contains questions and model questions & answer papers for ten government competitive exams. They have also uploaded recent past papers and at least ten model papers for each exam. All papers & the answer papers can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.lankaexamhelp.com. Especially the content of the site is available in Local language-Sinhala.

Pushpakumara added further. “We wanted to develop this site further and need to translate the content in to Tamil language too. I know that sometimes we can sort-out some problems using ICT and I also know that we should not wait until the work is done by the government. We can start, I think we are empower enough to find a own solution for native problems using ICT”

http://www.lankaexamhelp.com

Shriyananda Rathnayake

To sharpen the wisdom of farming community

Sri Lanka… 20% of the country’s population and 32% of the employment is fit in to Agriculture sector and it does contribute 12.2 % to Gross Domestic Production. 70% of the population lives in rural Sri Lanka & livelihood of this sector mainly depend on Agricultural Sector.
Nenasala (The Sri Lanka Tele centre Project) also aims to meet the above target group facilitating all information infrastructures, knowledge and ICT based services. The nenasala Centers (The wisdom Canters) now have been enriched by various sectors of society such as Government departments, Non government institute and the private sector.



Together with e-Society programme of ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, Audio Visual Centre of , Department of Agriculture has launched an online learning portal on agriculture and its composites agricultural forum Agriculture Wikipedia & e-learning. The content development of the portal is still ongoing, but there are several areas that has been completed. This portal has been identified as a one of best content in South Asia and won a Award at Manthan Awards 2009.



The Agriculture content portal, goviya.lk alias Wikigoviya is a participatory and interactive web tool for agriculture development through active participation of the Agricultural Community. It is a meeting place for farmers, subject matter experts, academics, researchers’ , government departments, nongovernment organizations and private sector institutions involved in agriculture, students and even the general public.



Wikigoviya is an innovative project aimed at supporting rural agriculture on a mass scale, this web portal provides information related to agriculture in an aesthetically pleasing manner as a web based solution whose traditional flavor will enhance its ability to reach out to rural farmers. Learning material on the site is enriched with multimedia components such as video, audio, animation, pictures, illustrations and text in local languages as well as in English. The Wikigoviya Discussion Forum is open for collaborative documentation with features such as blog posts, forum posting, photo and video uploading with user comments, online chatting and friends. The forum allows users to enrich the site with their ideas and experience and post their opinions on current government policies and other issues. The local language functionality adds to its user friendliness. The Wikigoviya is a free agricultural information provider allowing user engagement and learning. It is attractive, simple in its approach and has an easy navigation structure which encourages the user to delve deep into the website to learn more on areas of particular interest.
The forum component has been developed though the famous social networking platform. All though Wikipedia contents are put in all three languages, sometimes users get confused to find the link on local language content. It seems these facilities are yet to be developed.
For more information
www.goviya.lk
http://www.goviya.lk/enwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Shriyananda Rathnayake

SMS Empower farmers to bargain.

SMS News is a grass root initiative which use Information and Communication Technologies to eradicate poverty in rural, It is timely needed that making aware of the market prices of vegetables to rural farmers. As a result lacks of sound knowledge about behavior of the market prices, farmers are facing many problems, as well other information like job opportunities, new seeds and fertilizers, vocational education courses and health education & nutritious etc.

Babaragaswewa is a remote village which located seventeen kilometers away from Galewela town. Main income of the villagers is farming. In 1999 Government introduced beet as an alternative crop as farmers lost cultivating tobacco many years. Introducing beet as an alternative, government could change the life of these farmers; they earned much more than cultivating tobacco. Year by year, Galewela beet cultivation was promoted and several other alternative crops also were introduced, like b-onion and onion.

Even though Galewela is locater closer to dambulla economic markets, Bambaragaswewa beet farmers didn’t get the market price, some time farmers were over exploited. But one initiative made huge changers of the farmer’s life after beet revolutions. The foundation call digi.div started a project to send the SMS News with market price in 2008 to target of 300 farmers. They could empowered farmers and enabled them with bargaining power.

The bulk SMS News is being sent using Free and Open Source software which need a Computer, Mobile phone and SIM card, where there are no personal computers or Internet in rural Matale district.



The existing market knowledge chasm was allowed them to re-think and searched the most effective communication tool to communicate the rural in quickly and effectively. SMS news is a small text massage which carries the timely information to farmers or the youths in phonetic Sinhala (Sinhala word written in English alphabet). The SMS News are being sent free of charge and the cost per SMS have been recovered a sending a small advertisement with the news information or without.

This initiative was assisted by e-Society, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka under the Community Assistance Programme. The digi.div foundation has proved that, even without having internet connectivity, or any modern equipment, how they used available technology to improve and empower the farmers.

Shriyananda Rathnayake

Youth enabled to access Health information via IVR, SMS, Instant Messenger, web chat and the Internet.

Kamal : hei, our science teacher is coming, today lesion is the reproductive System.
Kasun: will see, I know for sure she will skips this, you know she has done the same in last year too, Suneth aiya told me.
Teacher: Good morning!
Children: Good Morning Teacher!
Teacher: Ok, today we will discuss the Use of Symbols in Chemistry, development , international Standers & so on..
Kasun : What do you say now? Machan!

This is a standard discussion happening in all most all schools. Even though the content on reproductive system is included in to the School curriculum, most of teachers skip this lesson and ask children to read the text book at home and bring the queries to the class room.

Many incidents are reported when flash back recent past, regarding mobile phone using for pornography, committing suicide, unwonted pregnancy, illegal abortions, among the teenagers. Most of the time it has been reviled the root course for all above incident is illiteracy of the health specially reproductive health.

Traditionally and culturally Sri Lankans adopt a very discrete approach to issues connected with sexuality in general and more so in matters related to reproductive health. Identifying this matter ICT agency of Sri Lanka, e-Society could partner with FPA Sri Lanka which is the first organization to initiate and establish a space for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in the country.


Happy Life is a project that seeks to provide a solution to challenges faced in resolving issues related reproductive health in the context of today’s society. It recognizes that the problems of the younger generation are changing and that the preferred mode of communication is also changing. Happy Life provides an effective means of providing reliable and timely information through counseling services accessible through multiple channels - Interactive Voice Response ( IVR), SMS, Web Chat and the Internet.

It provides direct access to information and personal counseling facilities (from anywhere) without the identity of the inquirer being exposed. In this manner it can very effectively bridge the information gap that exists in the area of reproductive health. By giving a wide range of the options for information access - phone call, SMS, Web portal, e-mail and an interactive Voice Response System with professional counseling on a one to one basis with the language of one’s choice, the application clearly demonstrates the innovative use of ICT to overcome socially sensitive issues.

Try it, log on to : http://www.happylife.lk

Shriyananda Rathnayake

Rural Community Empowered to use ICT for Remote Medical Consultation

Remote Medical Consultation is a viable option to get the benefits to most vulnerable groups, but among the developing countries, there are many obstacles to overcome to make the remote medical consultation dream reality. Connectivity, Bandwidth, Software cost, are some of technical barrier, more than these change management has been become most difficult things to overcome as human and social fence.

e-Society Programme, ICTA Agency of Sri Lanka has showcased successes full two pilot project on remote medical consultation bringing the ICT benefits to most vulnerable groups in Sri Lanka to make people’s life easier.



ViduSuwa, designed to make specialized healthcare services available in rural areas by connecting a medical Consultant (whom would be geographically located in a place of his choice) with a patient in a rural area assisted by a doctor. The solution is comprised of a Business Model, an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System along with Mobile Communication System and a Change Management Model. Moreover, the solution is designed and developed in a way it can be even deployed in a mobile vehicle where the vehicle can be used to reach the people who have no access to specialized consultancies.

The Web based EMR system along with a conferencing tool provides real time access to the patient, patient details, patient history, investigations for the Consultant. Mobile Communication model is developed to utilize the existing mobile infrastructure and technologies to provide an effective communication channel between the patient and medical authorities. In order to implement the system in practical, certain modifications and additions need to be managed in the health context especially in familiarizing the Health Officers in the system and creating confidence among patients to use the services of the system. The Change Management component addresses this aspect.

The pilot project for this effort was implemented at the Base Hospital, Marawila and District Hospital, Dankotuwa in the form of an action research with a participatory approach with the use of open source technologies and existing infrastructure under the GP License. After the successful implementation of ViduSuwa an approximate Cost (89.5%), Time (67.6%) and Travel Distance (70%) decline was identified in patients receiving specialized health care services through the system.

ViduSuwa Project was conceptualized by Dr. Keith R. P. Chapman, Consultant General and Laparoscopic Surgeon at the District General Hospital, Chilaw & Dr. Shiromi M. K. D. Arunatileka, University of Colombo School of Computing. The Project was funded by Information Communication Technology agency of Sri Lanka, e-Socety Programme under the Partnership Assistance Programme Project. ICT Agency of Sri Lanka and UCSC are looking for a potential organization and the communities to replicate the concept in most rural area especially in North and East.

Shriyananda Rathnayake, Source- Shiromi Arunatileka, for more information - http://www.vidusuwa.com,

Dairy farmers empowered providing just in time services & information

Dambadeniya Export village located in Narammala is the largest women own enterprise in Srilanka carrying out fabrication of reed baskets for export packaging in the tea industry.

Dambadeniya Development Foundation is the service arm of the Dambaeniya Export village Ltd act as the implementer of Corporate Social responsibilities of DEPV with a vision of making technologically advanced community in Dambadeniya area.

DDF is mainly concentrate on Youth, Dairy and enterprise development of the area enhancing the effort of the communities to achieve a better lifestyle.

In regard to the Diary .the nation statistics shown that since 1998 where the total annual milk production of the country shown as 14,757,420 against the increased milk production by 2008 which was 17,341,091 that shows a growth of 17% during the past 10 years.[source: national statistics].

The reasons for this slow growth mainly due to lack of just in time services reaching the small dairy farmers resulting low productivity. The surveys carried out at the field level it shows the main factor is low level pregnancy of cows due to improper Artificial insemination and breeding services available just in time. It is well known that once the cow gets to heat the insemination to be carried out within a 12 hour period to ensure the pregnancy , but the farmers missing this opportunity due to lack of communications and reaching the service provider just in time.

The current national artificial performance rates are below the required levels and taking into consideration this Dambadeniya Development Foundation with the experience of Mr. Sunil Rodrigo the Senior Manager of DDF and being an experienced Dairy Technologist created the concept with the assistance of Information and communication technology agency of Srilanka, initiated a pilot project to improve the productivity of the small dairy farmers through ensuring a just in time services by using sms enable communication system with designing a suitable soft ware using the appropriate technology. In this DDF use mobile/CDMA phones, Touch screen computer at the chilling center and developing a web portal with easy access for farmers in three languages.

DDF has implemented this as a pilot project under Partnership Assistence Programme Project,e-Society, Information Communication Technology Agency of Srilanka, in Dambadeniya electorate to evaluate the performance and with the success of this where the aim is to increase the milk production in the pilot area by 50% within the first two years [by 2013].

Shriyananda Rathnayake , Source - DDF futher information - http://edairylanka.blogspot.com

Sri Lanka Empowered the hearing impaired using ICT

Today ICT has pervaded all aspects of life and become an integral part of our daily lives. Benefits of ICT are felt among many sections of the society. However, one of the major sections of the society that is left behind is the children with hearing impairment. In order to address this need, An organisation called Computer Land has developed a Multi Media Based Sign language dictionary to teach Sri Lankan Sign Language to the students with hearing impairment. This project was funded by Information Communication and Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The software along with the equipments to use the software was installed in five schools for the hearing impaired island-wide under the ICTA Replication Assistance Programme Project. In addition, copies of the CDs were distributed to over 15 schools for the hearing impaired. According to the feedback received from the authorities of the schools concerned, the students, teachers and even the parents have benefited from the software.

In order to evaluate the usage of the Video Sign Language Dictionary in the selected schools and to popularise the use of Sri Lankan Sign Language, competition is organized among the schools. The competition also coming under the Replication Programe Project, ICTA. The final event of the competition will be held on 26th of March 2010 at Hector Kobbekaduwa Research & Training Institute Mahinda Silva Auditorium, Colombo 7. Three teams each will be participating from four schools. The winners will be given prizes and certificates.

Shriyananda Rathnayake