Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration
In the OIC Member Countries
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• What is the target group? Targeted digital literacy programs take different shapes
according to the population they will address. As an example, the type of content to be
emphasized in program delivery will change significantly if the program aims to target
the elderly (email for social inclusion and fostering of social and family ties) versus
adults (applications to build employability skills). It is often the case that even needs
within a single targeted group might be of different types. For example, some digital
literacy programs that target the elderly have focused on helping users working with
devices, while others have focused on basic operations and routines of operating
systems.
• Usability versus accessibility? Some digital literacy programs emphasize training and
skills transmission, while others complement this with infrastructure for public
broadband access. This represents a critical policy choice since access does not
necessarily equate to the capability to use broadband in a productive and beneficial
manner. In fact, if the primary objective is usability, experience indicates that tailored
courses, complemented with intense coaching, are the more appropriate approach.As expected, if the target of the digital literacy program is the rural poor, accessibility
will be a dominant objective. A combination of both objectives –use and access- can be
provided by community access centers, which will be reviewed later. Nevertheless,
best practices indicate that accessibility and usability are not that easy to combine in
digital literacy programs. As such, the two objectives are frequently addressed
sequentially, first providing access, followed by training.
• Formal versus informal delivery mode? Formal digital literacy training entails
structured programs based on established curricula, learning tools, and certification.
Informal training is not delivered in specific training environments, lacking a
structured pedagogical process. While it might not be intuitively appropriate for
targeted programs, the emergence of new Internet platforms might lead to the
adoption of informal approaches.
• Scale of implementation? This question addresses whether programs will be focused
on a particular region, or deployed on a national scale. In Hilding-Hamann et al. (2009)
view, “national programs are rooted in centralized policies at the national level and
(…) seen as strategically linked to government objectives”, such as building an
information society. In general terms, local programs, while having a more limited
impact across targeted populations, tend to experience a large sustainability success
rate due to more limited funding requirements. Nevertheless, Hilding-Hamann et al.
(2009) did not find a relation between size of the program and sustainability.Sustainability is a primary concern of targeted digital literacy programs. In their
review of 464 programs, Hilding-Hamann et al. (2009) estimated that 22% of them
had been discontinued. Furthermore, they found that program sustainability is