Bridging the Rural Digital Divide (BRDD)

The BRDD programme draws on "Livelihoods Approaches" to sustainable development - guidelines that focus on a people-centred, holistic analysis of the diverse and dynamic needs and assets of all stakeholders. A core strategy involves supporting links from macro level (policies and institutions) to micro level (communities and individuals). Click here to read about the full policy framework, including "adapting content to local context" and the other elements of the approach. In short, hunger and poverty are addressed through participation and collaboration - facilitated by the use of ICTs.

BRDD is centred around online knowledge exchanges that are designed to increase the availability of information content related to rural areas in digital form. The central platform for these exchanges is the BRDD website. Launched at the second phase of the WSIS in November 2005, this site (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and Spanish) offers various resources, including the policy framework referenced above as well as descriptions of a range of ICD approaches and links to international ICD communities of practice. The website is interactive; people or organisations involved in "bridging the rural digital divide" are actively encouraged to submit examples of their own experiences in ICD in support of rural livelihoods. These case studies offer specific examples of how generic approaches discussed on the website have been implemented by stakeholders throughout the developing world. They offer experiences and lessons learned for stakeholders to draw on, and to integrate successful practices into their own activities related to information exchange and communication.

To support long-term efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, this initiative focuses on providing tools and opportunities for capacity building among rural practitioners in the area of ICT for development. Among the resources available for download on the project website is a MultiMedia ToolKit (MMTK), which offers a collection of "workshop kits" to support face-to-face training in subjects related to developing multi-purpose community telecentres.

Rural Development, Hunger, Poverty, Technology.

According to the FAO, "Most rural communities are dependent on agriculture and related enterprises, and they need constant up-to-date information on everything from new farming methods, equipment and supplies to market prices. These communities have much valuable local agricultural knowledge to contribute as well. However, rural people and institutions cannot effectively use or contribute to the world's resources of knowledge and information without improvements in their ability to access them. In addition, many technology-oriented approaches to solving these challenges often give insufficient consideration to how and why technologies can improve livelihoods. In many cases, the weaknesses are not in the infrastructure and tools, but in the process of their adoption and use." These issues define the rural digital divide.