Buses ferry ICT to rural areas

Inside one of the new mobile ICT buses on its way to Kigali 

             (Photo J Mbanda)

BY GILBERT NDIKUBWAYEZU & AMBROSE GAHENE

GICUMBI, Rwanda - In a much-publicized move to take information technology to ordinary citizens, RDB/IT has finally introduced two models of ICT buses with Telecentres. Two of these buses arrived in the country via the Gatuna border post.

The move that is aimed at bridging the digital divide in the country comes into force as one of the backbones of the ongoing e-Rwanda Project and will see internet taken closer to citizens especially in the rural areas.

The buses, which are electronically equipped with 22 HP laptops, will be travelling to rural areas to allow ordinary citizens access IT services.

“These buses will be moving to places where the multipurpose community Telecenters and business development service centres are not available,” said Wilson Muyenzi, e-Rwanda Project coordinator.

Described by officials in Rwanda Development Board (RDB/IT) as mobile Telecentres, the buses are meant to provide additional ICT services ranging from printing, scanning and photocopying documents to offering basic ICT training to those who need it.

The pilot phase that is being launched is expected to last a year during which the services will be freely offered to citizens and after which more buses will be imported and a reasonable fee charged to beneficiaries, according to RDB/IT officials.

Acting Director General in charge of IT planning and coordination in RDB/IT, Grace Mutsinzi, revealed that the buses which were assembled in Nairobi are now valued at around Rwf 154m each, the price that include the two generators to power them while serving remote areas.

Mutsinzi also said they have embarked on negotiations with various stakeholders and development partners to ensure that the use of these ICT buses contributes to the country’s vision of becoming a world class ICT hub.

“We shall also partner with schools to provide access to ICT through these buses to primary and secondary students in rural areas with no access to ICT,” he said.

The ICT bus innovation comes as an addition to the introduction of 30 Telecentres all over the country in an initiative that is aimed at boosting both public and private development through information technology.

Largely funded by the World Bank, the e-Rwanda project has also seen the country introduce the telemedicine initiative and e-treatment

                     From The New Times, Rwanda’s leading daily newspaper      Thursday, 30th July 2009                                                                                                                                            www.newtimes.co.rw

Electronic Photo Editing

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Jimmy Adriko is a veteran photojournalist who joined the New Vision in 1991. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art and he has attended many different courses in photojournalism from Moscow, South Africa, United Kingdom and Netherlands.

Excerpts from the interview

Ali: Jimmy what exactly is your role as a photos editor?

Jimmy: As photos editor I assign duties to the photographers. I convene meetings every morning and give the photographers assignments for the day. For those who are not present, I do it via telephone, SMS or email. I also receive photographs from my staff through the network or via email from those photographers out of the station. I select the photos to be used in the newspaper and send them to the editors and I archive the unused ones electronically. I also take photographs, write and coordinate training, equipment and budgetary needs for the New Vision and the sister papers. In addition I organize with international agencies in terms of photo needs with institutions like Reuters, AFP, photos.com and the like. I also manage the sales and purchases of photos.

How does the New Media support you in fulfilling your duties?

Until a few years ago, the photo process was all manual. Taking, processing and cleaning the photos was a long process. For example if a photographer was to travel to Rwanda, the photos he would take would only be used on his return! 

Today coordinating activities is easily done using the mobile phone. Photographers can be tracked and those in the field reassigned duties. The mobile phone can also be used in emergences to take photos and also use MMS or email to send them. This encourages citizen journalism. 

We use the Internet to buy and sell photos through the wire service. We also search the Internet for photos to illustrate our stories. Email and the intranet are other useful tools of communication. 

All photographers use digital cameras to take the photos after which they upload them on the computer, clean them and send them to me through the network. The computer processes and enhances the photos. All photographers are trained to use the Adobe Photoshop software for this.

The computer is also used to archive photos. At the moment we are in the process of scanning all the photographs and very soon all hard copies will be discarded. In a day, the New Vision archives a minimum of 200 pictures.

Photographers also use the Social Networking Sites to share photos with peers and some have created their own catalogues online.