icegov2012 proceedings

Harnessing Renewable Energy Technologies for ICT and
e-Governance Services in Un-Electrified Communities in Rural Nepal
Mona Sharma
Winrock International
P.O.Box 4927
Kathmandu, Nepal
977 1-4467087; 977 9851146002
msharma@winrock.org.np; mona33sharma@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The Government of Nepal’s electronic-governance initiatives
remain beyond the access of the majority of Nepal’s population.
Many are not even aware that such services exist. This is because
due to Nepal’s difficult terrain, two vital vehicles for egovernance
services -access to energy/the national electricity grid
and internet penetration - are both negligible. Rural populations
stand to benefit the most from e-governance services, yet they
continue to be overlooked by government and non-government
information and communications (ICT)-based development
activities largely on grounds of lack of access to energy sources.
A recently completed ICT project funded by Intel Corporation and
implemented by Winrock International challenged this bottleneck
to efficient rollout of e-governance services, and has demonstrated
a successful shift in the national rural ICT paradigm. This paper
communicates the experience of a pioneering community-based
activity to extend electronic services, including e-governance, in
remote un-electrified communities in Nepal. This public-private
partnership between rural communities, local and national
governments, and a non-government organization harnessed
energy generated from small solar photovoltaic and micro-hydro
systems to operate power-efficient ICT and e-services. The ICT
infrastructure is housed in local government schools, and has
enabled rural communities to access multifaceted e-services
beyond the electricity grid network.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
K.6.1 [Management of Computing and Information Systems]:
– Project and People Management – System Analysis and Designs
General Terms
Management, Documentation, Performance, Design, Reliability,
Human Factors
Keywords
Renewable Energy Technologies; Nepal; Program Management
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ICEGOV '12, October 22 - 25 2012, Albany, NY, United States, NY, USA
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364
1. INTRODUCTION
The Government of Nepal (GoN) has introduced numerous ICT
interventions for development and poverty alleviation over the
past five years. An E-Governance Master Plan has also been
rigorously researched and developed. The focus of government
and non-government ICT initiatives to date has been on rollout of
infrastructure, hardware, software packages, online applications
such as e-governance services, and capacity building of human
resources. While all these aspects are crucial for effective
implementation of ICTs nationwide, a major challenge continues
to be largely overlooked: access to electricity to power equipment
and deliver services. This paper chronicles the experiences and
findings of a pioneering attempt to break this barrier by
introducing power-efficient computing and electronic public
services based on alternative energy sources. This pilot project has
demonstrated to all stakeholders that ICT services and
applications can be taken to the 60 percent of rural communities
that currently remain beyond the national electricity grid (see
Figure 1). The pilot was carried out in conjunction with GoN’s
Alternative Energy Promotion Project (AEPC) and the High Level
Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT) at the Ministry
of Environment (MoE). AEPC has since incorporated the model
in the national renewable energy technology (RET) expansion
program, and replicated the community-based model in over
twenty additional locations.
2. BACKGROUND
Nepal’s difficult topography has long challenged extension of
basic services and infrastructure across the country. Road
networks are limited; the national electricity grid currently serves
only 40% of the population as illustrated in Figure 1 below. Even
today, many communities walk days to district headquarters to
access governance services such as birth registrations and transfer
of deeds. Such communities would benefit immensely from
access to E-governance and other online services in their own
villages.
Figure 1. National Electricity Grid of Nepal