Final Version- Rural and Remote Area outreach proposal 30 April 07 doc

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

SECRETARIAT OF THE

PACIFIC COMMUNITY

Project Proposal

Summary Sheet

SECRÉTARIAT GÉNÉRAL DE

LA COMMUNAUTÉ DU PACIFIQUE

Project Title: The ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas Outreach Initiative’ – Bridging the

communication / digital divide to the Rural and Remote Areas in all Pacific Island Countries and

territories through the Digital Strategy.

Goal:

To enhance real opportunities for social (including education and health), cultural and economic

development and strengthen political governance opportunities in all rural and remote communities

in the Pacific through increased Internet coverage, access and usage.

`Objectives Objective 1: To procure, commission and operationalise a dedicated ‘Pacific Hub’ from the AMC-

23 Satellite to provide the backbone for implementing the Digital Strategy to all Rural & Remote

Areas in the region through the ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas Outreach

Initiative’

Objective 2: To pilot low cost VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technologies in 100 select

rural and remote communities in PICTs in two stages over an 18 month period from July 07 to

December 08; with 10 sites in stage 1 from July – October 2007 [2 a]; and 90 in stage 2 from

November 07 – December 08 [2 b]

Objective 3: To pilot 1000 low cost ‘One Laptop Per Child’ (OLPC) laptops in select rural and

remote communities in PICTs in two stages over an 18 month period from July 07 to December 08;

with 200 OLPC laptops in stage 1 from July – October 2007 [3 a]; and 800 OLPC laptops in stage 2

from November 07 – December 08 [3 b].

Objective 4: To present a live demonstration of the utility of low cost VSAT technology and OLPC

laptops based on the outcomes of Stage 1 pilots in objectives 2 & 3 to the Pacific Forum Leaders at

their Tonga meeting in October 2007.

Objective 5: To seek Support from PIF Leaders for the financing of Stage 2 and stage 4 Pilots in

Phase 1; and roll-out implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage’ and 99,000 laptops.

Objective 6: To measure the impact of the digital solution provided through VSAT and the extent

of benefits in education, health and other areas resulting the VSAT connectivity and OLPC in the

pilot and control sites during Phase 1.

Objective 7: Roll out the implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage and 99,000

additional OLPC laptops to all PICTs from June 2008 – December 2009.

SPC Programme: Information & Communication Technology section – responsible for the implementation of the

Digital Strategy – rural & remote areas outreach.

Dates / Duration / Estimate

Cost by Phase and Stage

(inclusive of 7% PM fees):

Objective 1 – (Jun / Jul 2007): US$ 881,549

Objective 2a- Phase I Stage 1 (Jun – Oct 2007): US$ 264,237

Objective 2b – Phase 1 stage 2 (Nov 2007 – Dec 2008): US$ 2,378,129

Objective 3a - Phase I Stage 3 (Jun - Oct 2007): US$ 44,940

Objective 3b – Phase 1 Stage 4 (Nov 2007 – Dec 2008): US$ 179,760

Objective 4 – (Oct 2007): US$ 7,280

Objective 5 – (Oct 2007): US$ 5,890

Objective 6 – (Jun 2007 – Dec 2008): US$ 143,080

Objective 7 – (June 2008 – Dec. 2009)

Funding sought: Objective 1: US$ 881,549

Objective 2: US$ 264,237





Contingencies: US$ 10,700

OVERALL TOTAL: US$ 1,357,676

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1. BACKGROUND:

Digital Strategy and the Pacific Plan to strengthen Regional Corporation and Integration –

Pacific Islands Forum Leaders endorsed the Pacific Plan to strengthen regional cooperation and

integration and the Digital Strategy in October 20051.

The Digital Strategy, an integral part of the Pacific Plan specifically addresses the challenges relating

to communication technology, pricing, regulations and services in and to the region. The Digital

Strategy has its origins from the review of the Forum conducted by an Eminent Persons Group in late

2003 / early 2004. The EPG identified following priorities in ICTs for the region and recommended

that they needed to be addressed through the development of a Digital Strategy in the Pacific Plan:

o improving access to communications technology particularly to and from rural and remote areas

o Reducing costs of ICTs

o establishing higher bandwidth to the global ICT ‘backbone’

o removing inappropriate regulatory environments in order to foster higher levels of investment

o Strengthen HR capacity to apply and use ICT

In endorsing the Digital Strategy, Leaders noted that:

o the provision of reliable, competitive and low-priced telecommunication and ICT services are

crucial to the sustainable social and economic development of Forum Island Countries;

o the Pacific is hampered by large distances, small markets and scattered populations; and

o Forum Island countries have limited technical capacity.

Underpinning the Digital Strategy are the following guiding principles:

o Increased efforts should be made to implement regional, sub-regional or multi-country solutions

to problems in the telecommunications and ICT sector

o A central responsibility of government to telecommunications should be in establishing and

administering independent regulatory authorities

o Telecommunications and ICT services should be open to competition where possible

o Telecommunications and ICT services should, wherever possible, operate on a sustainable

commercial basis

o Adherence to principles of good governance is crucial to telecommunications and ICT services

o Donor support should be provided to Pacific Island Countries and Territories to assist the

implementation of telecommunications sector reforms, conditional on a demonstrated

commitment to the above principles.

Implementation of the Digital Strategy - Following the endorsement by Pacific Islands Forum

Leaders of the Pacific Plan and Digital Strategy in 2005, the Forum ICT Ministers endorsed a number

of important policy and infrastructure benchmarking initiatives under the Digital Strategy during their

meeting held in March 2006 in Wellington, New Zealand. They agreed that PIFS and its partners

including SPC among other things address the following areas within the context of the Digital

Strategy:

a) Assessment of the current inventories of ICTs in the region directed particularly at identification of

gaps and deficiencies in national policy, legislation, and operational capacities - through an e-

readiness / benchmarking project.

b) Increasing the capacity of ICTs to improve delivery of basic ICT services and contribute to

efficiency and governance acknowledging the importance of governments setting standards and

examples of good practice.

1 Kalibobo Roadmap on the Pacific Plan, Leaders Retreat, Madang, PNG, Oct 2005 - PIFS

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c) The need for clear ‘country specific’ policies that identify priorities and serve as guide to

government actions through a review of all current ICT Policies on a country by country basis

supported by PIFS.

d) The establishment of a Task Force (Taskforce on Regional Approaches to ICTs in the Pacific) to

examine the potential options for regional and / or sub-regional cooperation in the development

and effective use of ICTs to facilitate economic growth, sustainable development, by good

governance and security. The ICT Taskforce of which PIFS and SPC are members, are required

among other things to:

o Develop qualitative & quantitative indicators to monitor each country’s progress toward

agreed goals

o Investigate options for regional approach to the purchase or bulk lease for satellite capacity to

increase affordability of access by remote communities

o Identify opportunities for expanded broadcasting capacity to remote, rural women & other

groups

Reaching out to rural and remote areas in the Pacific through the Digital Strategy. Subsequent to

the identification of SPC through the ICT taskforce meeting process2 to lead the initiative to link the

rural and remote areas through the digital strategy, the SPC governing body, the Committee of

Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA) at its meeting in November 2006

endorsed the secretariat’s initiative to further explore and if possible facilitate the implementation of

the digital strategy through the use of low cost VSAT technology. CRGA noted the need to have a

dedicated ‘Pacific hub’ on the AMC 23 satellite to ensure the Pacific VSAT network is operational,

regulated and coordinated for greater efficiency and effectiveness. CRGA supported the secretariat’s

partnership approach with local operators, regulators and other key stakeholders at national and

regional levels.

A significant ‘Early Win’ of the Pacific Plan - The ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas

Outreach Initiative’ presented in this proposal offers the best and most cost effective opportunity to

bridge the communication divide with all rural and remote communities in the Pacific region through

the implementation of the digital strategy. Facilitating the implementation of this proposal will achieve

the Forum Leaders’ decision on the digital strategy and it will constitute a significant early win for the

Pacific Plan – one that will underpin successes in other areas of the Pacific Plan.

Strong Support from Pacific Island countries and territories – Very strong support had been

received from Ministries of Education and Health in all the pilot countries identified in this proposal.

The Ministers of Health were particularly supportive given the potential for increased communication

with rural health facilities as well as enabling telemedicine. Ministers of Education were very

supportive of the VSAT initiative and in particular also the possible extension to OLPC laptops for

each child. The telecommunication sector in the pilot countries had also been very supportive given

that the focus is on rural and remote area outreach – in many countries to areas currently not served by

the private telecommunication carriers. On 26th – 27

th April the Ministers of Telecommunications

from Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna, the Governor for American Samoa, the

representatives of the governments of French Polynesia and New Caledonia, and the Department of

Prime Minister of Tonga at their meeting in Noumea also expressed strong support for this proposal

and hoped it would be implemented as soon as possible noting the time frame for the project.

2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

2 ICT Taskforce meeting in October 2006, Nadi, Fiji

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Requirement - This project seeks funding to implement the ‘rural and remote areas outreach’

component of the digital strategy that was approved by PIF Leaders in 2005. Specifically the funding

sought will enable the procurement and commissioning of the dedicated Pacific VSAT hub that will

bridge the current communication / digital divide with more than 80 percent of the Pacific population

currently living in remote areas not accessible by electronic / digital communication. In addition to the

acquisition of the Pacific VSAT hub the proposals also seek funding for a pilot phase aimed at

demonstrating the functionality and usefulness of the VSAT technology in selected rural and remote

communities in the region.

Proposed implementation schedule for the ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas

Outreach Initiative’. To achieve early wins in implementing the digital strategy the following

implementation schedule commencing from June 2007 to December 2008 is proposed:

i. Pre-Phase 1 – Objective 1. [June – July 2007]. Secure resources to procure and commission the

Pacific SkyEdge VSAT hub to be operational by June 2007 [US$573,455] plus of 18 months

bandwidth cost [US$293,094]. The whole Pacific region only needs one hub. The first 18

months bandwidth cost needs to be supported. At the end of Phase 1 [by December 08] the

number of VSAT receiving stations [minimum of 100 sites] should be able to sustain the

bandwidth costs. The first 18 months bandwidth cost [US$293,094] are included in Objective 1

outlays.

ii. Phase 1 – Stage 1: Objective 2a - [July – October 07}. Procure and install 10 pilot VSAT

stations inclusive of freight / training / site management & operations [US$246.9503] in selected

island countries. Each pilot site shall be established as a community information centre with a

low-power rugged laptop, printer, WIFI wireless access point, radio FM transmitter, two site

managers and a monthly operational budget over a 12-month period. (Note that the SkyEdge

VSAT terminal and community information centre, once installed is at that stage properly

enabled to handle Internet connectivity);

iii. Phase 1 – Stage 3: Objective 3a – [July – October 07]. Acquire, distribute and test 200 low cost

OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) laptops in proximity to the ten VSAT pilot projects and their

community information centre [US$42,000]. (Note that the OLPC XO laptops designed by MIT

Media Labs are mainly for distribution to children in developing countries);

iv. Live demonstration of PIF Leaders at the October 2007 Forum Meeting in Tonga – Objective 4

& Objective 5 – [October 07].

v. Phase 1 – Stage 2: Objective 2b – [November 07 – December 08] Implement an additional 90

low cost VSAT pilot projects, each with a community information centre to cover all of SPC’s

island member countries [US$2.22 million4];

vi. Phase 1 – Stage 4: Objective 3b - [November 07 – December 08]. Acquire, distribute and test an

additional 800 low cost OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) laptops to cover all an additional 90

VSAT sites [US$168,000] in other SPC’s island member countries & territories; and

vii. Present an overview report of the impact of the activities and results from each pilot project to

all participating Pacific island countries and territories by the time of the Forum Leaders

Meeting in 2008 [July – December 08] – Objective 6.

3 Largest cost is freight of solar panels – if this was halved the cost will be less

4 Largest cost is freight estimate for solar panels – if this was halved the cost will be much less

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Securing political buy-in for a larger Pacific Pilot initiative – The most ideal way to secure greater

political buy-in for a larger Pacific pilot is to demonstrate to Leaders a working VSAT system that has

actually made a positive difference to rural and remote communities, especially rural schools, health

facilities etc. To achieve this, the most ideal scenario would be a live demonstration of the VSAT

technology to the PIF leaders during the Forum Meeting in Tonga in October 2007.

Pilot phase - The aim of the pilot phase is to prove that appropriate technologies now exist at

affordable costs to bridge the communication divide between the urban and rural and remote areas in

the Pacific. These digital solutions can overcome the challenges related to the lack of basic

infrastructure. They will also enhance delivery of health advisory services, delivery of education

programmes, particularly in remote primary schools with little access to educational materials or lack

of teachers. Primarily, the pilots in each island country and territory shall provide the evidence that

each government / private sector / community can use to generate demand that may lead to an user-pay

approach to achieve maximum coverage of all rural and remote areas. The pilot countries in Phase 1

stage 1 are Cook Islands ( 1) , Kiribati (2) , Nauru (1), Papua New Guinea (1), Solomon Islands (1);

Tokelau (1), Tonga (2), and Vanuatu (1).

3. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT:

Pacific population distribution - More than 80% of Pacific islanders live in rural and remote

communities from an estimated mid-2006 total population of approximately 9.15 million (Refer Annex

I for mid-2006 Pacific Island Population Estimates). Almost all Pacific island countries are developing

nations and many have trouble providing basic infrastructure, proper hygiene and health clinics,

primary education and government services to those rural areas. The lack of business investment

opportunities due to poor transport and infrastructure and limited trained people in those areas make it

even more expensive for local governments to change the status quo.

ICT for every Pacific Islander - Despite the favourable developments in recent years, the position of

many PICTs in terms of educational performance remains among the poorest in developing countries.

For example, according to recent population statistics, the Pacific population in the age group 6-17

years is estimated to be over 2 million (most of this is in PNG). Of this population, over half is not at

school while the rest is currently at school. Over 90% of those not at school are located in rural areas

or outer islands. Underpinning this proposal is the vision of “ICT for every Pacific islander” – a policy

imperative of the Digital Strategy.

Transforming an opportunity into reality – The opportunity to use low-cost SkyEdge VSAT

terminals for the AMC-23 satellite is a direct response to the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders call for a

solution to reach every Pacific Islander in rural and remote areas through the Digital Strategy. Internet

connectivity is a critical success factor. Add to it the OLPC initiative and we have not only a

technological solution, but a real deliverable that would boost education, health services and learning

or business development and economic opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and

forestry. Opportunities for business and economic development can reach rural and remote areas with

VSAT technology now that was never possible before. We now have the opportunity to bridge the

digital and communication divide with the rural and remote areas of the Pacific with low cost and

affordable VSAT technology. Challenges remain with the telecommunication monopoly situations but

this is where piloting the technology in partnership with telecommunication companies / departments

in a number of countries is the best approach. SPC has been in consultation with the

telecommunication operators, regulators and ministries of Communications as well as Planning in

some of the countries seeking partnership arrangements. The underlying approach is that we pilot this

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technology in rural and remote areas that existing operators currently do not service or do not plan to

invest in because of high costs. We have had good reception from those consultations and the

circumstances are now appropriate to secure resources for a Pacific SkyEdge hub and a number of

VSAT sites for the pilot phase to proceed in a number of countries.

4. DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES:

The case for a digital solution through the digital strategy - By inference, if there were good road

networks linking all rural communities, support infrastructure like electricity, telecommunication

facilities, health clinics, public schools and information centres in the rural areas, many island

governments could probably provide for about 80% of their total populations who live in rural and

remote areas. The resources and efforts to address those needs through traditional approaches are to a

large extent not there at the disposal of many governments or are definitely very slow in coming.

Meanwhile, modern ICT initiatives such as low cost VSAT enabling affordable Internet connectivity

can now reach all remote areas in the Pacific and can enable rural communities to have access to

education, health information, public services and information centres especially in cases where the

cost to build roads, install electricity supplies and schools are beyond current national budgets.

Why is it now possible to reach all remote areas in the Pacific? What has changed lately? –

About two years ago, the AMC-23 satellite was launched over the Pacific mainly for Boeing

connections (in-flight Transpacific IP

access). This provides High Power

satellite coverage for all island

countries and territories, specifically

designed to cover ocean areas not

covered before, Smaller Antenna sizes

1.2 to 1.8m resulting in very

affordable VSAT equipment and its

Special design for smaller circuits

which suit Internet access from rural

areas. That is very attractive for

transmission of radio programs and

Internet-enabled content for

education, health, agriculture,

fisheries or humanitarian purposes,

and immediate access to all sites all

over the Pacific for emergency and

disaster situations. Shown (Pacific

ocean map on right) is a likely configuration where a Pacific SkyEdge VSAT hub can be located in

either the US West coast with full coverage of the Pacific ocean, Sydney in Australia or Noumea in

New Caledonia with coverage mainly for the western Pacific area only.

How can ICT usage be expanded beyond the VSAT receiving stations located in rural areas? –

When Internet access through SkyEdge VSAT terminals or other means are established, the One

Laptop Per Child initiative, targeting populations in the 6-17 year olds age group in developing

countries will give many children in island countries who never went to school or dropped out after

primary school some hope for primary access to or continuing education and learning opportunities for

a lifetime, which they currently do not have despite their location and remoteness. The OLPC (One

Laptop Per Child) consortium at the MIT Media Labs have released a working version of their

powerful XO laptop (see figure on right) as a learning tool that is flexible, low cost, durable, power

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efficient aimed at all children in poor nations to leap-frog decades of

technology development. (Refer Annex II for 6-17 Year Old Populations

by Status of School Attendance in Select Pilot Countries and Territories).

Benefits of the Digital Strategy at the country level – the case of

Kiribati as an example– Kiribati has the second largest EEZ in the Pacific covering almost 3.5

million square kilometres, approximately the size of Europe. More than 98 percent of this total area is

ocean. Annex III shows the current distribution of the Kiribati population based on the most recent

population census (2006) and in particular the distribution of children between the ages of 6 and 17

years old. This age group represents the primary target for education and comprises 30 percent of the

total population of the country. The table shows that of the total 27,393 children, 13 percent (3,557)

have either not made it in school or dropped out from school. In general, over half or 58% of the

Kiribati 2005 population is below the age of 25 years with a median age of 21 years, making Kiribati

one of the youngest populations in the Pacific. The highly dispersed nature of the country and its

mostly young population suggest that a well-planned and focused deployment of low-cost SkyEdge

VSAT solutions including the use of OLPC laptops would make a significant impact to social

development and economic growth. Educational opportunities will be greatly enhanced. For instance,

two educators could be located in Australia, packaging education information that is relevant for the

Kiribati education system. The education package can be carried by VSAT to virtually any school

anywhere in Kiribati with a SkyEdge VSAT station installed. This setup will enable the ministries of

education or health located in Tarawa for instance to immediately reach all its rural schools and health

clinics.

Implementation partners – The SPC ICT programme - Digital Strategy section will be responsible

for overall project management. The technical management of the SkyEdge VSAT will be provided by

Pacific IP services. The technical operational tasks will involve key partners, particularly the Pacific

Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), USP, FFA, SOPAC, SPREP, the Pacific Islands Chapter of the

Internet Society (PICISOC) and partners within the Pacific Islands Telecommunication Association

(PITA).

The SPC Human Development Programme will play a major part in the outreach activities of the

project implementation at the country level utilising the national youth and women networks, church

councils and the ministries or departments of Education.

The SPC Statistics and Demography Programme will play a major part in the management and

monitoring of the project’s impact assessment activities at the country level. This work is proposed as

a collaborative effort between SPC and National Statistics Offices (NSOs) in each of the select

countries for the pilot phase. Local counterparts will be recruited for every pilot site and they will be

responsible for the collection and reporting of baseline data and site survey reports under the guidance

of SPC population analyst specialists.

All SPC programmes will be involved in producing content information packages that could be carried

over the VSAT system for information of target population sin rural and remote areas. At each pilot

site, two site managers responsible for all on-site activities will be identified and trained. They will be

the operational contacts and spokespersons for each pilot site.

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SECRETARIAT OF THE

PACIFIC COMMUNITY

Project Proposal

SECRÉTARIAT GÉNÉRAL

DE LA COMMUNAUTÉ DU

PACIFIQUE

The ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas Outreach Initiative’ – Bridging the

communication / digital divide to the Rural and Remote Areas in all Pacific Island Countries

and Territories through the Digital Strategy.

1. DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

Introduction

2007 marked the 60th year of service provided by SPC to the Pacific region. Commemorative events,

marking the anniversary took place at Noumea Headquarters and Regional Offices in Suva and

Ponphei. A strong focus of SPC’s work in the region is on providing technical assistance and support

to build the skills and capability of its members, as reflected in the 60th anniversary theme, ‘Making a

difference in the lives of Pacific Islanders’. In his acceptance speech as SPC Director General during

the Pacific Community Conference in Koror, Palau, in November 2005, Dr. Jimmie Rodgers of the

Solomon Islands stated that “underpinning all SPC plans and activities is one simple philosophy – ‘to

make a positive impact on the well-being of the people in our member countries and territories’

through more effective networking and strategic partnerships and bringing services within the reach of

all Pacific island people and communities”.

SPC is a highly professional, dynamic, and bilingual organisation that is closely attuned to the needs,

aspirations and priorities of its members, and working in partnership with other regional and

international organisations and development partners to serve island members and contribute to a more

secure and prosperous Pacific Community. It sees a Pacific Community where people are healthy and

educated, and able to manage their resources in an economically, socially, and environmentally

sustainable way. Over the last 60 years, SPC has engaged member countries at the grassroots level and

demonstrated its capacity and experience to reach out to rural and remote communities through proven

and cost-effective technology solutions.

Common demographic trends in Pacific island countries and territories

Despite the favourable developments in recent years, the position of many Pacific island countries in

terms of educational performance remains among the poorest in developing countries. For example,

according to recent population statistics, the Pacific population in the age group 6-17 years is

estimated to be over 2 million - most of this in PNG. More than half that group is ‘not at school’ with

over 90% located in rural areas or outer islands. For the seven PICTs included in Annex II, there are

more than 1.7 million young people in the 6-17 years age group with 920,000 or 53% not at school.

For the 2000 PNG census, more than 717,000 young people never went to school and 47% were

females.

For an average medium Pacific island country, we look at Kiribati figures from their 2005 census of

population and housing. Over half or 58% of total 2005 population of 92,533 is below the age of 25

years with a median age of 21 years, making Kiribati one of the youngest populations in the Pacific.

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Approximately 30% or 27,393 of total population is in the age range 6-17 years of which 46% or

12,689 is located in North and South Tarawa, seat of the national capital. That means more than 50%

are dispersed over the rural and remote communities covering an ocean area of 3.5 million square

kilometres. 13% or 3,557 of the 6-17 year old population are not at school. Other than Tonga with no

children in the same age group ‘not at school’, it is typical to find a significant percentage of ‘children

not at school’ in every other PICT, especially in the larger Melanesian countries.

Reaching out to rural and remote communities

During PACINET 2006, the annual meeting of the ‘Pacific Chapter of the Internet Society’ hosted by

Samoa, the Honourable Prime Minister of Samoa, in his opening address, speaking on the theme

‘developing a digital Pacific’ aptly demonstrated the important role visionary political leadership5 can

have in driving the ICT development agenda at the national level. Dr Vinton Cerf, Pioneer and Co-

Inventor of Internet, Founder of the Internet Society and currently the Chief Internet Evangelist for

Google in his keynote presentation to the meeting emphasized that, ‘technological solutions’ can

always be found in the world of internet connectivity. The challenge he stated ‘lies in Internet

governance, political leadership and making the correct decisions’.

Five months prior to the Samoa PACINET 2006 Meeting, Dr. Vinton Cerf spoke at the Forum ICT

Ministerial Meeting in Wellington. The following excerpts from that meeting, on the subject of ‘how

might the Pacific achieve greater, cheaper and preferably wireless accessibility to information and

communication globally’ demonstrates both the challenge and opportunities for bridging the digital /

communication divide in the Pacific, and in particular the link to rural and remote areas …

‘Satellite is the way to link the islands (there are some opportunities for underwater

cable but not all islands can participate in that)…a shared, high speed, packet

switched satellite service could be a very powerful addition to the

telecommunication arsenal. I would like to see a parallel technology and policy

initiative to design a shared satellite system and look for a business model that

permits all participating countries to bear reasonable fractions of the cost of VSAT

for inter-island traffic for wide area coverage. We need collective political will to

cooperate on the communication challenges that we all share in the region.’6

Earlier, during PACINET 2005 hosted at Parliament House in Tarawa, Kiribati from 22-27 August

2005, Dr. Cerf spoke to young Pacific islanders about the importance of the ‘end-to-end’ network

design principle for the Internet. It’s a message he presented to the US Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Hearing on Network Neutrality as follows:

‘The Internet’s open, neutral architecture has proven to be an enormous engine for

market innovation, economic growth, social discourse, and the free flow of ideas.

The remarkable success of the Internet can be traced to a few simple network

principles – end-to-end design, layered architecture, and open standards – which

together give the consumers choice and control over their online activities. This

‘neutral network’ has supported an explosion of innovation at the edges of the

network, and the growth of companies like Google, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and many

others. As a result, we have seen an array of unpredictable new offerings – from

5 Honourable TUILAEPA SAILELE MALIELEGAOI, Prime Minister of Samoa – opening address, 23rd August, 2006

6 Dr. Vinton Cerf, Chairman of ICANN, Founder of the Internet Society, Pioneer and Co-Inventor of Internet, IB interview –

ITC ministerial meeting, Auckland, March 2006

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Voice-over-IP to wireless home networks to blogging – that might never have

evolved had central control of the network been required by design.’.

In November 2006, the SPC member countries through its Committee of Representatives of

Governments and Administrations unanimously endorsed the following recommendations of the

Secretariat’s proposal in CRGA 36 Paper 4.1.4: “Reaching out to rural and remote areas in Pacific

Island countries and territories through the Digital Strategy”:

a) Note the high priority SPC devotes to the successful implementation of the Digital Strategy

with an emphasis on reaching out to rural and remote communities,

b) Note the partnership approach especially with local operators, regulators, Telcos and other key

national stakeholders to enhance real opportunities to reach out to rural and remote areas in the Pacific

Island countries and territories,

c) Note the need to have a dedicated Pacific hub to ensure the Pacific VSAT network is regulated

and coordinated for greater efficiency and effectiveness, and

d) Note the current efforts to have some operational pilot projects in a number of countries

including PNG, Solomon Islands and Kiribati as soon as possible.

PIFS also acknowledged that ‘rural and remote area outreach’ has been seen as the area that SPC can

make the biggest impact in the overall implementation of the Digital Strategy. The delivery of content

packages to increase awareness, provide education on a range of content areas already packaged by

SPC programmes to the remote and rural areas will revolutionize the information reach to rural

communities. Low cost VSAT technologies can provide the means to bring to reality the urgent need

to bridge vast ocean distances and remote areas inaccessible by roads and reasonable transportation.

The following quote from the PIFS paper on ICT [PIFS(06)OCS.7(b)(i)] endorsed by the Forum

Officials Committee (FOC) clearly delineated this specific SPC role in the Digital Strategy:

“Rural Development in ICTs - In recognition of the potential of new technologies to

rapidly accelerate the deployment of ICTs to the largely unserved rural and remote

villages and provinces of the region, a specialist to be located in the Secretariat of

the Pacific Community (SPC) and funded by the Peoples’ Republic of China, will

provide advisory services to countries on the applications of these technologies in

programmes of health, education etc, and to enhance the regional focus of ICTs in

these areas.”

2. Development Priorities

Technology initiatives and opportunities

THE AMC-23 SATELLITE AND LOW COST SKYEDGE VSAT TECHNOLOGIES

The availability of the AMC-23 satellite over the Pacific that was originally launched for Boeing

connections (in-flight Transpacific IP access) is a major opportunity for Pacific islanders. That

provides High Power satellite coverage for island countries / territories and ocean areas not covered

before, Smaller Antenna sizes 1.2 to 1.8m resulting in very affordable VSAT equipment optimized for

smaller circuits which suit Internet access from rural areas. Each SkyEdge VSAT terminal configured

for the AMC-23 satellite is powered through a power grid either by generator or solar and can be

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installed and operational within 20 minutes. It is a reliable robust technology with low maintenance,

operation and support costs, requiring low power, and can be easily relocated. It can provide Internet

access (16kbits/s to several Mbits/second), video and video-conferencing, radio and video

broadcasting, public telephony (up to 12 lines per VSAT), disaster emergency response, VOIP and

more.

THE LOW COST ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD (OLPC) TECHNOLOGY

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO laptop is a potent learning tool created expressly for the

world's poorest children living in its most remote environments. The laptop was designed

collaboratively by experts from both academia and industry, bringing to bear both extraordinary talent

and many decades of collective field experience in every aspect of this non-profit humanitarian

project. The result is a unique harmony of form and function; a flexible, ultra low-cost, power-

efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog

decades of development—immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's

learning.

IMPPLEMENTING THE ‘PACIFIC SKYEDGE VSAT RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS

OUTREACH INITIATIVE’

Pilot projects in select communities

The most critical part of this initiative is the procurement and commissioning of a dedicated ‘Pacific

VSAT Hub’ that has the complete footprint of the Pacific region. This acquisition is pre-Phase 1

activity. Everything hinges on the acquisition of the hub. Without the hub the whole concept will not

work. This is the most important part of the whole initiative. The Pacific hub needs to be operational

by June / July 07 to enable the timeline proposed for the live demonstration to PIF Leaders at their

meeting in Tonga in October 2007.

Phase I Stage 1 [July – October 07] of this project will focus on development of operational guides and

policies on the use of the VSAT. SPC will be responsible for the policies and procedures that manage

the operation of the hub. SPC will sub-contract the

administration and operation of the hub to Pacific IP Services of

New Caledonia. A service level agreement (SLA) will be signed

between SPC and Pacific IP Services for the maintenance and

support of the Pacific SkyEdge hub.10 pilot VSAT sites will be

installed during this phase in seven countries.

Impact assessment protocol will also be developed during this

period to measure impacts on the new technology on the users.

SPC will be responsible for the impact assessment of the pilot

projects on each of the selected communities. Six of the pilot

countries will have a control site where baseline and impact

assessment data will be collected and analysed. Pre and post

assessment will be conducted to try a measure changes.

Assistance will be provided to PICTs in the design and conduct

of social and economic (and political/cultural where applicable)

impact assessments on activities under the Digital Strategy

(Pacific Plan) and help develop a system of collection, processing,

analysis and reporting of these data. More importantly, SPC will be

responsible for the collection of baseline socioeconomic, ICT availability,

13

and access data (both quantitative and qualitative) before the introduction of new initiatives (regional

and national), including the pilot projects, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Between June and October 2007, ten sites in seven countries will be

jointly selected for the VSAT pilot projects under Phase I Stage 1.

Each project site will have a low-cost SkyEdge VSAT terminal

installed. Two site managers will be recruited and trained to manage

and support the equipment and provide routine three-monthly

operational reports to SPC. They will ensure routine operations,

limited downtime for the community information centre facilities and

support community member uses. Each site will have guaranteed

Internet bandwidth that meet universal service obligation (USO) requirements for a total of 18 months.

An additional 90 pilot projects (implemented between November 2007 and October 2008) to cover all

Pacific island countries and territories will constitute Phase I Stage 2. As for the first ten pilot projects,

each site will have a low-cost SkyEdge VSAT terminal installed, two site managers recruited and

trained to manage and operate the community information centre facilities and support community

member uses. Each site will have guaranteed Internet bandwidth that meet universal service obligation

(USO) requirements for 18 months from the start of Phase I Stage 1.

Phase I Stage 3 will implement the distribution and pre-defined testing of 200 OLPC XO laptops in the

ten pilot sites identified in Phase I Stage 1. As for Phase I Stage 1, this Stage 3 implementation is

scheduled between June and October 2007. The distribution of laptops will be determined by key

stakeholders in each of the recipient countries and their pilot site(s). Preferably, the targeted children

are in the age group 6-17 years old irrespective of whether they attend school or not and they reside in

the selected communities.

Phase I Stage 4 (scheduled between November 2007 and October 2008) will implement the

distribution and pre-defined testing of an additional 800 OLPC XO laptops to cover all Pacific island

countries and territories. The implementation of Phase I Stage 4 can be integrated with that of Phase I

Stage 2, or done independently. The same parameters used in the implementation of Phase I Stage 3

would be applied for Stage 4.

SPC, through its Statistics and Demography Programme has the experience and capacity to provide

support for the conduct of e-readiness surveys for each country and provide training and capacity

development of PICT national counterparts involved in impact studies. SPC also has the networks with

National Statistics Offices (NSOs) to ensure close collaboration with national counterparts, ICT sector

and development partners in pursuing the objectives and outputs of national impact assessments.

SPC will develop relevant surveys to collect baseline data at the beginning of these integrated ICT

initiatives. Analysis of progress against the benchmark will be done after 12 months to try and measure

impact of introducing the communication technology on young people and their families in rural and

remote communities. As the organisation responsible for assisting countries “to improve the

availability, analyses and utilisation of their social and economic data”, SPC has the expertise, capacity

and networking with member countries to deliver on this important requirement. SPC also has the trust

of donors as a competent development partner to achieve the expected results for the agreed

objectives.

Partnerships

14

In many island countries the rural and remote areas are not profitable for most telecommunication

operators and therefore those rural areas do not have much if any ICT services. Given its focus on

bridging the communication divide between urban and rural populations, SPC had initiated very

fruitful consultations with telecommunication operators and regulators from many PICTs to foster

strategic alliances. The project team will work with governments, regulators and operators to focus on

rural and remote areas not covered by existing services. In this way partnership is forged not

competition. The relevant government authorities and operators will be engaged on the proper

arrangements for equipment deployment, use and support of services in each pilot site.

As a member of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP), SPC and PIFS have

other development partners including USP, FFA, SPREP, SOPAC, SPTO and the Fiji School of

Medicine (FSMed). All partners have an interest in the deployment, use and support of the pilot sites

and can contribute to content creation in their respective areas and mandates for the benefit of rural

and remote communities.

Risk management

The main risks to the successful implementation and delivery of results from this project are as

follows:

a) Political – This project is a major initiative to reach out to rural and remote communities

under the Digital Strategy framework. It implements the vision of the Pacific Forum leaders as

contained in the digital strategy. It has been supported by the governing body of SPC. At the national

level, all seven countries in the pilot phase were selected based on their requests to be included. The

Digital Strategy implementation is a major component of the SPC ICT Strategic Plan 2006-2008. The

Forum Secretariat has also given expressed support to SPC pursuing this project and through PIFS;

SPC has received funding for a satellite specialist position who will be one of the key resources

committed to this project.

b) Financial – The proposed budget for this project contains reliable estimate costs including on-

going bandwidth estimates for the first 18 months. SPC will provide administrative and operational

support to the project and those costs are covered in the SPC budgets. The contingency estimates are

based on the proven reliability of the equipment and their track record in other similar environments

and therefore the financial risks are reasonably minimal and can be addressed within allocated

resources. The major risk is the non availability of the funding sought. It is however too important an

opportunity for the region.

c) Technical Feasibility – This is very low risk. The SkyEdge VSAT technologies have been

tested and proven to work well in environments similar to those in PICTs. The PC laptop is a reliable

and mature technology. An acquisition of OLPC XO laptops will not only expose Pacific island

children to modern pioneer technologies but also provide opportunities for them to innovate and learn

on their own. That will be a major achievement for the children, their communities and this project.

d) External Contractors – SPC has done business with Pacific IP Services since 1999 when the

private satellite link between the Noumea Headquarters and Suva Regional Office was established.

Their people specialise in high performance Internet connectivity, general VSAT services, link

budgets and analysis, feasibility studies for telecommunication projects, VOIP solutions and

equipment sourcing and maintenance. Pacific IP Services has successfully implemented ICT

technology projects in New Caledonia, Wallis & Futuna, Fiji, Australia, Niue, PNG, Tuvalu and

Solomon Islands. At present it currently supplies over 150 Mbps of Internet access bandwidth for

15

telecommunication operators and ISPs in American Samoa, Fiji, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and

Samoa. The risks are very minimal.

e) Specialist Expert Resources – SPC will provide overall project management to the project as

part of its commitment to the Digital Strategy implementation. Through the Statistics and Demography

Programme, SPC will be responsible for managing the project’s impact assessment objective. Through

its Human Development Programme (HDP), SPC will explore the potential for national youth

networks to play a part in an approved Pacific OLPC laptop initiative. These networks have been built

over many years and involve the youth leaders and councils in all the select countries for the pilot

phase. The risk of failure for this component is minimal.

f) Operational Feasibility – Pacific IP Services, SPC and its partners delivering this project have

an excellent performance record of success. The track record for the equipment to be acquired is

sound. The AMC-23 is a highly advanced hybrid C/Ku-band satellite serving local, transcontinental

and transoceanic customers throughout the Pacific region, including North America, Asia, Australia,

New Zealand, Indonesia and the Pacific islands. The satellite was launched on 29 December 2005 and

its expected design life of 16 years should last it until 2021. Its coverage includes the entire Pacific

ocean region.

Sustainability

The sustainability of the outputs of this project and its extension are very good. The benefits to the

recipients especially in rural and remote communities will be the most rewarding results. They include

the following:

a) Maintenance and support – For both the SkyEdge VSAT and selected PC laptop technologies

(including the MIT Media Labs OLPC XO laptops), they were designed to operate in rugged

environments and by those with limited training and technical knowledge to operate them. While the

risk of failure cannot be entirely ruled out, it is very low compared to most general electronic devices.

b) Human development - Reaching out to rural and remote areas through these pilot projects aims

to include rural populations in the national and global communities through Internet access. As the

majorities of many island country populations, that is an economic resource that is not efficiently

tapped yet, and their potential to benefit from and pay for the new services available to them is good.

In an interview with FRONTLINE/World, Mitra tells producer Rory O'Connor: “If cyberspace is

considered a place, then there are people who are already in it, and people who are not in it ... I think

the hole in the wall gives us a method to create a door, if you like, through which large numbers of

children can rush into this new arena. When that happens, it will have changed our society forever.”7

Dr Sugata Mitra of India, a computer scientist was convinced that Internet access and computers can

bring prosperity to poor, rural areas and provide local jobs. (See Annex IV for a summary of the “Hole

in the Wall” experiment). These pilot projects can be seen as specific island country adaptations of

Mitra’s “Hole in the wall” concept.

c) New opportunities - The opportunities that can accrue to children in rural and remote

communities through these ICT initiatives and interventions have the potential for positive social and

economic impact on their futures, that of their families and villages and the nation as a whole.

3. Donor Perspective

7 Source: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/thestory.html

16

The project supports the overarching objective of Australia’s aid programme over the next decade: “To

assist developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development…” It also supports

“…Australia’s strong and unstinting commitment to the global effort to achieve the MDGs”.

4. Project Description

The goal of the project is:

To enhance real opportunities for social (including education and health), cultural and economic

development and strengthen political governance opportunities in all rural and remote communities in

the Pacific through increased Internet coverage, access and usage.

The purpose of the project is:

To increase by 50% Internet coverage, access and usage to target sites; and to report on the impact on

select communities over 18 months, with recommendations concerning replicability to other Pacific

islands.

Objective 1: To procure, commission and operationalise a dedicated ‘Pacific Hub’ from the AMC 23

Satellite to provide the backbone for implementing the Digital Strategy to all Rural & Remote Areas in

the region through the ‘Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Rural and Remote Areas Outreach Initiative’.

Output 1.1: Finances secured to procure and commission a dedicated Pacific SkyEdge VSAT hub on

the AMC-23 satellite.

The main activities include:

Securing funds required to acquire a dedicated Pacific SkyEdge VSAT Hub

Acquisition and commissioning of the Pacific SkyEdge VSAT hub that can cover the entire

Pacific islands region;

Development and signing of appropriate service level agreements (SLAs) for the management

and support of the Pacific islands hub; and

Establishment and approval of procedures on the daily operations of the Pacific hub.

Objective 2: To pilot low cost VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technologies in 100 selected

rural and remote communities in PICTs over two stages over an 18 month period from July 07 to

December 08; with 10 sites in stage 1 from July – October 2007; and 90 in stage 2 from November 07

– December 08.

Output 2.1: A minimum of ten VSAT pilot stations installed for operations between July and October

2007;


Acquisition and commissioning of ten SkyEdge VSAT terminals – one in each of the

identified pilot sites between July and October 2007;

Acquisition and commissioning of the equipment to establish a community information centre

in each of the pilot sites – including selection and training of the site managers; and

Establishment and approval of procedures on the daily operations of each pilot site.

17

Output 2.2: An additional ninety VSAT pilot stations installed for operations between November 2007

and December 2008.


Securing of funds to procure and install the additional 90 VSAT sites

Acquisition and commissioning of an additional ninety SkyEdge VSAT terminals – same

configuration as for the first ten pilot sites;

Acquisition and commissioning of the equipment to establish a community information centre

in each of the pilot sites – including selection and training of the site managers; and

Establishment and approval of procedures on the daily operations of each pilot site.

Objective 3: To pilot 1000 low-cost One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laptops in select rural and remote

communities in PICTs over two stages over an 18 months period from July 07 to December 08; with

200 OLPC laptops in stage 1 from July – October 2007; and 800 OLPC laptops in stage 2 from

November 07 – December 08.

Output 3.1: 200 OLPC XO laptops procured to extend the reach and benefits of digital communication

to at least 200 children and users.


Securing of funds to procure 200 OLPC laptops

Establishment of quality assurance process to acquire, receive and certify XO laptops ready

for distribution and operations in any of the pilot sites;

Establishment of procedures for distribution of XO laptops to pilot sites, and how to support

them and what to do should users or owners have problems;

Distribution and support of XO laptops for each pilot site; and

Basic training on the use, support and care of XO laptops.

Output 3.2: An additional 800 OLPC XO laptops procured to extend the reach and benefits of digital

communication to 800 more children and users.

The main activities are exactly the same as for Output 3.1 except for the resources for 800 OLPC

laptops. An application of the impact assessment objective to cover some or all of the additional sites

reached by the OLPC objective will better explain the extent of the benefits from these types of digital

interventions. More importantly, this objective will provide crucial data and reports for each country to

see the potential impact and benefits to them.

Output 3.3: Operationalize 10 pilot projects in eight Pacific island countries.


Preparation of pilot sites in all pilot countries but with a focus on Tonga, Kiribati and Solomon

Islands for live demonstration during the Pacific Forum Leaders meeting in October;

Preparation of progress reports on each of the pilot sites for distribution at the SkyEdge +

OLPC booth; and

Public awareness and media activities to promote these digital solutions.

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Objective 4: To present a live demonstration of the utility of low cost VSAT technology and OLPC

laptops based on the outcomes of Stage 1 pilots in objectives 2 & 3 to the Pacific Forum Leaders at

their Tonga meeting in October 2007.

Output 4.1: Support from Forum leaders to replicate pilots of low cost VSAT and OLPC laptops to

other Pacific islands.


Plans for the content and presentation of the demonstration;

Set-up of a SkyEdge + OLPC booth prior to the Forum Leaders Meeting; and

Demonstrate and provide information to Forum Officials prior to the Forum Leaders meeting

and to the Leaders during the Forum Leaders Meeting.

Output 4.2: Availability of an “implementation plan” to extend piloted “VSAT and OLPC digital

solution” for consideration by each island country.


Preparing country reports concerning baseline and impact assessment data for pilot and

control sites

Completion of a model implementation plan of a VSAT and community information

centre configuration for consideration at national level

Consideration of the model implementation plan for OLPC laptop deployment at the

national level

Analysis of affordable Internet connectivity and computers that demonstrates that it can

facilitate access by rural communities to education, health clinics, public services and new

opportunities.

Objective 5: To seek support from PIF Leaders for the financing of Stage 2 Pilots in Phase 1; and roll-

out implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage’ and 99, 000 OLPC laptops.

Output 5.1: Presentation to Forum Officials Committee (FOC) followed by presentation to Forum

Leaders of a fully costed proposal to implement (i) the rest of the pilot phase of the project, (ii) the

recommended ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage’ with costings and (iii) the costing for the additional

99,000 OLPC laptops.


Preparation of a full proposal for the Phase 1 stage 2 and Phase 2 of the project for

presentation to FOC and PIF Leaders meeting.

Preparation of the presentation brief to FOC

Preparation of leaflets to hand out during the FOC meeting

Address queries raised by FOC representatives during the presentation

Output 5.2: Seek Forum Leaders’ endorsement of the financing of Phase I Stage 2 pilots and roll out

implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage’ and 99,000 additional OLPC laptops.


Preparation of the full costing of Phase 1 stage 2 roll-out implementation;

19

Presentation of a fully developed and costed proposal for the a ‘‘Phase 2 essential VSAT

coverage’ and roll-out of additional 99,000 OLPC laptops for PICTs

Objective 6: To measure the impact of the digital solution in the pilot and control sites over a 12

month period.

Output 6.1: PICTs assisted to (a) design and conduct social, economic, (political & cultural where

necessary) impact of activities under the Digital Strategy; and (b) to develop a system of data

collection, including processing, analysis and reporting systems.


Preparation for a workshop to assist staff from NSOs of pilot countries to: (i) develop standard

questionnaire for collection of baseline and impact study data and distribution to countries

including training on design; (ii) develop and install standard processing system for the

analysis of baseline and impact study data, including training on their use and reporting; and

Design and agreement on the required field work activities.

Output 6.2: Availability of baseline socioeconomic, ICT availability, and access data (both

quantitative and qualitative) before the introduction of new initiatives (regional and national),

particularly in rural and remote areas.


Selection of researchers and arrangements for fieldwork to collect baseline data; and

Reporting of baseline data status at each pilot and control site.

Output 6.3: Availability of socioeconomic, ICT availability, and access data (both quantitative and

qualitative) for impact assessment 12 months after the introduction of new initiatives (regional and

national), particularly in rural and remote areas.


Selection of researchers and arrangements for fieldwork to collect impact study data; and

Reporting of impact study data status 12 months after start of project implementation at each

pilot and control site.

Output 6.4: Availability of an “implementation plan” to extend the piloted “VSAT and OLPC digital

solution” for consideration by each island country.


Completion of country report of baseline and impact assessment data for pilot and control sites

Completion of a model implementation plan of a VSAT and community information centre

configuration for consideration at national level

Completion of a model implementation plan for OLPC laptop deployment for consideration at

national level

A summary analysis demonstrating that affordable Internet connectivity and computers can

facilitate access by rural communities to education, health clinics, public services and new

opportunities.

20

Objective 7: Roll out the implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage and 99,000 additional

OLPC laptops to all PICTs from June 2008 – December 2009.

Assuming a positive outcome from Output 5.2 above the two principle outputs from this objective will

be:

Output 7.1: Roll-out implementation of the ‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage’ involving:

Procurement, installation and commissioning of the additional VSAT locations, and

Implementation of the processes as outlined in Outputs 2.1 and 2.2 above.

Output 7.2: Roll-out distribution of the 99,000 additional OLPC laptops to agreed target countries.


Procurement and distribution of the 99,000 OLPC laptops and implement activities as outlined

in Output 3.1 above.

5. Performance Measurement and Monitoring

Indicators for each major activity and milestone in this project have been developed and stated in the

log-frame matrix appended to this document. Achievement of these indicators and targets is dependent

upon assumptions that have also been described in detail in the log-frame matrix shown in section 9.

A detailed work plan based on the log-frame matrix in the proposal will be developed within the first 3

months of project commencement. This work plan will describe major activities and performance

indicators under each objective and output in detail with allocated time frames to guide the

implementation process. There will be an extensive focus on developing ownership at the community

level for the project and therefore the involvement of all key national and community stakeholders will

be prioritised.

SPC will apply practical project management techniques to monitoring the progress of this project. In

fact, its current design is based on a proven technically sound approach to ensure success.

6. Project Organisation and Coordination

The funds for the project will be coordinated and managed through the SPC Digital Strategy

implementation team which is currently housed in the ICT section. SPC Executive has determined that

the supervisor of its “Digital Strategy Implementation” workplan will be responsible for overall project

management and delivery. SPC staff members have extensive work experience in managing large

scale and complex projects of this nature.

At the country level:

a) Pilot sites – All the first ten SkyEdge VSAT pilot sites will recruit two people to share the role

of community information centre manager and the project proposal includes an allowance of US$ 200

per month each over a 12 month period. Gender balance is recommended for this requirement. Each

site will have US$ 100 per month for maintenance and operations support for consumables and

accessories. The equipment will also include a rugged and low voltage laptop and printer, wireless

21

Internet access and radio FM transmitter so that each site can provide a basic level of email,

information exchange and community centre point.

b) Impact assessment – For each of the six countries selected for the first ten SkyEdge VSAT

pilot sites, there will be one control site where baseline and impact assessment data will be collected.

These control sites will not receive a SkyEdge VSAT terminal or OLPC laptops. For the six control

sites and ten pilot sites, SPC through its Statistics and Demography Programme will manage the

activities of objective 4. Baseline data and impact study data after the first 12 months must be

collected. SPC will liaise with NSOs and other in-country stakeholders on this work.

Mid-term review

This project has been designed to include strict project management guidelines to ensure successful

implementation. The first two stages of Phase I are scheduled for completion by October 2007. The

biggest component of the overall project cost accounts for business transactions between SPC (on

behalf of the countries and donors) and Pacific IP Services (supplier). It will strictly follow normal

procurement quality assurance procedures for both SPC and Pacific IP Services. Maintenance and

support will be governed by a formal service level agreement (SLA).

Stages 3 and 4 of Phase I are scheduled for completion by December 2008. As for the first two stages,

the biggest component of the proposed cost is for equipment acquisition, distribution and installation.

The quality assurance procedures for both SPC and Pacific IP Services and mandatory SLAs will be

strictly followed.

An internal review after implementation of Phase I Stage 1 will report to both SPC and donor partners

before December 2007. A similar internal review of Phase I Stage 2 will report by December 2008. If

Phase I Stage 3 goes ahead, reporting to SPC and donor partners will follow the same process and

deadline as for Stage 1. If Phase I Stage 4 proceeds, reporting to SPC and donor partners will follow

the same process and deadline as for Stage 2. The delivery of mandatory reports specified as

deliverables in the project proposal and a completion report around December 2008 ensures adequate

safeguards and necessary actions are taken for this project to meet its objectives on time.

7. Reporting

SPC will provide AusAID with reports as follows:

7. 1. Initial Project Report: SPC will submit its first report by October 2007 with a work plan for the

full implementation of all activities defined for each of the defined objectives, a resource schedule and

budget, as well as list outputs and verifiable performance indicators.

7. 2. Progress Reports: These will be provided through SPC’s regular reporting arrangements. For the

Digital Strategy implementation, the reports will describe achievements and problems, action

undertaken to address risks and setbacks, and provide an acquittal of expenditure to date in accordance

with the Project budget.

7. 3. Completion Report: Within three months of completing the Project, SPC will provide an

Activity Completion Report (ACR) consistent with AusAID’s requirements. It will comply with the

requirements of AusGUIDE for an ACR. The ACR will confirm that the Project has been

implemented according to the approved design or provide an explanation otherwise; examine actual

achievements against Project objectives; provide a full reconciliation and acquittal of all Project funds

22

provided by the Government of Australia according to the approved budget; and document all lessons

learned from the Project.

a) AusAID cross-cutting policies

Gender: SPC will proactively prioritise the involvement of women and minorities in accordance with

AusAID and SPC's policies. SPC and AusAID have non-discriminatory equal opportunity policies that

the Project will adhere to.

Poverty Alleviation: The Project’s indirect impact on poverty will occur as an outcome of

implementing activities mentioned above and will be reported on, particularly in the ACR.

b) Quality Assurance standards will be observed on the Project, particularly in relation to:

insistence that the assessments be done in a participatory manner where possible, and

incorporate a sensitivity to gender (including transgender), and poverty indicators;

outline of conditions under which surveys should be undertaken, and incorporate a sensitivity to

gender (including transgender), ethnicity and poverty indicators; and

insistence that the Project activities are open to women and ethnic minorities, and that materials

produced under outputs be in a form that can be readily translatable into local languages.

c) Community Ownership

It is important to prioritise community ownership of the in-country components of this project. There

are many stakeholders that have been consulted and will be included in regular project progress

reporting. The situation in all of the pilot countries will be assumed to be different for each country. In

that way, careful planning of in-country activities related to this project will receive all the attention

and detail needed. We are also fortunate that among the expertise available to SPC for the

implementation of this project are the people responsible for the successful deployment of the PFNET

initiative in the Solomon Islands. Their expert advice and assistance will be used extensively.

8. Budget

Table 1 Total Budget Requested for this Project Proposal (US$)

Budget Cost

Estimates

SPC Project Management Fee

(7 percent) TOTAL

Objectives

Objective 1 881,549 08 881,549

Objective 2 (a) Phase 1 Stage 1 246,950 17,287 264,237

Objective 2 (b) Phase 1 Stage 2 0 0 0


Objective 3 (b) Phase 1 Stage 4 0 0 0

Objective 4 6,800 480 7,280

Objective 5 5,500 390 5,890

Objective 6 133,720 9,360 143,080

Contingencies 10,000 700 10,700

OVERALL TOTAL (US$) 1,326,519 31,157 1,357,676

Notes:

1) This overall budget summary conforms to the requirements for an externally-funded project

managed by SPC. All figures shown in US$ currency.

8 No PM fees charged for this component as the procurement and commissioning of the hub is a once-off

activity.

23

2) Contingencies provides the SPC project manager with resources to address any critical issues

necessary for the successful management of this project and can include tracking of in-country

pilot site inventories and uptime status, impact assessment setup for countries not part of the

six Phase I Stage 1 pilot projects, un-budgeted travels by SPC or consultant expert advisers

for in-country activities under Objectives 4, and particularly Output 4.4 which can be done

jointly by SPC internal staff and a short-term external consultancy.

Table 2 Total Budget for All Phases of Objectives 1 - 69 (US$)

Budget Cost

Estimates

SPC Project Management Fee

(7 percent) TOTAL

Objectives

Objective 1 881,549 010

881,549


Objective 2 (b) Phase 1 Stage 2 2,222,550 155,579 2,378,129


Objective 3 (b) Phase 1 Stage 4 168,000 11,760 179,760

Objective 4 6,800 480 7,280

Objective 5 5,500 390 5,890

Objective 6 133,720 9,360 143,080

Contingencies 10,000 700 10,700

OVERALL TOTAL (US$) 3,717,069 198,496 3,915,565

9 This total budget is inclusive of the budget requested in Table 1. The balance in Table 2 is the amount we hope

to present to PIF Leaders to approve for the Phase 1 stage 2 pilots in objectives 2 (b) and 3 (b). 10

No PM fees charged for this component as the procurement and commissioning of the hub is a once-off

activity.

28

Notes:

1) Tonga estimates: one VSAT presenter and one OLPC presenter (MIT Media Labs).

2) Contingencies for any unbudgeted expenses for setting booth & live demonstrations.

30

Notes:

1) Each Phase 1 Stage 1 pilot site will include a SkyEdge VSAT terminal and community

information centre. Baseline data must be collected from each pilot site and preferably before

any installation. In addition, there will be one control site for six countries included in Phase

1 Stage 1 pilots. The same study will be conducted in each pilot site after 12 months to assess

the impact.

2) For in-country travels, estimates assume that local NSO staff are involved.

3) Training activity will focus on questionnaire content and processing. Most economical venue

is Nadi, Fiji with two resource persons from SPC’s Statistics and Demography Programme

involved.

4) For Nadi workshop, DSA estimated at $ 180 per day for 7 days will cover all expenses

including any transit stops by some country participants.

31

9. Log frame for “Piloting low cost VSAT and OLPC laptops in ten select Pacific island communities project”

Project Goal: To enhance real opportunities for social (including education and health), cultural and economic development and strengthen political governance

opportunities in all rural and remote communities in the Pacific through increased Internet coverage, access and usage.

Narrative Performance Indicator Means of Verification Assumptions

Purpose: To increase by 50% Internet

coverage, access and usage to target

sites; and to report on the impact on

select communities over 18 months,

with recommendations concerning

replicability to other Pacific islands.

Number of new sites with Internet

access by October 2008

Number of children using computers

and Internet access by October 2008

Feedback from pilot sites and other

selected sites

Impact assessment reports for all

pilot and control sites by October

2008

Impact assessment reports for each

pilot site

Six-monthly reporting from manager

of each pilot site’s community

information centre

SPC project management and

progress reports

Guaranteed national support for this

project at government, relevant

authorities such as

telecommunication operators and

regulators, and target communities

Baseline data will be collected for

each pilot site as early as possible

Impact assessment data will be

collected for selected sites 12 months

from start of implementation

Objective 1: To procure, commission

and operationalise a dedicated ‘Pacific

Hub’ from the AMC 23 Satellite to

provide the backbone for

implementing the Digital Strategy to

all Rural & Remote Areas in the

region through the ‘Pacific SkyEdge

VSAT Rural and Remote Areas

Outreach Initiative’

Pacific Hub procured, commissioned

and operational

Project reports

Financial statements

SLA documents

Press and media reports

Donor support forthcoming

Hardware available on time

Technical resources available on

time

Output 1.1: Secured resources to

procure, commission and pilot one

Pacific Sky Edge VSAT hub for use with

the AMC-23 satellite.

Operational SkyEdge VSAT hub

Signed service level agreements

(SLAs) for management and

operation of the SkyEdge hub


progress reports

Financial reports

Commitment from main supplier

Pacific IP Services to proposed

implementation schedule

32


Objective 2: To pilot low cost VSAT

(Very Small Aperture Terminal)

technologies in 100 select rural and

remote communities in PICTs over

two stages over an 18 month period

from July 07 to December 08; with 10

sites in stage 1 from July – October

2007; and 90 in stage 2 from


Timely establishment of pilot sites

Number of operational pilot sites in

selected countries and communities


progress reports

Adequate funding secured and

available for use on time

Output 2.1: A minimum of ten VSAT pilot

stations installed for operations

beginning June 2007.

Number of operational SkyEdge

VSAT terminals

Number of operational community

information centres

Number of people using facilities

and services available at community

information centres


progress reports



information centre

Financial reports

Early selection and completion of in-

country preparations for pilot sites

Output 2.2: An additional ninety VSAT

pilot stations installed for operations

beginning November 2007.

Number of operational SkyEdge

VSAT terminals

Number of operational community

information centres

Number of people using facilities

and services available at community

information centres


progress reports



information centre

Financial reports

Donor support for Phase I Stage 2

Objective 3: To pilot low-cost One

Laptop Per Child (OLPC), laptops in

select rural and remote communities

in PICTs over two stages over an 18

Timely establishment of pilot sites

Number of operational pilot sites in

selected countries and communities


progress reports

Adequate funding secured and

available for use on time

33


months period from July 07 to

December 08; with 200 OLPC laptops

in stage 1 from July – October 2007;

and 800 OLPC laptops in stage 2 from


Output 3.1: 200 OLPC XO laptops

procured to extend the reach and benefits

of digital communication to at least 200

children and users.

Established process to acquire,

receive and check XO laptops for

SPC quality assurance certification

Established procedures for

distribution of XO laptops to pilot

sites

Number of XO laptops distributed to

selected sites

Number of operational XO laptops

in each selected site

Number of failed, broken or missing

XO laptops in each selected site

Feedback from pilot sites



information centre

Financial reports

Report on approved SPC quality

assurance certification process for

XO laptops

Report on approved distribution

process for XO laptops


Support from SPC Human

Development Programme

Output 3.2: An additional 800 OLPC XO

laptops procured to extend the reach and

benefits of digital communication to at

least 800 more children and users.

Number of XO laptops distributed to

selected sites

Number of operational XO laptops

in each selected site

Number of failed, broken or missing

XO laptops in each selected site

Feedback from selected sites

Six-monthly reporting from selected

sites and the community information

centres

Financial reports


Support from SPC Human

Development Programme

Output 3.3: Operational pilot projects in

seven Pacific island countries.

Number of operational pilot sites

Number of schools and students

using pilot site and its community

information centre


progress reports



Pilot site manager selected, trained

and in place

Training for site manager is

expected to be hands-on assistance

34


Number of health clinics / centres

and nursing / medical staff using

pilot site and its community

information centre

Number of programs and

applications delivered to pilot site

communities through the community

information centre

information centre

Progress report from each pilot

project site

mainly done online

Objective 4: To present a live

demonstration of the utility of low cost

VSAT technology and OLPC laptops

based on the outcomes of Stage 1 pilots

in objectives 2 & 3 to the Pacific

Forum Leaders at their Tonga meeting

in October 2007.

Successful live demonstration of

SkyEdge + OLPC laptop

technologies at the October Forum

Leaders Meeting hosted by Tonga

Report of Forum Leaders meeting

Feedback from Forum Leaders and

other participants

Opportunity for live demonstration

to Forum Leaders eventuates

Output 4.1: Support from Forum leaders

to replicate pilots of low cost VSAT and

OLPC laptops to other Pacific islands.

Exhibition booth at Forum Leaders

Meeting to showcase all operational

SkyEdge + OLPC pilot sites

Successful live demonstration of

SkyEdge and OLPC operations

involving pilot sites in Tonga,

Kiribati and Solomon Islands

Support for these particular digital

solutions in the Forum Officials

Committee meeting report

Support for these particular digital

solutions in the Forum Leaders

meeting communiqué

Increased public and media

awareness of Pacific initiatives to

adapt these particular digital

solutions for the benefit of remote

and rural communities

Opportunity made available to

demonstrate SkyeEdge + OLPC

technology via exhibition booth at

Forum Leaders meeting in Tonga

Output 4.2: Availability of an

“implementation plan” to extend the

piloted “VSAT and OLPC digital

solution” for consideration by each

Country report of baseline and

impact assessment data for pilot and

control sites

Model implementation plan of a

Feedback from recipient

governments and selected

communities

Feedback from donor partners

Successful completion of Objective

1 and Objective 2 Phase 1 Stages 1

Internet connectivity is financially

feasible

35


island country. VSAT and community information

centre configuration considered at

national level

Model implementation plan for

OLPC laptop deployment for

consideration at national level

Analysis demonstrating that

affordable Internet connectivity and

computers can facilitate access by

rural communities to education,

health clinics, public services and

new opportunities.

Feedback from other development

partners

Pilot sites and control sites

manager’s records

Report analysing financial feasibility

of Internet connectivity

Model implementation plans for

VSAT and community information

centre configuration and OLPC

laptop deployment

Implementation plans completed

Objective 5: To seek Support from

PIF Leaders for the financing of Stage

2 Pilots in Phase 1; and roll-out

implementation of ‘Phase 2 essential

VSAT coverage’.

FOC representatives meeting

agenda includes opportunity for

project to be presented and

discussed.

FOC report endorses project FOC representatives receive project

information

FOC representatives endorse

project’s next steps

Output 5.1: Presentation to Forum

Officials Committee (FOC)

representatives during the Forum

Leaders Meeting in October 2007.

Project brief included in FOC

meeting agenda

Project literature available for FOC

representatives

Project brief completed

Project literature completed for

distribution to FOC representatives

Inclusion of live demonstration in

the relevant meeting agendas

Output 5.2: Forum Leaders endorse the

financing of Phase 1 Stage 2 pilots and

roll out implementation of “Phase 2

essential VSAT coverage’.

FOC representatives endorse

project

Project endorsement mentioned in

FOC meeting report to Forum

Leaders

Inclusion of live demonstration in

the relevant meeting agendas

Objective 6: To measure the impact of

the digital solution in the pilot and

control sites over an 18 month period.

Relevant baseline data for each pilot

site

Relevant impact assessment data for

each pilot site 12 months after start

of project implementation

Baseline data report

Impact assessment report 12 months

after start of project implementation


progress reports

Support from SPC Statistics and

Demography Programme

Support from NSO for each pilot

country

36


Capacity to collect impact

assessment data for each pilot site at

any given time



information centre

Output 6.1: PICTs assisted to (a) design

and conduct social, economic, (political

& cultural where necessary) impact of

activities under the Digital Strategy; and

(b) to develop a system of data

collection, including processing, analysis

and reporting systems.

5-day Training workshop in Nadi,

Fiji for researchers from National

Statistics Offices (NSO) of seven

pilot countries

Standard questionnaire developed by

SPC and participants and distributed

to countries (included in workshop)

Standard processing system

developed and installed (included in

workshop)

Training workshop report

Feedback from training workshop

participants

NSO will support the impact

assessment phases of this project

Output 6.2: Availability of baseline

socioeconomic, ICT availability, and

access data (both quantitative and

qualitative) before the introduction of

new initiatives (regional and national),


Agreement on procedures to select

pilot sites. (For example, SPC

proposes to identify communities by

population size, existence of school

and health centre and provide a

number to national authorities to

make final selection.)

Existence of baseline data for each

pilot site

Recommendation to extend this

output to other countries

Baseline data report

NSO will support the impact

assessment phases of this project

Output 6.3: Availability of

socioeconomic, ICT availability, and

access data (both quantitative and

qualitative) for impact assessment 12

months after the introduction of new

Agreement on procedures to select

pilot sites.

Existence of impact assessment data

after 12 months for each pilot site

Recommendation to extend this

Impact assessment report 12 months

after start of project implementation



communities

Suitable pilot sites are available

Survey data completed on time

37


initiatives (regional and national),


output to other countries

Output 6.4: Availability of an

“implementation plan” to extend the

piloted “VSAT and OLPC digital

solution” for consideration by each

island country.

Country report of baseline and

impact assessment data for pilot and

control sites

Model implementation plan of a

VSAT and community information

centre configuration for


Model implementation plan for

OLPC laptop deployment for


Analysis demonstrating that

affordable Internet connectivity and

computers can facilitate access by

rural communities to education,

health clinics, public services and

new opportunities.



communities

Feedback from donor partners

Feedback from other development

partners

Pilot sites and control sites

manager’s records

Implementation plan completed on

time

Economic feasibility data analysis

demonstrates project is meeting

affordable Internet connectivity

objectives.

Objective 7: Roll out the implementation of

‘Phase 2 essential VSAT coverage and 99,000

additional OLPC laptops to all PICTs.

Approved roll out plans for essential

VSAT coverage & OLPC laptops

available

Approved plans PIF Leaders will approve the

proposal to finance the roll out

implementation of VSAT coverage

and OLPC laptops.

Implementation plan will be

developed following PIF leaders

approval.

38

ANNEX I: Mid-2006 Pacific Island Population Estimates

39

ANNEX II: 6-17 Year Old Populations by Status of School Attendance in Pilot Countries

40

ANNEX III: KIRIBATI 6-17 YRS POPULATION BY STATUS OF SCHOOL BY ISLAND

43

ANNEX IV: HOLE IN THE WALL EXPERIMENT

In an interview with FRONTLINE/World, Mitra tells producer Rory O'Connor: “If cyberspace is

considered a place, then there are people who are already in it, and people who are not in it ... I think

the hole in the wall gives us a method to create a door, if you like, through which large numbers of

children can rush into this new arena. When that happens, it will have changed our society forever."11

A billion people live in India - one of every six on the planet and half of them are illiterate. Only one

in four has access to adequate sanitation. Some 350 million Indians live on less than a dollar a day. Yet

India is also home to some of the world's most advanced high-technology firms, and New Delhi is

Silicon Valley East. Several years ago, a computer scientist, Dr. Sugata Mitra, had an idea. What

would happen if he could provide poor children with free, unlimited access to computers and the

Internet? Mitra launched what came to be known as the ‘hole in the wall’ experiment.

Just outside his office is a wall that separates his air-conditioned 21st-century office from a slum.

Mitra decided to place a high-speed computer in the wall, connect it to the Internet, and watch who, if

anyone might use it. To his delight, curious children were immediately attracted to the strange new

machine. Within minutes, children figured out how to point and click. By the end of the day they were

browsing. "Given access and opportunity the children quickly taught themselves the rudiments of

computer literacy."

When Dr. Mitra asks one boy Rajinder to define the Internet, the doe-eyed boy replies immediately,

"That with which you can do anything." Mitra set up more computer kiosks in poor communities and

his colleagues made a special effort to recruit girls - a revolutionary concept in a society in which only

one in three females can read. Again, Mitra was delighted with the results. Given permission, girls

rushed to the computers. In his crusade to overcome the digital divide in India - the gap between

information "haves" and "have-nots" - Mitra takes his hole in the wall experiment to a fishing village

in the rural state of Maharashtra. Once more, schoolchildren flock to his computer kiosks. Mitra is

convinced that computers can bring prosperity to poor, rural areas and provide local jobs.

11

Source: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/thestory.html

Final Version- Rural and Remote Area outreach proposal 30 April 07 doc

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Transcript of Final Version- Rural and Remote Area outreach proposal 30 April 07 doc