By providing internet access to unconnected and underserved populations, community centered connectivity initiatives (CCCIs) have been characterized as critical actors in bridging the digital divide. As social enterprises or the social-mission driven segment of internet service providers in the digital industry, CCCIs have shown their responsiveness and effectiveness in enabling the poor and marginalized to have meaningful connectivity. However, studies to measure their social impact and cost effectiveness have been inadequate. It is in response to this that the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA), in partnership with the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) and Internet Society (ISOC), have embarked on a case study research among what may be considered as significant practices among CCCIs in Asia and Africa.
The overall objective of the study was to articulate the social impact of CCCIs using development indexing (DI) as tool and their cost effectiveness aided by the methodology of social return on investment (SROI). Development Indexing (DI) assists in the quantification of social impacts where simple proxy measures are deemed inadequate. Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a measure of cost effectiveness being a ratio of financial and social outcomes over inputs and costs.
Two of the CCCIs studied are in remote, rural, indigenous communities in Asia: one involving a Sundanese indigenous village in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar in West Java, Indonesia (Kasepuhan Ciptagelar CCCI) and the other involving the Warli tribe in Pathardi, Maharshtra, Western India (Pathardi CCCI). The other two CCCIs are located in Africa: one involves TandaNET CCCI, which operates in an urban slum area in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya and the other is Zenzeleni CCCI, which serves rural communities in Mankosi and Zithulele villages, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The case studies showed that CCCIs provide social inclusion services and transformational services that generate significant social impacts beyond what commercial ISPs can offer. Social inclusion services are oriented towards addressing digital exclusion or other factors behind the usage gap. All the CCCIs studied provided internet and capacity building services to communities that were unserved or underserved by commercial internet service providers that further resulted to their effective access to social and economic services. Transformational services are oriented towards enabling the poor and excluded to have the capability to become actors of their own development. In all four CCCI cases, the marginalized communities were enabled to build their capability to govern and manage digital resources to positively impact on their lives and their communities.
Social inclusion and transformational services-facilitated impacts that clearly demonstrate the value proposition for investing in CCCIs were noted in all four cases as they relate to the following key result areas (KRAs) where a significant scale and/or depth of impact was achieved in communities served:
- Increased levels and capacities for inclusive human development
- Improvement in the economic position and conditions of community stakeholders
- More effective preservation of the cultural identity, heritage, and integrity of the community
- Increased levels and capacities for climate action and natural resource management
- Empowerment of community to control, govern, and manage internet and digital resources
- Inclusion and empowerment of women as stakeholders in digital transformation
Using the SROI methodology and protocols prescribed by Social Value International, the SROI ratios over three years involving the cases studied were all above one with the ratio ranging from 1.17 (Zenzeleni CCCI) to 1.53 (Pathardi CCCI) during year 1; 1.38 (Tandanet CCCI) to 5.26 (Pathardi CCCI) during year 2; and 2.51 ((Kasephuhan Ciptagelar CCCI) to 7.89 (Pathardi CCCI) during year 3. Only the Kasephunan Ciptagelar CCCI case had data to establish a ratio for year 4 equivalent to 2.89. The SROI ratios of all the 4 cases studied also had an upward trend every year, which demonstrates a consistent increase in social value created by these CCCIs over time.
Overall, the cases demonstrate that CCCIs are not only cost effective interventions in bridging the digital divide but significantly contribute to accelerating the achievement of many of the sustainable development goals as indicated by the multifaceted key result areas where significant impact in terms of depth and/or scale was observed.
The full report and cases studies will be available soon.