8.3. Government’s Role in Establishing an Enabling Environment

A key difference between a pilot project and a scale-up initiative is the extent of the impact of national policy framework. While a pilot may be designed without much attention to national policy framework, a scale-up initiative cannot be designed in this way, even if it is not part of a government-led initiative.

When considering a scale-up effort, part of the focus should be on assessing what national policies either support or hinder scale-up, and what can be done to create the most favorable environment. Previous chapters noted the policy and regulatory environment related to telecommunications and information technologies and connectivity in general, but small-business development and broader macro-economic and trade concerns can have a significant impact as well.

Prerequisites or desirable conditions for a scale-up include:

• A national ICT strategy that states a clear and realistic vision of how the country plans to integrate ICT into its development strategies.
• Ideally, the plan should include some of the following characteristics:
  • be developed through a participatory process involving all key stakeholders, to secure political support and create linkages to the private sector and development organizations;
  • mention shared-access facilities such as telecenters as one of the key vehicles for expanding access to ICT for underserved groups throughout the country—the government may or may not be directly involved in supporting deployment of telecenters;
  • mention telecenters as an outlet/mechanism to improve delivery of government services and to be linked to any e-Government strategy or activities;
  • be linked to poverty reduction programs; sector-specific strategies in health, agriculture, education; and any strategies linked to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and
  • include a detailed implementation plan with associated funding and staffing requirements as necessary.

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