l'information numérique et les enjeux de la ... - smsi :: tunis 2005

Colloque international:L'information numérique et les enjeux de la société d'information
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THE USE OF NEW INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
Fundong, a rural town found in the Northwest Province
of Cameroon is located on latitude 10° 14’W and 11°15’
E, between longitudes 6° 27’ and 8° 26’N. The
population of this area stands at 66,310 (sixty-six
thousand, three hundred and ten) inhabitants. To address
the main objective of the study, which is the use of
information and communication technologies for local
development, data were collected at the group and
household levels. At the community level, we
administered questionnaires and conducted focus group
discussions with people of different occupational
backgrounds.
In relation to access to New Information and
Communication Technologies, the town is covered by
an MTN ( mobile telephone network) transmitter
installed in one of the villages, which makes access to
information through the mobile phone possible. The
effective consumption of NICTs through which
educational messages are diffused depend on
respondents’ educational level, which in turn determine
messages consumption rates. However, for the largely
uneducated population, local communication channels
such as the town criers play an important role in
educating the people. Messages diffused by town criers
are in the local languages. Most of the New Information
and Communication Technologies as well as those
surrounding the World Wide Web, like the Internet, are
less known in the area due either to ignorance or to the
absence of the fix telephone network.
Key words:
Development, information, communication,
technologies, Fundong,
Nobert TOHNAIN LENGHA
ISD, Tunis
14-16 avril 2005