Aiding the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Developing World: Socio-Cultural Leadership in ICT4D – Learnings From Telecentres in a South Asian Country

Introduction

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is obscuring boundaries between the physical, biological, and digital dominions. The speed of breakthroughs within these fields has no historical precedents of humankind and is evolving at an exponential phase. More importantly, such advancement in technology is disrupting every industry in the world from machines utilised, production methods, management methods, and government regulatory systems. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, quantum computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, genetic engineering, energy storage, materials science are at the forefront driving this technical and industrial revolution.

Within this rapid change Information Communication and Technology for Development (ICT4D) can be considered not only as a technology diffusion mechanism, but also a sector facing the threat of decline unless innovative approaches are found. This context is explored in the form of South Asian regional telecentre movement and findings of a case study of unique community-based Nenasala (which means Knowledge Hubs) telecentres. Nenasala is a portal to reach remote, disadvantaged communities in Sri Lanka’s ICT4D journey. Overall, Nenasala is a grass-root non-profit and for-profit demand-based Private & Public Partnership (PPP) initiative. Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), oversees the implementation of the Nenasala program and has the sponsorship of the Sri Lankan government, international donors, and the World Bank. In this chapter, it will be revealed how a new hybrid breed of Socio-Cultural Leaders (SCL) in Sri Lankan Nenasala telecentres successfully utilised Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to gain not only sustainability within the ICT4D initiative, but also competitive advantage against commercial telecentre counterparts.

Sri Lanka has a unique multi-ethnic cultural and religious base. Hence the researchers were interested in investigating how this diversity in leadership, influences Sri Lanka’s effort in bridging the digital divide. Moreover, e-Sri Lanka was the first World Bank-funded project in South Asia, which sets the best practice for the other countries in the region to follow. Sri Lanka is also a recuperating country after 30 years separatist war. Another reason for the special interest in this study was the unique and unparalleled innovation as a holistic, long-term, development-driven approach to establish a network of Nenasala telecentres. Nenasalas cover all under-privileged areas in the island, including the war-torn North and the Eastern provinces to uplift and the quality of life of the disadvantaged through e-economic development. Authors of this chapter also found that there is an empirical research gap in this area, especially the absence of academic research in Nenasalas which spanned over 15 years showing a great promise towards building a knowledge society through CSR collaboration.

This chapter borrows a theorem from the education field, Socio-Cultural Leadership and applies it to the community-based leadership style utilised by Sri Lankan Nenasalas. Fundamentally, SCL in the context of community-based CSR oriented leadership is defined in this chapter ‘as a leadership style that actively seeks to ensure that disadvantaged groups gain the advantages typically limited to mid-high-class societies despite the lack of affordability’. In this context, SCL is supportive of the argument that bridging digital divide should play a more prominent role in social reform efforts, which aims to alleviate poverty. SCL leadership has taken four paths in Nenasalas. Firstly, the majority of community model based Nenasalas have been run by religious institutions (such as Buddhist temples, Hindu kovils, and churches) led under the patronage of local religious clergy. Secondly, community groups operated Nenasalas directed by community leaders. Thirdly, local entrepreneurs have taken the leadership within a business model that incorporates a high sense of CSR as an integral part of their local community. Fourthly, locally based NGO leaders have led Nenasalas under the NGO patronage within the models prescribed by ICTA. However, all leaders and individuals who champion Nenasalas have been driven by and are in tuned with socio-cultural aspects intertwined with the development that benefits the disadvantaged. As such, unique hybrid models of SCL have emerged amidst Nenasalas in Sri Lanka.