Description
Over 650 million people live in the rural areas in China, and ‘rural informatization (Nangcun Xanxi hua)’ – improving access to information communications technology (ICT) and enhancing the lives of rural citizens – has been one of the top development priorities in China since the last decade. A significant number of rural ICT investments have been made by the central and local governments as well as by the private sector. This report offers central and local government policymakers recommendations for enhancing rural informatization. It is informed by several years of research carried out in rural areas of three provinces (Shandong, Jilin, and Guizhou). The scope of the study included: (a) a demand survey to assess rural ICT access and usage; (b) a review of ICT in primary and secondary schools; (c) a survey of public libraries, including the extent of ICT use in rural libraries; and (d) an assessment of specific ICT interventions to examine how they have affected rural users. Much of the published information about rural ICT development in China describes infrastructure deployment, with top-level target monitoring statistics. This report sheds light on findings at the grassroots level through surveys and interviews, exploring the nature of demand for ICT services from rural populations, and considers whether this demand is being adequately addressed. Though there are differences in infrastructure and access across the three provinces, the structural challenges are similar. The lessons learned are not only consistent across the three provinces but are also similar to research fi ndings on rural informatization in other provinces.
