Interesting news from the big beast that is Microsoft, particularly interesting in light of the ECB / NetHope plans to develop a global ICT training delivery mechanism for staff working in the field. This project was recently approved and we’re moving forward now with ECB funding for NetHope management.

One of the critical problems that we identified in the ECB4 Assessment was the general lack of good IT skills in the field. This was true across the board, from senior IT staff (who lacked specialised skills in areas such as VSAT installation) to junior project staff (who are often recruited in an emergency with few computer skills). The question is, how to introduce that training to them.

There are three possibilities:

1. Remote learning. Increased connectivity in the field mean that staff can access e-learning in a way that wasn’t possible a few years ago. The disadvantage here is that this method relies on staff taking the initiative in identifying and participating in training - something which doesn’t always apply in developing countries, where the education norm is rote learning, rather than personal experiment.
2. Leverage economies of scale to deliver training to groups of staff in the field. While it’s not cost-efficient to train a single staff member from a single agency in MS Word, it is possible to run 30 staff from different agencies through a course at a relatively low cost.
3. Leverage training networks to improve access to existing training in the private sector. Cisco, for example, have an international network of training academies, which could be engaged to provide low- to no-cost courses to NGOs participating in the scheme. (You can also try to use these networks to develop local capacity, training up local providers to a level adequate for our needs.)

I’ve no idea which of these is likely to yield the best results - which is why we’re designing a training mechanism which combines all three. It’s ridiculously ambitious, but entirely feasible.

(Cross posted on the ECB Team Blog.)