Internet technologies in the Himalayas: lessons learned during the 1990s

The Himalayan region is characterised by mountain communities that have man y of the poorest and isolated peoples in the world. These communities suffe r from poor infrastructure and lack of access to basic resources and servic es, including relevant information. Since the mid-1990s, Internet technolog ies have been used increasingly in different parts of the Himalayan region, in an attempt to address problems of information access and sharing and of communication among and between communities. The overall objectives of usi ng these technologies in mountain areas have been to bring about an improve ment in the quality of life and to seek to avoid increasing marginalisation of mountain communities through a widening 'information gap' between the r icher, 'connected' urban populations and the poorer isolated rural communit ies. There is growing interest on the part of various players, including governm ents, private organisations and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), to pr omote the use of the Internet and related information and communication tec hnologies. Among the international NGOs, the International Centre for Integ rated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) plays a unique role in the Himalayas, a s it has a mandate to specifically serve communities in mountain areas and it works throughout the region, in Afghanistan, North Pakistan, North India , Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This paper traces the history of Internet usage in the Himalayas and introd uces the issues and problems faced in implementing projects and other initi atives to promote usage. Specific reference is made to examples arising fro m some of ICIMOD's projects; lessons learned from these experiences are hig hlighted.