Virtual village project (known as Last Mile) has been carried out in two rural communities in Meevala (Gampaha) and KudaOya (Hatton) in Sri Lanka for last two years. The Project provided ICT equipment and connectivity options (Internet & WiFi / CDMA) to the communities for their direct interaction. Project has been designed and implemented by four national level partners, namely University of Colombo, School of Computing) to provide technical expertise, CENWOR (Centre for Women’s Research) to deal with gender related issues, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya to provide sociological inputs and Sarvodaya to provide funds and to manage the project. The project is funded by IDRC Canada.     

Virtual Villages of Meewala and Kuda Oya: expectations and experiences
Mrs SLL Wanasundera, Director CENWOR (Center for Women’s Researcch)

Challenges of Bringing ICT to Rural Sri Lanka: Techno-Social experiences of Virtual Village project: Mr Harsha Wijayawardhana, Consultant, UCSC (University of Colombo, School of Computing).

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Virtual Village project, was initiated in August 2002 to study the last mile connectivity and the impact of Information and Technology on Rural Societies in Sri Lanka. The study was divided into two main categories: technical component and Social Component. The project was funded by Canadian IDRC and is owned by Sarvodaya. The technical assistance and expertise was provided by University of Colombo School of Computing whereas the Social research is conducted by University of Peradeniya. Two villages were selected to carry out the project: Meewala Gampha and Kuda Oya Hatton and the background of the project was detailed in paper titled, Virtual Village Project: Last mile connectivity options for Rural Telecentres in Sri Lanka, published at Asian Telecenter forum which was held in Bangkok in May 2006.

Empowerment through ICTs: An Anthropological Investigation: Dr Ananya Raihan, DNet, Bangladesh

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While access to ICTs is being considered as a prime issue across the globe since WSIS process started, the extent of benefit of ICTs to the poor communities remain relatively unexplored area. Whatever available on this topic, is still at the level of anecdotal evidences. The general perception is once the ICTs are brought to a community, the community people will brace them and extract benefit from them. There is little literature on how differences in age, sex, ethnicity, cast, education, profession etc. influence behavioural pattern of the community members in terms of accessing ICTs for improving livelihood. These differences should be carefully studied and based on the findings targeted interventions should be designed. This is important if we feel really important that marginalised are not left out in a community.

The Role of Religious Leader in the Introduction of Information and Communication Technology in Multi-ethnic Rural Communities in Sri Lanka: A Case Study of Last Mile Project From Sri Lanka: Mr Karunatissa Atukorala, Sociologist, University of Peradeniya  

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Virtual village project (known as Last Mile) has been carried out in two rural communities in Meevala (Gampaha) and KudaOya (Hatton) in Sri Lanka for last one and half years. The Project provided ICT equipment and connectivity options (Internet & WiFi / CDMA) to the communities for their direct interaction. Project has been designed and implemented by four national level partners, namely University of Colombo, School of Computing) to provide technical expertise, CENWOR (Centre for Women’s Research) to deal with gender related issues, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya to provide sociological inputs and Sarvodaya to provide funds and to manage the project. Several noticeable changes have been taken in the two communities after the project intervention. Some of the impacts of the project are intended some are unintended. In the process of the intervention it is observed that Buddhist monks as key community leaders have played a significant role. This paper will examine the role played by the monks as key leaders of the community.