The following was written by Lee Thorn of the Jhai Foundation, originally sent to us via the Foundation's newsletter.

I think it might be useful to look at rural ICT and development from a social perspective. What works from this perspective? What doesn't?

What Jhai does is consulting about processes that are critical parts of economic development for people who have been left out. We are especially concerned about people left out of the opportunity to use information and communication technology tools that might help them increase earnings and deepen their social networks, business relations, and friendships.

"A quantum universe is enacted only in an environment rich in relationships. Nothing happens in the quantum world without something encountering something else. Nothing is independent of relationships that occur. I am constantly creating the world - evoking it, not discovering it - as I participate in all its many interactions. This is a world of process, not a world of things." - Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, Barrett-Koehler (pb), 1994, p. 68

Google announced this week that it has selected Abuja, Nigeria as one of about seven African cities the company will fully connect with a wireless network. Although described as one of Google's "social responsibility projects", the announcement follows the company's proposal last October to create a citywide Wi-Fi network for San Francisco. Could Google's activities in Africa be a central part of its long-term business strategy?

This is just the latest example of Google focusing its resources on the "base of the pyramid". Last year, the company announced the creation of a foundation with the explicit goal of “giving on world poverty and the environment." One of the most interesting aspects of the fund is that it will support for-profit enterprises. The company has also chipped in $2 million to MIT's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, which aims to distribute cheap laptops to millions of children in emerging markets.

So what is Google's plan for its Wi-Fi network? The company confirmed last month that it is preparing its own distribution of Linux for the desktop.