The Leland Initiative’s Strategic Objective 3 (SO3) promotes the effective use of the Internet for sustainable development within USAID missions and within the USAID development partner community. The Leland Initiative SO3 Internet end-user training is designed to enable the participants to harness the potential of Internet technologies to further their development objectives. This training introduces participants to the information and communication resources available through the Internet. In addition to learning about the mechanics of Internet use, the training guides the participants through a planning process for effectively introducing the Internet into their respective institutional settings.

The October 19–28, 1998, Leland Initiative end-user training in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, was held at Winrock International’s West Africa Regional Office. The activity coincided with the formal inauguration of the West Africa Regional Office on October 16. Participants in the training were invited by their respective U.S. government partner agencies active in Côte d’Ivoire, including the U.S. Embassy, USIS, Peace Corps, and remaining USAID health projects. The training, which included four two-day sessions and one single day session, introduced 83 participants to the Internet and the research and communication tools it offers for development. Each participant of a two-day training session also created an action plan designed to guide the introduction of the Internet into his or her organization. As part of this process, the participants reflected on their organizations’ information use patterns and perceived needs. The one-day training session was tailored more to the perspective of decision-makers from local U.S. government-affiliate organizations, designed to introduce the Internet and its potential utility for assisting an organization to achieve its development objectives.

The growth of Internet use in Côte d’Ivoire has been dramatic. Current subscription estimates range from 3,000 to 4,500 paying subscribers, with an estimated user-base of 8,000 to 10,000. In close collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, the Leland Initiative has thus far played an integral part in developing the Internet industry in Côte d’Ivoire. With the close-out of USAID’s regional office, REDSO/WCA, Andrew Snow, the U.S. Embassy economics officer, has assumed the role of in-country Leland representative. Snow’s involvement has been instrumental to the success of the Leland Initiative in Côte d’Ivoire.

Due to the recent closure of REDSO/WCA and USAID’s dramatically reduced presence in Côte d’Ivoire, opportunities for follow-up activities to the Leland Initiative end-user training are limited. There is potential for Leland involvement in ongoing regionally focused USAID programs which are either based in or include Côte d’Ivoire. Further, attention needs to be paid to resolving certain remaining, though minor, Leland/Côte d’Ivoire Telecom coordination issues. It should be noted that with its established Internet Service Provider (ISP) industry, the presence of numerous in-country information technology training centers, and a local Internet Society (ISOC) chapter, Côte d’Ivoire has a fairly developed support infrastructure capable of providing technical support for future Internet application activities.