Cuba 2.0 : can the internet reboot the Cuban economy?

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Cuba 2.0 – Can the Internet reboot

the Cuban economy?

Ilona Florence Brannen

RESEARCH MASTER THESIS

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Ilona Brannen University of Amsterdam (GSSS) 10859519 International Development Studies

Abstract ... 4

Introduction ... 5

Chapter One – Technology Innovation and Change ... 7

Technological Progress as a ‘Western Concept’ ... 8

ICT4D ... 9

The Internet and Economic Development ... 9

The Digital Divide ... 10

The importance of digital literacy ... 12

Leapfrogging: Smartphone vs. PC ... 13

Other impacts on cyberspace ... 13

Conceptual Summary ... 14

Chapter Two – Research Context ... 15

Historical Context of Computing and Networking in Cuba... 15

The Current Situation ... 16

The Cuban Digital Divide ... 17

The Knowledge Economy and Cuba ... 18

Contextual Summary ... 20

Chapter Three – Research Design ... 21

Research and Sub Research Questions ... 21

Operationalisation Scheme (Table 1) ... 22

Research Design and Methodology ... 23

Research limitations and difficulties ... 24

Research Ethics ... 24

Chapter Four - Access all areas? ... 25

Accessibility ... 25

Connections beyond the parks ... 28

Hacking the signal... 30

Affordability ... 31

Survey Locations ... 31

Survey Results ... 32

Tarjeta cards and the micro economy ... 35

What next for access in Cuba? ... 36

Chapter Five - Getting literate with IT... 37

How does literacy impact use? ... 38

Educational level – survey data ... 39

How to move beyond basic literacy? ... 40

Rapid Adoption ... 41

Creative content ... 42

Using the Internet for tourism ... 43

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Chapter Six - What is digital governance?

... 45

Digital governance in Cuba ... 45

Freedom of the Internet ... 46

Changes in the economy in Cuba ... 48

Communism vs. Capitalism: a new era? ... 50

Government policy towards enhancing digital literacy ... 50

Cyber security in Cuba... 51

What are the key missing ingredients for Cuba? ... 52

Chapter Seven – How does use affect outcome? ... 53

What other factors influence cyberspace? ... 53

How does physical space influence cyberspace? ... 55

ParaWifi –creating better Wi-Fi experiences for Cubans? ... 56

Device analysis: PC vs. Smartphone ... 57

Analysing Google Trends ... 58

What is the final frontier for Cuba? ... 61

Conclusion ... 62

Recommendations ... 65

Further research ... 65

References ... 66

Figures ...

Figure 1. Map of Wi-Fi hotspots in Havana, Greater Havana ... 26

Figure 2. Map of Wi-Fi hotspots in Havana, Central Havana ... 26

Figure 3. Cubans sitting on the street connecting to the Internet in Old Havana ... 28

Figure 4. Cubans connecting to the Internet outside hotel in Old Havana ... 28

Figure 5. Cubans connecting to the Internet at Kcho Studio, Havana ... 29

Figure 6. A Wi-Fi signal hacking kit ... 30

Figure 7. Map of Cotorro ... 32

Figure 8. Map of Playa ... 32

Figure 9. Freedom on the Net, Freedom House Report ... 51

Figure 10. Internet user in the library, Kcho studio ... 55

Figure 11. Parque Trece, Playa, Havana ... 55

Figure 12. Parque 9 Abril - Cotorro, Havana ... 55

Figure 13. Michele Aguilar, Industrial Designer and co-creator of ParaWifi ... 56

Figure 14. USB charge point, ParaWifi exhibit ... 56

Figure 15. Model of applied use of ParaWifi in Cuba ... 57

Figure 16. Google Trends Search Topics Data for Cuba ... 59

Figure 17. Google Trends Search Queries Data for Cuba ... 60

Tables...

Table 1. Operationalisation Scheme ... 22

Table 2. Cotorro Monthly Salary ... 33

Table 3. Playa Monthly Salary ... 33

Table 4. Money spent on the Internet each week ... 34

Table 5. Level of Education of people surveyed in Playa ... 39

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who supported me in developing this dissertation. I want to thank my supervisor Professor Dennis Rodgers for his patience, constructive feedback, guidance and support and for allowing me to follow my own research path. Thank you to Dr Virginie Mamadouh who agreed to be my second reader. Thank you to my course colleagues who helped me develop my ideas and were a great support through the course, and to Rachel Stroud and Kristina Smith who have been a massive help to me on my return from the field. Thank you to my colleagues at PwC who have supported me through this journey and who have been so accommodating to let me take the time off to undertake this project. I would especially like to thank all the friends I made and people I met in Cuba who helped me to understand Cuba in such a rich, vibrant way and for sharing their country with me.

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates the impact of access to the Internet and how people’s use of the Internet influences economic opportunities. ICT4D is often cited as a way to enable counties to develop and leapfrog the traditional models of industrial development through rapid adoption of technology. While internet access and subsequent digital technologies are an important development, they do not automatically lead to economic development but rather ICT4D implementation needs to be managed with a holistic understanding of all the factors involved for a country to reap the digital dividends of jobs, growth and services.

Cuba has only gained mainstream access to the Internet in recent years and is a unique example of the impact of the digital divide on a country. Despite over two hundred Wi-Fi hotspots being launched over the past two years, access to the Internet is one of the most restrictive in the world. As Cuba begins to open up, how much of an impact does Internet access have on its subsequent economic development? Drawing on empirical research carried out in Havana, Cuba, from November 2016 to January 2017, using ethnographic research, participant observations, surveys, interviews and film footage, this dissertation considers key themes of the ICT4D debate: Internet access, the influence of human capital, governance and spatial and device use and how this influences economic development.

Access continues to be a barrier in Cuba and is set to continue as the Cuban government lacks a digital governance strategy and the resources to finance investment in digital infrastructure. High literacy in Cuba means that the population is well placed to use the Internet, but the findings indicate that it is mainly for social use and maintaining contact with friends and family overseas rather than for creating economic opportunities. Furthermore, the hotspots being outside in public, encourages people to remain social in their interactions online. Simply granting access does not equal economic opportunities. Rather it requires clear governance, capital, finance and markets that can support a digital economy, readily available affordable and accessible Internet connection, and a population that is not only literate but are equipped to learn new digital skills that enable them to engage and contribute to the digital economy.

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Introduction

This dissertation focuses on how access to the Internet and the spread of digital technology impacts on economic development. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and how they affect economic opportunities for people in the developing world has been debated for many years in the field of International Development, including in particular under the guise of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development).

Being able to access and take advantage of opportunities to share information and create new possibilities is key to economic growth and therefore enabling people to realise their capabilities and escape the endemic cycle of poverty. ICT4D is a way in which technological advances can be harnessed to encourage economic development in a country. One of the biggest drivers of the global economy at present is that of the digital economy and the digital dividends it can bring through jobs, growth and services to a country and its population. How a country can adopt and implement that technology and benefit from it is often what ICT4D tries to examine. When analysing the implications of technological implementation across the developing world we need to avoid some of the major pitfalls of assuming that all technology is created equal and that placing technology into any situation will inherently make it better. It often doesn’t have the desired or expected outcomes that the optimistic technologists propose and it is useful to examine why through a holistic approach.

Whether ICT4D can be the revolutionary development panacea that many hope for is still widely debated. One major area of contention concerns the way that access to the Internet and new information technologies are managed and monitored by governments, as this can have a significant impact on the development of countries and their populations.

To be able to understand the implications of the impact of Internet access on a population it is useful to chose somewhere where there has been relative isolation towards digital technology and tight government control over the dissemination of ideas and access. Cuba is a unique country in which to conduct a study about this insofar as its economy is one of the few remaining state-controlled economies, combined with a high level of human development in terms of levels of education, yet the population has historically had limited access to the Internet. As Cuba opens its doors to new opportunities and a better relationship with the United States, the impact of access to the internet to creating new economic opportunities for its people will determine how the country develops in the future.

Cuba has a history of computing and software engineering from its collaborating with the Soviet Union, but has lacked investment in infrastructure. The blockade with the United States forced Cuba into reliance onto the Soviet Union, and the subsequent collapse meant a hard ‘special economic period’ for most of the Cuban people. As Fidel Castro’s health declined, his brother Raul became the leader of the Communist party in Cuba and set about a pragmatic approach towards economic development, which allowed for the first time small private businesses to be established. This transition, combined with an opening up of the country to tourism has seen Cuba change over the past decade, one which many hope will continue over the forthcoming years.

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As state economic control has seen some flexibility, so too has the governments position on Internet access. Over two hundred Wi-Fi hotspots have been established over the past two years, granting Cubans living in urban areas greater opportunities to use the Internet. However, access still comes at a cost far beyond the reach of most Cubans. How can access translate into economic opportunities for people, if it is already out of reach, and if you do get access, how does literacy, governance and Internet use influence outcomes?

This dissertation is based on research on Internet access in Cuba. The empirical chapters of this dissertation focus on access, digital literacy, governance and use. Access being one of the main barriers to overcoming the digital divide, I will examine the Cuban context to explore accessibility and affordability and how they influence users. The second chapter will examine how digital literacy has an impact on how people can harness the Internet to engage in the digital economy and thereby reap the digital dividends in the form of increased economic opportunities. Chapter three looks at the role of governance as a help or hindrance to digital development strategies and how this is impacting Cuba, especially being a state controlled economy with no private partnerships to aid with development. The final chapter looks at the influence of space, time and device on the use of the Internet by Cuban people and therefore how this is a consideration for future policy and ICT4D discourse.

What this dissertation sets out to argue is that it is necessary to have a holistic approach when considering ICT4D and technological adoption as a process for economic growth. Granting access, although a necessary step to enable people to use the Internet, is not enough for resulting economic opportunities. Rather it is the combined synthesis of access, digital literacy, effective governance and understanding of users behaviour that can enable a country to reap the rewards of upgrading to the digital economy.

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Chapter 1: Technology, Innovation and Change

In 1445, a man in Germany called Gutenberg changed the course of human history through a simple innovative technological advancement: the printing press. The impact of the printing press had huge consequences on the economic, social and political spheres of the medieval world and far-reaching in changing the course of human evolution. Until then, books were expensive and laborious to make. After Gutenberg’s invention, books could easily and cheaply be reproduced which spread literacy, education, and ideas across Western Europe (Anderson, 1983).

But, if we look back at history and the pivotal printing press, we can see evidence of the reluctance of people to adopt new technologies, which ultimately hindered development in different ways. Although the importance of the printing press was recognised across Western Europe, with this technology spreading to France, then Italy and by 1476 it had arrived in London, not everyone saw it as a desirable innovation (Acemoglu, 2012). The Ottoman sultan, Bayezid II, issued an edict that Muslims were expressly forbidden from printing in Arabic and it was not until 1727 that the first printing press was allowed in Ottoman lands (Acemoglu, 2012). This restriction in adoption of new technology meant that citizens of the Ottoman Empire were at a disadvantage to their other European counterparts. In 1800 only 2 to 3 percent of the citizens of the Ottoman Empire were literate, compared with 60 percent of adult males and 40 percent of adult females in England (Acemoglu, 2012). This form of control by the Ottoman state was an attempt to halt the spread of ideas, which they claimed would make the population harder to control. It has been estimated that in the 40 years between the publication of the Gutenberg Bible and the close of the fifteenth century, more than 20,000,000 printed volumes were produced in Europe (Anderson, 1983). Between 1500 and 1600, the number manufactured had reached between 150,000,000 and 200,000,000 (Anderson, 1983). Books can be dangerous things to institutions of power as they can undermine authority and challenge the status quo; therefore access to technological innovation can be restricted to retain control.

The spread of the printing press meant the proliferation of daily newspapers and pamphlets. The obsolescence of newspapers encouraged readers to consume more information, thereby increasing their knowledge of the world around them in a time sensitive ritualistic way (Anderson, 1983). More information was available than at any other time before in human history and people could simultaneously read the same material. The development of print-as-commodity is the key to the generation of wholly new ideas of simultaneity (Anderson, 1983). Wealthy urban centres in Europe were home to the growing print capitalism. Imagined communities (Anderson, 1983) of readers in both books and newspapers, meant shared contextual understanding and thus could discuss their content, generating further debate and iterations of ideas. The Internet is our generation’s version of the printing press, whereby we are only starting to understand its potential impact on our current world. If manuscript knowledge was scarce print knowledge lived by reproducibility and dissemination (Anderson, 1983) now with the Internet the dissemination of ideas is borderless and freer than ever before. Thirty years of technological advancement has brought the global economy more closely entwined. Knowledge from all around the world can be shared and gathered instantly, and social networking can instigate revolution. The

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explosion of digital infrastructure and technology over the past ten years has changed global society in radical ways. Global digital knowledge sharing, the digital economy and digital governance are massive challenges that the traditional nation state is finding hard to manage and navigate. The global Internet project is well underway, with little sign of slowing down or reversing anytime soon. Therefore, we need to look to previous instances of technological progress to understand how to overcome our modern digital challenges.

Technological Progress as a ‘Western’ concept

It is worth considering here the notion of ‘technological progress’ as the solution to the world’s problems. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has widely been understood to bring about social change. For example, ICTs have been thought to: invigorate economic systems (Gates, 2000), empower citizens (Gore, 1994) and even contribute to social and psychological wellbeing (Cole, et al., 2001). However, Leaning (2006) suggests a more nuanced point of view, whereby the ability for ICT to bring about change is tied to the form of the society in which it is deployed (Leaning, 2006). Leaning (2004) argues that such an interpretation of ICT arises as ICT has primarily been studied in societies in where such beliefs are common currency. This argument resonates strongly with the views of Downing (1996), who argues for the study of ICT (along with other forms of media) outside of the traditional laboratories of Western Europe, North America and Oceania.

Burnett et al (2008) discuss how the claim that technology promises to fix complex social problems is actually a way to advocate partisan ideologies and to promote particular policies. Technological determinism is viewed as an ideological weapon – a ‘quasi neutral force’ independent of human choice and action (Burnett et al, 2008). However considering the arguments above, it is necessary to root ICT adoption and diffusion within the society in which it is being implemented. By understanding the context of ICT implementation, there is greater understanding of how adoption and diffusion can develop.

Leaning (2006) advocates that there needs to be a recognition that current understandings of the way in which technology is used, appropriated and affects society, derives from the experience of technological development and the philosophic interpretation of this experience in Western societies. In many instances it is the West’s experience of technology that has shaped and informed the general cultural interpretation of how technology can and should be deployed and used (Leaning, 2006). The manner in which a technology is used and appropriated is more closely linked to the form of society in which it is deployed. There is evidence of this in the growing ‘digital divide’ whereby those societies who already have digital technology become increasingly more immersed and fluent in that technology, quickening their adoption. There is a digital spectrum emerging. Therefore it is pertinent to consider context specific perspectives when studying ICT and its impact in developing countries.

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ICT4D

Current debates on the value and importance of the Internet follow the same vein as older discourses on mass media and development. In the fifties and sixties scientists were arguing that the transfer of Western communication technologies, such as newspapers, radio stations and television, would give an enormous and enduring burst to development in the Global South (Nulens 2003). This would enable a country to follow the traditional industrial revolution model of development and become a modernised country.

In terms of development, there is now a digitally enabled west and the digitally disenfranchised rest, which needs to be tackled as a growing concern. At the highest institutional levels, the recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular number 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (sustainabledevelopment.un.org, 2016), emphasise the Internet as a fundamental component to a country’s development. The inclusion of digital technology as a key part of the SDG’s indicates its importance on a global scale and how it is fundamental to each nations government development plan.

ICT4D or Web 2.0 represents the second phase of communication technology to be harnessed for social and economic development. ICT4D reflects cross-discipline academic work that merges understandings of social development with ideas of innovation, communication, technology adoption and entrepreneurship. ICT is seen to have the potential to be “an enabler of economic development, e-commerce, and in a broader context, social inclusion, such as e-democracy and e-health” (Kauffman and Riggins, 2012).

ICT is a fundamental component of economic growth in today's ‘knowledge economy’ and for people to realise their full potential they need to access the benefits of the Internet. They can do this through increasing knowledge sharing, improving education levels and gaining economic skills, therefore ameliorating the adverse effects of chronic poverty. In 2011, a UN report advocated that access to the Internet is a fundamental human right (OHCHR, 2011). Furthermore, on average it has been suggested that in developing countries a 10% increase in Internet access adds 1.28-2.5% to the GDP (www.ahumanright.org, May 2015). Access to economic development is as Sen argues ‘a means to extending freedoms’ (Sen, 1999) rather than as an end to itself. ICT and the Internet now play a considerable role in economic and social development across the world.

The Internet and Economic Development

Since the 1990’s, there has been an increase in the impact of globalisation on the world with increasing focus and emphasis on economic growth through shared knowledge and information. These two components have come to be projected as the “engine” or major force in shaping economies. The twentieth century saw a shift of one-third to one-half of the population within leading economies into occupations that deal with information (Madon, 2000). The interaction between diffusion and usage of technology has become intertwined with economic development. As increasing

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amounts of information about scientific and technological developments are now available only on the Internet, this means that those who can access this information are at an advantage over those who cannot.

Commercial connections are the fastest growing component of the Internet today as more and more companies are establishing closer links with customer, business partners, vendors and information resources via the network (Madon, 200). The World Bank estimates rates of return to the local economy of between 13 and 20 per cent (World Bank, 1995, Madon, 2000). On a global scale, Internet access added 1-1.4% to the employment growth rate (www.ahumanright.org, 2016). As many recognise that access to the Internet and the potential to participate in the global economy creates new economic opportunities for people, it has raised the question of Internet access being a fundamental human right. It is a government’s duty therefore to remove any restrictions and constraints to Internet access for its citizens to realise their potential.

The Digital Divide

Although developing economies (middle and low income) have increased ICT access and use in recent years, the gap between income groups still remains and varies according to the type of technology, with newer technologies (such as broadband Internet) being the most unequally distributed (Billion et al, 2009). In 2004, the proportion of Internet users in high-income economies was 5.8 and 19.4 times those of middle-income and low-income countries, respectively (Billion et al, 2009). This uneven distribution of ICT between developed and developing countries has an impact on economic development, and therefore on wealth and affluence. As technology progresses at a faster rate in the developed economies, other countries will lag behind and forever be playing catch up.

This leads us to examine ‘the digital divide’ which Hoffman (2004) defines as the differences between individuals, households, companies, or regions regarding their access to and usage of ICT (Hoffman 2004). The digital divide is a politically important concept because it is regarded as a new form of social inequality and one in which the gap between the developed and developing countries widens.

As Hoffman argues

“Access to NICT encompasses far more than providing computers and connections”, and thus “the challenges imposed by the NICT for Third World countries must be inserted in a much wider debate about development, technology, and politics’ (Hoffman, 2004).

As Kranzberg puts it, “Technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral” (Kranzberg, 1985) and in its development, application and use technology, is intrinsically shaped by its economic, political and social environment. Context matters. A computer is a very different kind of tool in a country like Germany than it is in rural Africa, where 70% of households do not have electricity (Hoffman, 2004). We have seen this misappropriation of the utility of technology applied in schemes

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and raise education levels globally.

At the 2006 World Economic Forum, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced it would work with OLPC to deliver "technology and resources to targeted schools in the least developed countries" (UNDP, 2006). By producing and distributing the OLPC XO laptop computer, they wanted to enable millions of children to develop their learning needs. Despite its lofty aims to reach two billion children, sales were far lower than anticipated and the actual adoption of the technology in classrooms by teachers was sporadic (James, 2015). What this initiative indicates is that there are various factors that need to be tackled to address the digital divide that go beyond simply giving a computer to a student. You can give a child a calculator, but it doesn’t mean that they can do the maths.

Hoffman (2004) argues that the digital divide has two levels - physical Internet access and then a skills and usage phase. This is a useful framework when considering the different parameters involved in bringing Internet and the benefits of its use to people. The stages of the digital divide (Hoffman, 2004)

Stage 1 - Access

● Physical internet access – governmental policy, investment in infrastructure, investment

● Reduced ownership – actually having a device to connect to the Internet, pricing of devices.

Stage 2 - Skills

● Having necessary education to utilise the internet

● This has been impacted by the advent of smartphones vs. PC’s and smartphones have a different knowledge acquisition than PC usage This two-tier divide means that if you have not got the components in Stage 1, you cannot move to Stage 2, where the opportunities ICT can provide are realised.

Stage 1 access involves government policy, which can mean regulation or restriction of Internet access, or even promotion of the digital economy. Investment in infrastructure is imperative to actually create conditions for people to have physical access to the Internet. The next step in this stage is for people to have the tools to access the Internet through various devices: PC, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Often the argument here is that the poor are often priced out of accessing the Internet. In the One Laptop per Child initiative, the aim was to get more affordable equipment to students. However, in this initiative, the possession of these devices did not increase attainment, as it didn’t address Stage 2, digital literacy and education. As Hoffman has argued, the two sequential stages of the digital divide mean that once access is achieved the next step in lessening the gap is addressing the knowledge gap.

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The Importance of digital literacy

To reap the benefits of the Internet and digital technology, you need to be able to use it effectively. As seen by Hoffman’s (2004) model above, there are two stages to the digital divide. Once physical access has been granted, skills especially digital ones become increasingly important. The knowledge gap hypothesis formalised by Tichenor, Donohue and Olien (1970) proposes that:

“As the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments, so that the gap in knowledge between these segments tends to increase rather than decreased.”

(Tichenor, Donohue & Olien 1970: 159) Furthermore, Hargittai adds “there are significant differences in online skills, particularly by age, prior experience with technology, and educational level” (Hargittai, 2002). As compared with the mass media (TV and newspapers), use of the Internet requires a much more active and skilled user (Bonfadelli, 2002). There is more active engagement from people than in passive TV consumption as the interaction stimulates thinking by 'exploring' the Internet. This interaction with the Internet and digital technology means that a greater set of skills are required to harness the potential of what the Internet has to offer.

Digital Literacy is the ability to use ICT to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills (www.connect.org, 2012). This ability has an impact on what possible outcomes someone will have from using the Internet and interacting with ICT.

In their study Hoffman and Blake (2003) tried to gauge students abilities in computer literacy and found that the vast majority of students could perform basic computer skills even without little prior training, such as connect to the World Wide Web (Web), send and receive e-mail, participate in synchronous chat, use a search engine, and create word processing documents (Hoffman and Blake, 2003). This type of digital literacy does not require any knowledge of the underlying technology but rather puts the user in the position of a consumer. For this, a person would need to be literate, to be able to read and process the information and to interact at a basic level with the content and materials available. However, this level of digital literacy does not necessarily result in being able to generate economic opportunities from Internet access. Rather that requires entrepreneurial and a digital skill set to understand and leverage how the Internet operates.

While digital literacy is an important component for people to be able to utilise all that the digital world can offer and Internet use is narrowing among developed countries, differences among individuals in acquisition of skills and usage are likely to persist which will continue the digital divide to persist and exacerbate global

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Leapfrogging: Smartphone vs. PC

Recent developments in ICT have seen the proliferation of the ubiquitous smartphone, with cheaper handsets being readily available across the developing world, such as the $4 Freedom 251 smartphone released in India in February 2016. The idea the was to grant a greater proportion of the Indian population access to smartphone technology, helping to bring one of the worlds most populous nations online (www.digitaltrends.com, February 2016). Cheaper handsets increase accessibility to the Internet for people across the world and could be a useful tool to tackle the digital divide.

New technologies such as smartphones and mobile technology, offers the promise to “leap frog” infrastructure heavy technologies such as landlines and desktop computers. Abud (2012) has argued that mobile phones can be used as a tool for leapfrogging the digital divide in Indonesia. The geographical digital divide was reduced with the introduction of mobile telecommunications (Loo and Ngan, 2012), which granted more of the population access to the technology. Mobile leapfrogging suggests that, at the individual level, the information poor, namely older, less educated, and less affluent people, can use the mobile Internet.

An example is M-PESA in Kenya, which launched in 1999 and was Africa’s first SMS-based money transfer service and now has over 14 million subscribers (Safaricom, 2009). The first mobile phone adopters were primarily male, educated, young, wealthy and urban populations, as the initial costs of handsets and services were relatively high, but secondary adopters span the demographic spectrum: young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural (Aker & Mbiti 2010). As prices dropped, more people could access mobile technology that helped the scheme to spread widely across the country.

Yet mobile telephone technology represents a top-down diffusion and there are serious concerns for the sustainable inclusion of low-income groups (Kleine and Unwind 2009, 1060). Social changes have come about through mobile telephony including increased access to market prices, opportunity for casual work, e-health and e-democracy efforts as well as new market opportunities around selling mobile phone goods. However, how meaningful and long term these impacts are remains unanswered.

Other Impacts on Cyberspace

Within the ICT4D debates, there have been few studies that examine other factors, which impact cyberspace. Namely, the parameters of space, time and device. Hampton, Livio and Sessions Goulet (2010), argue that Internet access in public spaces may reshape the public realm. As people engage with the Internet in public spaces, these locations may be revitalised by this use and increase its safety. Improving public spaces through connectivity may also bring about other social changes within the community (Hampton, Livio and Sessions Goulet, 2010).

Traditionally the experience of wireless Internet use has been confined to private realm of the home and the parochial realm of the workplace (Hampton, Livio, O. and Sessions Goulet, 2010). Each of these spaces would require a user to behave and

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interact with the Internet differently. For example, at work, the common assumption would be that you are using the Internet for work related tasks, rather than for personal use such as watching online TV. With wireless technology, you can access the Internet anytime, anywhere, but being on the move, would mean your use would be on the go interactions.

The ways in which we engage with the Internet affects what we consume and create. Smartphone use is primarily designed with the idea that you will be on the move and mobile with your consumption of material. The interaction with the device is primarily with the two thumbs and could be changing the way in which the brain and the thumbs are connected (www.scientificamerican.com, June 2017). This means that a smartphone is more likely to be used for entertainment, social interaction and small segments of learning or information gathering. PC users by contrast often spend up to three times longer browsing and will prefer purchasing from a PC rather than mobile (www.appticles.com, 2016). In their study Revilla and Ochoa (2016) found that responses to open ended questions in surveys differed from PC users and Mobile users. The PC users responses were longer and took more time, whereas the mobile user was quicker and shorter with their response. In digital learning technology, learners often prefer to do longer study session on their PC than on their mobile. Rather the mobile phone is better for smaller practice aids. This is a product of the time spent on the device, but also the situational context of using the device. Many components to access the digital economy, for example setting up a website or platform require access to a PC to be able to build the code behind the website or platform. You can do easier marketing material from a phone, but are unlikely to set up a business or learn in depth skills thereby undermining the mobile leapfrogging argument.

Conceptual Summary

As a new digital era emerges, how a country can assimilate and adopt that technology will be a crucial factor in how it develops. How a government responds can be restrictive and controlling, such as the Ottoman court with the advent of the printing press, or open and engaging with the idea to capitalise on the rewards that the Internet can bring.

As Kauffman and Riggins (2012) suggest, ICT is the ‘great enabler’ of economic development and beyond. Certainly a possible 2.5% increase to a country’s GDP for a 10% increase in Internet access suggests that it is wise investment for any government. Once the first stage of Internet is overcome then it becomes the focus for policymakers to increase digital literacy and skills. Access can be granted, but that doesn’t automatically result in the population having the right skills necessary for a digitally developing country to catch up with the digitally immersed world.

What is clear from the literature is that access to the Internet now even considered as a human right. If access, is the key, then digital literacy, digital governance and Internet use all play an equally important role in fostering economic opportunities.

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The compelling narrative of technology as progress has certainly been prominent in ICT4D and in the new digital economy but it is imperative that technology is in its development, application and use is not as Kranzberg puts it ‘neutral’, but viewed as context dependent. Indeed the idea of ICTs resulting in progress is done through western digitally immersed eyes. In order for our understanding of the impact of ICTs to be greater understood, we need to recognise the important of context into which it is embedded. This is an important reflection for ICT4D and in this research when considering a case study, which can unearth new insights.

Chapter 2 - The Research Context

Secrets are over […]We are facing the most powerful weapon that has ever existed, which is communication(Castro, 2010).

The quote above from Cuba’s former president encapsulates the common trends in thinking regarding Cuba and the Internet. Since the advent of widespread internet use from the 1990’s and the collapse of the Soviet Union, one would have expected there to have been more development in Cuba and the Internet over the subsequent decades. Cuban telecommunications have not significantly developed since the 1950’s (Baron and Hall, 2014) and as the Cuban telecommunications industry was nationalised in August 1959 by the end of 1960 the regime had effectively asserted control over print and broadcast media (Kalathil and Boas, 2001). In fact the Cuban Constitution says (quoted in Díaz Rodríguez and Sokooh Valle, 2013), mass media forms part of ‘state or social property and cannot be the object, under any circumstances, of private property’ (author's’ translation) (Baron and Hall 2014). The state and the Internet are firmly entwined.

The Historical Context of Computing and Networking in Cuba

In 1983 a data-transmission satellite link with the Soviet Union gave Cuba its first access to online databases abroad. This was the first foray for the Cuban government into telecommunications technology and the usage mainly linked Cuba to the Soviet Union for economic planning. In April 1991, an e-mail connection between Cuba and Canada was established and was a major step toward Cuban participation in the Internet (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). By 1992, Cuba had 9 computer databases serving more than 1500 users and by the summer of 1994, the total had nearly tripled to 26 networks (including 11 for use by scientists) (Valdés & Rivera, 1992).

However, access was restricted to only allowing email accounts to those affiliated with government institutions. Individual access was still unavailable. Further complications arose when during 1992 a study entitled ‘Cuba Adrift in a Post communist World’ published under the Office of the Secretary for Defense from the US Government advocated “[building] bridges across computer networks” in the hope that “freer information flows” would “foster pluralist tendencies” (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). This antagonised the Cuban government. US and Cuban government relations froze further investments into telecommunications at this point and it took a further four years until Cuba became ‘logged on’ to the Internet.

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The use of e-mail, particularly domestically, continued to grow, but movement toward other forms of connectivity (especially those involving real-time interaction through the Internet) became much more problematic. Only by 1995 did the Cuban authorities begin to view the Internet as an opportunity. This was against the backdrop of the fall of their Soviet allies and biggest trading partner and the economy was in a state of decline. Later that year the official Cuban site (Cubaweb) was launched and the site included sections on news, art and culture, science and technology, medicine, business and trade, consular and tourist information, and an e-mail directory.

In June 1996, Decree-Law 209 was issued which regulated the use and development of information networks and Internet services within Cuba. The decree stressed “the need for policies and a strategy” on networking that will be consonant with the country’s culture and its developmental needs (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). It also stated that it is necessary to ensure that the information that Cuba receives from abroad will be “in accordance with Cuba’s ethical principles and not harmful to the country’s interests and security” (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). Only legally recognised state-sanctioned enterprises and institutions had access, and individual Internet accounts were not granted (Valdés & Rivera, 1992).

Cuba officially joined the Internet on October 11, 1996. However, as Press (1998) notes that telephone infrastructure presents a formidable obstacle to Internet development, connectivity, and access:

Cuban telecommunication infrastructure lags behind much of the world and the Caribbean region. Cuba has fewer telephone lines as a proportion of population than any large Caribbean nation but Haiti, and is closer to the low-income nations of the world than the lower-middle group in which it falls. . . . Not only is there little infrastructure, what is there is obsolete and in ill repair. The poor condition and slow growth of the telephone system reflects the difficulty of attracting capital . . . (Valdés & Rivera, 1992).

This lack of investment in infrastructure has meant less access to the Internet for the wider population.

The Current Situation

Since 1996, the investment in telecommunications in Cuba has been sporadic. In 2008, Raúl Castro liberalised access to cell phones and computers, but access to the Internet still remains restricted. In February 2011 the long awaited undersea optic cable arrived in Cuba, linking the Caribbean island with Venezuela. The fibre-optic cable was expected to revolutionise digital communications in Cuba, but so far no actual change has been seen and no one can say where the $70 million investment has gone (www.guardian.com, May 2012). Internet penetration still remains at 5.3 percent (www.freedomhouse.org, May 2016) with Cuba having one of the worst records for being the world’s most repressive environments for ICTs. Access to the World Wide Web is narrowly restricted to some government officials, including some academics, and to those with (almost always illegal) access to connections available to foreigners in Cuba.

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Progress is slow, but with the recent thawing in diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba since December 2014, and President Obama’s trip in March 2016, there has been increased talks between the countries over what can be offered to Cuba from US telecommunications companies. Despite these advances, Cuba still remains one of the most restrictive Internet access in the world and this will have a significant impact in how the country can develop using this technology.

For many Cubans, the Wi-Fi hotspots are outside most people’s reach, with one hour costing $2, where the monthly average salary is $20. The Internet remains the privilege of tourists who can afford the $4.50 an hour rate through their hotel, and this generates a black market of scalped access codes, which are sold illegally to capitalise on the demand (Geoffray, 2015). It is mainly foreigners who are allowed to access the Internet in large hotels. Some Cubans buy illegal passwords on the black market or take advantage of public outlets to access limited e-mail and the government-controlled “intranet” (CIA, 2006). This is widening the digital divide between those who can afford it, through remittances from family overseas, or from working in the tourist industry in Cuba and getting tips in American dollars (NPR, October 2015). Change is happening, but with limited access and pricing out of most people's reach, the revolution of the Internet cannot have the impact that many would wish for.

Linking this to the knowledge gap hypothesis, we can see how in Cuba’s case, members of the population who have a higher socioeconomic status are able to acquire the information at a faster rate and therefore the gap in knowledge acquisition widens within a population. The state's policy of high prices excludes many Cubans from being able to access the Internet as readily as those who can circumnavigate the system. The technological determinist argument loses some of its momentum when we consider the restrictions on Cubans to access the Internet and therefore harness the benefits.

The Cuban Digital Divide

From the history of the Internet in Cuba and recent development we can see that there is a strong link between access and the State. Furthermore, developments in the diplomatic relationship with the US have seen changes to the implementation and investment in the Internet. Now the relationship is improving, more investment can be made by US companies in telecommunications and in infrastructure, which is so sorely needed and can overcome the first barrier to the digital divide in Cuba.

Cuban government controls Internet politics through gatekeeping (lack of access) maintained through high pricing and reduced availability and strategies of control (monitoring of access). The Ministry of Communications argued that any political or military risks could be minimised by charging high prices for access — a fiscal means of controlling access while increasing connectivity (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). Keeping the price of Internet access high, limits the number of users. This can cause the digital divide, through access, to widen, the first stage in Hoffman’s model. But it is well known that an increasing number of users manage to connect to the internet illegally from home, using passwords from their workplace or accounts acquired through the black market or personal connections (Baron & Hall, 2015).

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Even once a Cuban has gained access the government monitors the Internet, restricting the content available. Users have to sign a document that says they must not look for content that violates national laws that are racist, pornographic or anti-Cuban (Hoffmann, 2003). Uxo (2009), however, argues that this monitoring is both ‘erratic and arbitrary’, ‘dependent to a great extent on the administrator of each area, where filters or controls governing one Internet connection may be completely lacking for others’. Government control of the Internet therefore appears to be more ideological than practical with many Cubans being able to find ways to circumnavigate the system.

The Cuban context provides a great opportunity for people to capitalise on economic opportunities once and if restrictions are lessened, according to Hoffman’s model. Internally there is a strong computing culture, with access to computers being widespread especially among those who are younger and who are the beneficiaries of Cuba’s astonishingly good educational system (Hoffman, 2004). The focus for the government is on collective use of the Internet, through state owned access, not private individual access. The role of the state therefore is fundamental in seeing how the country develops, especially with regard to its own special economic system in light of the new knowledge economy.

The Knowledge Economy and Cuba

Cuba has a state interventionist model when it comes to the economy, typical of socialist countries, the state becoming the owner of the means of production and of the distribution of goods and services (Baron & Hall, 2015). It has been argued that states that repress political and economic rights […] are less likely to adopt liberty-promoting new technologies’ (Corrales and Westhoff, 2006). The Cuban government has generally followed the three types of state policies to control the Internet: ‘blockage, access restrictions, and content control’. A type of ‘tecnodeterminism’ (López García, 2013) seems to be developing in Cuba whereby, in accordance with Marcus Leaning (2005), the way in which the internet is used in Cuba has more to do with the organisation of society than with the inherent nature of the technological medium itself (Baron & Hall, 2015). This is a specific case for ICT4D whereby the way in which the Internet can be harnessed and utilised for economic development is increasingly bound to the state in the Cuban context.

According to Press (2011), there are three reasons for the lack of free and open access to the Internet in Cuba: ‘the US embargo, the Cuban economy, and the government’s fear of information freedom’. With the lifting of sanctions with the US, there are now more opportunities for the Internet to be a useful tool for economic development. However, the priority for the Cuban government is Internet development at the level of the governmental and structural and not at the level of the individual (Baron & Hall, 2015). Individual access is still restricted and requires a great deal of ingenuity to work around. There is an evident desire to foster Internet use in Cuba in order to benefit the country as a whole; in terms of the Cuban economy the Internet will be vital for Cuba’s development in a global arena, given that historically Cuba has been dependent on external factors to keep the economy running (Baron & Hall, 2015).

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The average rate of Internet use among Cuba’s HDI neighbours is 43.4 whereas Cuba’s Internet use is 15.1, way below the average. Cuba's stagnant rate of Internet adoption is all the more surprising because Cuba is rich in the other factor that typically fosters internet adoption: high levels of human capital. (Corrales, 2016). Statistical analysis of the determinants of Internet use has shown that political rights and civil liberties scores as well as economic freedoms, determine Internet access: the less free the country (politically and economically) the lower the access to the Internet (Corrales and Westhoff, 2006). As Mauricio De Miranda Parrondo (2003) comments, the role of the state in the economic development of countries like South Korea, Israel, Taiwan and Singapore has been fundamental. The Cuban state must play a similar role then in order to improve the Cuban economy, and the Internet needs to play a significant part in that development. The ‘information age’ is no different; technology, information and communications are at the heart of economic development today and for Cuba to develop it must embrace this area.

One of the arguments for the positive aspects of the Internet is free and open access within the knowledge based economy. This flow of knowledge can stimulate new ideas and concepts and generate economic growth. However, there has been some critique of this perspective suggesting that this seemingly idyllic flow of knowledge (in the form of copyright, patents, and trademarks) merely results in new and more property issues of ownership creating boundaries between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ (Burnett et al, 2015). Gaps are magnified particularly between developed countries and those that are less developed in this global knowledge-based economy and in the context of Cuba this is exacerbated through state intervention.

In his study Garcia-Perez (2007) interviewed Cuban academics about knowledge flows. He noted that among his respondents there was consensus in describing IT as a driving force to development and innovation. The total of 25 respondents classified IT as a critical factor in the processes of knowledge-creation, storage and dissemination and therefore as tools for development. Computers were described as “a means to actively participate in the international debate and make a significant contribution in terms of new ideas and projects to the local context.” (Garcia-Perez, 2007). All 25 respondents acknowledged that the highs and lows of the Cuban economy are related to access to knowledge. The fact that it is not the economy but politics that sets the standards and future plans in Cuba was central in most responses (Garcia-Perez, 2007).

“The battle of Cuba’s government against technology is lost. Cubans are ready for the adoption of IT for development. A Cuban society integrated to the world economy using IT can bring a wealth of opportunities and benefits for local and international businesses from all sectors” (Garcia-Perez, 2007).

How the Cuban government can manage this is going to be an interesting development for the country over the next few years.

In May 2009, the government quietly passed a resolution forbidding ordinary Cubans from accessing hotel Internet services through de facto monetary obstacles already restricted Cuban's access to such services. (Corrales, 2016) The legendary Cuban ingenuity, which sees Cuban citizens always finding a way around the system, has seen a growth in hackers and black market trade from the Internet. Pirated material,

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digital content, traded passwords are all common ways for people to get online. Valdes & Rivera argue that Cuba’s Internet policy will be determined by the government’s assessment of its and the island’s situation: prospects, perils, opportunities and needs, often in the context of Cuba’s economic reinsertion by way of foreign investment, joint ventures, and the like (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). Furthermore, the Internet that Cubans will encounter in coming years may be driven not so much by computing enthusiasm as by commercialism, and characterised by an increase in economic and regulatory constraints as to entry, access, and use (Valdés & Rivera, 1992).

Contextual Summary

Given the relatively high educational level of Cuba’s population in general and workforce in particular, as well as widespread enthusiasm about computing and the Internet, however, it is reasonable to anticipate significant growth in the popularity and use of electronic networking. (Valdés & Rivera, 1992). Cubans receive a high level of education, and have experience of computing through the Intranet in the Island; adoption could be very rapid indeed. But state restrictions and severe controls on the Internet use means that Cuba is not able to participate a development leap that, precisely because of their privileged human capital, they should be well prepared to take. (Corrales, 2016). Mobile technology could also play a pivotal role in enabling more people to access content online, and to encourage the development of Cuban specific applications and software. As changes in Internet access and adoption ricochet through the island, the Cuban population may be able to harness and utilise the potential of the Internet for economic change.

While the debates rage over the impact of ICT4D, it is clear that the Internet and ICT is a phenomenon that is not going away. Rather than ignore the development of technology, it is pertinent for governments, industries and individuals to embrace the changes that this will bring and try and harness those opportunities. In the case of Cuba, the government policy of restriction and denial is one that it will ultimately lose. The detrimental impact of political rights and property rights suppression has been shown to lead to low economic growth and although ICT are not a cure all solution it is hard to imagine an economy today achieving international competitiveness with its back turned on this revolution (Corrales, 2016). The Cuban population has shown signs of wanting to get online and exploit the potential. As Cubans aging leadership (most are in their 70’s) changes, so must its Internet policies. The human potential is there in Cuba and the unique context of the history, politics and economics of the island rather than a narrative of technological determinism will determine how it develops. As in the case of the printing press, the revolution from the impact of new technology is just around the corner for Cuba.

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Chapter 3 – Research Design

The debate of ICT4D being a revolutionary tool to enable a country to develop and generate new economic opportunities for itself and to partake in the benefits of globalisation is still hotly contested, but few doubt that engaging with such technology is a core component of any country's development for the future. The way in which knowledge is shared and how that can contribute to new ideas and possibilities has been shown historically to make a huge difference to societies and people. The Internet has had this impact on our world but the missing component from the literature is not so much if it will (it has and will continue to do so) but rather how can a country shape the impact of these new technologies. As the knowledge economy grows and develops, being able to manage and understand how best for people to develop their skills will be a key strategy in reducing the digital divide.. Cuba is a country at a pivotal moment of change, and the role of the Internet is very much at the heart of this. Since Raul Castro took over as leader of Cuba, there have been many reforms to try and bring more economic opportunity to the country. The population of Cuba has an impressive literacy rate and a history of digital literacy which means that many Cubans could capitalize on the new reforms.

However, access comes at a cost, and is monitored and restricted. If we look at Rogers’ diffusion of innovation, he suggested there are five types of ‘adopters’ based on their relative likelihood to try out new things including: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards (Rogers, 1962). Based on this, it would be useful to focus this research on millennials that are categorized as those born between 1980 and 1995 that are considered the first generation that have experienced the Internet revolution in the west and potential early adopters. With the combination of increased of access to the Internet through Wi-Fi hotspots, the high potential of the Cuban population from a human capital perspective, the unique role of government and Internet use the focus of this research will be on the following:

Research question

How does the Internet foster economic opportunities?

Sub research questions

1. How is the Internet accessed in Cuba, and how do different forms of access relate to different types of economic activity?

2. How does digital literacy enable users to capitalise on digital dividends? 3. What role does governance play in lessening the digital divide and what does

this mean for Cuba?

4. How does the spatial and operational use of specific digital technologies impact on potential economic opportunities for the users?

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Table 1: Operationialisation Table

Concept Dimensions Indicators Methods Economic

Opportunities

Use of internet for exchange of goods and services

Use of internet for exchange of knowledge for monetary gain

How are new job opportunities created using the internet? Has the internet enabled you to create new job/business opportunities for yourself? How have you been able to use the internet to create new opportunities to gain money?

Semi-structured interview Participant observations Survey collection Internet access Connection to the internet through telecommunications, hotspots and internet cafes

How do people gain access to the internet?

What devices are used to connect to the internet? Participant observation Semi- structured interviews Inclusive access

All members of the society are able to access the internet

What are the different ways of gaining access to the internet?

Are there any barriers to internet access?

Semi- structured interviews

Economic opportunities

The ways in which people can gain money

What is the current situation of the labour market?

What are the main sources of income for people?

Are there any new sources of jobs and income?

Where are new opportunities for monetary gain? Semi-structured interviews Skills Development of employable/ business skills

How do individuals build their skills using the internet?

In what ways do they use the internet to share knowledge and information?

Semi-structured interviews

Participant observation Google trends data

Government and non-governmental actors Government agencies in charge of telecommunications

How do government agencies manage internet access?

Policy analysis Semi-structured interviews

Digital economy

The use of digital technology for business – apps, new software,

How do people build and use technology to enable them to benefit financially?

Participant observation

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Research Design and Methodology

From the operationalisation table, the key concepts were analysed using qualitative research methods, such as participant observation, situational analysis, interviews and policy analysis. Quantitative analysis was extracted from the survey data I collected and from Google trends data. This was a mixed methods research project that combined ethnographic practices, qualitative and quantitative research methods and I used an exploratory approach in my research design.

Participant Observations

Participant observations were used at the beginning of my research to identify key groups from the hotspots. This enabled me to understand the primary users of the Internet and examine what aspects of the digital divide were being manifested. From here, I designed my survey based on data collected from open interviews that I had collected during participant observations. By drilling down to what sorts of things people were using the Internet for I could then explore these further with specific questions about occupation, education and so on. This process was reflective and had to be adaptable to deal with the challenges of conducting research in the field.

Surveys

From my participant observations, I established which groups were key to understanding how the Internet is influencing economic opportunities. I designed the survey to primarily focus on ‘millenials’ who are capitalising on the Internet revolution. I wanted to gain more practical data on exactly what people are using the Internet for and how they accessed content. This survey helped me to plan my semi-structured interviews.

Semi- structured Interviews

Interviews were conducted with targeted people to gather more in depth information both from the participant observations and through contacts I made in the field. This included hackers, software engineers, tarjeta boys, entrepreneurs and designers. As some of these interviewees were working around the Cuban system many of the interviews were not audio recorded, and no names are recorded to ensure anonymity. Data analysis

To understand users and to examine what the primary use for the Internet seems to be, I used Google trends data to search for the most popular search terms in Cuba, This enabled me to have a better understanding of what they are doing while logged on and see if this correlated to what they said they were using it for.

Sampling techniques

Sampling techniques were primarily from contacts made at organisations using the Internet and from participant observations at the hotspots in Havana. This provided a wide spectrum of participants on which to base my study. I use the snowballing technique to encounter other participants.

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Research Limitations and Difficulties

When conducting a research project, there will be limitations that the researcher will face upon conducting fieldwork while trying to incorporate proposed research ideas with the differences between the imagined and actual conditions of the field. This research was aimed to assess if the Internet and access there of, created economic opportunities for Cuban people. This was through qualitative data gathering and quantitative methods. However, much of Cuba operates in an informal economy, whereby most people in order to survive have a side job to earn extra income. This is not reported as it is illegal to the state and is therefore difficult to track or measure. Collecting any significant data in this area would be nearly impossible considering my time constraints.

The biggest practical hurdle was certainly the language barrier. Data gathering in the first week was mainly based on observations and informal interviews in Spanish. Quickly however, I obtained a level of Spanish fluent enough to lead conversations and gather data more effectively.

There were certain security risks involved in the research due to the political sensitivity of the topic. When conducting interviews, I wrote notes down rather than record conversations as a way to ensure the participants safety. I also was unable to conduct research with any government official as my research was deemed to be politically risky. This meant that the research from a user perspective, rather than an governmental perspective.

In Cuba, while conducting research, one of the challenges was that I was always the outsider, the foreigner and the object of much curiosity. This made an impact on my positionality of that of being the researcher as observer. It meant that it took some time to build trust with marginal groups such as hackers or the tarjeta boys. This was a challenge but it was a great opportunity to enhance the information provided through the inquiry.

Research Ethics

The researcher is obligated to ensure that no harm befalls themselves or on others through the research undertaken. This research was conducted in respect to a broad range of ethical principles. They can be divided into four categories: Respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice (Haahr et al., 2014). The subject of the Internet in Cuba is one that causes a great deal of political debate. The government has mistrust of the Internet and of political dissent as evidenced by the arrest of blogger Yoani Sanchez in 2012 (www.bbc.co.uk, October 2012) and is reactionary in its approach to preserving the ideals of the revolution.

Denzin (1968) suggests that social researchers are entitled to study anyone in any setting provided the work has a 'scientific' purpose, does not harm participants, and does not deliberately damage the discipline, a more anything goes approach. While I was observing the parks, explaining to hackers and the tarjeta boys of what I was there for meant that I was being ethically open with my research and they could then

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open with what I was trying to achieve, to be informal in my arrangements with participants and make anonymity a fundamental component of my research.

All participants were informed as to the purpose of the information and why the interviews were conducted. A non-disclosure agreement concerning the information provided was verbally confirmed before the interviews and survey participation. All interviewees, except the founder of A La Mesa and the project leader of ParaWifi, who agreed to be cited personally, remain anonymous and are referred to only by location, age and gender.

Finally, in order to incorporate fairness and impartiality, the research was conducting in a way that respected the national and local laws of Cuba where the research took place.

Chapter Four: Access all areas?

Inclusive access is considered the cornerstone for any country to be able to utilise and captialise on the Internet, digital technology and reap the benefits from digital dividends. Inclusive access refers to technology that is ‘accessible, affordable, open and safe’ (World Bank Report, 2016). In this chapter I shall be examining the sub question of: What are the key components of inclusive access and how can do they translate into perceived economic opportunities?

Cuba has only recently begun to bring Internet access to the wider population. Previously, the Internet had only been accessible via government institutions, such as universities, hospitals and state departments. Now there is an alternative and since July 2015, Wi-Fi hotspots have burgeoned across the country (www.cubadebate.com, June 2015) with over 200 sites available. The greatest concentration of hotspots are located in the capital of Havana, and the remaining ones are located in urban centres across the country. These Wi-Fi hotspots are located outside in public spaces, in local parks or in the street and are accessed via a ‘tarjeta’, a Wi-Fi card that is purchased through the state run company ETECSA that controls all connections to the Internet across Cuba.

In this chapter, I will draw on my empirical research conducted in Havana on The Internet through the lens of inclusive access, specifically the dimensions of accessibility and affordability.

Accessibility

In order to gain access to the Internet, you have to first find a connection. In Cuba, connections to the Internet have primarily been through government institutions or if you are one of the lucky 4.1% - primarily doctors, professors and intellectuals – you may have home access (International Telecommunications Union, Cuba report 2014). Since 2015, the Cuban government has been opening up Wi-Fi hotspots for public access and there are now over 200 across the country. Havana has the highest concentration of hotspots at 41 (www.etecsa.cu, accessed March 2017), which are located across the city.

Cuba 2.0 : can the internet reboot the Cuban economy?