Public- Private Collaboration

Many countries are using a new model of alleviating the digital divide. They believe that involving the private sector in this process will help remove discrepancies faced earlier. One example of this can be found in Taiwan. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Taiwan has started the ADOC project. This project seeks to collaborate with the private sector in order to achieve focused goals. They are working with companies like ACER (second largest PC maker) by making ‘digital cars’. These units will help as mobile classrooms and serve more people. The project is already gaining success in eastern Taiwan.
http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=111056

Government officials of many developing countries believe that the public-private partnership can result in more sustainable programs. Such programs will not only offer an in-built structure for accountability but will also help with transparency. According to Dr. Krishna (Additional Secretary for the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India), “This transparency brings about improved accountability of the [government] agency and gives satisfaction to the people.”
http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/oct/20/public-private-coalitions-key-digital-divide/

Another example of this collaboration can be seen in Vietnam. Cisco has collaborated with educational institutions to create a highly skilled workforce by supporting the demands for information and communication technology. According to Sandy Walsh (Regional manager of Cisco in Asia Pacific), " Students learn both ICT and other 21st century skills which give students an edge in their career as networking professionals of the future.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cisco-helps-transform-education-in-vietnam-by-investing-in-next-generation-2010-10-19?reflink=MW_news_stmp
This collaboration will help the students in achieving competitive advantage. They can be considered for employment all over the world.

The public-private collaboration is indeed a better way of dealing with the situation. This will allow the companies to focus on a particular issue and diligently manage it. Because the company’s reputation is at stake, they will handle it better than the public organizations. They will try to cut through the corruption or will have financial tools to face them. To acquire a better understanding of the situation, I conducted a telephonic interview with the chairman of a railroad ties company in India.

According to my interviewee, private sectors can indeed put in more money and effort in the process. He believed that the public sector had the potential to get the work done but due to too much intrinsic politics and lack of proper resources, they start well but eventually get stuck. He said that the private sectors could help change this.

The private sector is more interested in sustainability and stakeholder relations. By taking over a project, they can help the local community while keeping their employees and other stakeholders happy. Also, many industrialists who have done well for themselves like to give back to their community as they have strong ties with them. This is more on the lines of pure philanthropy.

The involvement of private sector will help establish checks and balances that will help in improving accountability and transparency of a particular project. Also, these companies like to assess their impact and that such assessment is possible if there is better funding. So, it is definitely better to involve the private sector. The only problem associated with such collaborations is that the public and the private sector may not have the same goals. So, it is imperative that such goals are decided upon at the nascent stage.