Using six case studies - including two from Kenya and Senegal respectively - a report by the Broadband Commission, ITU and Intel Corporation has found that when all the challenges around affordability, awareness and ability are adequately addressed, the value of ICT and broadband connectivity are realised.

The Report, Enabling the Use of ICTs and Broadband: Understanding What Works to Stimulate ICT Adoption, touched on how collaboration and public-private partnerships have created significant impact in leveraging the opportunities related to broadband access and use, to achieve 'demand stimulation'.

Demand stimulation is the term given to addressing the impediments to productive use – affordability, awareness and ability - which indicate lack of demand.

It looked at demand creation programmes which develop relevant services, programmes and initiatives to unlock the benefits of broadband, address barriers to adoption and increase first time users.

Country-led programmes targeted to stimulate ICT adoption and increase the use and impact of technologies and broadband in Kenya and Senegal - as well as others - provides a set of best practices that can be scalable and replicable in other contexts.

Due to Senegalese universities' inability to handle the demand for over 45,000 new students eligible for admission each year - it could only absorb 30% of the student population, the government addressed overcapacity in its universities through a programme that provides subsidised personal computers and broadband connections to enable virtual learning.

Performance Contracts were signed between universities and World Bank for a loan to modernise ICT infrastructure at universities and develop a mechanism of integration of ICT into the teaching and learning process.

Students purchase a PC through a programme that reduces the cost, mitigates risk to lenders and shares costs. A mobile network operator committed to a discounted student offer that included a wireless 3G dongle at US$4 per month.

"In 2013, the first Senegal Virtual University was created and enrolled 2064 students. In 2014, enrolment reached 7,000 students with 10,000 more registrants expected in 2015. By 2016, the Senegal Virtual University has become the second largest university in the country."

The government in Kenya established a digital learning programme which has helped to increase the number of students attending primary education. This includes the implementation of a plan to deliver 1.2 million laptops to students and classroom equipment to 23,000 schools countrywide.

The Digital Learning Programme on Primary Education in Kenya introduced the new avenue of eLearning to ensure that children in rural areas in particular have access to suitable education material.

While not exhaustive, the authors of the report believe the examples given provide a useful window into different ways governments and the private and civil sectors can collaborate for mutual benefit, to get underserved populations productively online.