Source:
UNCTAD
According to the United Nations, there is still a lot to do in order to eliminate the digital gap. The conclusion of the Information Economy Report 2007-2008, presented by the UNCTAD, is that developing countries are very much behind developed countries regarding the adoption of the ICTs and how they are used by enterprises. April 2008.
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At the present time, there is broad consensus on the impact Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have at different levels of society. ICTs come into being as new instruments for which a wide variety of uses is thus generated, being one of the main conditions that they should operate as efficient tools for development. This correlation between ICTs and development has been thoroughly studied and researched and, in general, it is believed that a positive association exists between both variables, so that investment in TICs is considered as an important dimension for the successful achievement of development projects. In spite of this, there is still a long road ahead before such technologies are included in the development agendas, given the fact that Southern countries do not usually give priority to investment in these areas.
The interaction ICTs-development takes a new approach as of the adoption by the UN of the so called "Millennium Development Goals" (MDGs) in the year 2000, within the framework of the Millennium Summit. Such goals set targets to be met by the year 2015 which concisely refer to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, strengthening of gender equity, improvement of sanitary conditions, promotion of environmental sustainability and, in general terms, the promotion of development in poorer countries. One of the issues included in the latter goal is precisely referred to ensuring that the benefits provided by new technologies, particularly ICTs, are made available to all people.
From the moment of their formulation, MDGs have been adopted as reference framework for the evaluation of progress and regressions in the quality of life of people in those regions facing a critical socio-economic situation. In this way, the virtuous interaction ICTs-development is currently conceptualised in terms of the categories included in such goals. Thus, for example, a large number of studies have been carried out with regards to the contribution of ICTs to the processes of local development through the consumption and production of ICTs (examples of these are the creation of jobs, improvement in the quality of public services, increase in private sector productivity, etc.).
The participation of civil society in the elaboration of programmes aimed at implementing this type of projects has been acknowledged as an essential factor for the successful fulfilment of MDGs. Likewise, among those studies carried out, emphasis is laid on the need to set a universal system of indicators that may allow to measure the impact of the above-mentioned technologies on the fulfilment of MDGs as well as to enable the comparability of such incidence in different regions. In effect, this will be one the essential issues to be dealt with at the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
However, one of the recurrent problems that reverberates on the possibilities of investing in ICTs as instruments for the fulfilment of MDGs is that which refers to the lack of financing mechanisms for such investments, either at private, public or private-public level; and also to the secondary role ICTs are allocated by governments within public programmes or services.
Finally, although the relationship ICTs-development is not generally placed in doubt, the existence of proposals that, from a critical point of view, suggest a revision with regards to the current relevance of MDGs and their idyllic relationship with ICTs, cannot be avoided. In these cases, it is mainly claimed that such goals arise from a hierarchical and paternalist vision of Northern countries towards the South, which lack the necessary flexibility to face the changes experienced by Southern societies and fail to adequately address their specific realities.
This paper synthesises guidelines and good practices in broad terms for using ICTs in the heath sector; and focuses on the cost effectiveness of ICT-supported activities, and the use of ICTs for better monitoring of healthrelated MDGs. The study was implemented by a consortium of Healthlink Worldwide, AfriAfya and the Institute for Sustainable Health Education and Development with and commissioned by InfoDev. PDF format.
This document contributes to the preparation of the theme on Communication and Sustainable Development that has been identified as one of the key issues to be discussed at the World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) in October 2006 in Rome, Italy. It provides an overview of the rationale used to address the numerous themes related to the use of communication for sustainable development. PDF format.
When considering ICTs the question should not be whether they have impacted the day-to-day business and social life, but how equitable this impact is and how significant it is in addressing the main problems that society faces today. Through the WSIS second phase and its implementation and follow-up processes, Governments must exercise a choice that will secure the future for today's generation. Several studies indicate that ICTs can indeed be used to address social challenges if applied in the right developmental activities. This paper argues that, if deployed correctly and where relevant, ICTs have the potential to help poor communities to meet key development priorities, especially in the areas of poverty, health and education, and to play a catalytic role in accelerating economic growth. Specific points are suggested to initiate a multistakeholder discussion within a country or region about possible linkages between some of the Millennium Development Goals and ICTs national strategies.
This article is focused in rural poverty in India. The autor states that at a time when jobless growth proliferates, the government has found an easy way out. Realising the importance of developing an information and knowledge-based rural economy "especially among the ultra poor and socially underprivileged sections of the society," it has embarked upon an ambitious programme to take information communication technology (ICT) to the villages. But poverty cannot be removed by providing the poor with mobile phones and knowledge-kiosks whereas hunger cannot be fought by setting up a nationwide network of 'e-Choupals'. If we are honest in fighting hunger and squalor, let us begin by making an effort where it is needed, says the autor. July 2005.
ICT can make a difference in reducing poverty and reaching the MDG. This potential contrasts, however, with the relatively modest pro-poor ICT implementation level. What key barriers impede the implementation of declarations? How can we multiply, upscale and replicate successful pilot projects? This study provides answers to such pertinent questions and contributes to a multi-dimensional poverty reduction agenda for the implementation of the WSIS Principles and Action Plan to be closely linked to of the MDG. PDF Format.
This series of essays, treating the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in meeting the MDG, were prepared as a contribution to the deliberations of the Geneva Phase of the WSIS. It has been written to illustrate the enormous number of ICT innovations taking place around the world, and the complexity of the diffusion of those innovations. Ultimately, these essays are about encouraging patterns of innovation and technological diffusion that would better allocate scarce ICT resources.
The intersection of ICTS and the MDGS forms a critical nexus for the future of sustainable human development and poverty eradication. This paper argues that while the means to meet the challenge for scaling up innovation and investment in ICT for Development are actually close at hand, the so-called "digital divide" has shifted perilously in recent years to the detriment of the poorest and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), with major missed opportunities for the achievement of the MDG.
This article recognises the importance of a holistic and multi-sectoral framework and partnership approach that can more effectively harness the role of development (ICT-D) both as an enabler of development as well as an enhancer of capacity development at the individual, community, organisational, systemic and societal levels. In its development strategy, there is a focus on mainstreaming ICT to effectively contribute to achievement of the MDG, particularly those related to income poverty reduction, education, health, environment and gender equity. PDF Format.
This paper analyzes the benefits of technology to human development. The author focuses on the role of ICT to the various MDG as subscribed by the international community. A discussion is introduced on how ICT at large can help or facilitate human development and reduce poverty. Paper presented at the Asian Forum on Information and Communication Technology Policies and e-Strategies, 20-22 October 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. PDF Format.
A discussion paper for the 5th Session of the United Nations ICT Task Force in Geneva, September 12 and 13, 2003. This paper is about the connection between strategies to reduce poverty and strategies to maximize ICT benefit. It reviews the evolution of ICT strategies region by region and analyses the connection between e-strategies and poverty reduction strategies.
This report argues that achieving the MDG requires a clear political commitment to make science and technologies top priorities in the national development agendas. It is focused on three sub themes: infrastructure building as a foundation for science and technological development, the mutual interaction and dependency of Science and Technology Education with Research and Development; and the promotion of gainful employment and enterprise development through the use of new technologies, with a special focus on ICT and biotechnology. PDF Format.
This article proposes a revision of the relevance of the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the incidence of the ICT in the achievement of those goals, and argues that some different priorities should be considered to make most effective use of the opportunities that new technology affords. PDF Format.
The author states that using ICT to achieve the MDG is not only a matter of technology or funding, but also involves global and national policies and networking activities. PDF Format.
According to the United Nations, there is still a lot to do in order to eliminate the digital gap. The conclusion of the Information Economy Report 2007-2008, presented by the UNCTAD, is that developing countries are very much behind developed countries regarding the adoption of the ICTs and how they are used by enterprises. April 2008.
The overall objective of this paper is to map the role of ICT in helping to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDG), building on the global development objectives and indicators already developed by the United Nations. PDF Format.
Article from UN ICT Task Force meeting, held in November 2004, in Berlin. This meeting included a working party on ICT Indicators and MDG Mapping to discuss what progress has been made in mainstreaming ICT into the development agenda and, secondly, to analyze what effective measurement and monitoring tools are needed for capturing the effects of ICT on the Millennium Development Goals.
Discussion paper for the 4th Session of the United Nations ICT Task Force, Geneva, February 21 and 22, 2003. This paper explores the feasibility of creating tools for documenting ICT projects, evaluating their results and measuring their impact. The paper provides "an assessment of the quantitative (indicators of national e-readiness) and qualitative (case studies and stories) components of the knowledge base on ICTs for development; and a very selective review of ICT experience relevant to the poverty reduction, education, health and sustainable development goals."
This report presents analytical work on ICT policies and their implementation, and researches and seeks to inform policy making and enlighten decision-makers in their attempts to promote ICT development, especially in developing countries. It contains, also, a wide variety of ICT development indices for the year 2004 and descriptions about successful ICT based development projects in different parts of Africa. This report represents part of UNCTAD’s (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society. PDF Format.
The "World Telecommunication Development Report 2003: Access Indicators for the Information Society" provides both a tool kit for measuring access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and a synopsis of the current state of readiness for the information society. While the entire book is relevant to the Partnership goal of the MDG, Chapter 4 is devoted specifically to ICT and the MDG. PDF Format.
Why are development efforts not fulfilling the promises made in the Millennium Development Goals, to reduce poverty and improve poor people’s lives? One fundamental reason is that policymakers and development experts do not recognize the essential role that information and communication play in development. In this publication, Panos London sets out what they believe should be the role of communication in long-term, sustainable development. October 2007.
There are several epistemological shortcomings within Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) literature. The literature is overly optimistic, highly western, multidisciplinary, and atheoretical. It fails to draw extensively on a breadth of research in other fields such as media and communications studies. Why something is being researched is as important as what one is researching. Current ICT4D research investigates areas including telecentres, technological infrastructure, telephone incumbents, VoIP, mobile telephony, digital education, and the digital divide. Social science research methods often involve questionnaires, ethnography, face-to-face interviews, focus groups, or administrative research (Bauer and Gaskell 2000). These tools are proven to be successful, but are they the best methods for research on developing nations? What are the goals of ICT4D research? Does it try to lead toward policy change? Does it seek to inform other academics? Will it affect work by NGOs, the UNDP, or the World Bank? The article tries to answer these questions. December 2007.
The aim of this paper is to show how theoretical ideas from the social sciences can be applied to researching ICTs and socioeconomic development. Spring 2006.
In this article, the author argues that Web 2.0 is still a form of ICT – ICT is just an umbrella term, which covers all forms of digital information technologies. ‘But,’ the author says, ‘Web 2.0 is markedly different from other ICTs. It doesn’t just solicit; it thrives on the participation of people. It’s what fundamentally makes it different. Web 2.0 wouldn’t exist if it weren’t populated by people using it. September 2007.
This editorial discusses the ambivalent development implications of the recent 'explosive' growth of mobile phone use around the world. The editors foresee that in less than a generation the majority of poor people will have access to mobile phones and services. The editors highlight benefits of mobile phones for mitigating inequality and poverty through increased efficiency and through production benefits. They go on to consider the potential social costs and limitations of these technologies and their role in reinforcing existing inequalities. Finally, they call for policy arena to heed past learnings and local contexts when attempting to incorporate mobile phones into their strategies for development. There is then a responsibility upon ICTD research units to examine and respond to the ways in which mobile phone technology continues to interact with development. September 2007.
This guide is aimed at staff and volunteers from voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) who want to manage their information communication technology (ICT) better. The main sections reflect some of the key issues that VCOs face in managing ICT, from policies and procedures to keep things running; from how to produce an ICT strategy to putting realistic costs in to funding bids. Case studies help to illustrate how others have taken up the challenge of ICT and there is plenty of signposting to other information, especially to useful websites. August 2007.
Poverty and ICT use is extraordinarily diverse and mediated through local circumstances and social networks. Rather than trying to isolate specific and direct impacts of ICTs on poverty, the authors look at the broader processes and conditions in which they are operating and make comparisons across sites. The analysis has been shaped by the important themes that emerged from a preliminary look at the data. Some of the themes are empowerment, learning and education and social networks.
This site is designed to highlight some of the ongoing and successful ICT development projects taking place around the world. It provides insights into some of the many ways in which ICT can help marginalized societies to bridge the digital divide and transition into knowledge-based societies.
This report of the Digital Opportunity Initiative contains descriptions about successful ICT based development projects and information on the inclusion of ICT in developing countries development programmes, as well as an interesting analysis about national ICT policies implementation.
This report contains lessons learned from seventeen projects funded by infoDev out of a portfolio of more than 400 projects. All projects funded by infoDev are intended to facilitate the application of ICT to meet the MDG. These seventeen projects were selected not as the most successful, but as those likely to offer the best lessons and knowledge about how to use ICT for development purposes. An independent team analyzed them in terms of the MDG, and extract those lessons.
This publication by the GKP highlights initiatives that are using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to make a real and meaningful difference in communities around the world, no matter how disadvantaged or isolated they may be. These stories on Youth, Poverty and Gender are snapshots of the learning process that accompanies the introduction and implementation of ICT in a community development project.
This report illustrates the opportunities ICT offers policy makers and practitioners in their efforts to achieve the MDG and highlight some World Bank Group funded projects utilizing ICT to accelerate development.
More than 50 heads of state have come to Tunisia for the second phase of WSIS. This is a major gathering dealing with the implications of a fundamental technological revolution that is shaping the global economy and transforming nearly every aspect of our work. However, in the face of this accelerated technological change, aid agencies may not have paced up for several reasons. International financing institutions assumed that opening up the ICT sector to private investment would allow poor countries to leapfrog into the information age with little help from the public sector or public-private partnerships. The growing number of donor-funded initiatives and conferences in the sector may have created the illusion of action. The WSIS may end up adding to such conferences without concrete programs to build local leadership and capacity to harness the ongoing revolution for their own development priorities.
This publication, in preparation by the GKP for the Millennium+5 and WSIS summits, aims to build linkages between ICT and social participation, good governance and good government, and, in general terms, development process and specific development goals. This publication will form the thematic backbone of GKP's advocacy positions in these two summits.
Mainstreaming ICT in national development experiences
This report argues that the MDG challenge demands an unprecedented response at the global as well as at national level. Scaling and replication of ICT efforts will require aggregation of knowledge and resources across markets, and innovative breakthrough approaches to meet key price points and economies of scale for MDG delivery. Develop and Promote Global ICT & MDG Initiatives in sectors where the scaling and replication of ICT interventions will prove of most benefit to the achievement of the MDG, including economic opportunity for poverty eradication, health and HIV/AIDS, education and training, gender and youth empowerment, and public administration. PDF Format.
The basic aim of this bi-monthly publication is to create a platform for critical debate on the role, scope and experience of mainstreaming ICT in development interventions, especially in South Asia countries. It also seeks to address the concerns of policy-makers, government and non-government agencies and donors who are skeptical of ICT as tools for enhancing human development.
This paper explores the need for national strategies for ICT-enabled development. It aims to improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the ICT revolution, and their implications for development policy and strategies. The paper concludes by outlining the rationale for designing national strategies for e-development and options, objectives and major thrust for such strategies in support of economic growth, poverty reduction and the MDGs. PDF Format.
This report underscores the critical importance of science, technology and innovation for achieving the MDG. Responding to challenges in areas such as economic productivity, education, gender inequity, health, sanitation, environment and participation in the global economy will require increased use of scientific and technical knowledge. Technological innovation must be, therefore, at the centre of any development strategy. Of particular interest is Chapter 2: "How science and technology can contribute to achieving the goals". PDF Format.
This OECD-DAC Donor Information and Communication Technologies Strategies Matrix presents the latest information on how bilateral and multilateral donors have mainstreamed information and communication technologies (ICT) in their development assistance programmes in order to more effectively and efficiently achieve development goals, particularly the MDGs.
GKP understands that it is necessary to change the current paradigms of development intervention in order to meet the MDG. This publication is part of the "Knowledge For Development Series", an overall effort to increase the availability of information and knowledge on various issues in the area of ICT4D. It is an attempt to help mainstream understanding about MSPs, how they work, how they can be effectively formed and sustained, and their potential and actual contribution to the global effort to bridge the digital divide, deliver digital dividends and realise the MDG.
Realising internet’s role in democratisation and good governance, developed nations, especially countries in Europe and North America, have been exploiting this media to enable their citizens participate in governance and policy-making processes The recent proposal of setting up a "Global Alliance for ICT Policy and Development", as the successor of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies task Force (UN ICT TF) can be seen as the corollary of such approaches adopted at various regional and national levels. Global Alliance can function as the common platform for ICT-led development efforts as outlined in two global policy discourses - MDG and WSIS, catalysing the mutisectorial efforts in meeting this goals. Discussions are already underway as to see how the Alliance proposal can further be institutionalised in the upcoming MDG +5 Summit in September and WSIS II in November.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Panos London has recently brought out a publication that shares lessons learnt from ICTs and poverty reduction efforts in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It is edited by Kitty Warnock and Ravi Wickremasinghe, in cooperation with Gerolf Weigel. December 2005.
This paper provides a critique of the current agenda for achieving the MDG as regards ICT in Bangladesh. The MDG target, which focuses on connectivity (by measuring phones, computers and internet per 100 people) is completely on the wrong footing, it argues, and unlikely to achieve the goal of poverty reduction. The paper emphasises that making ICTs accessible to the poor and relevant to their livelihoods is a complex process. The authors also highlight the potential role of ICT in achieving other MDG goals in Bangladesh, for instance to universalise quality health care services, accelerate poverty alleviation, enhance the efficiency of the government and improve resource allocation and fiscal measures. June 2005.
SchoolNet Africa (SNA) is an African led and African-based independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) headquartered in South Africa. It is one of two continental schoolnet networks in the world, the other being European SchoolNet, operating as a network of networks which involves schoolnet practitioners, policymakers, teachers, learners, researchers, schoolnet organisations and international agencies operating in 33 African countries.
Creating viable and sustainable solutions for isolated communities in Zambia would require innovation and a multi-faceted approach. The author states that "tilting the balance towards an IT system that supports knowledge transfer is one that Africans need to adopt".
The 2000 UN Millennium Development Goals include gender equality and empowerment as one of the eight key goals. This paper presents two case studies from South India that reflect two of the possible ICT-based development approaches: a market-oriented and gender-blind approach that enables the competitive forces to exert an effect, and a state-led approach that deliberately and concertedly intervenes with a specific focus on gender. PDF format. August 2005.
The UNDP Knowledge Building in ICTD initiative provides capacitation in designing and implementation of partnerships-based ICTD initiatives. In 2005 a major focus is being made on the delivery of the ICTD Workplan Output: "Increasingly knowledgeable Country Offices’ colleagues capable to design and implement partnerships-based ICT-for-MDG initiatives". One of the planned activities, e-MDG (ICT-for-MDG), aims at developing and delivering training and advisory services to UN Country Teams in mainstreaming of ICTD knowledge services to support MDG-related programming.
The author analyzes the relevance of the MDG and WSIS targets for policy-makers and practitioners in Africa. He states that, by 2015, African Commonwealth countries may well be able to tick all of the ICT boxes contained in the MDG, and at least some of the WSIS targets, but questions if this will this help achieve the overall development strategy envisaged by the goals.
Africa’s active participation in the Information Society informs the need for each of the constituent nation to develop and implement national ICT policies (and strategies), with special consideration for meeting the goals of the MDG. This article aims to inform about the progresses made in the development and implementation of these kinds of policies in the African nations.
UNDP Albania was one of the first UNDP offices world -wide to develop an overall national MDG programme and to re-engineer its portfolio to ensure that every component of its work in Albania is linked to the MDG agenda. New information and communications technologies are viewed as important for achieving virtually all goals and targets, through deployment of technolo gical tools and the creation of enabling the environment, particularly in fields such as health, education, employment, HIV/AIDS, gender and poverty. PDF Format.
The Bangladesh Government recognises the importance of implementing the MDG vision as explained in the National Action Plan on ICT, which emphasises among others the development of contents for Internet and Internet in Bangla. This web portal, created and maintained by SDNP, includes a section on ICT & MDG. It is stated there that "ICT provides developing nations with an unprecedented opportunity to meet vital development goals".
