Aiming Towards Global Connectivity...
Information Communication Technology(ICT) is a powerful tool - a tool that can help build social networks and contribute towards progressive social change. Increased access to information goes hand in hand with socio-economic and overall human development.
Though the right to seek, receive and impart information is a basic human right, many people in the developing world are deprived of this very basic right. Using ICT for Development can be an effective way of reaching out to rural and remote 'unconnected masses'.
When we talk about ICT we include Telephones, Faxes, Audio Video Equipment, Radio, Television and the Internet. In true spirit of creating an information society that fits into the information age, efforts are being made to cross digital divides and provide equal access to every body. Developmental agencies and Communicators world wide have taken up the challenge of bridging information gaps between the North and the South.
This website introduces to its readers the concept of using ICT for development and provides links to sites which deal with "Reaching the Unreached". The United Nations and its agencies have included ICT on their agendas. Telecenters are Mushrooming in the developing world, providing access and information on issues like agriculture, education, health, human rights and legal counseling.
Success Stories
The Grameen Telecom's
village phone project is a landmark case study of ICT for development. The Grameen Bank promoted micro enterprise among women in villages in Bangladesh by enabling them to retail phone calls on their cellular phones . This is also a classic case of 'leapfrogging' stages in development, it clearly shows how you can skip stages of development by adopting new technology.
Literature on ICT
If you want to read about the wild development of information and communication technologies and their sociocultural impacts this book is a must. Issues such as freedom of the media, the role of public service broadcasting, editorial independence, the use of the Internet in education, cultural pluralism, worldwide access to information resources, challenges to intellectual property and censorship on the Internet are discussed by eminent specialists from all origins. Most importantly, the impact of information and communication technologies on human development and the role that governments should play in this respect is addressed. Regional chapters examine to which extent telecommunications, computers and the Internet reach developed and developing countries, urban and rural areas, literate and illiterate, the rich and the poor.
- Publications on Information and Communication by IDRC
- Books on Development Communication
Telephone, fax, email, Internet; telemedicine, distance education, news distribution, telecommuting: are some of the services offered by the community Telecenters. At Cornell the Department of Communication is is actively involved in the research and design of Telecenters in Developing nations. Prof. Royal D. Colle is a pioneer in the field of ICT and is presently looking into setting Telecenters in rural China, Graduate student Raul Roman is studying the Telecenter Movement in South Africa , while Ami Sengupta is working on Women and ICT in Rural Nepal . We would be happy to share with you any information on ICT as our projects develop.
Links:
The ICT movement is gaining fast popularity and as the world moves towards becoming a true Global Village, I am sure Information Communication Technology will play a very vital role in connecting the world. However while talking of ICT's and Development there are some important considerations that need to be made. Primary among them are: Do Telecenters truly respond to the communication and information needs of the communities they are intended to serve? What impact do they have on social equity and economic development? Are the privileged members of the rural communities the first ones to get access to ICT's ?There by is the hegemony of the information haves continueing? How big an impediment is illiteracy to the effectiveness of ICT's? Having considered these problem areas of the ICT discourse promoters of new information technology can hopefully overcome the barriers and make the world a real information highway!
Website created by:
Ami Sengupta
4/16/00
