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ICT4D - ICTs for Development

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United Nations Activities on Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2023

Geneva: ITU (2024), xviii, 366 pp.

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AI for Good: Impact Report

Geneva: ITU (2024), viii, 80 pp.

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Error 404, farmer not found: Why agricultural information services must consider how smallholders use their phones

Jonathan Steinke et al.

Alliance of Bioversity International; International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); CGIAR (2024), 7 pp.

"Numerous barriers hinder mobile information services in delivering information effectively to smallholder farmers. Many of these barriers can be explained by farmers’ habits in using their phones. Therefore, carefully considering how exactly farmers use their phones in specific local context is c ... more

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Zambia. A Survey Report

Internews; FHI 360; USAID (2024), 16 pp.

"The findings reveal that 44% of CSOs are currently utilizing AI tools, with generative AI being the most popular, while 96% of non-users are considering future integration. However, 54% have not yet adopted AI. Perceptions of AI’s impact on job security vary, with 48% seeing no threat, 13% percei ... more

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Impact Assessment: Rural Household Devices Project Program of the Uganda Communications Universal Service Access Fund (UCUSAF)

Evelyn Namara, Ingrid Brudvig

Alexandria, VA; Kampala: Global Digital Inclusion Partnership; Uganda Communications Commission (2024), 46 pp.

"The impact assessment underscores the commendable achievements of the Rural Household Devices project. By December 2023, the initiative had successfully reached 54 districts and impacted 10,706 households. The outcomes are multifaceted and transformative, with a substantial number of beneficiaries ... more

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The promises and pitfalls of cryptocurrencies and blockchain for marginalized communities

Densua Mumford, Michael Sampson, James Shires

Information, Communication & Society, volume 28, issue 11 (2024), pp. 1979-1996

"Cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain technology that underlies them, have attracted much attention over the last decade from scholars, tech communities, financial institutions, states and more. The extreme volatility of the cryptocurrency market has made some people very rich and cost others almost ... more

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AI for Climate Action: Applications and Principles in Development Cooperation

Katelin Butler, Moritz Harzbecher, Sven Marc Egbers, Lea Voigt, Erik Lehmann, Ruth Schmidt

Bonn; Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2024), 16 pp.

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The perils of ‘tech for good’ lie in its politics of helping

Lisa Ann Richey, Adam Moe Fejerskov

Big Data & Society, issue October–December (2024), 5 pp.

"Vexing political questions of power, inequality and coloniality permeate the tech sector and its growing use of global ‘virtual’ assembly lines that see them penetrate even refugee camps in efforts to extract value. As a response, tech companies have been expanding non-commercial activities wit ... more

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Principles for Digital Development
Key Guides

Principles for Digital Development Working Group (2024)

"The Principles for Digital Development serve as a compass for those working to promote sustainable and inclusive development in today’s complex digital landscape. Using these Principles as a starting point, policymakers, practitioners, and technologists will be better equipped to ensure that all ... people can benefit from digital initiatives and from the broader digital society. Originally developed in 2014, the Principles are officially endorsed by more than 300 organizations, including donors, international organizations, and civil society organizations. During the first decade (2014-2024), they widely influenced funder procurement policies and the design and implementation of development programs. In 2024, the Principles were updated in consultation with a diverse set of individuals and organizations. Through this effort, the community expressed the need for the Principles to better reflect that people today largely interact with technology outside of development programs. Today, all people – even those who do not yet have access to or use technology – live in societies that are increasingly shaped by digital ecosystems that can bring both immense benefit and immense harm. Therefore, the refreshed Principles recognize the need for radical inclusion and local ownership; elevate issues arising from the generation and use of digital data; emphasize that open approaches to innovation can support the realization of the nine Principles; and intentionally speak to the original audience while resonating further with the full diversity of individuals and organizations that exert power over the design, deployment, and governance of digital systems and solutions. The Principles are mutually reinforcing, as they emphasize the actions needed to ensure no one is left behind in an increasingly digital world." Ultimately, when designing and implementing a policy, solution, system, or intervention, endorsers of these Principles commit, at minimum, to do no harm, and at best, to ensure their work maximizes the agency of people and communities to drive their own development. To achieve these objectives, each endorser will define how these Principles can be operationalized in their work, sphere of influence, and specific initiative. " (Introduction) more

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5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good
Deep Insights

Isabelle Amazon-Brown, David Cole

ICTworks (2024)

"ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization focused on fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases, particularly in Africa. ONE had been using mobile technologies to reach new audiences since 2012, leveraging SMS, USSD, IVR and mobile-optimized websites to provide a simple and easy for cit ... more

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Digital Development Guidebook

Christopher Neu, Nora Lindström, Ziad Al Achkar, Yohan Perera

NetHope; Catholic Relief Services (CRS) (2024), 56 pp.

"The three themes selected for exploration in this guidebook are: digital public goods, digital localization, and digital skills and rights. While none of these are new themes in technology and international development programming, they each represent increasingly important considerations for optim ... izing digital investments and rethinking the way. and rethinking the way digital development actors operate and create change through leveraging technology. DIGITAL LOCALIZATION. In response to growing development challenges with scarce resources, digital development practitioners are increasingly recognizing the benefits of greater access for local actors to resources, partnerships, decision making, and capacity strengthening. Exploring best practices for digital adaptation to specific contexts, reviewing lessons learned in fostering local ownership and local tech leadership, and understanding donor perspectives and consensus agreements such as the Grand Bargain will all be key steps in planning technology strategies effectively. It is important to note that the sector lacks a common definition of localization and its intended outcomes. DIGITAL PUBLIC GOODS. As digital development organizations have come to integrate technology into their strategy and approach, the reliance on proprietary solutions has brought challenges for sustainability and working with local partners from smaller NGOs to government entities. Building on developments in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Digital Public Goods (DPGs) offer implementers new opportunities to reimagine approaches to better serve communities in need. DIGITAL SKILL AND RIGHTS. Digital transformation and local ownership must be built on a foundation of digital rights and digital skills to help create a more informed, equitable, and connected society. This past decade highlighted the need to apply international human rights to the digital arena and the interconnectedness of digital rights with physical protection. Donors and implementers must both align on issues such as access to information, privacy and security, and freedom of expression if digital investments are to yield sustainable societal outcomes and development impact. Local governments have an essential role to play in enabling the environment that allows a digital ecosystem to flourish and be free. Broad regulations such as GDPR, as well as organizational strategies by Oxfam and others to prioritize these insights will be key." (Introduction to key themes, pages 17-18) more

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Imaging and Assessing Mobile Technology for Development

Richard Musabe, John Sören Pettersson (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne (UK): Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2024), xvi, 186 pp.

"Several studies have already depicted the development of M4D and of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), and that will not be repeated here. However, as this collection of chapters have sprung out from one of the M4D conferences – the M4D 2022 in Kigali – some notes ... on what have been salient at different conferences can be made. If we start with the M4D in Senegal 2014, we can see that from that conference stems a book where the chapters “initiate evocative conversations on how mobile technologies can contribute to expanding mobile participation practices” (Wamala-Larsson, Hellström, and Scharff 2015, 12). In Mozambique, in 2016, there were some contributions connecting to radio and TV technology; the M4D 2018 conference in Uganda included some papers on how utilities can be backed by subscription schemes via mobile services, as well as by apps where citizens can report dysfunctions and illicit use. The M4D 2020 did not take place, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the possibility of running a conference on site and it was postponed to 2022, when Rwanda saw the first blended M4D conference. The Zoom presence for several dozen participants over three days went very well and, via two cameras and two large screens at the venue site, they blended in well at the conference. The IT maturing effect caused by the pandemic was thus noticeable. Among the presentations it was noticeable that the Internet of Things and drones, often blended with machine learning, are now imaginable as “mobile technology”. Of course, drones are always mobile, and IoT sensors often travel with cargo, but it was the realisation of the affordability of these technologies for food chain, livestock, and crop management, combined with their reliance on mobile phone networks to make use of farmers’ photos and senor data, that made such presentations appropriate at a conference that focuses on affordable communication technology. While technology is a prerequisite, in this volume, based on selected contributions to that conference, we will balance some imaginations with some assessments. The focus will not be on the “new” M4D, even though we acknowledge that it is time to set up demonstration farms with IoT and machine learning, as pointed out by Ronald Katamba from Uganda in an interview (Pettersson and Rehema 2022, 145), and books are now published on Applying Drone Technologies and Robotics for Agricultural Sustainability (Raj, Saini, and Pacheco 2023, with examples from India and Zimbabwe; see also FAO and ITU 2022). Instead, the chapters selected for this book adhere to the theme of knowledge dissemination and knowledge development, as mentioned already. One chapter was invited to report from the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things, hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, to illustrate the efforts to build native technological competence on an advanced level. That chapter simultaneously demonstrates the growing pan-African collaboration in the academic infrastructuring project." (Foreword, pages x-xi) more

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A return of dominant paradigm in China: Making Alibaba a development solution for rural China and the globe

Ziyi Wang

Information, Communication & Society (2024), 21 pp.

"In 2011, Alibaba launched the Taobao Villages initiative, which enables rural e-commerce and connects rural sellers with urban buyers, highlighting the role of e-commerce platforms in reducing rural poverty. This approach was later integrated into national rural development policies. As the Digital ... more

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Google Scholar (61)

WorldCat (70)

ICT and Rural Development in the Global South
Deep Insights

Willem van Eekelen

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xiii, 211 pp.

"Drawing on years of experience across 45 countries, as well as extensive original academic research, Willem van Eekelen situates the evolving role of ICT in wider development patterns in the Global South. He discusses the effects of ICT on agriculture, trade, financial flows, resource management an ... more

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Improving Farmer Livelihoods Through Digitised Agricultural Value Chains: Results and Lessons from the GSMA Innovation Fund

Emily Gamble, Lisa Chassin

London: GSMA (2023), 143 pp.

"Digital agriculture services supported by the GSMA Innovation Fund were scaled across 17 value chains and profiled more than 1.4 million farmers combined. Most of the farmers profiled are male (70.3%), smallholder farmers cultivating on less than two hectares of land (79.3%) and over 40 years of ag ... more

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Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages
Deep Insights

Key Guides

Genner Llanes-Ortiz et al.

Paris: UNESCO; Global Voices (2023), 193 pp.

"This toolkit has been co-designed in close partnership with both established and emerging networks of Indigenous digital practitioners, language advocates, and collaborators, within the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032. The toolkit promotes the foundation of l ... more

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Rapid Response Fund for the Protection of Digital Rights in Latin America

Derechos Digitales (2023), 22 pp.

"In 2022, the Rapid response Fund for the Protection of Digital Rights in Latin America (RRF) celebrated three years of work. Managed by Derechos Digitales, the RRF was conceived as a contextualized, agile, flexible and less bureaucratic response to the needs of organizations and activist working in ... more

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Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Mali

Sophia Anong, Bouchaib Bounabat, Patrick Malone

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project (2023), 99 pp.

"The Mali Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Mali DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Mali’s digital ecosystem and provides 11 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by 3 USAID/Mali pri ... more

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Digital Change

D+C: Development and Cooperation, issue 4 (2023), pp. 19-33

"For nations to make the most of digital technology, governments must play their role. Formal education is becoming increasingly important. Yes, some apps serve illiterate people, but those who read have access to far more information. International discourse is held in languages like English, Frenc ... more

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Coding Da Vinci: Das Playbook. Schritt für Schritt zum eigenen Kultur-Hackathon

Philippe Genêt, Andrea Lehr Ilias Kyriazis (eds.)

De Gruyter Saur (2023), 95 pp.

"Das von 2019 bis 2022 von der Kulturstiftung des Bundes geförderte Projekt "Coding da Vinci" vernetzt seit 2014 technikaffine und kulturbegeisterte Communities mit deutschen Kulturinstitutionen, um das kreative Potential in unserem digitalen Kulturerbe weiter zu entfalten. Inhaltlich ist die Publi ... more

Principles for Digital Development Key Guides

5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good Deep Insights

ICT and Rural Development in the Global South Deep Insights

Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages Deep Insights Key Guides

Principles for Digital Development
Key Guides

5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good
Deep Insights

ICT and Rural Development in the Global South
Deep Insights

Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages
Deep Insights

Key Guides