"The first three chapters set out the foundations of ICT4D: the core relation between ICTs and development; the underlying components needed for ICT4D to work; and best practice in implementing ICT4D. Five chapters then analyse key development goals: economic growth, poverty eradication, social deve
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lopment, good governance and environmental sustainability. Each chapter assesses the goal-related impact associated with ICTs and key lessons from real-world cases. The final chapter looks ahead to emerging technologies and emerging models of ICT-enabled development. The book uses extensive in-text diagrams, tables and boxed examples with chapter-end discussion and assignment questions and further reading. Supported by online activities, video links, session outlines and slides, this textbook provides the basis for undergraduate, postgraduate and online learning modules on ICT4D." (Back cover)
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"Far too often the implicit theory of change in digital developments, as with technology for development more generally, is that importing technologies can fix development. This does not acknowledge the political and social transformations that are needed to address and overcome economic and power a
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symmetries. Although understandable, the focus on simple fixes places too great an emphasis on the visible aspects of technology, which, at best, provide incremental gains in developmental terms. This leads to less attention on the less visible but fundamental aspects of capacity, skills and institutions, where arguably the potential for transformational development gains truly lie. The most significant digital development gains - as with technology for change more generally - have involved a dynamic interplay between technological developments and institutional change." (Page 15)
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"I am glad to introduce the third edition of a series of reports aimed at discussing macroeconomic developments in the Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Mali, and Niger. This series intends to foster public debates on key macroeconomic and fiscal policy options in support of poverty reduction.
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It disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. One of the objectives of the series is to appraise regional trends and analysis quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. In short, this new series is a novel vehicle for the Bank to pitch priority policy reforms not yet properly tackled or even debated in those countries [...] Because economic diversification is slow and ongoing electoral processes are complex, joint efforts are currently underway to construct new development strategies. In this regard, this report analyzes the status of the “digital revolution,” i.e., the rapid penetration of information and communication technologies (ICT) services in these countries. Such services weigh heavily on future growth and poverty reduction prospects. However, complex regulation and heavy taxation by international standards are placing major obstacles on ICT development and the industry’s competitiveness in these countries that need to be removed. In addition, our special section entitled “Country Focus” addresses a common regional problem in these agriculture-based economies, namely Mali’s low agricultural productivity. Many lessons are learned from its major determinants, and multiple policies to accelerate it are proposed." (Foreword)
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"ICTs in Developing Countries is a collection of conceptual and empirical works on the adoption and impacts of ICT use in developing societies. Bringing together a wide range of disciplines and contributors, it offers a rich examination of digital divide and ICT for development both in terms of cont
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extual information and disciplinary perspectives." (Publisher description)
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"In this article we depart from studies on empowerment and its intersections with the informal economy and market women in the Global South and promises of the mobile phone in so-called developing regions. Conducting an explorative study among market women in Kampala, the aim is to examine what role
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s (if any) the mobile phone plays for them in terms of empowerment. Our findings resonate with studies from other parts of the world, suggesting that while pivotal for their business endeavors, mobile phone practices are also embedded in patriarchal structures. By discussing how these market women navigate the tensions between using the phone for their business and in relations to their partners, the article contributes a more nuanced and context-specific understanding of mobile phone practices and the empowerment of market women. We conclude the article by suggesting a situated approach to the study of empowerment." (Abstract)
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"Digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world. Digital dividends—the broader development benefits from using these technologies—have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggreg
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ate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed. For digital technologies to benefit everyone everywhere requires closing the remaining digital divide, especially in internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on the “analog complements”—by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable." (Overview, page 2)
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"This paper takes four key policy issues for protecting human rights online - net neutrality; an absence of arbitrary online filtering and blocking; an absence of arbitrary surveillance; and protecting intermediaries from liability for user-generated content. For each policy area it summarises the t
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heoretical economic arguments for adopting a human rights-respecting position, and then attempts to collate any empirical data that exists to back up those arguments. In doing so, the paper aims to assist human rights defenders to develop persuasive arguments that they can use with policy-makers, and to highlight areas where more research and evidence is needed." (Summary, page 6)
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"Through the methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the report measures the extent to which 144 economies, from both the developed and developing worlds, take advantage of ICTs and other new technologies to increase their growth and well-being. The NRI identifies the most r
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elevant factors driving ICT readiness and impacts, providing policymakers, business leaders, and civil society at large with a useful tool for designing national strategies for increased networked readiness and for benchmarking their country’s performance against other relevant comparators. The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest computation and rankings of the NRI, and in referring to this year’s theme, dives deeper into the connection between ICTs and economic growth and job creation. As in previous years, it also showcases a number of ICT development stories of particular interest. In addition, the report includes detailed profiles for the 144 economies covered this year together with data tables for each of the 54 indicators used in the computation of the NRI." (Back cover)
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"The Nigerian media focuses little on business, and the business coverage that does exist is often dominated by macro-economic, large and international business issues, or is one-sided, representing only the views of government or the elite. The real issues that impact on Nigeria’s millions of sma
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ll businesses and its huge agricultural sector are often neglected, and the poor are denied an effective voice on business environment issues [...] ENABLE [the Enhancing Nigerian Advocacy for a Better Business Environment program] [...] recognis[es] media as a key driver of change and working to reinforce the incentives and improve the skills around small business and agricultural reporting. This involves developing the media as a major actor in the business environment policy process, and working with them to increase the quality and quantity of sustainable (commercially viable) coverage of small business and agricultural issues. The underlying premise for sustainability in media is simple: media coverage that focuses on the real issues that impact on how the majority of Nigerian’s make their living, and which does this in a dynamic and relevant way, will gain significant audience. These popular media products will then attract advertisers and sponsorship. In other words, effective programmes that focus on the livelihoods of the poor can be both popular and profitable for media houses." (Executive summary)
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"Drawing on Amartya Sen's capabilities approach to development - which shifts the focus from economic growth to a more holistic, freedom-based idea of human development - Dorothea Kleine examines the relationship between ICTs, choice, and development. Kleine proposes a conceptual framework, the Choi
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ce Framework, that can be used to analyze the role of technologies in development processes. She applies the Choice Framework to a case study of microentrepreneurs in a rural community in Chile. Kleine combines ethnographic research at the local level with interviews with national policy makers, to contrast the high ambitions of Chile's pioneering ICT policies with the country's complex social and economic realities. She examines three key policies of Chile's groundbreaking Agenda Digital: public access, digital literacy, and an online procurement system. The policy lesson we can learn from Chile's experience, Kleine concludes, is the necessity of measuring ICT policies against a people-centered understanding of development that has individual and collective choice at its heart." (Publisher description)
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"This edition is “special” as it provides a rich body of evidence demonstrating local creative economy decision makers and stakeholders in action that did not exist before. The evidence and analysis are presented in two formats: in this printed report and in a new webdocumentary that accompanies
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this publication, capturing the dynamism of the creative economy in developing countries. Case studies are provided across the global South from the Asia and the Pacific region to the Arab world, from Africa to Latin America and the Caribbean. This is strengthened by the first portfolio analysis of the impact of initiatives funded through the UNDP-Spain Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund Thematic Window on Culture and Development and the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity demonstrating that local decisions makers are shaping their own creative economy development pathways." (Foreword, page 10-11)
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"The Report is composed of four thematic parts. Part 1 describes the conceptual framework and relates the findings of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2012. In addition, Part 1 features selected expert contributions on the general theme of hyperconnectivity. Part 2 includes two case studies showi
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ng the efforts that two countries, Azerbaijan and Mauritius, are making to develop ICT and fully leverage their potential benefits. Part 3 comprises detailed profiles for the 142 economies covered in this year’s Report, providing a thorough picture of each economy’s current networked readiness landscape and allowing for international comparisons of specific variables or components of the NRI. Part 4 includes data tables for each of the 53 variables composing the NRI, with rankings for the economies covered as well as technical notes and sources for the quantitative variables used." (Executive summary, page xi)
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"The study “Tunisia: from revolutions to institutions” stresses how technology-oriented small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can generate economic expansion and job growth, including in the economically-isolated interior provinces. Tunisian ICT companies are likely to find an attractive marke
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t in Northern Africa and parts of Europe, thanks to Arabic and French language skills and lower labor costs. Entrepreneurs, however, expressed frustration with the cost of doing business and government control of critical markets, which was installed by the previous regime. They also recognized the need for a more market-responsive higher education system that produces graduates with more up-to-date and practical knowledge. Central to the Tunisian revolution of 2011, ICTs remain critically important to helping address the root causes that led to the uprising in the first place, according to the report. New technologies and applications are necessary to creating a vibrant economy that produces sustainable jobs for the country’s young population and helping to constitute an open and transparent society." (www.infodev.org, March 20, 2012)
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"Analyzes the growth and evolution of mobile telephony, including the rise of data-based services delivered to handheld devices through “apps” (applications) and other ways. Summarizing current thinking and seeking to inform the debate on the use of mobile phones to improve livelihoods, the repo
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rt looks, in particular, at key ecosystem-based applications in agriculture, health, financial services, employment, and government, with chapters devoted to each, and explores the consequences of the emerging “app economy” for development. The global conversation is no longer about the phone itself, but about how it is used and the content and applications that it opens up. These apps and “mash-ups” of services, driven by high-speed networks, social networking, online crowdsourcing, and innovation, are helping mobile phones transform lives in developed and developing countries alike." (Back cover)
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"This publication has four main purposes. First, it informs local authorities and business associations in Ghana about the benefits of setting up industrial zones in their localities. Second, decision makers will learn about what has been achieved so far through the support to industrial areas in va
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rious regions of Ghana. Third, the document aims to share experiences on how to use radio programmes for economic development initiatives such as industrial zones at the local level. It also targets local media, especially radio, and demonstrates what they can do to create interesting programmes for small businesses and to support local economic development at the same time. Last, but not least the publication seeks to contribute to a wider knowledge sharing among stakeholders as well as the public at large on how to use media for public private dialogue." (Introduction, page 3)
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"La rápida difusión de la telefonía móvil en los países emergentes está cambiando las relaciones entre los actores económicos, los modos de relación interpersonal y la dinámica política de estas sociedades de forma acelerada y difícil de predecir. A lo largo de la historia, la tecnología
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ha infl uido de forma decisiva en los procesos de desarrollo económico y cambio social. Y aunque la telefonía móvil no es una excepción, su rápida difusión se convierte en un reto para comprender cuáles son sus efectos sobre los modos de organización social y política, así como sobre las culturas y los procesos de desarrollo económico. Este libro pretende contribuir a la comprensión de este fenómeno analizando el impacto de la telefonía móvil en el desarrollo social y económico de América Latina en la última década. En el estudio, en el que han colaborado reconocidos especialistas, se analizan los resultados obtenidos en una amplia investigación que abarca análisis regionales y casos de estudio en Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Perú." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"The Media Map Project is investigating the relationships between media and development, and analyzing the impact of media development assistance in specific contexts. The project undertakes a three-pronged approach. Part 1, Quantifying Media is an extensive quantitative analysis of macro data, appl
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ying econometric and statistical approaches to examine the relationships between media and development. Part 2, Country Case Studies, explores the impact of donor-funded media development interventions on a micro level, in 8 countries. Part 3, Donor Decision-Making, investigates how media development donors assess the impact of their initiatives [...] This paper provides an overview of the quantitative data used in Part 1, Quantifying Media, and in Part 2, Country Case Studies. In our work in Part 1, we have gathered together and made accessible approximately 30 publicly available datasets on the media sector." (Page 4)
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