e-Development and the World Bank

The World Bank maintains a website on e-Development. The term was promoted within the Bank by Nagy Hanna, who championed information and communications technology for decades. Nagy has described the process by which the Bank's first e-Development project was developed in some detail in two books. Now there are another ten or so e-development projects under consideration by the Bank, in part because Bank clients are calling for those projects and in part because the experience with the first has overcome resistance within the Bank.

E-development has two possible connotations -- the development of the ICT related aspects of society (e.g. bundling e-government, e-civil society, e-business and ICT infrastrcture development) and using ICT as a tool within a holistic approach to social and economic development. How are the two related in practice in ?

"It seems to me that both aspects take place. The experience in both and shows that the integrated approach to developing ICT infrastructure, human resources, and applications does lead to social and economic development. Certainly the project by bundling these approaches achieved synergies that contribute to each of the sectoral objective.

"E-Development is also an important strategy for more general development. Governments have become more transparent and oriented toward service to the people, and thus governance has improved. In , the ICT-based private sector has become a motor for development, producing foreign exchange, employment and profits. Civil society organizations have been strengthened. All made possible in part by the increased penetration and quality of the ICT infrastructure.

"Indeed, I think riding the wave of the Information Revolution has some significant advantages as an approach to social and economic development. Certainly programs to improve governance, to strengthen innovative sectors of industry, and to strengthen civil society are likely (in our modern world) to increase demand in each sector for ICT infrastructure and applications. But all to often tackling these problems head-on has proven ineffective. Sneaking up on the development objective through overt efforts at technological innovation may work better.

"It is important that the Bank staff recognize e-development as an important approach to improving governance, building civil society and strengthening the economy -- the things the people on that staff are really interested in."

Second call of conference 'INTERNET - EDUCATION – SCIENCE (October, 2008, Ukraine).

Second call of 6th Inter'l conference 'INTERNET - EDUCATION - SCIENCE'(7-11 October, 2008, Ukraine). The conference will be held activity in 18 sections: ). Program committee is include today professionals from 17 countries. Conference will add too : presentation of software and hardware, methods of eLearning; workshops/tutorials on the distance . . .

Added by  Andrey Borzykh  May 15, 2008
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SDI-Africa - GIS & remote sensing news in Africa - May 2008

Spatial Data Infrastructure — Africa (SDI-Africa) is a free, electronic newsletter for people interested in GIS, remote sensing, and data management issues in Africa. The May 2008 issue is chock-full of useful highlights on recent activities; it provides details about available data and tools and includes notices about upcoming training, employmen. . .

Added by  Kate Lance  May 15, 2008
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Free four-day Online e-learning Course: NETWORKING IN SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT for members in Asia

The Food and Agriculture Organization and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation invite applications from the e-agriculture.org Community in Asia to participate in a free four-day Online e-learning Course: NETWORKING IN SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT A Course for Applicants in Asia will be held in late 2008. Only open to . . .

Added by  Charlotte Masiello  May 15, 2008
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Incommunicado Reader - Critical Perspective on ICT4D

A collection of papers from a 2005 conference that provides a critical and political perspective on ICT4D, questioning some of the assumptions within this field. A good antidote to the boosterism and hype that characterises some ICT4D discourse.

Added by  Richard Heeks  May 15, 2008
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Equal Access

Equal Access designs and implements compelling communications and outreach projects that address the most critical problems affecting people in the developing world including education, women's empowerment, human rights, improved health practices and HIV/AIDS prevention. We employ a variety of methods-local audio and multimedia content production, . . .

Added by  Anuradha Bhattacharjee  May 15, 2008
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  The Telmex Dispute at the WTO: Competition Makes a Backdoor Entry by Sonali Singh(CUTS C-CIER)

In February 2002, the US requested a WTO panel to address restrictions imposed by Mexico on international telecommunications services between the two countries. The US alleged that Mexico had failed to open its cross border telecommunications market as mandated by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on the grounds that Mexico has: •. . .

Added by  Shambhu Ghatak  May 15, 2008
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TakingITGlobal receives 2nd WorldBlu award in 2 years

Toronto, April 2008. TakingITGlobal was one of 25 organizations around the world recognized as having a democratic workplace by WorldBlu, Inc., an Atlanta-based business specializing in organizational democracy. The Toronto-based non-profit charitable organization also received the Worldwide Award for the Most Democratic Workplaces in 2007, making . . .

Added by  Anuradha Bhattacharjee  May 15, 2008
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IDB Research Fellow position: Expert on Mobile Services – Washington DC

The Science & Technology Division (SCL/SCT) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched an initiative to promote technological innovation and technology transfer for the development of m-Health and m-Government services. The IDB is looking for a Research Fellow with experience in the field of mobile services, who will work in the . . .

Added by  Rafael Anta  May 15, 2008
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"Information and Communication for Capacity Building: Critical Success Factors"

Proceedings of the World Conference, 11-13 May 2005, UNESCO, Paris, France. "The purpose of the World Conference on ICT for Capacity-Building was to contribute to the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in November 2005." Editors: Raoul Weiler, Abdul Waheed Kahn, Roland A. Berger. Thomas Schauer, UNESCO. (PD. . .

Added by  John Daly  May 12, 2008
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The African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST)

AMCOST was established in November 2003 under the auspices of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU). It is a high-level platform for developing policies and setting priorities on science, technology and innovation for African development. AMCOST provides political and policy leadership for the implementatio. . .

Added by  John Daly  May 9, 2008
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