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ISSUES
In Country: Putting ICT to Work for Development |
Every country has a unique set of opportunities and challenges when it comes to ICT infrastructure development. While some lack basic education or connectivity, others are focusing on research and development or attracting investment. Since ICT is a means rather than an end, a country’s ICT strategy needs to be in line with its overall development objectives.
Photo courtesy of Uzbekistan Development Gateway
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Brasil’s e-government is much more extensive than what is done at the national level. Brazil is a federal republic. All 26 states and the Federal District (Brasília) have their own e-govenments, as do hundreds of cities (municípios). Some of them are very sophisticated, offering specialized sub-portals for citizens, businesses, with many interactive online services. See for example that of São Paulo State, which has an active e-procurement program and a strong program to bridge the digital divide (Acessa São Paulo), including through civil-servant mediated one-stop shops for government services called Poupatempos (Time Savers), many of which have attached telecenters for free public Internet access. The town of Piraí (population 23,000) in the State of Rio de Janeiro that has won national and international prizes as a model digital city. Read more on this subject (NEW)
Peter T. KnightFounder, Telemática e Desenvolvimento Ltda E-Government in Brazil
China’s rapid economic growth has benefited large portions of its population. Others – particularly in rural areas – still await the new opportunities that have largely benefited urban citizens. The recent Development Gateway Forum 2005 elicited new insights into ICT’s role in stimulating economic growth and its potential to help close the economic and social gaps that remain. The Forum, co-hosted in Beijing by the Government of China, World Bank and Development Gateway Foundation, enabled the exchange of ideas from China’s experience with those of its counterparts around the globe. Read Selection of Papers (NEW)
China: At the Cross Roads
Development Gateway Forum
Afghanistan had completely lost its infrastructure and technical professionals and had little history and experience in the use of ICT. So for the government, the important achievement was the development of ICT and telecom policy. With this document the Ministry of Communications (MoC) could make informed decisions for the rolling-out of new infrastructure and the selection and implementation of new standards of technology in the country. It is crucial for all countries to have policy guidelines which can lead in the overall planning and decision making. Read Full Interview
Aimal MarjanNational ICT Advisor, Ministry of Communications Afghanistan: Making Swift Strides in Telecom
Did you know that a phone call from Congo Kinshasa to Congo Brazzaville had, until recently, to pass through Europe?! The distance between these two cities is only 7 kilometres and still, to communicate, they had to pass through Europe, several thousands of kilometres away. These situations mean that Africa wastes 400 million USD a year due to a lack of infrastructures and networks. To tackle these needs, the European Union intends to develop a partnership with the African Union, regional organisations, in accordance with the philosophy defined by president Abdoulaye Wade in the NEPAD….. Promoting information society for all is certainly one of the major challenges all development actors currently have to face. If developing countries cannot rely on information and communication technologies in their battle to reduce social and economic difficulties, the marginalisation will worsen. Increasingly, access to markets is dependent on these technologies, in an ever more globalized world. Applications such as 'e-government', telemedicine, distance-learning will be an increasing part of the European development policy.
Louis MichelEuropean Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
The fact that Bangladesh has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world does not in any way indicate that information and communication technologies (ICT) should be less of a priority as a development tool than in any other developing country. This circumstance only makes it necessary to have different ICT strategies and priorities to accommodate the reality. ICT should be used as a tool for literacy. It should allow for info-mediaries to deliver online services to people, especially those that the government provides. Focus should be on voice-based technologies that do not require literacy such as the mobile phone, community radio and TV to provide services for the illiterate. Digital content should be more visual, graphics-based rather than text-based, and developed in local languages for the semi-literate. Read Full Interview
Mridul ChowdhuryDirector of D.Net Bangladesh: How Do Low Literacy Rates Factor into ICT Projects and Policies?
Rwanda’s Vision 2020 calls for a strategic plan designed to transform the country into an information and technology-based, middle-income economy in order to improve the quality of life and enhance the social, political and cultural fabric of Rwandan society. In my opinion the strategy is realistic but calls for important prerequisites. The whole strategy is based on human resource development and empowerment using ICT. Hence a modern education system is paramount to achieving this goal. The country has to put in place necessary infrastructure for easy development of the ICT industry. One of the biggest requirements in this regard is the provision of optimal level of electricity supply and low-cost and large coverage of communications systems. For the whole strategy to work there has to be institutional policy and implementation support. The setting up and empowerment of the Rwanda Information Technology Authority was a major milestone in the process. The liberalization of the telecommunications sector currently under way in the country is another important and positive move in the right direction and this liberalization “spirit” should be encouraged for the sector to be competitive at the regional and global levels. Strong leadership in ICT has been recognized as the major driving force of the knowledge society and economy. Rwanda is now globally recognized for such leadership through its president, H.E. Paul Kagame. Read Full Interview
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 How did Development Gateway members respond to our Information
Society Survey questions?:
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- Nov
3, Fill-the-Gap!, Netherlands
- Nov 9-Nov 11, World Summit of Cities
and Local Authorities and the role Information Society, Spain
- Nov 10 -11, Libraries and the
Information Society in Action, Egypt
- Nov 13-15, Past, Present and Future of
Research in the Information Society
- Nov 16-18, World Summit on Information
Society, Tunisia
- Nov
17, Creating Transformations: Intel at WSIS, Tunisia
- Nov 28-Nov 30, IEEE International
Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education, Japan
- Nov 28 - Dec 5,
GKP/MSSRF South-South Exchange Traveling Workshop 2005, India
- May 25 – May 26, First
International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and
Development, USA
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