Richard Heek’s article, ICT4D 2.0 - The Next Phase of Applying ICT for International Development, in the June 2008 (Vol. 41, No. 6) issue of IEEE’s Computer presents a coherent trajectory of the history and evolution of ICT4D and then casts into the emerging challenges and possibilities for the next development phase.
There is no sharp dividing line that lets us say, “ICT4D 1.0 stopped here; ICT4D 2.0 began here.” On the ground, there is a sense of evolution, not discontinuity. And yet … something messy, fuzzy but new, is emerging. It makes sense to see what happens if we give this a label.
The shift from ICT4D 1.0 to 2.0 is assessed from different perspectives (content, interaction, services and production) with Heeks then situating initiatitves into three categories of pro, para and per-poor efforts. Pro-poor innovations dervive from outside of the targetted communities but are undertaken on behalf of the poor; para-poor initiatives are undertaken alongside poor communities; and per-poor efforts mark innovations around processes, new products and business models that are devised by the poor with reference to their own self-defined needs and wants (for good examples of this last, see for the Abaporu Project website).
We have seen that ICT4D 2.0 focuses on reframing the poor. Where ICT4D 1.0 marginalized them, allowing a supply-driven focus, ICT4D 2.0 centralizes them, creating a demand-driven focus. Where ICT4D 1.0 - fortified by the “bottom of the pyramid” concept - characterized the poor largely as passive consumers, ICT4D 2.0 sees them as active producers and innovators.
This article is from a special issue of Computer dedicated to Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Click here for the Table of Contents.
Click here to download the Introduction to the special issue by guest editors Kentaro Toyama and M. Bernadine Dias.
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What kind of information should regulators routinely make available on their websites? Are national regulatory authority (NRA) websites a useful information point? Four new LIRNE studies provide feedback to regulators across different categories of information provision. Some NRAs already provide extensive information via their websites others from the same region offer only a bit of static of information. These regional assessments of national telecom regulatory authority websites seek to illuminate best practices for using NRA websites as vehicles to provide information about the sector to the full range of stakeholders.
The draft Working Papers are available via the links below.
Benchmarking Latin America NRA Websites by Hugo Carrión (DIRSI)
Estándares de comparación para los sitios web de los Entes Reguladores Nacionales de América Latina
Benchmarking Caribbean and North American National Regulatory Authority Websites by Opal Lawton
Benchmarking Asia Pacific National Telecom Regulatory Authority Websites by Lara Alawattegama and Chanuka Wattegama (LIRNEasia)
Benchmark Indicators for African National Regulatory Authority Websites, Monica Kerretts-Makau (Research ICT Africa!)
Please use our Contact Form to order a copy of the full final report with comparative appendices (available in August 2008).
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Nielsen Mobile has just released its report: Critical Mass: The Worldwide State of the Mobile Web, which asserts that “mobile internet reached a critical mass this year” with the US, UK and Italy as leaders in mobile internet penetration. Only 3.4% of Philippines subscribers use the mobile internet each month, 3% for Singapore, 2.6% for Brazil, 1.8% for India and 1.1% for Indonesia. The US has 15.6% mobile internet penetration which translates into 40 million active users. However, the study notes that due to bundling and other factors there are “95 million US mobile users who subscribed to the service but do not necessarily use it.” The report notes that there is a consistent male bias in use (averaged across countries surveyed at 56% male users and 44% female). The top web categories and web channels are also identified.
Click here to download the Nielsen report (pdf).
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Ken Banks, founder of Founder of kiwanja.net in a recent posting to a mobile for development list on dgroups (Development through Dialogue) comments on the inception of the mobility project. “The challenge was this. How do we empower individuals in developing countries to develop and build their own mobile applications?” (See full post on next page.)
“mobility is a collaborative project which brings together some of the leading academics, technicians, educators and practitioners in the IT and mobile fields with the common goal of developing an exciting and empowering range of tools and resources to unlock the power of mobile applications development for users in the developing world”
Click here to go to the mobility project webpage.
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On 23 June in Ottawa, Canada, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Learning Initiatives on Reforms for Network Economies (LIRNE.NET) network held a meeting with researchers from the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (DIRSI), LIRNEasia, the LINK Centre and Research ICT Africa (RIA!), Comunica, and from the LIRNE network in Europe - Center for Communication, Media and Information Technologies (CMI) at Aalborg University, and the Center for Information and Communication Technologies (CICT), at the Technical University of Denmark. The intention of this event, in addition to presenting research, was to have a conversation with the invited participants and amongst ourselves. The four sessions of this day-long event were constructed in such a way as to provide opportunity for dialogue and creative reflection on the work of the network, why we do what we do, how we engage ICT regulatory research effectively and ensure impact.
Continue to the rest of this entry for presentation downloads and meeting information.
Click here to see photos of this event.
Click here to read the LIRNEasia report on this event.
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LIRNEasia has a featured article in the June 2008 issue of the Indian-based international magazine i4d (Information for development). Anu Samarajiva (freelance), Ayesha Zainudeen and Harsha de Silva have contributed an article, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka: Benefiting the bottom of the pyramid? highlighting LIRNEasia’s research on mobile usage by the poorest sectors of society. Research from LIRNEasia and DIRSI is also referenced in articles of this issue of i4d which is dedicated to the theme of Mobiles for Development. Also of note is an article on A Review of IDRC Projects - Mobiles are leading the way, by Ahmed Tareq Rashid (Researcher for Pan Asia Networking of IDRC) and Kathleen Diga (Researcher for Acacia – ICT4D Africa of International Development Research Centre).
Click here to go to the June 2008 issue of i4d.
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Scott Wallsten’s recent paper (April 2008), Reverse Auctions and Universal Telecommunications Service: Lessons from Global Experience, provides an update on the use of reverse auctions (or least cost subsidies, or reverse subsidies). This mechanism allows market actors to bid for what they calculate will be the minimum needed subsidy to extend networks to rural and remote areas, with the concession awarded to the lowest bid. This has been an effective way of setting competitive terms for serving what were perceived to not be attractive or viable markets. Wallsten’s paper reviews experiences with reverse auctions in Australia, Chile, Colombia, India, Nepal, and Peru - and further discusses their implications for the US.
Click here to go to the free download page at the Social Sciences Research Network.
See also LIRNEasia research in this area: “Smart Subsidies - Getting the Conditions Right: The experience of expanding rural telecoms” in Nepal by Harsha de Silva & Ratna Kaji Tuladhar, Chapter 7 in Diversifying Participation in Network Development (2007).
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