Technicalenglishictsfordevelopmentensasafiredouaneboulguid20132014 131210074552-phpapp01

Information and communications

technologies (ICTs) for Development

A course prepared for students of Information Systems Engineering

National School of Applied Sciences – SafiSchool-Year 2014/2015

- By Redouane BOULGUID

07/12/14ICT&Development_Redouane

Boulguid_ENSA_Safi_2014/2015 2

Years ago, a broad international consensus has emerged that information and communications technologies (ICTs) offer a potentially powerful mechanism for promoting social and economic growth.



ICTs For Development Generally, ICTs promote development

across many dimensions. ICTs enable organizations to be more

productive. thereby spurring economic growth and

helping firms be more competitive.



ICTs can also expand the reach and effectiveness of social development projects and have already yielded important benefits in such areas as healthcare, education, and environmental preservation.



Public-sector uptake of ICTs is also making governments more efficient and their decision-making more transparent.



Several recent studies have described remarkable success in using ICTs to help underserved communities and to create new opportunities in developing countries.



As an example, Microsoft, is dedicated to working closely with underserved peoples, developing countries, and the broader international development community to realize the full potential of ICTs for human development.



Because ICTs can be applied to a tremendously diverse range of human experience, they are transforming virtually every sector of society and the economy. Digital breakthroughs are creating new possibilities for improving health and nutrition, expanding knowledge, stimulating economic growth and empowering people to participate in their communities.



As many developing nations have recognized, ICTs have the potential to spur local economic growth and to expand the reach and effectiveness of development initiatives.



the information age: the rich get their information almost free,

while the poor have to pay dearly for it, (in the case for instance of the price poor people have to pay to make a simple telephone call).



The system has a concurrent capacity to include and exclude people based upon a capacity to network,

and this is where the poor in developing countries suffer from exclusion. (Digital Divide)



Human Development is the process of expanding human capabilities and access to opportunities in social, economic and political arenas and therefore the overall improvement in the quality of life. (UNDP 2002: Kenya Human Development Report: 2001:2)

It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare.

It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.



The index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian economist Amartya Sen.



The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living, and quality of life for countries worldwide.



"The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time.



People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures:



greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities.



The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives."

- Mahbub ul Haq (1934-1998), founder of the Human Development Report.





There is a connection between ICTs and the human development dimensions of agriculture, culture, governance, education, health and gender.



Poverty is widely recognised as multidimensional, encompassing food security, health, education, rights, security and dignity, among other elements.



ICT & POVERTY By definition, ICTs include electronic

networks – embodying complex hardware and software - linked by a vast array of technical protocols (Mansell and Silverstone, 1996).



ICTs are embedded in networks and services that affect the local and global accumulation and flows of public and private knowledge.



According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, ICTs cover Internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial information providers, network-based information services, and other related information and communication activities. (ECA, 1999).



Most arguments related to poverty focus on insufficient nutrition, inadequate shelter and so on. It is only recently that some have started to argue that lack of access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) is an element of poverty. (Kenny, 2001)



Therefore, if properly deployed, ICTs have enormous potential as tools for increasing information flows and for empowering poor people.



ICTs are a means or mechanism that can make a significant contribution to the fight for poverty reduction.

ICTs cannot solve poverty on their own, but they can make a contribution to the processes that lead to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).



What are the MDGs The Millennium Development Goals are

8 International development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000.(Adoption of the UN Millennium Declaration).



All 189 UN member states at that time (there are currently 193) & at least 23 International Organizations committed to help achieve these Goals by 2015:



1. To eradicate extreme poverty & hunger;

2. To achieve universal primary education;

3. To promote gender equality & empowering women;

4. To reduce child mortality rates;



5. To improve maternal health;6. To combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria & other

Diseases;7. To ensure environmental sustainability;8. To develop a global partnership for

development.



References Used ICTs and Poverty: A Literature Review, by C. Nyaki

Adeya, PhD. (http://kambing.ui.ac.id/onnopurbo/library/library-ref-eng/ref-eng-2/application/policy/acacia-2003/Acacia/2.%20ICTs%20and%20Poverty%20full.doc)

GOOD PRACTICE PAPER ON ICTs FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION – OECD 2005.

Wikipedia

http://kambing.ui.ac.id/onnopurbo/library/library-ref-eng/ref-eng-2/application/policy/acacia-2003/Acacia/2.%20ICTs%20and%20Poverty%20full.doc

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