IFAP Information Society Observatory

Title: ICTD Briefing Note Series
Publisher: United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT)
Date (published): 23/06/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: briefing note
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
Each Briefing Note of the Series provides concise, detailed policy reports and recommendations on ICT topics and related issues. The Briefing Note Series is intended to help policymakers and development stakeholders obtain a better awareness of ICT for development issues and provide them with insight to the ways ICT can be leveraged to facilitate the impact of socio-economic development in their countries.
Briefing Note 1, The Linkage between ICT Applications and Meaningful Development, explores the various dimensions of applications in key sectors of development in Asia Pacific countries. The Briefing Note also highlights key issues and decision points, from policy to implementation, in the use of ICTs to meet development needs.
ICT for Development Policy, Process and Governance, is the title of Briefing Note 2 and focuses on ICTD policy-making and governance, and provides critical information about aspects of national policies, strategies and frameworks that promote ICTD. It discusses key ICTD policy and governance issues, and shows how governments can measure their progress and benchmark that progress against those of other countries.
Briefing Note 3, e-Government Applications provides an overview of e-government, including key elements and concepts, principles and types of applications. It discusses how an e-government system is built by providing detailed analysis of exemplar systems and identifying design considerations.
Providing insight into current ICT trends, Briefing Note 4, ICT Trends for Government Leaders, discusses some of the key technical and policy considerations when making decisions for ICT development in the local and regional context.
Briefing Note 5, Internet Governance, explores the challenges faces by policymakers in developing international policies and procedures to govern the use and operation of the Internet. The Briefing Note pays particular attention to Asia-Pacific region, noting that emerging economies need to understand these challenges if they are to have a voice in the global information network.
Titled Network and Information Security and Privacy, Briefing Note 6 looks at what information security is and how to take action against information leakage and infringement. It provides an overview of the need for information security, information security issues and trends, and the process of formulating an information security strategy.
Briefing Notes 7, ICT Project Management in Theory and Practice, provides an introduction to basic project management concepts that are relevant in ICTD projects, and introduces methods, processes and project management disciplines commonly used by development and ICT service management practitioners.
Briefing Note 8, Options for Funding ICT for Development, notes the financial and technical limitations of funding government plans and projects to deliver public services through the use of ICTs, and explores the ways public-private partnerships (PPP) can help deliver the highest level of public service at a reasonable cost. The Briefing Note discusses these alternative funding options for ICT for development (ICTD) and e-government projects.

Title: Technicians, Tacticians and Tattlers: Women as Innovators and Change Agents in Community Technology Projects
Author: Helen McQuillan
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2010)
Date (published): 05/05/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Dominant theoretical and policy perspectives on women and ICT portray women as passive, excluded, disinterested or disconnected from technology. This paper reports on a five year ethnographic study which explored women’s roles, experiences and contribution to a large-scale community technology project in Ireland. It discusses how feminist archetypes were used to develop an interpretive model which examines women’s engagement and agency in ICT, illustrates women’s diverse and active roles and offers a new paradigm for women’s ICT knowledge and expertise. In conclusion it discusses how this model could be applied to other settings to better understand digital inclusion and empowerment processes.

Title: Women Forge Ahead in India: Internet and the Public Forum
Authors: Kavita Karan, Dr. Rohit Raj Mathur
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2010)
Date (published): 05/05/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Women must be included and empowered to compete in this internet-driven global economy. The economic stakes are too high to do otherwise. This study provides an understanding of the economic and social impact on women working in the government launched E-seva (electronic-service) project that provides integrated services through a single window system. The study through interviews and surveys provides an understanding of how Internet and new technologies are aiding in the transformation process in empowering the much deprived poor Indian women. Apart from increasing the access and use of ICTs, it is resulting in economic independence and improved social status.-which is the very basic need for women in India

Title: Gender digital equality in ICT interventions in health: Evidence from IDRC supported projects in developing countries
Authors: Kathleen Flynn-Dapaah, Ahmed Tareq Rashid
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2010)
Date (published): 05/05/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
New information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the Internet are considered important instruments for advancing social and economic development throughout the world. The benefits of ICTs, however, have not been evenly distributed among individuals with different socioeconomic status. For example, few studies consider how ICTs affect men and women differently. The dearth of studies that integrate gender analysis is particularly true in the case of ICT interventions in the health sector, broadly known as e-Health. e-Health refers to the use of ICTs in different aspects of healthcare including healthcare delivery, administration, education and communication. While there is a growing focus on the potential impact of e-Health application and practices in the developing countries, little attention is given to how the technologies can address women’s health concerns or how particular interventions affect men and women differently. The objective of this paper is to explore the gender dimensions of e-Health interventions in developing countries. A select number of projects funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are systematically analyzed to draw out good practices in integrating gender analysis in e-Health research projects. We conclude by summarizing the good practices and applying them to analyze new projects to ensure gender is integrated adequately. The paper underscores that e-Health interventions in developing countries need to better articulate the social processes of inequality that affect access and use by men and women.

Title: 89.1 FM: The Place for Development: Power shifts and participatory spaces in ICTD
Authors: Revi Sterling, Sophia Huyer
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: The Journal of Community Informatics, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2010)
Date (published): 05/05/2010
Date (accessed): 23/07/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Kamba women in listening range of community radio station Radio Mang’elete have been able to hear themselves on the radio now for four years, providing market information, notification of social events, discussion forums and entertainment in the forms of radio vignettes and plays. These women are not broadcasters in the traditional sense – they provide their insights from their homes, social spaces and areas of work, using a technology system called Advancement through Interactive Radio, or AIR. While AIR was introduced into the target communities four years ago, it continues to enjoy success, as women suggest programming and offer content that enables them to speak out publically. Qualitative and quantitative data from ongoing analysis suggests that participants have experienced increased agency and positive self perception as well as recognition of their input from the larger community. Preliminary indicators demonstrate women are not only choosing to participate in this opportunity for public self-articulation, but are realizing how such articulation can contribute to their empowerment as both individuals and women – roles that have traditionally relegated women to “doubly” marginalized roles.

Title: 4 Key Challenges and Solutions to ICT Deployments for Rural Healthcare
Author: Eric Blantz
Source: ICTworks
Publisher: Inveneo
Date (published): 12/07/2010
Date (accessed): 14/07/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
In February 2008, The Health Metrics Network (HMN) convened experts in Geneva after many months of focused organizational, advocacy and educational efforts in several countries.
The goal of the event was to test interoperability of core elements of a district-level health solution that would be repeatable across the dozens of countries in which HMN is currently working.
Inveneo participated in this meeting and what follows is a brief discussion of four key ICT challenges identified by the HMN working group and how Inveneo is seeking to overcome them.

via http://twitter.com/ICT_Works

Title: Delivering Coherent ICT Policies in Developing Countries
Authors: Richard Heeks, Ping Gao & Angelica Ospina
Pages: 4 pp.
Source: e­Development Briefing No. 14
Publisher: Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester
Date (published): 09/04/2010
Date (accessed): 14/07/2010
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
We could trace the origins of information and communication technology (ICT) policies in developing countries to the 1970s – for example in India – when there were a few focused on helping develop the local IT industry. Or one could go decades further back to find roots in policies on media and telecommunications. However, documents called "national ICT policy" only really started to be made in the 1990s and early 2000s.
What have they achieved?

Title: Development 2.0: Transformative ICT-Enabled Development Models and Impacts
Author: Richard Heeks
Pages: 6 pp.
Source: Development Informatics Short Paper no.11
Publisher: Centre for Development Informatics IDPM, SED, University of Manchester, UK
Date (published): 01/07/2010
Date (accessed): 14/07/2010
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Where are the Amazon and eBay for international development? If we could find them, they might represent "Development 2.0": new ICT-enabled models that can transform the processes and structures of development. In this briefing, I will trace out some examples, and analyse how they are changing the way that we "do development".
The foundation for these changes has been the rapid diffusion of ICTs into the developing world. In 1998, less than one out of every 100 inhabitants in developing countries was an Internet user. By 2008, that figure was 22 out of every 100. In 1998, 2 of every 100 inhabitants in developing countries was a mobile phone subscriber. By 2008, that figure was 55 out of every 100.i Shared usage takes this further: even in the world's poorest continent, Africa, an estimated two­thirds of the population now has access to a mobile phone.ii
What happens when you start to connect the world's poor into the infrastructure for a digital economy? What happens is that some of the basic assumptions about barriers to development might no longer apply. Some examples follow, looking first at development models, and then at development impacts.

via http://twitter.com/participatory

Title: African Ministers Pass ICT Directive
Source: eLearning Africa
Date (published): 13/07/2010
Date (accessed): 14/07/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
African countries have to balance their spending on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education better. Skills development among teachers, which accounts for only 10% of most countries’ ICT budgets, has to be strengthened. Spending on costly hardware, which covers 90% of most countries budgets, should rather be reduced. This is one of the key recommendations of a communiqué released by participants in the Third African Ministerial Round Table on ICT for Education, Training and Development.

Title: A Dedicated Satellite for Meeting Health Education Needs of Afro-Asian Nations: Possibilities, Action Plan and Benefits
Author: Praddep Kumar Misra
Pages: 12 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, EJISDC (2010) 41, 6, 1-12
Publisher: City University of Hong Kong
Date (published): 06/05/2010
Date (accessed): 28/06/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that regardless of promises of better healthcare by governments and donor countries, millions of mothers, newborn babies and children continue to die each year in Africa from preventable diseases. The Asian countries are no exception. This situation warns us to analyze existing health education challenges in Afro-Asian nations and look for innovative strategies to overcome these challenges. The launch of a dedicated Afro-Asian Satellite will help to overcome health education challenges by strengthening the system that serves the people and by creating a partnership between the providers and users of health services. Considering this approach, the present paper discusses about possibilities, benefits and action plan for launching a dedicated satellite to meet the health education needs of the Afro-Asian nations.