Title: Report on using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education for persons with disabilities
Authors: Samaniego, Pilar; Laitamo, Sanna Mari; Valerio, Estela; Francisco, Cristina
Pages: 74 pp.
Publisher: Quito, UNESCO Office Quito; Washington, Trust for the Americas, 2012
Date (published): 10/09/2012
Date (accessed): 14/09/2012
Type of information: research report
Language: English, Spanish
On-line access: yes
Abstract: Pursuant to its mandate, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), promotes free circulation of ideas using words, images and encouragement for learning, enhanced by information and communication technologies (ICTs). The UNESCO Programme pursues strategies designed to increase the use of ICTs in acquiring and exchanging knowledge, to reduce disparities in access to information and knowledge, particularly by fostering access for persons with disabilities, local communities, indigenous peoples and minority groups. Therefore, UNESCO’s action focuses on ensuring equitable, workable access to information for all, as a fundamental prerequisite to creating the knowledge society that is still out of reach for most persons. ICTs are not just devices such as computers, radios, telephones cell phones and connectivity, but also entail the possibility they open up for persons to create, share and acquire knowledge. To close the “digital divide”, stress is initially placed on installing computing hardware and infrastructure and ensuring access and connectivity. However, UNESCO has always emphasized the importance of the “intangible” components of ICTs, the dimensions of contents, policies and capacity-building, which are equally fundamental to narrow that divide.

Title: The Information Economy Report 2011: ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development
Editor: Torbjörn Fredriksson
Pages: 164 pp.
ISBN: ISBN 978-92-1-112833-8
Publisher: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Date (published): 30/08/2012
Date (accessed): 09/09/2012
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This year’s Information Economy Report highlights the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in enabling private-sector development (PSD), and seeks to establish a bridge between ICT and PSD policymakers. The Information Economy Report 2011 identifies four areas in which the ICT-PSD interface is especially promising: strengthening the private sector’s role in extending ICT infrastructure and services; enhancing ICT use in
enterprises; promoting the ICT sector itself; and making more efficient use of ICTs in various public interventions aimed at promoting PSD. Although some countries are already taking advantage of the close links between ICTs and PSD, much more can be done to make ICTs a powerful force for improving the competitiveness of the private sector.

Title: Modern ICT for Agricultural Development and Risk Management in Smallholder Agriculture in India
Author: Surabhi Mittal
ISBN: 978-607-95844-2-9
Publisher: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Date (published): 20/04/2012
Date (accessed): 22/08/2012
Type of information: working paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (html)
Abstract: The overall goal or expected outcome of this research is to see the potential of modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve yields and income, and to disseminate knowledge to farmers to help them manage risk in an informed manner.

Title: ICT for Greater Development Impact World Bank Group Strategy for Information and Communication Technology
Pages: 66 pp.
Publisher: The World Bank Group
Date (published): 15/05/2012
Date (accessed): 17/08/2012
Type of information: sector strategy
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:"The World Bank Group’s new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy aims at helping developing countries use ICT to transform delivery of basic services, drive innovations and productivity gains, and improve competitiveness. The strategy reflects rapid changes in the ICT sector over the last decade, including a dramatic increase in use of mobile phones and the Internet, plunging prices of computing and mobile internet devices, and the increasing prevalence of social media."

Title: Digital and Other Poverties: Exploring the Connection in Four East African Countries
Author: Julian Douglas May
Pages: 17 pp.
ISSN: 1544-7529
Publisher: USC Annenberg
Date (published): 30/03/2012
Date (accessed): 13/08/2012
Type of information: referred article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:„Although improved access to ICT has been put forward as a possible pathway from poverty, the mechanisms by which this takes place remain unclear. This is due, in part the need to further develop the conceptual and methodological tools necessary for such analysis. This article suggests a way in which indicators of multidimensional poverty can be incorporated into the analysis of access to ICT. Using data from a four countries in East Africa, households without ICT are found to be poorer in all dimensions than those with ICT. A multivariate analysis shows the associations between these dimensions of poverty and ICT access, revealing the importance of human and financial capitals. The use of digital poverty and the inclusion of multidimensional measures of poverty improve the estimation of the predictors of ICT access, and conversely, are likely to be important for future attempts to measure the impact of ICT on poverty reduction."

Title: Impact of ICT and innovation on industrial productivity in Uruguay
Author: Griselda Charlo
Pages: 18 pp.
Source: DIRSI - Diálogo Regional sobre la Sociedad de la Información
Date (published): 01/08/2011
Date (accessed): 09/08/2011
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"The characteristics of Uruguayan economy determine that firm innovation behavior has specific features that are different from empirical evidence related to developed countries. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of ICT and innovation on productivity in manufacturing firms in Uruguay. We are also interested in finding out if firm’s employees vary in quantity and quality in relation to the level of ICT investment and innovation. This study is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a brief literature review, and Section 3 describes the methodological and empirical approach. Section 4 shows the main features of innovation activities in Uruguay. Finally, Section 5 discusses econometric results and Section 6 concludes."

Title: The Little Data Book on Information and Communication Technology 2011
Author Editor:
Pages: pp.
ISBN: 978-0-8213-8248-6
e-ISBN: 978-0-8213-8447-3
Publisher: World Bank
Date (published): 22/06/2011
Date (accessed): 09/08/2011
Type of information: book
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"The impacts of information and communication technologies cross all sectors. Research shows that investment in information and communication technologies is associated with such economic benefits as higher productivity, lower costs, new economic opportunities, job creation, innovation, and increased trade and exports. Information and communication technologies also help provide better services in health and education and strengthen social cohesion.

The Little Data Book on Information and Communication Technology 2011 charts the progress of this revolution for 213 countries around the world. It provides comparable statistics on the sector for 2000 and 2009 across a range of indicators, enabling readers to readily compare countries.

This book includes indicators covering the economic and social context, the structure of the information and communication technology sector, sector efficiency and capacity, and sector performance related to access, usage, quality, affordability, trade, and applications. The Glossary contains definitions of the terms used in the tables."

Title: Local governance and ICTs in Africa : case studies and guidelines for implementation and evaluation
Authors: Timothy Mwololo Waema, Edith Ofwona Adera
Pages: 357 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-55250-518-2, 978-0-85749-032-2
Publisher: IDRC, Pambazuka Press and CAFRAD
Date (published): 08/04/2011
Date (accessed): 12/07/2011
Type of information: book
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"With governance high on the agenda in Africa, many governments are using information and communications technologies (lCTs) to develop ways in which they deliver services to citizens. E-governance has the potential to enable local governments to engage citizens in greater participation, leading to socio-economic developments at local and national levels. But this potential remains largely unexploited and until now there has been a lack of evidence on information technology in local governance in Africa. This book addresses that gap. It offers studies from nine African countries that explore how lCTs can transform service delivery, tax, financial management, land management, education, local economic development, citizen registration and political inclusion. A synthesis of the findings and a roadmap for implementing and evaluating e-local governance projects mean that this book is not only relevant to researchers and students but is also a practical handbook for government decision makers. With lCTs increasingly available in Africa, this timely book speaks to the current issues."
(via zunia.org)

Title: From Silicon Valleys to Community Informatics Neighbourhoods—Digital Development Strategies as Though Local Economies Mattered
Author: Michael Gurstein
Source: Gurstein's Community Informatics
Date (published): 02/08/2010
Date (accessed): 03/08/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Many (most) countries in the world have in the decade just passed, developed and at least partially implemented what may be called a “digital development strategy”. These strategies are based on a perception that the kind of economic activity that has resulted from the technical/digital development taking place in Silicon Valley and similar such locales particularly in the US is a necessary element of the economic development strategy for any/every country that wants to be competitive and thus prosperous at this time in economic history.

The perception is that the well funded science and technology programs at the leading universities in the San Francisco and California region—Stanford, CalTech, UC Berkeley and so on attracted faculty and produced students whose leading edge work contributed more or less immediately and directly to the generation of technology innovations which in turn led directly to the creation of start-up technology enterprises. These mixed with fairly ready availability of investment capital, in turn sparked the technology (and commercial) digital revolutions of the Internet and other digital enterprises. In turn these enterprises provided the basis for economic advance and importantly (from a government’s perspective) job creation and enhancements to the national revenue stream through taxes and so on.

This logic is probably correct at least in outline (but would be worth examining in some close detail) however, what is rather less obvious is that this model can (or should) be reproduced not just once or twice but repeatedly in tens and hundreds of locations around the world..."

Title: “Either you make films or make excuses” – ICT and the Nigerian film industry
Author: Ethan Zuckerman
Source: My Heart's In Accra (blog)
Date (published): 27/07/2010
Date (accessed): 03/08/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
In discussing this workshop with our Nigerian partner, we’d proposed a round-table conversation between three ICT and development scholars and a dozen participants from the Nigerian film industry. Our goal was to learn more about how Nollywood (and Kanowood – turns out that “Nollywood” has become a political term in Nigeria, more associated with the South than the North) works, what the challenges the industry faces are and think about how we as academic researchers could take on questions that might help the sector move forwards. Basically, it was intended to be the first step in a process that might later lead to giving some presentations about what we’d learned.