The World Bank has published the World Development Indicators 2009. The indicators and the report that accompanies the updated version of the indicators are, arguably, one of the best comprehensive snapshots on the state of the question of development worldwide.
Concerning Information and Communication Technologies, the report devotes 5 pages to comment the subject (see chapter 5, States and Markets, pp.265-269, 92.5 KB). The main statements of this section are as the following, which I’ll be commenting one by one.
ICTs used in e-government projects can reduce corruption
This is a statement I fully agree with. I already wrote about this in my article entitled The end of paper, open gates to on-time democracy (not about journalism) and there is plenty more evidence about what ICTs can do for transparency, accountability, democracy and human rights; and and efficiency and efficacy in the provision of public services.
Some ICTs, such as broadband, can contribute to economic growth
Again, see Economic Benefits of ICTs.
We must not, nevertheless, forget how broadband is unevenly adopted in the world:
The problem is not, actually, that broadband distribution is unbalanced, but that the trend seems to reinforce this fact. As the International Telecommunication Union report Measuring the Information Society – The ICT Development Index 2009 shows, the broadband divide in the World has increased and the irruption of the mobile broadband has only worsened this unequality:
Good government policies and regulations are creating competitive ICT markets, increasing access to ICT services for people everywhere […] Many countries that have created a competitive market environment for ICTs have more people using ICT services
This is, to my understanding, where long term and broad impact ICT4D strategies should be headed. Thus, there is an urgent need to change the socioeconomic and political frameworks regarding ICTs and the Information Society in general.
My own research shows (more about this soon) that the role of the government has a huge impact in the probability (that is: it is a cause) of achieving higher levels of digital development. To be more specific, the following aspects highly determine digital development several orders of magnitude higher than other issues:
- Economic Incentive Regime
- Government prioritization of ICT
- Importance of ICT to the government vision of the future
The well known success of mobile telephony worldwide has been achieved through high demand, low-cost technologies, and market liberalization
Complementary to what has already been said, macro-level policies have to be accompanied by grassroots and micro-level strategies and projects. The first one that comes to my mind is the — in my opinion — successful FrontlineSMS:Medic, building on the acknowledged flagship of SMS for development projects Frontline SMS. In a recent — and most insightful — talk I had with the promoter of Kiwanja, Ken Banks, we both agreed that “scalability” in the developing world might not mean the same thing as in developed countries, which follow market-led rules, but could be closer to the concept of “copy-and-spread”. In his own words in Time to eat our own dog food?:
we need to think about low-end, simple, appropriate mobile technology solutions which are easy to obtain, affordable, require as little technical expertise as possible, and are easy to copy and replicate.
(continues in World Development Indicators 2009: a commentary (part II))
If you need to cite this article in a formal way (i.e. for bibliographical purposes) I dare suggest:
Peña-López, I. (2009) “World Development Indicators 2009: a commentary (part I)” In ICTlogy,
#67, April 2009. Barcelona: ICTlogy.
Retrieved month dd, yyyy from https://ictlogy.net/review/?p=2004
Benki ya Dunia imetoa ripoti ya World Development Indicators 2009 "Imeelezwa kuwa ""wakati huu wa mwisho wa mwaka"" na ""wakati wa mwisho wa mwaka"" ni moja ya picha bora zaidi za hali ya maendeleo duniani kote." Kwa habari ya teknolojia ya habari na mawasiliano, ripoti inatoa kurasa tano kwa maoni ya mada (tazama sura ya 5, Mataifa na Masoko, kurasa 265-269). Taarifa kuu ya sehemu hii ni kama ifuatavyo, ambayo nitakuwa akizungumzia moja kwa moja. """Tatizo la matumizi ya teknolojia ya mawasiliano katika miradi ya serikali ya elektroniki linaweza kupunguza ufisadi,"" alisema Rais Obama." "Nimeandika juu ya hili katika makala yangu yenye kichwa ""Mwisho wa karatasi: milango ya wazi kwa demokrasia ya wakati (si juu ya uandishi wa habari) "" na kuna ushahidi mwingi zaidi juu ya kile ambacho teknolojia ya mawasiliano ya mawasiliano inaweza kufanya kwa uwazi, uwajibikaji, demokrasia na haki za binadamu, na ufanisi na ufanisi katika utoaji wa huduma za umma." Baadhi ya ICT, kama vile broadband, inaweza kuchangia ukuaji wa kiuchumi Tena, angalia Faida za Kiuchumi za ICT. Hata hivyo, hatupaswi kusahau jinsi broadband ni unevenly kupitishwa katika dunia: tatizo si, kwa kweli, kwamba usambazaji broadband ni unbalanced, lakini kwamba mwelekeo inaonekana kuimarisha ukweli huu. "Kama ripoti ya Umoja wa Kimataifa wa Telecommunication (ITU) ""Kupima Jamii ya Habari na Maendeleo ya ICT 2009"" inavyoonyesha, ""kutofautiana kwa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao wa mtandao." Kwa hivyo, kuna haja ya haraka ya kubadilisha mifumo ya kijamii, kiuchumi na kisiasa kuhusu ICT na Jamii ya Habari kwa ujumla. Utafiti wangu mwenyewe unaonyesha (zaidi juu ya hii hivi karibuni) kwamba jukumu la serikali lina athari kubwa katika uwezekano (yaani: ni sababu) ya kufikia viwango vya juu vya maendeleo ya dijiti. Kwa kuwa zaidi maalum, mambo yafuatayo sana kuamua maendeleo ya digital kadhaa amri ya ukubwa juu ya masuala mengine: - kichocheo cha kiuchumi, serikali kipaumbele cha ICT, umuhimu wa ICT kwa maono ya serikali ya siku zijazo, mafanikio ya simu ya mkononi duniani kote imefikiwa kwa njia ya mahitaji ya juu, teknolojia ya bei nafuu, na uhuru wa soko. "Mfano wa kwanza ambao unakuja akilini mwangu ni ""Frontline SMS: Medic"" iliyofanikiwa, ikijenga juu ya bendera ya kutambuliwa ya SMS kwa miradi ya maendeleo." Katika mazungumzo ya hivi karibuni na yenye ufahamu zaidi niliyo nayo na mtangazaji wa Kiwanja, Ken Banks, wote wawili tulikubali kwamba "scalability" katika ulimwengu unaositawi inaweza kuwa haina maana sawa na katika nchi zilizoendelea, ambazo hufuata sheria zinazoongozwa na soko, lakini inaweza kuwa karibu na dhana ya "nakala na kuenea". Katika maneno yake mwenyewe katika Wakati wa kula chakula chetu cha mbwa? "Tunahitaji kufikiria juu ya ""low-end, rahisi, sahihi"" ufumbuzi wa teknolojia ya simu ambayo ni rahisi kupata, nafuu, inahitaji kidogo kama utaalam wa kiufundi iwezekanavyo, na ni rahisi kunakili na kuiga." "Mfano wa ""Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia"" ni ""Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia"" (Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia) na ""Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia"" (Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia) ni ""Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia"" (Mfano wa Maendeleo ya Dunia)." kwa madhumuni ya bibliographic) mimi kuthubutu kupendekeza: Peña-López, I. "Mfano wa ""Mfano wa Uendelezaji wa Dunia"" (World Development Indicators 2009: A Commentary, Part I) ni kitabu cha utafiti wa maendeleo ya kimataifa kilichochapishwa na jarida la International Institute of Technology (IIT) mnamo mwaka 2009." Barcelona: ICT Mwezi wa mwaka wa 2004 (DDYY) kutoka https: www.ictlogy.net