ICT for Development

In our complex and globalized society, the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a crucial success factor in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The key role of ICT lies in its ability to handle and communicate information whereas information is an indispensable ingredient in decision making and empowerment for improving the livelihood of people, communication the format and packaging of information and technology the enabler of connecting people and the means to distribute information rapidly. However, the benefits of ICT do not only come from an increase in connectivity or broader access to ICT network infrastructure per se. As a driver and accelerator both established ICT (radio, television and video) and new ICT ( Computers, Internet, Mobile) have converged into single powerful communication devices with global reach to give voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless.

The most dramatic growth in the history of ICT has been witnessed in the Asia-Pacific region with impressive growth figures for mobile users and Internet connectivity. However, these new technologies have yet to reach into rural and mountainous life. Asia has now 39.5 (Sep 4, 2008) percent of the world’s Internet users, inspite that only 15.3 percent of its population is connected to the Internet, and many of them fall in rural and mountainous life. This figure, according to Internet World Stats, a market research organization that tracks Internet usage by region and also by countries, includes all of ICIMOD member countries (RMCs) as well. At this junction, ICT for development is at a critical turning point and holding great promise for shaping rural and mountain life in different ways and accelerating the achievements of equitable and inclusive development.

Rural people in the mountainous areas of the HKH region have lived traditionally in much lower levels of economic incomes and general well being than their counterparts, are more marginalized from digital opportunities despite ICT as an effective tool to address these longstanding problems of inequality. In addition, negative perceptions on rural ICT use are prevalent: rural people are considered to have little demand for so-called e-services maybe partly infused by the notion of higher illiteracy, absence of electricity to feed electronic equipment and the returns on investment are low because rural people are not productive but consumptive users of ICT. Reducing the information cost and building ICT capacity are of central importance for the rural and mountain poor and most RMC’s have developed frameworks to improve accessibility. It is however extremely important that after the provision of infrastructure, connectivity, complemented by capacity building, providing useful content is crucial to people living in rural areas and often in the form they can absorb or understand (local language. Access to education and training through e-learning, will be important in most sectors, particularly to improve the participation of woman in development and bridge the gender gap. Appropriate ICT solutions for improving the efficiency of health service, governance, disaster preparedness, market information services enables rural poor to meet basic needs and encourages greater public voice in decision making and above all, empowers rural people.