Description
Book SynopsisOver the past two decades, projects supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) have critically examined the ways in which information and communications technologies (ICTs) can be used to improve learning, empower the disenfranchised, generate income opportunities for the poor, and facilitate access to healthcare in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Considering that most development institutions and governments are currently attempting to integrate ICTs into their practices, it is an opportune time to reflect on the research findings that have emerged from IDRC’s work and research in this area.
“Connecting ICTs to Development” discusses programmatic investments made by IDRC in a wide variety of areas related to ICTs, including infrastructure, access, regulations, health, governance, education, livelihoods, social inclusion, technical innovation, intellectual property rights and evaluation. Each chapter in this book analyzes the ways in which research findings from IDRC-supported projects have contributed to an evolution of thinking, and discusses successes and challenges in using ICTs as tools to address development issues. The volume also presents key lessons learned from ICT4D programming and recommendations for future work.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; INTRODUCTION PART I: From Heresy to Orthodoxy: ICT4D at IDRC – Richard Fuchs; INTRODUCTION PART II: From Beginning to End to Beginning Again – Katie Bryant, Laurent Elder, Heloise Emdon and Richard Fuchs; CHAPTER 1: Catalyzing Access through Social and Technical Innovation – John-Harmen Valk, Frank Tulus, Raymond Hyma and Florencio Ceballos; CHAPTER 2: Catalyzing Access via Telecommunications Policy and Regulatory Research – John-Harmen Valk and Khaled Fourati; CHAPTER 3: Access to Knowledge as a New Paradigm for Research on ICTs and Intellectual Property – Jeremy de Beer and Sara Bannerman; CHAPTER 4: ICTs and Social Inclusion – Chaitali Sinha and Raymond Hyma; CHAPTER 5: Access and Usage of ICTs by the Poor (Part I) – Kathleen Diga; CHAPTER 6: Local Economic Opportunities and ICTs: How ICTs Affect Livelihoods (Part II) – Kathleen Diga; CHAPTER 7: Research on eHealth across Health Systems: Contributions to Strengthen a Field – Chaitali Sinha and Dominique Garro-Strauss; CHAPTER 8: Making the Grade: The Role of ICTs in Providing Access to Knowledge – Ahmed T. Rashid, Alioune Camara, Maria Ng and Alicia Richero; CHAPTER 9: E-Government for Development: ICTs in the Public Sector and the Evolving Citizen–Government Relationship – Tara Fischer, Matthew L. Smith and John-Harmen Valk; CHAPTER 10: Innovations in Evaluating ICT4D Research – Sarah Earl, Chaitali Sinha and Matthew L. Smith; CHAPTER 11: Conclusions: A Decade of Innovation that Matters – Richard Fuchs and Laurent Elder; EPILOGUE: Into the Future: New Opportunities and Threats in a Global Networked Society – Laurent Elder; Author Biographies
