About | People | Coward | PBAF 537
Introduction
From rural villages in Africa to global governmental summits, interest in the potential of information and communication technologies to address the problems of economic and social development in the world's poor countries has exploded in recent years. This field has become known as “Information and Communication Technologies for Development,” or ICT4D for short. We've all heard about the much heralded successes - farmers securing higher payments for their crops thanks to online market prices; radiologists in Asia reading x-rays for hospitals in America; e-government systems that have reduced corruption; and remote eye exams via telemedicine applications. The question remains: is the information revolution fundamentally transforming political, economic and social systems in the developing world? Is the "global information society" an inclusive one that embraces the poorer countries of the world?
This graduate level class examines how countries in the developing world are attempting to achieve knowledge-driven progress. What are the central debates about the role of ICT in national development? What policies are countries pursuing to promote ICT-driven development and with what success? What are local communities doing to solve specific social problems with ICT, and how are these efforts being evaluated? What is the role of international institutions and multinational corporations? Finally, what has been the impact of ICT on democratization, human rights and local cultures?
This seminar addresses the role of ICT innovations in socioeconomic development in developing country contexts. It has two primary aims: i) to offer a critical, historical survey of the essential theory, scholarly literature, and research methods relevant to its topic; ii) to review the current debate on the grand substantive questions of this emerging field.
The course this quarter comes at an interesting moment: the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society is taking place on November 16-18 in Tunis. This summit of government and civil society leaders aspires to put in place a global framework for action for ensuring that countries can share equally in the benefits of the information revolution and that these technologies be applied to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
www.itu.int/wsis
This quarter, we will pay close attention to the high level themes (e.g., inequality, gender, marginalized and vulnerable groups, education, Internet governance, youth) that have emerged in the planning for this summit, and consider the relevance and adequacy of global processes such as WSIS for contending with these crucial issues.
This quarter we have also invited several outside speakers who are prominent actors in the ICT4D arena to share their experiences and perspectives.
This course is inherently multidisciplinary. It draws from political science, information science, communication research, rural sociology, and public policy analysis. The topic of this course is analyzed from different levels, including individual, community, national, and international levels, and encourages discussion about cross-linkages among these different levels of analysis. In this sense, this course aims at providing a broad perspective of the development process. At the end of the course, students should be able to understand and evaluate the opportunities and challenges involved in the use of ICT in international development programs.
This class is open to graduate students in all departments. No technical experience is required.
Format
Each three-hour class will typically be split into two sessions. The first half will be a seminar style format where we will discuss the assigned readings. The second half of the class will be devoted to guest speakers and group project work.
It is important that students complete the readings for the week before class. We only have nine class sessions!
Readings
Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Available at the University Bookstore
All other readings are available on electronic reserves or links from the class website.
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