Background In examining the use of ICTs for development between 1995-1997 conducted by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD), the Working Group on IT and Development noted that despite the positive impacts experienced in the industrialized countries and certain sectors of many developing countries, evidence showed that there were many people, especially in the least developed countries whose lives had been barely touched by ICTs. There were also many whose lives were being negatively affected by their exclusion from the global information society or by the social or economic dislocations that can accompany the impact of these technologies (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). Notwithstanding the evident positive impact of ICTs on developing societies, the critical imperative overlooked in national information planning policy is the extent to which they address real development concerns across nations. In this context, Mansell and Wehn (1998: 6) raise some crucial questions, which need to be urgently addressed by the political leaders and citizens of the developing world: “Are the benefits of the increasingly widespread, albeit uneven, diffusion and application of these technologies outweighing the risks for developing countries? Are the stakeholders in developing countries taking appropriate measures to minimize the risks of social and economic exclusion that could be associated with these revolutionary technologies?” The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) Working Group on IT and Development carried out in-depth studies of the use of ICTs for Development between 1995-1997 (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). The findings of these studies not only provide some interesting and useful insights into the problems of access and use of information technology by developing countries but also call for caution and careful planning and implementation of ICTs if they are to be harnessed for genuine development objectives and goals. The Working Group on IT and Development found in its study that while there were positive impacts which were being experienced in the industrialized countries and certain sectors of many developing countries, there was not sufficient evidence to suggest that the positive impact of these technologies on developing economies and societies were as pervasive as the debate about the benefits of the global information society made it appear. The UNCSTD Working Group reached two principal conclusions (Mansell and Wehn, 1998: 7): 1. “Although the costs of using ICTs to build national information infrastructures which can contribute to innovative ‘knowledge societies’ are high, the costs of not doing so are likely to be much higher. 2. Developing countries are at very different starting positions in the task of building innovative and distinctive ‘knowledge societies’ and in using their national information infrastructures to support their development objectives.” ICT has changed the course of development in the Asia-Pacific region. It has, however, not progressed at the same pace of change and progress across all countries. Connectivity, infrastructure, human capacity and knowledge creation and exchange, underpinned by cohesive national e-strategies fed into national development plans remain a daunting challenge, with some countries seizing the opportunities for enhanced development provided by ICT, better than others. Efforts are needed to level playing fields and encourage strategic and effective use of ICT to further human development and help eradicate poverty. The choices guiding ICT initiatives in Asia are essentially driven by economic and commercial (self?) interest and as Mody (1999:7) argues “the gloss around the technology does not deal with the social choices about how to computerize (or communicate) and the ways in which different forms of computerization (or communication) advance different values”. The guiding of ICT initiatives in Asia are also driven by governmental agendas, such as social policy, military security, etc. Where then does all this leave development? As we have argued, it is urgent to reinstate development at the core of ICT initiatives in the developing world to avert the "digital capitalism's" further marginalization of large sections of the populations in the developing world.
by: United Nations Development Programme
http://www.apdip.net/projects/rhdr/about/background
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