About ICT4D

"information is the torch of truth and its free flow is the bloodstream of democracy"

- Vint Cerf, 9/12/2001

ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development) is a relatively new and highly dynamic field of development intervention. ICT covers a whole range of technologies to access, process and distribute information (text, sound, images etc). ICT is most commonly used to denote digital media and communication technologies, especially computers, Internet and mobile phones. If deployed appropriately, ICT offers great opportunities for economic and social development. But unless strategically used to strengthen development and poverty reduction efforts, there is a great risk that ICT widens social inequalities within and between societies. Patterns of digital stratification tend to amplify existing social and economic discrepancies, thus excluding people from their right to development in the global network society.

ICT4D is not just about technology, but about helping poor and marginalized communities across the world to benefit from technological developments to improve the quality of their lives. ICT offers a powerful tool, but opportunities must be carefully weighed against risks. If the education sector invests in computers instead of teachers, students are not likely to benefit from e-learning; if patients are unable to receive health care in time, it does not really matter how sophisticated information systems doctors have access to; and unless they can achieve greater political influence, efforts to organize and mobilize citizens by mobiles or social media will not improve the structures of public participation. When measured in terms of real impact, it is clear that ICT is but one of many components of social development, yet a particularly complex and dynamic one.

Working in the field of ICT4D is an ongoing learning process involving many actors contributing their bit of knowledge and experience. ICT4D is by nature multi-disciplinary, and interventions require a multi-stakeholder approach, not least to keep abreast with and take full advantage of rapid technological developments. Open and transparent sharing of information and knowledge among different actors is not just an aspiration but a necessity in ICT4D, which is why knowledge brokering is one of the main functions of Spider.

Spider focuses on ICT4D in the following thematic areas:

• Democracy
• Education
• Health