Stories about The Future of ICT for Development

East Timor: Connecting Civil Society

  29 April 2010

Providing internet access to civil society has been a key priority of the few information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives that exist in East Timor so far.

ICT4D: Past mistakes, future wisdom

  14 December 2009

What makes an ICT4D project fizzle out? What are the common mistakes that donors, planners and implementers make when trying to run an ICT4D project? Practitioners discuss in a public Twitter chat.

ICT4D for Women: Opportunities and Risks

  7 December 2009

Mobile phones present opportunities for development as well as risks for further abuse and marginalization of women. Gender awareness is crucial when it comes to using ICT for development.

M-banking: Going where no bank has gone before

  3 December 2009

Millions and millions of low-income, unbanked people stand to benefit (and maybe prosper?) from the development of mobile financial services in the next years, but there are several technological, logistical, and security challenges that must be addressed first.

Can ICTs aid small-scale farmers?

  24 November 2009

The world's small-scale farmers grow a large amount of food and provide many important jobs in rural areas. However, they do their work at great economic and environmental risk. How can ICTs make the jobs and lives easier for the world's farmers?

Uganda & Kenya: In Search of e-Governance

  9 November 2009

Good governance has been linked to gains in economic and human development. Governments have begun using technologies to offer more citizen services, expand transparency and make information more accessible. We look at how Kenya and Uganda use ICTs to create better governance.

Disaster Management and the role of ICTs

  27 October 2009

In a first post of the series, we explore the role of ICTs in Disaster Management and the paradigm shift in Disaster Management strategies that came about post the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.

What future for ICT4D?

  12 October 2009

We know the capacity of mobile phones to affect human development. But that is last year's news. Some thinkers argue that we are on the verge of another round of technological changes that will force ICTs to evolve. What will ICTs for development look like in the next few years?

People with disabilities and the promise of ICTs

  29 September 2009

More than 600 million people in the world live with disabilities. Oftentimes, poverty and disabilities go hand-in-hand. Can the promise of ICTs help disabled people better integrate socially and economically?

Harvard Forum – Faith and focus

  24 September 2009

Ethan's final live-blog post from the Harvard Forum about internet and communications technology ICT for development with concluding thoughts from several participants.

Harvard Forum: ICT4D and, and, and

  24 September 2009

Ethan brings the live-blog from day one to a close after questions and lively discussion with conclusion from Mike Best who suggests there's no way to summarize these discussions… with anything but an observation that the field is filled with “ands”.

Harvard Forum: Are we satisfied with what we've got?

  23 September 2009

The live-blogging continues, as Michael Spence helps identify questions that are top research priorities for the ICT for development field with input from Yochai Benkler, Rohan Samarajiva, Hernan Galperin, Alison Gillwald, and Bill Melody.