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Big World > Links > ICT Sources by Topic
Case Histories and Stories
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An annotated list of key on-line sources which focus on case histories and stories illustrating the use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and development.
A Case Study of Electronic Commerce in Nepalhttp://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/articles/nepalcase.htm Author(s):Larry Press, CIS Department, California State University, Seymour Goodman, Departments of International Affairs and Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Tim Kelly, International Telecommunication Union, Michael Minges, International Telecommunication Union Summary:The authors conducted a study of the state of the Internet and telecommunication in Nepal during January, 2000 (ITU, 2000). Part of our charge was to recommend electronic commerce projects that would generate hard currency and increase social and geographic equity and rural employment. We present background on Nepal, a statement of our charge, ecommerce alternatives and our conclusions.
Access to ICTs in Rural Areas - The African Telecentre Experiencehttp://www.agricta.org/afagrict-l/telecentres.htm Author(s): Mike Jensen Date of publication: January 2000 Summary: Links to African Telecentres
African Internet Statushttp://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/afstat.htm Author(s): Mike Jensen Date of publication: May 2001 Summary: The Internet has grown rapidly on the continent over the last few years. At the end of 1996 only 11 countries had Internet access, but by November this year all 54 countries and territories had achieved permanent connectivity and the presence of local full service dialup ISPs.
A Participatory Approach to Produce Web Contenthttp://www.soi.city.ac.uk/research/isrg/papreport.htm Author(s): Department of Information Science, City University Date of publication: April 25 2001 Summary: The broad aim of the six months project - from May to October 2000, is to demonstrate how to realise the full benefits of Internet technologies towards sustainable development in Africa and identify some of the barriers that might constrain such a realisation. The project also sought to develop a methodology that can be used to produce web content that can impact on development in an African setting.
Bridging the Gaps in Internet Development in Africahttp://www.idrc.ca/acacia/studies/ir-gaps.htm Author(s): Mike Jensen Date of publication: August 31 1996 Summary: This study seeks to build on the activities of those who have helped chart the events in Africa toward universal access to low cost electronic communications and the associated activities that need to take place to build Africa's Information Society. It aims to identify the most important gaps in this development process, focusing on the countries, regions and sectors in African society that could benefit most from the increased involvement of IDRC.
Community Experiences with Information and Communications Technology-Enabled Development in Canada.http://www.idrc.ca/ACACIA/nordicit/title.htm Author(s): Nordicity Group Ltd. Date of publication: February 14 1997 Summary: This report represents the third deliverable of this study and it contains profiles of 22 ICT-enabled development projects which have been implemented or be implemented in Canada. It also contains a commentary which attempts to present a preliminary outline of emerging "principles" of ICT-enabled development, potential "lessons to learn" and a initial definition of the potential roles and responsibilities of various types of organizations in ICT-enabled community development.
Community Technology Centers: Impact on Individual Participants and Their Communitieshttp://www.ctcnet.org/eval.html Author(s): June Mark, Janet Cornebise, and Ellen Wahl Education Development Center, Inc. Date of publication: April 1997 Summary: Community technology centres have been established in response to concern about the growing gap between those who have access to computer technology and those who do not. These centers provide people who are already socially or economically disadvantaged with opportunities to engage with a range of technologies in a community setting. The Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) has played an instrumental role in starting, incubating and supporting the development of such centers with support form the National Science Foundation as well as contributions from individuals, nonprofit organizations and agencies, foundations and corporations.
Connecting People and Organizationsfor Rural Development through Pilot Multi Purpose Telecentreshttp://www.unesco.org/webworld/public_domain/kothmale_docs/Philippines.ppt Summary:A presentation on Multipurpose Community Telecenters (MCTs) in Selected Philippine Barangays
Developing the Internet Across Asia and the Near Easthttp://www.usaid.gov/regions/ane/ict/internet.htm Summary: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are powerful tools for stimulating economic growth and social change. The quality of, and access to, information are critical to the successful application and adoption of ICTs by society. ICTs cut across all USAID traditional sectors: health, community development, governance, economic growth and education. They enable groups working on common issues to benefit from each other's experiences and share best practices. They can: Provide access to improved education and health in remote or inaccessible areas through distance learning, telemedicine, and interactive training. Improve services to citizens by providing on-line access to government/public services; enable individuals and communities to make informed choices in the decision making process. Reduce business costs while opening access to new markets through electronic commerce, permitting more informed economic decisions.
El Limon On Line !http://www.sas.cornell.edu/cresp/ecopartners/comp/net.htm Author(s): An EcoPartners Project (http://www.sas.cornell.edu/cresp/ecopartners/) Summary: On Saturday August 29, El Limon went on line, becoming one of the first isolated rural communities in the Dominican Republic with public Internet access. In this cutting-edge experiment , the community will use the internet to reduce rural isolation, support agricultural change and economic development, and facilitate innovative programs like this summerís Art Week. The Rural Information Technology Institute, which promises to be at the core of El Limonís development, will be designed around the communication possibilities of the internet. All about the El Limon Project (http://www.sas.cornell.edu/cresp/ecopartners/project.htm) Update from El Limon (http://www.sas.cornell.edu/cresp/ecopartners/updates/Update.html)
Examples of Applications: ICTs in developing countrieshttp://www.iicd.org/base/show_article?cat=1&article_id=13&subcat=7 Author(s): Andreas Crede; Robin Mansell (eds.) Date of publication: August 13 1998 Summary: This fourth booklet contains a series of case studies illustrating the potential role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in development. The cases that are described highlight possible ICT applications in a selected number of sectors. The first booklet discussed on the nature of ICTs and their importance for sustainable development. The second booklet focused on the gaps in the provision of ICTs in developing countries and the opportunities for bridging this gap. A third booklet examined the need to develop a national ICT policy framework.
Experiments in community access to new communication and information technologies in Bogotahttp://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/nn/09_Exp.html Author(s): Luis F. Baron, Researcher, Center for Research and Popular Education, CINEP, Bogota, Colombia. For an international working meeting on telecentre evaluation, held at Far Hills, Quebec Date of publication: September 28 1999. Summary: For more than a year and a half, working-class districts in Bogota have been the subject of three community experiments with access to new information and communication technologies (ICT). These projects involve the Neighborhood Information Units (UIBs), which represent yet another form of what is known generically as telecenters. These are places where the public can gain access to information and communication technologies: they can function as experiments in rural and urban telephone service, community radio, documentation centers and public libraries, among others.
IICD Project models: OverviewSummary: IICD has established knowledge and project experience in sectors like good governance, livelihood opportunities and education. Developing sustainable projects using ICTs is a complicated task. Extensive knowledge, experience and network contacts in these fields do not have to be rediscovered as they are already in place. IICD created project models to reflect its knowledge and experience. These project models will -after a short introduction- assist you in project formulation by raising the right type of questions.
Improving Access to Telecommunications in South Africahttp://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=267 Author(s): Alan Martin Date of publication:August 21 1998 Summary: Yilani's village of Ndevana in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa had no public telephone. To call someone, Yilani would take a 20 minute taxi ride to King William's Town. There, he could use a payphone - and hope the person he wished to reach was available. For Yilani, a student taking correspondence courses at a technical college in Johannesburg, contacting his lecturer to discuss difficulties with an assignment could turn into a day-long outing.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Sustainable Livelihoods:http://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/ea/AERDD/ICTs.home.htm Author(s): Clare O'Farrell & Dr Patricia Norrish (AERDD) and Andrew Scott (ITDG) Date of publication: November 1999 Summary: The follow material relates to a desk based study on new communication technologies and existing information systems of small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs in rural communities. The purpose of the study was to enquire and to illustrate using case study examples: Whether and how ICTs might further marginalise disadvantaged communities, to determine what could be done to mitigate those adverse effects. Whether and how modern ICTs can be used to strengthen and develop the information systems of small-scale farmers and small-scale enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and contribute to poverty reduction.
Information, ICTs and Small Enterprise: Findings from Botswanahttp://idpm.man.ac.uk/idpm/diwpf7.htm Author(s): Richard Duncombe & Richard Heeks As part of the Development Informatics Working Paper Series Date of publication:1999 Summary: The potential contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to small enterprise development can only be assessed by first understanding current information practices and needs in such enterprises. This paper reports findings from a questionnaire and interview survey of formal sector enterprises in Botswana based on this approach.
Innovative Programs Utilizing Information Technology: Case Studieshttp://www.usaid.gov/leland/casestudies.htm Summary: The following are a few of the programs which the Leland Initiative is funding, working in partnership with, or chooses to highlight as an effective case-study of the use of the Internet as a tool for development.
Innovative Schoolshttp://www.oki.hu/article.asp?Code=english-art-foldes-innovative.html Author(s): Petra Földes Summary: The Hungarian educational system has undergone fundamental structural changes in the past decade. Its main direction has been decentralization, which has been undertaken parallel to the society's democratic transition. The deconstruction of the centralized educational management system started in the early 1980's. The aim of the process has been to create a flexible school system that is capable of reacting to the more and more differentiated social needs. This strengthened local autonomy and increased the importance of local initiatives (innovations).
It Takes the Internet to Raise a Cambodian Villagehttp://www.greenstar.org/butterflies/Cambodia-Web-Village.htm Author(s): John Markoff Summary: This article looks at the work of Bernard Krisher, a 69-year-old former journalist who is trying to bring the Internet to one of the poorest regions in Asia.
Learning Lessons from Telecentres in Latin America and the Caribbeanhttp://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/nn/16_Lea.html Author(s): Karin Delgadillo, Raúl Borja, ChasquiNet Foundation, Quito, ECUADOR Summary: This document summarizes contributions on the nature and development status of telecentres in Latin America, gathered through an online consultation process that was organized by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and facilitated by ChasquiNet, Ecuador, in July 1999, and that involved telecentre operators and researchers in new information and communication technologies. This information is expected to serve as the basis for future detailed research on the challenges and opportunities facing telecentres in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on their impact on social and economic development.
"Partnerships and participation in telecommunications for rural development: exploring what works and why"http://www.itu.int/ITU-D-UniversalAccess/johan/papers/guelph.doc Author(s): Johan Ernberg, ITU (http://www.itu.int/ITU-D-UniversalAccess) Date of publication: October 26 1998 Summary: From a Conference at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada: The overall objective of the Programme is to develop best-practice, sustainable and replicable models of ways to provide access to modern telecommunication facilities and information services, particularly to people in rural and remote areas. To this end pilot projects are implemented in a number of countries in different regions, at different stages of development and with different geographical, social, economic and cultural conditions.
Strategy for a Distance Learning Network for the Dominican Republichttp://www.sas.cornell.edu/cresp/ecopartners/comp/distnet.htm Author(s): Jon Katz Date of publication: November 10 1999 Summary: Few rural Dominican children have the opportunity to continue their education beyond the sixth grade, and there is little likelihood of substantial improvement in the foreseeable future. An extensive distance learning network could bring intermediate and high school level classes to most of these communities. In the near future, the convergence of cellular telephone and internet technologies will make such a network technically and economically practical. This concept paper provides more information, and proposes a pilot project in the region of San Jose de Ocoa.
Telecentre Research Framework for Acaciahttp://www.idrc.ca/acacia/04066/index.html Author(s): Anne Whyte, Mestor Associates, Canada Date of publication: June 1998 Summary: The Acacia Initiative seeks to empower communities in sub-Saharan Africa to improve their own social and economic development, through the particular entry point of improved access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Acacia is designed as an integrated program of demonstration projects and research to address the four linked areas of national policy, telecommunications infrastructure, modern ICT technology, and access to information for different applications such as education and health.
Telecentres Excite Ugandans - But What About The Poor?http://www.panos.org.uk/news/3aug98.htm Author(s): Aida Opoku-Mensah Date of publication: Aug. 4, 1998 Summary: The Acacia Initiative is aimed at widening access to information and communications technologies in Africa, in the form 'telecentres' that provide public access to telephone, fax, electronic mail and - most tantalisingly - the Internet. But enticing as the project is, it raises questions as to whether poor people in developing countries, particularly those living outside city centres, ought to be charged for using information and communications services that are being increasingly viewed as a key strategy in combating poverty.
Telecentres, IT and rural development: possibilities in the Information Agehttp://www.csu.edu.au/research/crsr/sai/saipaper.htm#top Author(s): Perry Share Date of publication: May 11 1996 Summary: Originally presented to the Annual Conference of the Sociological Association of Ireland, Dundalk: This paper is part of an attempt to sociologically understand the telecentre experience to date. It outlines the extent of telecentre development in a number of countries; it examines the range of telecentre types and activities; suggests some explanations for the emergence of telecentres at this particular time; and places the development of rural telecentres within a discussion of the direction of rural development policy in the advanced economies. Finally it raises some questions for the future.
The Internet Comes to Rural Indiahttp://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=552 Author(s): Keane Shore Date of publication: November 5 1999 Summary: A pilot project is bringing the Information Age to rural Indian villagers in the form of communal telephone and Internet access. Based on the experiences to date of a half-dozen local 'information shops' in southern India, another 12 villages have requested their own information shops, if funding can be found.
The Status of African Information Infrastructurehttp://www.un.org/Depts/eca/adf/codipap1.htm Author(s): Mike Jensen Date of publication: June 28 1999 Summary: Paper from First Meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Communications and information infrastructure has improved dramatically in Africa over the past 5 years. The Internet, satellite television, cellular phones and itemised billing are now widespread on the continent. But what might have been unthinkable a decade ago is still a dream for the majority of Africans those who do not live in the capital cities and are not part of the elite.
The Tyranny of Participation in Information Systems: Learning from Development Projectshttp://idpm.man.ac.uk/idpm/diwpf4.htm Author(s): Richard Heeks, as part of the Development Informatics Working Paper Series Date of publication:1999 Summary: It often seems that use of participative approaches in the development of information systems (IS) has reached the status of a new orthodoxy: a 'magic bullet' technique that is always relevant, always beneficial in trying to overcome the high failure rate of information systems. Yet participation is clearly not so magical in practice and is often beset by problems. This paper sets out to investigate and understand some of these problems. It does so by recognising the parallels between debate on the role and value of participation in information systems development, and debate on the role and value of participation in development projects more generally. These projects aim to deliver development goals and they have frequently involved participation. They therefore provide fertile ground for learning about approaches to information systems development.
The Wireless Toolbox: A Guide To Using Low-Cost Radio Communication Systems for Telecommunication in Developing Countries - An African Perspectivehttp://www.idrc.ca/acacia/03866/wireless/ Author(s): Mike Jensen Date of publication: January 1999 Summary: With 6 billion people on the planet and only about 800 million telephone lines, access to modern communications services is still a dream for most people. It is now an accepted fact that the telecom infrastructure is one of the key factors that affect economic, social and cultural development in both developing and industrialised countries but as we move into the next millennium, over half the world has yet to make a phone call, let alone surf the web. The growth of the Internet, as well as widespread moves to increased use of electronic information in society, has put even more pressure on the existing telecommunications infrastructure. Even the advanced networks in developed countries are straining to cope with the growth in data communications, which now exceeds voice traffic.
When Villages go Globalhttp://www.greenstar.org/butterflies/Dangerous-Knowledge.htm Author(s): Simon Romero (The New York Times) Date of publication: April 23 2000 Summary: The prospects seemed bright when the Internet was recently introduced in a remote part of the mountainous Cotopoxi region in Ecuador. Under the guidance of aid workers, Quichua-speaking peasants planned to gather crop information and sell their crafts over the Web. Soon, though, it was discovered that some of he men were using the computer to visit pornographic sites.
Other sources and links
ICT - Case Studies/ Knowledge Productshttp://members.tripod.com/knownetwork/internetinfo-cases.html A section of the KnowNet initiative, hosting a number of case studies and knowledge products relating to the use of ICT models in various facets of human development.
News Clippings on ICT and Knowledge Managementhttp://www.cddc.vt.edu/knownet/internetinfo-news.html A section of the KnowNet initiative.
The ICT Stories Projecthttp://www.iicd.org/base/story_read_all In almost all projects up-to-date knowledge about Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is crucial, but resources and access to this knowledge are very limited. Moreover, in most projects there is neither time nor money to carefully compare the various options available. In such a situation, the experiences of others facing the same problems become invaluable. By learning from the mistakes and successes of others, one does not have to reinvent the wheel. |
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