DM 218 Information Technology Management

ICT & Development

The world’s poorest two billion people desperately need healthcares not laptops..

Mothers are going to walk right up that computer and say” My children are dying what can you do?” They’re not going to sit there and, like browse eBay or something.

What they want is for their children to live. Do you really have to put in computers to figure that out?

Bill Gates – Chairman and Chief

Software Architect, Microsoft

Defining ICT

• Refer to technologies (web-based, SMS,

MIS, lans) that facilitate by electronic

means the creation, storage management

and dissemination of information

(Digital Opportunities Task force,2002)

• As a vehicle for communication rather than

simply a means of processing information (Curtain, 2004)

Types of ICTs

• Old – newspapers, radio and television

• New – networked computers, satellite-sources

communications, wireless technology and the

internet. A feature of these technologies is their

capacity to be networked and interlinked to form

a massive infrastructure of interconnected

telephone services, standardized computing

hardware, the internet, radio and TV, which

reaches every corner of the globe.

Definition of Development

A critical factor that has to be considered in

the application of ICT for development is

whether it serves the poor especially with

respect to dimensions of poverty such as

health, lack of voice and lack of

information (Curtain, 2004)

Development Projects

Development projects pertain to activities

that relate to the socio-economic well

being of the country or the community.

This involves activities related to health,

education, commerce, the environment

and governance. These are projects

administered within the context of an

organization

As such, understanding the

definitions of ICTs and development,

Tiglao & Alampay (2003) highlights

the ICT projects that have direct

impact on empowering people in poor

communities as well as impact on

alleviating poverty and addressing the

MDGs

Reclassification of ICT4D

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

ICT4D Typology ICT Application

Political/Governance/empower

ment

E-government

Economic/Livelihood E-business

E-employment

E-agriculture

Social/Education E-learning

E-health

E-environment

Infrastructure/Access E-science

The UN Millennium

Development Goals

• MDG is a system of time bound and measurable goals and targets that the 191 member states on the UNs have committed to during the UN Millennium Summit in Sept. 2000.

• The goals and targets cut across three broad sectors of development:

a. Economic well-being

b. Social development

c. Environmental sustainability and

regeneration

• The system seeks to enhance the

capability of member states in achieving

development by combating poverty,

hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental

degradation and discrimination against

women as well as commitment to human

rights, good governance and democracy

The UN Millennium

Development Goals

• The Millennium declaration clearly

recognizes the potential and crucial role

that information and communication

technologies can play in meeting the

development goals as contained in target

18, which states that “in co-operation with

the private sector, make available the

benefits of new technologies, especially

information and communication”

The UN Millennium

Development Goals

Global Perspective of ICT

for Development

The WSIS (2003) identified the five (5) priority

themes and their respective sub-themes under its

ICT4D platforms

1. Innovating for Equitable Access

a. Access/connectivity/last/first mile innovation

including WIFI

b. Financing ICT4D

c. Affordable solutions

d. Open solutions/open source

2. Enhancing Human Capacity and

Empowerment

a. Capacity building (formal and non-formal

education/skills development, e-learning)

b. Youth

c. Women/gender

d. Indigenous community/ people

e. Health

3. Strengthening Communications for

Development

a. Enhancing communication through media

b. Intercultural communication

c. Humanitarian aid and disaster information

system

d. Conflict prevention and resolution

4. Promoting Local Content and knowledge

a. Local culture, knowledge and content

b. Indigenous knowledge

c. Local media

5. Fostering Policy Implementation

a. e-Strategies

b. e-Governance (including security)

c. e-Commerce/e-Business

Approaches to the Use

of ICT in Development

1. ICT as LEAD. In focuses on ICT as a driver of the development process. The ICT led approach usually aims to provide the poor the opportunities to receive up-to-date information or achieve an enhanced ability to communicate with others.

(Telecentres seek to promote economic growth through access to better opportunities to generate income as a means of poverty reduction)

2. ICT plays a supporting

roles. In ICT support places

development objective to the

fore and seeks to use ICT to

support the objective

Approaches to the Use

of ICT in Development

ICT Applications: Benefits in All

Aspect of Life

Breakdown of ICT Projects and

Their Application (Tiglao, 2004)

ICT Application # of Projects %

E-governance 240 59.70

E-learning 100 24.87

E-science 43 10.69

E-business 37 9.20

E-environment 22 5.47

E-health 19 4.72

E-agriculture 13 3.23

E-employment 12 2.98

402

ICT4D Applications

1. E-government/E-governance• Easier to access government information

• Government is also the largest single contributor

to the local economy

• Diversity in e –governance projects

• Diversity in the technologies used

Websites

• Philippine government portal (www.gov.ph)

• 1,694 LGUs have a web-presence (91% are at stage 1 –static)

• Notable websites that won awards from NCC are Naga City, Nueva Ecija province, Zamboanga del Sur province, municipalities of Gerona, Tarmac, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro

Short Messaging Systems (SMS)

• Used for complaints, suggestions, and

request for information ex. Patrol 117,

DepEd DETxt, TextSSS, Patrol 2920 and

Text NAIA

Computerization and Specialized

Databases

1. e-LGUs projects

a. Real property tax systems

b. Business permits and licensing

system

c. Treasury operations management

systems

d. Tax mapping system

e. Geographic information system

Best Practices

Naga City. The city’s website, which

updates and informs the citizens on city

services, financial and bidding reports, city

legislations, investment data, statistics and

procedures in local bureaucracy

2. E-businessa. E-ticketing

b. B2b: b2bpricenow, bayantrade,

virtual malls (divisoria.com,

turoturo.com, myAyala.com,

PadalaKo.com,online portal

EXPERTRADE, electronic yellow pages

(EYP.ph)

c. For SMEs: eastASEANbiz.net, Asia Pacific Economic

Council (APEC), APEC Centre for Technology

Exchange for Small and Medium Enterprise (ACTETSME)

3. E-learning – a. Distance learning b.

ICT Skills Development c. Networking

Knowledge Institutions and d. Providing

access and exposure to the technologies

DOTC Mobile Information Technology

Classroom

4. E-employment: overseas and local

employment

Overseas: use of internet, e-mail,net

meeting, cyber photos and cyber

greetings.OWWA “teleugnayan centres”,

SART Padala Remittance Service,

SMART money (Estopace, 2004)

Local employment – DOLE(http://phil-

jobnet2.dole.gov.ph) LGUs: job posting in

Naga City, Bulacan Province and Bohol

Province (Niles and Hanson, 2003)

5. E-environment. Most of the projects involved Geographic Information System (GIS) applications to map out, contour, hydrology, land use, soil type, erosion, loan cover, population, among others

SMS: bantay usok, bantay dagat, bantay kalikasan

NDCC/PAGASA monitor weather and environmental disturbances

6. E-Agriculture. Agriculture and Fisheries

Research and Development Information

system (AFRDIS), national Information

Network (NIN), Agriculture and Natural

Resources Information Network (AGRINET),

Farmer’s Information and

Technology services (FITS), Geographic

Information System to identify soil patters and

topographies and mapping properties

7. E-Science. Projects pertains to the access of the ICT infrastructure: Multipurpose Community TeleCenterproject (www.barangayconnect.ph), ATIKHA’s use of video phones for OFW families (Doyo, 2002), broadband access such as in PREGINET and CATNET and IFDCI’s use of satellite and omnidirectional antennas (Hocson, 2002)

8. E- Health. E-health initiatives can be classified into main categories:

a. Health information and education (internet, SMS, dedicated hotlines) DOH SARs hotlines and textlines)

b. Specialised databases and information systems (Infectious Disease Data Management Systems) e-conferences Qu4Rad (www.qu4rad.net), ICT enhanced management information system on HIV/AIDS and sexual reproductive health services

LGU Web-presence (as of September 30, 2005)

NATIONWIDE

With

Website

Stage

1

Stage

2

Stage

3

Stage

4

Stage 5 Total %

Cities

(n=117)

20 75 20 0 0 115 98.3

Provinces

(n=79)

18 47 14 0 0 79 100

Municipalities

(n= 1500)

1,215 229 50 0 0 1,494 99.6

Total

(n=1696)

1,253 351 84 0 0 1,688 99.5

Source: National Computer Centre (2005)

Genesis and History of DOT Force

• At the Summit in Kyushu-

Okinawa in 2000, the G8 Charter

on Global Information Society

was adopted

• The G8 leaders agreed to

established a Digital Opportunity

Task Force (DOT force)

43 members participated

DOT Force Representatives17 government

representatives + 1

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK,

USA, and a representative from European Commission

Developing countries governments (Bolivia, Brazil,

Egypt, India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and

Tanzania)

7 representatives

from Internationals

/multilateral

organizations

ECOSOC, ITU, OECD, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNESCO,

WB

11 representatives

from private sectors

Three global networks: GIIC, GBDE and WEF

8 Representative from

non profit sector

One representative from each G8 country

DOT Force focused on

the three main objectives

1. To enhance global understanding and

consensus on the challenges and

opportunities posed by information and

communication technologies, and the role

that these technologies can play in

fostering sustainable, participatory

development, better governance, wealth

creation, and empowerment of local

communities and vulnerable groups

2. To foster greater coherence among

various initiatives, both G8 and other

currently underway or proposed to

address these challenges and

opportunities

3. To enhance the effective mobilization of

resources to address these challenges

and opportunities

Barriers to take up of ICT for

Development• No robust inventory of documented development

outcomes

• Many projects have been viewed as “technology

transfer” rather than aiming to achieve

development outcomes. This means that project

“success” or “failure” has been measured in

terms whether a technical system was deployed

or not. The actual development outcome (or

relevance) of the system was neither monitored

nor measured

• There is the “iceberg phenomenon” meaning that ICTs have been hidden beneath the surface of other development projects. When viewed as enables of other development sectors, ICTs were rarely liked to impact indicators. This phenomenon suggests that ICT in many development projects is best viewed as a crosscutting issue

• A focus in project evaluation on management issues and project cycles together with the use of inadequate tools, methodologies and timeframes, has hidden ICT’s contribution to longer-term social change

• There has also a desire to hide failures on the

part of those involved, in many cases. Although

any ICT for development initiatives have failed,

few failure have been documented. This is due

to lack of incentives in the development system

to encourage project managers, development

agencies or implementing partners to critically

report and make public project shortfalls or

failures

UNDP Evaluation Office 2001

•Does access to

advanced ICT

benefit the

poor?