Article

By James George Chacko

While the world's attention was unquestionably focused on high level delegations marching into the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and taking the platform in debating, deliberating and fervently seeking to shape the future of the information society of tomorrow, critical questions of how Information Communication Technologies (ICT) are actually able to address global, regional and national human development issues have begun to come to the forefront of debates taking place around the world.

The debate essentially lies in two primary conjectures, namely, on one side, the critics expound on how ICT is not essential in the context of development and thus non-indispensable in the fight against world poverty. It is also put forth that a positive relationship between human development is either weak or absent. The proponents of ICT, however, strongly believe that ICT has the capability to provide developing nations with an unprecedented opportunity to meet vital development goals countries and thus empowering them to 'leapfrog' several stages of their development, far more effectively than before. It is argued that those nations that succeed in harnessing the potential of ICT can look forward to greatly expanded economic growth, dramatically improved human welfare and stronger forms of democratic governance, thus playing a specific role in furthering and enhancing sustainable development. Even the protagonists of ICT for development, however, argue that growth of ICT should not become a 'techno-quick-fix' for solving development problems as these may be unacceptable tradeoffs in less developed countries.

It is within this contested notion of the role of ICT and Development that UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) together with the Human Development Resource Centre (HDRC) set out to examine the highly pertinent questions on the relation of human development and ICT and attempting to reinstate human development at the heart of ICT deployment and initiatives. This initiative has led to the development of a Human Development Report entitled Realizing the Millennium Development Goals: Promoting ICT for Human Development in Asia[1]. In order to systematically assess the role and impact of ICTs on human development, the clear targets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were used as benchmark for human development. The MDGs include:

. eradication of poverty

. universal primary education

. gender equality and empowerment of women

. reduction of child mortality

. improvement of maternal health

. fight against major diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria

. promotion of sustainable environment

. development of a global partnership for development

The report based on research conducted in nine countries in Asia, namely, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam[2] reveals that if wisely deployed, technological applications and innovations in the ICT sector can affect human development in several ways.

ICT as a sector of economic activity: An obvious impact of ICT is its contribution as an industry for the overall economic growth of a nation. The ICT sector and industry have witnessed unprecedented growth in the past decade. Global spending on information and communications technology was expected to grow from US$2.1 trillion in 1999 to US$3 trillion in by 2003.

ICT as an enabler for enhancing human productivity: The pervasive potential impact of ICT emerges from its being used as control technology, leading to innovations in products and processes in the manufacturing sectors and resource extraction industries. ICTs have become indispensable ingredients in all forms and processes of economic activity ranging from stock inventories, product and service information, marketing, manufacturing and design. Quantitative assessment of the impact of ICT becomes difficult, as it is so embedded and integrated in all industrial and services sectors. ICT directly influences human development through access to information, knowledge and enlarging choices: The long-term impact of ICT lies in its ability to directly expand human choices through increased access to information and knowledge. ICT breaks barriers to human development in at least three ways not possible before or with other forms of technology:

Breaking barriers to human knowledge: The Internet and other ICT tools are increasingly becoming key delivery mechanisms for sections of the population that did not have access to educational infrastructure and content. ICTs are also being actively used in promoting life-long learning and continued education, reintegrating unemployed people into the workforce through re-education and retooling of skills.

Breaking barriers to participation: Internet and ICT based news and information groups have contributed to the creation of a far more vibrant public sphere. In many parts of Asia, where the mass media have been and continue to be strictly controlled by governments, the Internet has offered a new medium of political mobilization and participation.

Breaking barriers to economic opportunity: Since the ICT sector requires less initial investment than the more traditional sectors of industrial activity, it lowers the barriers to entry into the economy for people who could never break into the industrial sector; for example, compare the cost of setting up a steel plant with setting up desk top publishing. ICT provides new and unprecedented opportunities to people who have proficiency in handling ICT tools and have an idea or service to sell. This was undoubtedly one of the underlying forces of the dot.com boom.

The analysis of ICT policies and e-strategies in place within the countries studied clearly indicate that with regards to specific areas of human development, strategic deployment of ICTs can help in advancing human development by alleviating poverty, enhancing education and improving healthcare. However it must be stressed that a simple and technologically deterministic vision of ICTs and their impact on human development must be avoided as there lay many challenges and obstacles compounded and reflected by the ever growing digital divide. Towards this end the state, NGOs, and the private sector have complementary roles to promote and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. What must be noted is that in spite of the limitations of ICT, digital divide and the experimental nature of many of the applications for human development, the way forward is to support the growth and spread of ICT, constantly steering it in the direction of human development applications and ensuring the true purpose of ICT utilisation for the betterment of society is not lost.

The Executive Summary and technical report of the Regional Human Development Report on Promoting ICT for Human Development in Asia 2004: Realising the Millennium Development Goals is available at http://www.apdip.net/rhdr/preview-event/default.asp

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[1] http://www.apdip.net/rhdr/overview.asp

[2] The countries were chosen on a mix of the UNDP Technology Achievement Index, including leaders, potential leaders, dynamic adopters and marginalised countries, Human Development Report 2001.

By James George Chacko
Programme Specialist
UNDP Asia Pacific Development Information Programme
James is the Programme Specialist for Access and Partnership Development at APDIP. His work includes developing strategies for APDIP's equal access program and he focuses on ICT and Millennium Development Goals, e-government and e-governance, learning and literacy, regional ICT policies and e-strategies, ICTs and gender, rural area connectivity and sustainability, new methods of access, open source, and ICT and SMEs. He is also engaged in research and documentation of best practices from the region in specific thematic areas related to access, governance, and sustainability. He is a recipient of several awards including the British Chevening scholarship and the Liam Holden Memorial prize.