Did You Know ICT4D Is Dead? Long Live ICT4D!
At the 2023 Global Digital Development Forum, I prepared a lightning talk on ICT4D and its continued use as a term to describe the intersection of tech and social...
Lessons Learned from China’s Crackdown on Big Tech Companies
China’s digital economy can be categorised into three phases:
A more open phase starting in the 20th century that encouraged foreign investment and collaboration;
A...
An Emerging Digital for Development Paradigm for ICT4D 3.0
What has changed in the decade or so since the ideas of a new “ICT4D 2.0” phase were first mooted? New building blocks of development: digital roles, digital...
Does Digital Development Foster Adverse Digital Incorporation?
Digital systems are significantly associated with inequality in the global South. That association has traditionally been understood in terms of the digital divide...
Do We Still Need to be Doing ICT4D Academic Research?
The field of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) has a history that dates back some 35–40 years (Avgerou, 2017; Heeks, 2014).
The...
What Do We Call Ourselves Now: ICT4D? Digital Development? Or…?
Recently, a young Millennial was shocked when I said I was an ICT4D practitioner. She responded with a credulous, “Who calls it ICT4D anymore?” and...
The Pros and Cons of Employment Automation and Digitization – Your Weekend Long Reads
Digitization will have profound effects on the world of work. According to McKinsey, while technology will lift productivity and economic growth, up to 375 million...
Should ICT4D Be Sidestreamed or Mainstreamed?
Around the time of the MDGs, ICT4D became the focus for a critical mass of activity; a “sidestreaming” approach that saw specialist ICT4D units arise...
16 New Priorities for ICT4D Policy and Practice in a Post-2015 World
In 2016, the Millennium Development Goals will be replaced by the post-2015 development agenda (PTDA). The foundational content is in place for this new agenda,...
Thankfully, ICT4D is Now About Strategy and Implementations, Not Technovelty
Just like any other industry, the ICT for Development (ICT4D) field has experienced significant shifts. As major international development stakeholders have begun...