IT for Development

POLICY FOR A NETWORKED SOCIETY
Policy Participation reports
Public Engagement through Information Technologies reports
IT for Development reports

INTERACTIVE MEDIA FOR CHILDREN reports

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October, 2004
WTO, E-Commerce and Information Technology: From the Uruguay Round through the Doha Development Agenda
A report for the UN-ICT Task Force by Sasch Wunsch-Vincent (author) and Joanna McIntosh (editor)
Although much of the hype about e-commerce has faded, from the governance perspective, e-commerce is still a relatively new phenomenon, particularly when viewed through the lens of international trade. Consequently, there is a need to consider a global trade framework for e-commerce and information and communications technologies (IT) that is predictable, robust, and adaptable to future technological developments and changes in the marketplace. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has taken several steps to define how the multilateral, rules-based trading system should be applied in the online world, but its work is really just beginning.

This report for the UN-ICT Task Force reviews the history of the WTO's work on e-commerce and IT and provides a current and comprehensive perspective of how WTO Members may further apply the rules-based trading system to e-commerce/IT through the Doha Development Agenda. Its purpose is to provide non-WTO experts who are interested in the trade dimensions of e-commerce/IT and developing countries' participation in global IT governance with a reference tool that will explain both the scope and importance of the WTO's work on e-commerce/IT.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > Global Digital Opportunity Initiative

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December, 2003
National Strategies of ICT for Development: Global Digital Opportunities
Frederick S. Tipson and Claudia Fritelli - formerly of the Markle Foundation
Global Digital Opportunities examines efforts made by a wide range of countries seeking to harness information and communications technologies to enhance their economic and social development. Global Digital Opportunities is based on a variety of initiatives to which the Markle Foundation contributed over the last three years.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > Global Digital Opportunity Initiative

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November, 2002
New Directions in US Foreign Assistance and the Role of Information and Communication
Daniel H. Rosen, Institute for International Economics
This paper was presented to United States policymakers and development advocates to help integrate the new wave of information and communications technology tools into their development initiatives--especially those emphasized in President Bush's Millennium Challenge Account program. Many initiatives in United States development assistance emphasize productivity growth in development processes in the poorest nations. Drawing on a range of evidence, this paper argues that productivity is intimately connected to technology. It also presents evidence linking ICT to good governance, health, education, and environment.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > Global Digital Opportunity Initiative

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September, 2002
What Works: Serving The Poor, Profitably: A Private Sector Strategy for Global Digital Opportunity
C.K. Prahalad, professor of business, University of Michigan and Allen Hammond, World Resource Institute
Businesses can serve the world's poor, profitably -- delivering social and economic benefit in developing nations while also making a return on their investment. A report co-sponsored by the Markle Foundation and the World Resources Institute focuses on innovative business models -- many of them made possible by increasingly available digital technologies--to address these untapped markets. The report also details the social benefits of bringing poor communities into the market and providing them with efficient and affordable access to basic goods and services.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > World Resource Institute

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June 27, 2002
Mozambique ICT Policy: Implementation Strategy Toward the Global Information Society
Government of Mozambique
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are today universally recognized as the driving force of the Global Information Society and of the knowledge-based economy, as well as a decisive lever to promote the rapid and sustainable growth of countries in the process of development. It is, however, a reason for great concern that up to the present time the potential of ICTs is still not benefiting the large majority of developing countries but is, on the contrary, deepening the digital divide between the industrialized and the poor countries. In giving approval to a national ICT Policy, the Government of Mozambique has convincingly joined this international effort and shown that it is determined to make ICTs a real lever for the sustainable development of the country.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > Global Digital Opportunity Initiative

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July, 2001
Creating a Development Dynamic: Final Report of the Digital Opportunity Initiative
Markle Foundation, Accenture, United Nations Development Programme
Much attention has been paid to the role of ICT in development, but what do we really know about what technology and information have to offer developing countries? Examining case studies and providing a series of guidelines, this extensive report (the product of a collaboration between the private, non-profit, and academic sectors) concludes that the real benefits lie not in the provision of technology per se, but rather in the specific manner in which it is applied. ICT is not a panacea, but used wisely, it can narrow economic and social divides within and between countries.
Project: Global Digital Opportunity Project > Global Digital Opportunity Initiative

Download Executive Summary: (172K)
Download Final Report: (2060K)
Download Final Report Body (240K)
Download Appendices (200K)
Download Appendix1-4 (148K)
Download References (72K)
Download Section 3 & 4 (112K)


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