ICT4D - Linking Policy to Community Outcomes

Published by Partners in Micro-Development, Inc., an association of volunteer professionals from the education and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors, this 12-page article discusses the link between national ICT policy in developing countries and the effectiveness of ICT for development (ICT4D) initiatives at a community level.

It is based on a Doctoral research project - still in progress as of this writing - exploring a community informatics (CI) approach to community-based ICT4D projects which centres around getting the community itself involved in the adaptation of ICT to their purposes including advocacy, local information on community resources and services available, community mapping for community planning and development (demographics, geography), and so on. The question animating this research is whether, by leveraging existing social capital in these communities, the sustainability of ICT4D projects can be improved so that ICT4D is more inclusive in reach and its overall contribution to development is enhanced.

Specifically, the article reviews the current policy paradigm and framework, which the author describes as macro-level and techno-economic. Outlining this framework in detail, she argues that it "reflects a developed country paradigm based on a top-down approach to policy" and "results in "the exclusion of some segments of society". Her contention is that an alternative framework drawing on the method behind CI holds promise for the creation of a more balanced model. This method works on the premise that ICT which is embedded in existing community structures has greater benefits in terms of community development than externally designed ICT-based structures or network models. The process involves 3 core steps:

1. Understand the community and the social capital - or "resources or assets...that accumulate in a community as a result of the level and extent of trust, networks, reciprocity, norms of behaviour."
2. Introduce ICT as a tool to help the community meet their needs and aspirations as they perceive them using existing social capital.
3. Support the community with the necessary inputs to seed the initiative and continue to invest - not in the technology itself - but in the development outcomes.

The research has a secondary goal of developing an alternative framework for national ICT policy which is anchored in this social paradigm; the author illustrates this framework through a figure in the text that highlights the combination of top-down and bottom-up strategies. The framework implies the following fundamental shifts:

• At a community level, focus on specific community needs and aspirations rather than formula solutions. The goal is social inclusion, not simply access to technology.
• Rebalance investment at macro and micro levels based on broad social, economic, and political development outcomes that can be achieved as distinct from purely economic inputs and outputs.
• Structure funding and partnerships based on who has an interest in the outcomes.

The author hopes that this paper will generate discussion to inform the course of her remaining research.