Transcript Information Management for Development: Do the policies work?

Information Management
for Development:
Do the policies work?
Adapting information policies to
target groups
Alec Singh
ACP Secretariat
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[email protected]
EADI-IMWG Conference 2004
9-11 September 2004
Maastricht, NL
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www.worldbank.org/developmentgoals
United Nations Millennium Declaration - September 2000
1.Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2.Achieve universal primary education
3.Promote gender equality and empower
women
4.Reduce child mortality
5.Improve maternal health
6.Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other
diseases
7.Ensure environmental sustainability
8.Develop a global partnership for
development
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1.
Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger
IF ICT is appropriately deployed to take into
consideration people’s differing needs, it can
become a powerful economic, social and
political tool for the poor, and for all those
who work to eradicate poverty
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ICT can help reach this objective by:
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stimulating macroeconomic growth;
making markets more efficient;
improving social inclusion; and
Facilitating political involvement.
Examples:
ACP-EU Joint institution: Centre Techinque d’Agricole (CTA)
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2. Achieve universal primary
education
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The average length of schooling in highincome countries is ten years,
but in developing countries it is approximately
less than half (4.6 years)
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What can be done to improve the
situation?
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Increase access to education through Distance
Learning
Training teachers as a spearhead group
Broadening the availability of good quality
educational material, such as educational
videos/DVDs
Use technology such as WorldSpace satellites
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3. Promote gender equality and
empower women
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Increasing economic opportunities for Women
ICT can enhance a woman’s ability to know
her rights and participate in decision making
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But what about the cultural aspects?
To what extent will these be able to be surmounted?
Personal belief that ICT will have a difficult job in
bringing about this change
ICT and Health:
4. Improve maternal health
5. Reduce child mortality
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases
But what about cultural and
religious aspects?
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7. Ensure environmental
sustainability
Energy Saving – Traditional Bookshop vs. Amazon.com (US$)
Traditional
Book
shop
Amazon.com
Sales per square foot
250
2000
Energy cost per square foot
1.1
0.56
0.44
0.03
Energy cost per 100 sales
Source: Sawhney and Contreras
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8.
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Develop a global partnership
for development
Good governance (transparency)
Encourage mutually beneficial partnerships
such as that between India and Mauritius
Encourage deregulation of telephone services
Encourage the development of information
gateways such as EuForic or the Development
Gateway
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Conclusions
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Promotion of ICT will raise the likelihood of
obtaining the MDGs
However, ICT is not a miracle solution and
ICT has to be implemented taking into
consideration local conditions
Spearhead groups should be encouraged
(Encourage the early adopters)
And traditional distribution of information
should not be left too far behind
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