Data smog: surviving the info glut
Technology Review
Advanced topics in global information management
Calling for programmed technology transfer and adoption strategies for sustainable LDC growth
Communications of the ACM - The semantic e-business vision
ICT Development in North Korea: Changes and Challenges
Information Technologies and International Development
First-class technology - third-rate bureaucracy: the case of Israel
Information Technology for Development
Basic-needs to globalization: Are ICTs the missing link?
Information Technology for Development
An empirical assessment of ICT diffusion in Africa and OECD
International Journal of Information Technology and Management
A sustainable and affordable support system for rural healthcare delivery
Decision Support Systems
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The literature on information and communication technologies (ICTs) is filled with rising optimism about the contribution of these technologies to economic and social development and their potential to transform developing countries into “modern” and knowledge-based societies. However, as yet very little is known about the veracity of these claims, much less about the long-term impact that ICTs may have on a country’s social and cultural systems. While not refuting the developmental impact of ICTs, this paper argues that it is unlikely that quantum leap reversals of marginalization and poverty will result from technology transfer to the developing world. If nothing else, past experience shows that the notion of leapfrogging stages of development as a result of application of new technologies is dangerously naive and unrealistic. The paper cautions that developing country governments and international agencies should undertake a more rigorous analysis of the social and cultural dimensions of ICTs in order to be able to design appropriate policies and programmes which will enable countries to harness ICTs for development in their own context. It concludes that the best long-term development investment that can be made using ICTs is to apply them to the training and education of the new generation, rather than to transform these technologies into short-term ends in themselves. To achieve this, it is necessary to move towards strategic and better integrated national information, communication, and education policies. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).