Information Technologies & International Development Publishes CPRsouth Special Issue
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly pervasive across the globe and are recognized as critical tools for modern economic development. Yet, beyond the recognition of the positive impact of ICTs on economic growth, there is a need to assess how governments and enterprises, particularly in developing countries, can effectively use ICTs to meet broader socioeconomic objectives and particular poverty-reduction strategies.
In the Global South, and in Africa particularly, the absence of public-interest research in the areas of ICT policy and regulation in universities, as well as a lack of think tanks, means there is little independent participation in public-policy processes, even where public consultations take place. Public policy is a result often entirely reliant on foreign experts appointed by governments, multilateral agencies, or aid agencies without local knowledge or with vested interests in particular policy outcomes. While the key elements of an integrated national ICT policy framework are now well-known in a Northern hemisphere context, a simple transposition of “best practice” often results in the adoption of inappropriate policies or inadequate implementation of good policy at the country level in the Global South.
Although the articles in this Special Issue on CPRsouth (Communication Policy Research South) — guest-edited by Alison Gillwald — examine vastly different ICT challenges from diverse perspectives from a range of countries, what is common to all of them is the context of predominantly prepaid mobile communications services that have driven connectivity, particularly for those previously marginalized from communication services in the Global South. Different as their subjects are, each article examines how the deployment of new services, apps, improved methodologies, or governance frameworks could contribute to greater inclusion through more locally appropriate, evidence-based policy and more effective regulation to enhance well-being, livelihoods, democracy, and economic participation. They all address the conference theme of What works, why and how do we know?
We invite you to read this collection of articles that just published on June 10, 2016 at http://itidjournal.org
From Research to Policy Influence
Alison Gillwald
M-money as Conduit for Conditional Cash Transfers in the Philippines
Erwin A. Alampay, Charlie Cabotaje
Policy and Regulatory Challenges Posed by Emerging Pricing Strategies
Enrico Calandro, Chenai Chair
Digital Contradictions in Bangladesh: Encouragement and Deterrence of Citizen Engagement via ICTs
Aheem Hussain, Mashiat Mostafa
Toward Digital Inclusion: Understanding the Literacy Effect on Adoption and Use of Mobile Phones and the Internet in Africa
Mariama Deen-Swarray
The Potential of Mobile Network Big Data as a Tool in Colombo’s Transportation and Urban Planning
Sriganesh Lokanathan, Gabriiel E. Kreindler, N.H. Nisana de Silva, Yuhei Miyauchi, Dedunu Dhananjaya, Rohan Samarajiva
Reimagining How to Govern the Internet (book review)
Indra De Lanerolle
François Bar & Kentaro Toyama
ITID Co-Editors-in-Chief
Arlene Luck
Managing Editor
Alison Gillwald
Guest Editor
