Economic Growth and Democracy

ICTs for Development (ICT4D)

ICTs can enhance economic opportunity. This can spur growth, create jobs, contribute to income generation, enhance productivity and improve market access. The effectiveness of ICT in poverty alleviation and entrepreneurial development is dependent however on pro-poor policies and complementary development strategies that provide access to low cost micro-financing, information services and skills development.

ICTs have the potential to enhance the provision of vital services through improvements in the efficiency and cost of service delivery. With transparent and appropriate investment, ICTs can improve the administrative efficiency of public services by streamlining the procurement, distribution and monitoring of these services. In health care there are a plethora of examples of telemedicine projects that enable health care professionals to address the medical needs of rural communities that have historically been very unevenly serviced.

In the area of education the focus on ICTs has been on the extension of ICT penetration and usage to reduce the marginalisation of the citizenry from participation in society and to create the necessary skills base for a modern economy. ICTs have also been used to improve the quality of teaching and learning in under-serviced areas through by providing access to, and extension of the range of subjects and materials available to learners. Done effectively this can make more equitable the delivery of education services and improve national competitiveness.

In many African countries government is the largest user of ICTs. Well deployed, it can therefore serve as an example of good practice. It can further serve as an ICT champion for development by stimulating and fostering the ICT industry, enhancing information sharing and strengthening transparency and accountability through online reports of debates and decisions.

E-government is identified as a key ICT tool to improving public service delivery, which provides a critical interface between creating an enabling environment for the development of the sector and the economy, and the development of strategies to integrate those marginalised from such developments.

ICTs for Democracy

ICTs can also be used to link parliamentary assemblies to their citizens. The lack of access to the Internet in Africa means that this need to be done through public access point where people are able to obtain government and parliamentary information. This might make it a less successful form of consultation by Parliamentarian that in countries with affordable bandwidth but as public repositories of parliamentary debates, forthcoming issues and legislation the development of websites or portals is likely to enhance parliament’s visibility.

ICTs can also be used to link and co-ordinate parliamentarians at the national and regional level in order to improve their efficiency and productivity. “The analytical and research activities of the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament focus on gathering, systematizing, and assessing available research and technical solutions to make optimal use of ICT in Parliament, both with respect to the lawmaking process and as a means to communicate and interact with the electorate.” The Global Centre also seeks to launch joint research and impact evaluation initiatives with outside institutions on emerging topics related to ICT that could benefit legislatures’ effectiveness, efficiency and openness. In 2008 the Centre produced the World e-Parliament Report which represents a first effort to establish a baseline of how parliaments are using, or planning to use ICT to help them fulfil their responsibilities and to connect to their constituencies. The Report also provides an opportunity for sharing lessons learned and good practices from different regions of the world.(See http://www.ictparliament.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id )

eParliament.org is an experiment in democracy on the Internet. The pioneering online portal integrates eDiplomacy, eDemocracy, eLegislature, eMediation, ePetition, eLegislation, ePress and eGovernance into a single platform. It seeks to enable public voices on these issues. (See www.eparliament.org)