ICT In Africa Research Articles

ICTs and International Cooperation: a discussion paper

Discussion paper prepared for a workshop on ‘International Cooperation’ at the conference on ‘Global equality: rethinking ICTs in Africa, Asia and Latin America’ held in Maastricht, the Netherlands from 25– 27 March 2002. First assesses donors’ commitment to ICTs, particularly whether they view ICTs as a ‘priority area’ or as a set of tools. The contribution of ICTs, in this instance the Internet, to meeting international development goals is currently the subject of considerable debate. The examples of the international women’s movement and the emerging knowledge sharing philosophy are used to emphasize the qualitative impact of ICTs on development. Concludes that ICTs reduce isolation, facilitate international cooperation and provide access to vast amounts of information, although serious problems of access remain. The knowledge sharing philosophy which is entering the development discourse is crucially dependent upon and in some cases fundamentally entangled with ICTs. This may have the greatest impact on international cooperation as it could change the way development organizations work with each other.