Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937402
J. Pal, M. Lakshmanan, K. Toyama
Computer centers in rural Indian public schools raise questions about the value of expensive modern technology in starkly poor environments. Arguments for or against spending on computers in low-income schools have appeared in policy circles, academia, teacher conferences, and philanthropic discussions, with passionate rhetoric from all sides. One shortcoming of the debate has been the absent voice of parents and children themselves. We present the results of a qualitative study of computer-aided learning centers in four districts of rural Karnataka, South India, where we discussed with parents issues such as aspirations, quality of schooling, and the perception of computers more generally. The research reveals a range of voices on hopes for the next generation, perceived value of computer courses and higher education, and views on the arrival of computers into their village schools. It emerges that in the minds of many parents, the computer has an immense symbolic value - separate from its functional value - that is tied to social and economic ascendancy. We find that this symbolic value derives from associations that parents imbibe from their various interactions with people using computers in a range of situations. Despite a large number of parents not entirely clear on what a computer does, the sense of mystical quality about technology is a feature we find across the board. In discussions with rural parents, we find an environment of great fear about the future of agriculture, because of which computer-aided learning centers have become a symbol of future aspirations of jobs for their children. The research also reveals varied related concerns of parents from the dowry implications of having computer-trained daughters to the relative value of English versus computer literacy as the key to social mobility.
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Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937396
K. DeMaagd, S. Moore
Does IT help generate economic growth? Studies in developed economies say that the answer is yes. Yet, when we also consider emerging markets, the answer is less clear. Some studies find value from IT, while others fail to find any value. One possible reason for the discrepancy is the model used. We may need a new model when trying to compare the value of IT investments between both developed and developing countries. In this paper, we derive a model for analyzing IT investments at the country level. Although similar to the previous approaches, this model has one important difference: it disaggregates the historic investments in IT and current investments in IT. Furthermore, instead of relying on the perpetual inventory method to measure capital stock, we measure the current level of IT infrastructure with an index based on the ITUs Digital Access Index. This reduces a common source of measurement error. Using the new analytical model, we empirically test the model versus the traditional model. When using the traditional model, we once again fail to find a positive significant benefit from IT. When using our new model, however, we find that IT has a positive and significant effect on economic growth.
{"title":"Comparing models of IT and economic growth: An empirical investigation","authors":"K. DeMaagd, S. Moore","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937396","url":null,"abstract":"Does IT help generate economic growth? Studies in developed economies say that the answer is yes. Yet, when we also consider emerging markets, the answer is less clear. Some studies find value from IT, while others fail to find any value. One possible reason for the discrepancy is the model used. We may need a new model when trying to compare the value of IT investments between both developed and developing countries. In this paper, we derive a model for analyzing IT investments at the country level. Although similar to the previous approaches, this model has one important difference: it disaggregates the historic investments in IT and current investments in IT. Furthermore, instead of relying on the perpetual inventory method to measure capital stock, we measure the current level of IT infrastructure with an index based on the ITUs Digital Access Index. This reduces a common source of measurement error. Using the new analytical model, we empirically test the model versus the traditional model. When using the traditional model, we once again fail to find a positive significant benefit from IT. When using our new model, however, we find that IT has a positive and significant effect on economic growth.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125267625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937391
K. Matthee, Gregory Mweemba, A. Pais, G. Stam, M. Rijken
This paper presents an initiative to bring connectivity to rural Zambia using a collaborative approach. In particular, it focuses on a proof-of-concept Internet service that has been implemented in rural Macha located in the Southern Province of Zambia. The service operates using satellite terminals (for connection to the Internet) and a wireless local area network. The provision of Internet access has enabled local health institutes to operate more effectively and given local people the opportunity to communicate and explore new ideas. It has also created new employment opportunities and generated several projects including a data entry service and a sunflower farming initiative. Being a rural area, several problems hamper progress including frequent electricity outages and the exorbitant cost of bandwidth. International collaboration has been established between LinkNet, the Meraka Institute (South Africa), TNO (Netherlands) and the global research alliance. With its partners, LinkNet addresses the main challenges through applied research and innovation and targets an upscaling of its activities throughout rural Zambia and beyond.
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