ICTs and Human Development

Now where do ICTs fit in this context of human development?

First, let’s confirm what we mean when we talk about ICTs. Although we usually think of computers or mobile phones as ICTs, Kleine points out that the definition includes all technologies involved in gathering, processing, and disseminating information, and in supporting communication.

Remember the unit on Indigenous media? We looked at television, radio and digital media – these are all ICTs. The innovations of digital technologies have expanded the varieties of ICTs we use every day.

But think back to our discussion of optimistic and pessimistic visions of technologies. Many people have claimed that the development of an information society will address problems like poverty and inequality. They suggest that it will lead us to an open, equal, democratic future.

Critics resisted such thinking, arguing that we shouldn’t overestimate the ability of technologies to change society. Technologies do not automatically support freedom. But they are continually shaped and re-shaped by people. Considered through Sen’s human development framework, we can examine how people can shape ICTs into tools that support their freedoms.

Some people argue that ICT4D projects use up scarce funding better spent on food, water, or housing. This is an important argument. However, it ignores that ICTs can be used to support our access to those things. Think about how ICTs are used for disaster relief, to monitor remote water treatment plants, or to enable nurses to connect with far-away doctors. In this course, we explore many examples of how remote and rural First Nations communities are using ICTs in these ways.

The First Mile approach

Using Sen’s capabilities approach, development can become the result of the goals, resources, capacities, and abilities of people. ICT4D can reflect a holistic, community-based approach in which partners work with local communities “to identify resources and expertise to carry forward ICT development initiatives” (McMahon, Whiteduck, Chasle, Chief, Polson & Rodgers 2016). The First Mile approach means approaching ICT4D as a human-centred development process that starts and ends with communities. An example of the First Mile approach used by Consortium members is described in their paper Digital Divides and the ‘First Mile’: Framing FirstNations Broadband Development in Canada.

In the coming units, we will explore First Mile approaches to ICT4D. But first, we look at some of the ways that ICT4D has historically been carried out in Canada.

The video below considers some of the challenges associated with the field of ICT4D.