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Harnessing ICT’s: Cutting-Edge Perspectives

Frontiers of Knowledge in Science and Technology for Africa Cape Town, South Africa November 18, 2006. Harnessing ICT’s: Cutting-Edge Perspectives. Michael L. Best Georgia Institute of Technology mikeb@cc.gatech.edu www.cc.gatech.edu/~mikeb. A Cautionary Tale: ICT4D Scholarship.

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Harnessing ICT’s: Cutting-Edge Perspectives

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  1. Frontiers of Knowledge in Science and Technology for Africa Cape Town, South Africa November 18, 2006 Harnessing ICT’s:Cutting-Edge Perspectives Michael L. Best Georgia Institute of Technology mikeb@cc.gatech.edu www.cc.gatech.edu/~mikeb

  2. A Cautionary Tale: ICT4D Scholarship 4. Synthetic 3. Self- reflection and self doubt 2. Discourse of success stories 1. Descriptive Time 1980’s 1990’s 2003 2006?

  3. Cutting-Edge ICT4D: Synthetic and Integrated • Founded in theory • Common concepts • Grounded in empirical analysis • Cumulative, comparative, and aware of lessons • Contextualized • Globally aware, locally engaged • Cross-disciplinary • Holistic across technologies, policies, business models, and capacities

  4. Roadmap to Some Cutting-Edge Technologies • Screens • Power systems • Terrestrial wireless • Spectrum exemptions • Micro-operators • Pro-poor case study: E-gov in India

  5. Screens • OLED, photon vacuums • Personal imaging • Ultra-low power consuming, low- cost

  6. Power systems • Non-polluting small biomass based gasifiers that utilize easily produced local plant material • Small diesel-substitute generators utilizing, for instance, seed oils • New solar technologies, for instance dye-sensitized solar cells, which have reduced efficiencies compared to current PV systems but which are much less expensive • Microfuel cells refueled through locally produced materials such as ethanol

  7. Terrestrial wireless • WiFi, WiMAX, 3G, 2.5G…. An alpha-numeric soup! • Convergence of WLAN and 3G to single feature set: • High bit-rates in an all-IP environment including IPv6 support • End-to-end QoS • Multimedia support • Mobility at automobile and train speeds • Seamless session management • Security, security, security • Support for flexible and dynamic spectrum and interference management (including software defined radios) • Advanced authentication, authorization, and accounting protocols

  8. Spectrum Exemptions • WiFi hotspots, and other terrestrial wireless technologies, broadcast on 2.4 and 5 GHz under spectrum license exemptions in many countries.

  9. 2005 Survey of 75 Countries: 2/3rds require some licensing for 2.4 and 5 Public and 5 GHz more regulated thanPrivate and 2.4 GHz.

  10. 2.4 GHz Variation by Region and Economic Level of Development (χ2 = 12.6, p<0.05) (χ2 = 20.78, p < 0.0078 )

  11. Regulations and Internet Penetration Multivariate Analysis

  12. Regulations and Internet Penetration Multivariate Analysis Countries that allow unlicensed use of 2.4 or 5 GHz bands have higher levels of Internet use even when we control for a country’s size, region, and level of economic development.

  13. Micro-operators • Harnessing SMME’s in provision and not just use of ICTs.

  14. Some Background: Indian Rural Telekiosks • I have been closely studying over last four years Internet use at 50 village information centers in rural Tamil Nadu, India • Most village centers ran by local small entrepreneurs (Colin Maclay, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Jayant Sinha, Joseph Thomas, Rajendra Kumar)

  15. Some Background: Indian Rural Telekiosks • Who uses the net? • Why and for what purpose? • Does the net contribute to economic, social, or political development? • What technologies work and why? • What is sustainable? (Colin Maclay, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Jayant Sinha, Joseph Thomas, Rajendra Kumar)

  16. Immediate Impacts: Tele-agriculture

  17. Immediate Impacts: Sometimes Just for Fun!

  18. E-gov Types of Services

  19. E-Government Services: Internet vs Non-Internet Villages

  20. Consumer Welfare Results

  21. Political Liberties Model: The Punch Line E-government services lead to an increase of 5 and 3 times the average number of applications received for birth certificates and old age pensions respectively, when compared to that when the village has no Internet kiosk, keeping other factors constant…. . . But project fails to achieve political sustainability and is shut down….

  22. An Invitation to Georgia Tech • Defining the technological university of the 21st century…. • Tech’s programs in engineering hold a position in the elite top five universities in the USA. • ICT4D projects in many parts of Africa: Liberia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ethiopia…. with university-university collaborations in all these countries.

  23. An Invitation to Georgia Tech • Editorial home of premier ICT4D journal: Information Technologies and International Developmentpublished by MIT Press • mitpress.mit.edu/ITID • First MIT Press open access journal

  24. Frontiers of Knowledge in Science and Technology for Africa Cape Town, South Africa November 18, 2006 Harnessing ICT’s:A Cutting-Edge Perspective Michael L. Best Georgia Institute of Technology mikeb@cc.gatech.edu www.cc.gatech.edu/~mikeb

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