Research papers

In this article published in International Technology and International Development (Special edition on the Harvard Forum II), Anita Gurumurthy offers a macro-structural critique that derives from an analysis of some policy texts, as well as from the first-hand experience of IT for Change. Read the article here.

Beyond the widespread economic and access-centred approach to ICTs, this think piece addresses the need to think about ICTs as a social phenomenon which impacts each of us, whether we actively use ICTs or not. ICTs have an important emancipatory potential for marginalised populations, and especially for women, as they allow…

IT for Change was invited by the Journal of Community Informatics to guest-edit a special issue on gender and community informatics, which presents articles from various countries across the world and discusses how information and communication technology have a transformatory impact on gender relations. Please read the journal here.

The study of two large 'ICTs programmes in School Education' (IPSE) programmes of neighbouring Indian states reveals some interesting insights. The integrated model followed in Kerala's IT @ Schools programme, which focused on developing systemic in-house capabilities anchored around school teachers, has shown considerable success; in terms of…

IT for Change conducted an impact assessment of the University School Resource Network (USRN) project of the Regional Resource Centre for Elementary Education (RRCE), Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi and made recommendations for future direction of its work. The assessment was based on a series of interviews of the key actors…

IT for Change conducted a study on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programmes in schools in the Yadgir and Sedam blocks of Yadgir district (Karnataka, India). The research team visited around 30 schools to study the Computer Aided Learning Program (CALP), Mahiti Sindhu (MS), ICT @ Schools Phase 1…

MHRD released a draft note on 'Public Private Partnership in school education' in October 2009.

The note made several assumptions about the inherent superiority of the private sector, and seemed to suggest that government school system has not worked and private schools are a systemic option.

IT for Change helped bring together…

This paper is a contribution to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) interactive discussion on the guiding concepts on the notion of the openness in the ICT4D field.

It evaluates the complications that can arise from failing to understand the 'openness' of new ICTS, which is such an essential…

This article, published in the Economic and Political Weekly  (3 October 2009), is a report of the consultation on the 'Misuse of Communication Technology and Its Linkages with Violence against Women' held in Trivandrum (India) in March 2009. The article advocates that policy choices  need to avoid narratives of fear around…

This paper frames a critique of India's existing e-governance programme in the context of a market-driven and efficiency enhancing approach. This narrow guiding vision occurs because of a deficit in normative frameworks for governance rooted in principles of governance reform, and in turn a normative model for telecentre-…