Research papers

This article looks back at the Mahiti Manthana project, a joint project of IT for Change and Mahila Samakhya Karnataka which explores how women's mobilisation and organising processes can be strengthened through new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) systems. It draws conclusion about the learnings brought by…

In the article 'From a public Internet to the Internet mall', Parminder Jeet Singh omments on the future of the Internet after agreements between telecom companies and specific websites (e.g. Google and Verizon in the US or Facebook and Airtel in India), which challenge the principle of net neutrality.

He argues that…

This research paper is part of the collection of essays In search of economic alternatives for gender and social justice: Voices from India which highlights some common guiding principles for alternative economic practice and building blocks for an alternative economic paradigm.
Against the backdrop of the social…

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…