India is known as an IT powerhouse but still has the largest number of poor people out of any country in the world. India’s experience with policies for digital inclusion may thus offer some useful lessons for other developing countries. This policy brief looks at a range of initiatives in India including the ambitious Common…
Research
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…
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IT for Change (ITfC), along with the Department of State Research Education and Training (DSERT), and Policy Planning Unit (PPU) and Development Focus (DF) (a local NGO) have designed and implemented a pilot “Teachers Community of Learning” (TCOL) programme in…
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…
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Public software is 'software developed or procured, for the public good, which is publicly owned'. It is essential for participating in the digital society and thus needs to be provided to everyone as an universal right and entitlement. It includes operating system, text/image/audio/…
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…