ICT for Development Development challenges and the role of WSIS

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ICT for DevelopmentDevelopment challenges and
the role of WSIS

• ICT4D Lecture 3
• Tim Unwin

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Outline

• Defining development
• Global development agendas
• DFID a case study
• ICT in development practice
• WSIS and ICT4D

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This course

• Uniquely seeks to combine the academic with the
  practical
• Building on experience in DFID 2001-2004
• Builds on academic work you have done in first
  two years
• Your comprehensive understanding of development
  theory
• Explores the practical (ir)relevance of much work
  by geographers in the contemporary development
  context

At WSIS, Geneva 2003
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Your understandings of geographies of development

• What have been the key theoretical approaches to
  development by geographers?
• Where have geographers actually made a
  significant practical difference to the lives of
  poor people?
• What are the main current modalities of aid
  delivery in the global community?

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Defining development

• Defining development is far from easy
• Traditionally often defined largely in economic
  terms
• UNDPs Human Development Index (1991)
• Well known definitions of sustainable
  development
• Meeting the needs both of today and of future
  generations
• More recent radical critiques of the entire
  concept of development
• Escobar (1995) and post-developmentalism

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Development as a moral idea

• If we are really to understand development, we
  need to see it as something embedded in our
  morality
• The belief that it is possible to make the world
  a better place
• Often described as resulting from the
  Enlightenment
• But goes back to the origins of humanity
• Academic critique that is not practically engaged
  has abrogated its responsibility
• We have a duty to show alternative futures

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Development practice 1995-2005

• Collapse of the former Soviet Union in late 1980s
  leads to a new world order
• The rampant dominance of global capital
• Under the guise of liberal democracy (politics)
  and the free market (economics)
• A new context for bilateral aid capitalism has
  won
• Economic growth will eliminate world poverty
• The Washington consensus (Williamson, 1990)
• macroeconomic discipline
• a market economy, and
• openness to the world.

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Development practice

• Practice in the early-mid-1990s
• Structural Adjustment Programme
• Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative (1996)
• Key role of the OECD Development Assistance
  Committee in developing a consensus
• The Millennium Development Goals (2015)
• UN Millennium Declaration September 2000
• The new dominant mantra elimination of poverty
• Based on target setting and partnerships
• Particular interest - the forgotten MDG 8
• Commission for Africa, 2005

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Development Practice

• The belief that it is possible to eliminate
  poverty is premised on
• An absolute definition of poverty
• Whereas poverty is better seen as a relative
  concept
• Economic growth is the solution
• Whereas, economic growth creates a greater
  potential for relative poverty
• Has led to increased dominance of budget support
  mechanisms in the African context
• Direct financial support for central government
• Advantages outweighed by the unforeseen problems

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DFID a case study of politics in practice

• DFID created in 1997 by the new Labour Government
• Until then it was the Overseas Development
  Administration as part of FCO
• Clare Short, Valerie Amos and now Hilary Benn as
  Secretaries of State
• Two key White Papers
• 1997 Eliminating World Poverty
• 2000 Making Globalisation Work for the Poor
• Situate DFID at the forefront of agendas on
  poverty, globalisation, and budget support

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DFID The 2002 Act

• International Development Act 2002
• In principle, any form of development assistance
  can be provided as long as its primary purpose is
  furthering sustainable development or improving
  the welfare of a population and there is a
  reasonable likelihood of this contributing to
  poverty reduction. The only exceptions are aid to
  the UK Overseas Territories, humanitarian
  assistance or contributions to Multilateral
  Development Banks.
• The Act is enabling legislation. It gives the
  Secretary of State authority to spend money for
  defined purposes. Once it is clear that the right
  purposes are driving the intention to assist, the
  means available are very wide.
• Development assistance to UK Overseas Territories
  is not required to satisfy the test of
  contributing to the reduction of poverty.
  Humanitarian assistance does not need to meet
  this test and does not need to be given for the
  purpose of furthering sustainable development or
  promoting welfare. Support for Multilateral
  Development Banks is the subject of separate
  powers
• In essence, Act unties aid and focuses on poverty

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DFID in practice

• Importance of delivery targets
• In part Treasury dominance across Whitehall
• Public Service Agreement targets
• Targets of all staff within DFID cascade down
  from this
• Need to minimise transaction costs
• Close link to the MDGs (targets again!)
• Centre and 27 overseas offices
• Challenges of a decentralised organisation
• Central Policy Division - recent reorganisation
• Dominance of macro-economic policies
• Allied with governance agendas

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DFID 2004 Annual Report highlights

• Africa
• 48 of DFIDs bilateral support is spent in SSA
• BY 2006 annual assistance will be 1 billion
• Asia
• Funding for Asia to increase by 45 over next two
  years
• Europe, Middle East and Americas
• Pledged 544 million up to 2006 in Iraq
• International
• UK has written off 100 debt from most HIPC
• Policy
• New policy division created
• Finance and Corporate Performance
• Works with 1 of UK taxes and aims to spend less
  than 6 on administration

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Global interest in ICTs

• Late 1990s, coalescence of
• Technological change
• Economic growth of ICT sector
• Interest in how ICT could be used for
  development
• Practitioners
• Private sector
• Eager to expand market
• But also links with corporate social
  responsibility agendas
• Task Forces
• G8 Digital Opportunity Task (DOT) Force (2000)
• UN ICT Task Force (2001)

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The World Summit on the Information Society

• First Phase
• Culminated in Geneva December 2003
• Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action
• Second Phase
• Tunis November 2005 especial focus on
• Internet governance
• Financing mechanisms

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WSIS Declaration of Principles

• A. Common Vision of the Information Society
• B. An Information Society for All Key Principles
• 1. The role of governments and all stakeholders
  in the promotion of ICTs for development
• 2. Information and communication infrastructure
  an essential foundation for an inclusive
  information society
• 3. Access to information and knowledge
• 4. Capacity building
• 5. Building confidence and security in the use of
  ICTs
• 6. Enabling environment
• 7. ICT applications benefits in all aspects of
  life
• 8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic
  diversity and local content
• 9. Media
• 10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
• 11. International and regional cooperation
• C. Towards an Information Society for All Based
  on Shared Knowledge

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WSIS Plan of Action

• Builds on Principles
• 11 main action lines
• But how to fund it?
• Much uncertainty remains
• Concerns by some donors over another Global
  Fund
• Private sector and civil society seeking
  substantial external inputs

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Conclusions

• Overview of Development
• Theory and Practice
• Brief Case Study of DFID in a global context
• An example of one of the leading donors
• Origins of the WSIS
• Sets the overall context within which subsequent
  lectures will explore detailed aspects of ICT4D

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Non-Assessed essay

• Opportunity for Questions
• Remember Alumni Careers evening Tuesday 1st
  February