USAID Worldwide Information and Communication Technology
Inventory
(Search
the Inventory)
For more than thirty years, USAID has been able to draw on
its experience in building capacity and on the technological
strength of the United States to introduce a number of successes
in applying Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
to development. Today, USAID is a leader in helping developing
nations close the digital divide and apply ICT to all sectors
of development.
Numerous USAID activities have an ICT component, ranging
from Teacher Training Resource Centers in Namibia to courtroom
automation software in Mongolia and from rural ICT access
in Peru to telecommunications training at the U.S. Telecommunications
Training Institute (USTTI). For USAID, ICT is important both
as a means and as an end—a tool for development as well
as an economic sector to be developed.
USAID’s strategic approach to ICT for development
has five principal elements:
1. Partnerships: Collaborate with partners to provide
the financial and technological resources needed to build
and use ICT capabilities in developing countries. These partners
include U.S. firms, higher education institutions, non-governmental
organizations, other U.S. agencies, other donor agencies,
and international organizations;
2. Policy reform: Promote pro-competitive legal,
policy and regulatory reform in telecommunications and electronic
commerce to encourage private sector leadership in expanding
and using ICT for development;
3. Access: Expand ICT access for under-served populations—particularly
the poor, rural residents, ethnic minorities and women—thus
creating development opportunities through the use of ICT;
4. Capacity building: Develop the capacity of government
and non-government institutions and individuals to achieve
regulatory reform, conform to international trade norms, and
use ICT for development; and
5. Applications: Demonstrate innovative applications
across all development objectives including e-commerce, distance
education, telemedicine, e-government, and geo-spatial mapping.
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As a cross-cutting
theme of USAID, ICT activities can be
found in all development sectors and in all geographic
regions. The purpose of this inventory is to report
on USAID ICT activities worldwide. Some of the anticipated
questions that can be answered with this inventory include:
- What USAID Missions are engaged in ICT legal, policy
and regulatory reform?
- What election monitoring ICT applications have
been developed by USAID?
- What percentage of ICT activities targets women?
- How are USAID programs using handheld devices to
collect data in the field?
- Provide examples of how ICT is being used in the
Central Asian Republics.
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| Photo courtesy of DOT-COM
Alliance |
Any questions about the contents of the
inventory should be directed to USAID Information Technology
Synthesis Specialist Renee
Brock.
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