Abstract
Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) can help people in developing countries pursue a wider variety of economic and social activities, which in the majority of the cases can reduce overall poverty significantly. As of this moment, there is an important “Digital divide” regarding broadband internet access between Developed and Developing countries, calling for immediate action plans around the world to build the digital infrastructure that can foster digital economies and thus the digital revolution. Applied to sustainable development, the data revolution calls for the integration of this new data with traditional data to produce high-quality information that is more detailed, timely and relevant for many purposes and users, especially to foster and monitor sustainable development. On the infrastructure side, broadband access must continue to be a priority in every digital revolution strategy, given the new Digital divide gaps that have emerged in the past ten years. On the social side, Big data for development can be one of the premier mechanisms that drives the data revolution within the bigger digital revolution picture.
Submitted: 1.9.16; Accepted: 29.12.16.
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- 1.
The UNDP currently works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. They help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results. For more information visit: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/about_us.html.
- 2.
The works of Professor Richard Heeks (cited in this text) and the Centre for Development Informatics of the University of Manchester is focused on the role of ICTs in socio-economic development. Some of their current research topics include: Digital economy; Digital transformation; Digital inclusion; Digital sustainability and Digital theory. For more information visit: http://www.cdi.manchester.ac.uk/research/.
- 3.
See the publications sections of: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) (http://www.cepal.org/en/publications); World Economic Forum (https://www.weforum.org/reports/); OECD (http://www.oecd.org/publications/); Inter-American Development Bank (https://data.iadb.org/) and the International Telecommunications Union (http://www.itu.int/en/publications/Pages/default.aspx).
- 4.
The ICT Development Index (IDI), which has been published annually since 2009, is a composite index that combines 11 indicators into one benchmark measure. It is used to monitor and compare developments in information and communication technology (ICT) between countries and over time. Some of the indicators of the IDI include: International Internet bandwidth (bits/s) per Internet user; Percentage of individuals using the Internet and Adult literacy rate. For more information visit: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2015/methodology.aspx.
- 5.
The NRI is a composite indicator made up of four main categories (sub-indexes), 10 subcategories (pillars), and 53 individual indicators distributed across these main categories: Environment (Political, regulatory, business and innovation environment); Readiness (Infrastructure, affordability and skills); Usage (Individual, business and government) and Impact (Economic and social) (Baller et al. 2016, p. xi).
- 6.
Each goal was assigned a series of targets and indicators which can be consulted at: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm.
- 7.
Definition taken from the report “Our Common Future”, drafted by the World Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission.
- 8.
Regarding the definition of this term, Berger-Walliser and Shrivastava (2015) stated that: “There is no authoritative legal definition of sustainable development. The absence of a clear definition is sometimes seen as a contributing factor to the delay in effectively addressing environmental, social, and economic concerns. The word sustainability or sustainable development is ubiquitous, and like any overused term, is in danger of being watered down, misused, abused, and losing its original meaning. Various approaches to sustainable development exist and different communities employ the term with different meanings depending on the conditions and settings of where it is used (p. 422)”.
- 9.
In a 2014 article titled “The rise of the cheap smartphone”, The Economist (2014) stated “In both rich countries and poor ones, cheaper smartphone brands are making inroads. Demand for pricey phones, mainly in developed economies, is slowing, but that for less expensive devices is booming. People buying their first smartphones today, perhaps to replace a basic handset, care less about the brand and more about price than the richer, keener types of a few years ago”. A year later, the same publication concluded that smartphones “…have become the fastest-selling gadgets in history, outstripping the growth of the simple mobile phones that preceded them. They outsell personal computers four to one. Today about half the adult population owns a smartphone; by 2020, 80% will. Smartphones have also penetrated every aspect of daily life. The average American is buried in one for over two hours every day. Asked which media they would miss most, British teenagers pick mobile devices over TV sets, PCs and games consoles. Nearly 80% of smartphone-owners check messages, news or other services within 15 min of getting up. About 10% admit to having used the gadget during sex (The Economist 2015, p. 1)”.
- 10.
The United Nations General Assembly Economic and Social Council (2015, p. 22) stated this regarding the emergence of new Digital divides: “While divides in access to basic communications between and in countries have been diminishing, new divides have been growing in access to broadband networks and the services that they enable. Particular concern has been expressed that least developed countries may fall behind developed and other developing countries in broadband access and use, that rural areas are often disadvantaged in comparison with urban areas and that there remains a gender gap in ICT access and use”.
- 11.
The UNESC (2014, p. 6) stated the following regarding inclusiveness and the Digital divide problem: “The challenge of inclusiveness has been at the heart of ICT4D policymaking. Developed countries have better ICT infrastructure, enjoy more pervasive ICT usage, and gain earlier access to ICT innovations than developing countries. Urban areas and wealthier social groups in developing countries are similarly advantaged over rural areas and poorer communities. ICT access and use are less prevalent in groups that are socially or economically marginalized, such as women, youth, unqualified or subsistence workers, ethnic minorities and those with special needs or disabilities. While the value of ICTs to all is recognized, therefore, its benefits may accrue disproportionately within society”.
- 12.
One of the UNESCO’s strategic objectives for education for the 2014–2021 period is “Supporting Member States to develop education systems to foster high quality and inclusive lifelong learning for all (UNESCO 2014, p. 31)”. Furthermore, UNESCO states that “The lifelong learning paradigm has been framed and promoted by UNESCO since the 1970s. If education is to respond effectively to challenges posed by the rapid and constant changes which characterize the 21st century and its development, learning will have to take place throughout life (UNESCO 2014, p. 33)”.
- 13.
About the impact of technology in labour and employment, the UNESC (2016, p. 3) stated this year that: “Technological change is not neutral; it can favour either labour or capital. Technological change is, in essence, disruptive and, in the short term, creates winners and losers. While disruptive technologies will be critical to a transformation towards sustainable development, their benefits may disproportionally go to people in the countries that innovate or to a small fraction of the population”.
- 14.
The 2016 E-government survey (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2016) concluded the following regarding the use of Open Government Data: “In an effort to make public institutions more inclusive, effective, accountable and transparent, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many governments across the globe are opening up their data for public information and scrutiny. Making data available online for free also allows the public—and various civil society organizations—to reuse and remix them for any purpose. This can potentially lead to innovation and new or improved services, new understanding and ideas. It can also raise awareness of governments’ actions to realize all the SDGs, thus allowing people to keep track and contribute to those efforts. Overall, in 2016, 128 out of 193 UN Member States provide datasets on government spending in machine readable formats. The remaining 65 have no such information online (p. 2)”.
- 15.
The website for the campaign can be accessed at: www.holard.do.
- 16.
The current version is a preliminary one, awaiting input and comments from the public via a consultation at the time we wrote this article, that would end in September 2016. For more information visit: http://www.cnsic.org.do/index.php/agenda-digital.
- 17.
This strategy was approved by the national congress in January 2012 and contains the long term vision, as well as the targets to make the Dominican Republic “a prosperous nation, where people live with dignity, upholding ethical values in a social and democratic state settled upon a participative democracy that promotes equity, equal opportunity, social justice and manages and takes advantage of its resources in an innovative and sustainable way, inserting itself correctly in the global economy” (Ministerio de Economía Planificación y Desarrollo 2016, p. 3). Regarding ICTs, we can conclude that the term “technology” is present throughout the whole document, including a series of objectives and targets associated with them, most notably “Specific Objective 3.3.5” which looks to “achieve a universal and productive access to ICTs” (Ministerio de Economía Planificación y Desarrollo 2016, p. 59).
- 18.
We have come to this conclusion through the statements of friends who work in various public institutions in the DR and have required us to not unveil their identity.
- 19.
In 2015, the Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones announced that it would implement a national fiber optic program in order to provide broadband access to all the municipalities in the country. For more information see: http://indotel.gob.do/proyectos/red-nacional-de-fibra-optica-2/.
- 20.
The Instituto Dominicano de Telecomunicaciones regularly participates in all kinds of regional and international cooperation and regulatory events. One recent event was promoted by the Organization of American States (OAS) and involved the signing of an agreement looking to foster public-private partnerships towards the development of ICT infrastructure in the region. For more information see: http://indotel.gob.do/oea-celebrara-en-rd-foro-sobre-uso-tic-para-erradicar-la-pobreza-en-las-americas/.
- 21.
One of the authors of this article worked for several years in a government Project aimed at providing Access to Internet through the construction of government funded Technological Community Centers (Centros Tecnológicos Comunitarios). For more information see: http://www.ctc.edu.do/.
- 22.
The Oficina Presidencial de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (ICT Presidential Office) is the public institution in charge of developing and supervising the Dominican e-government strategy. They have even developed an index that measures the e-government adoption rate of the main public institutions. For more information see: http://sisticge.dominicana.gob.do/ and http://www.optic.gob.do/.
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García-Segura, L.A., Peña, J.C. (2017). The Digital Revolution in Developing Countries: Brief Analysis of the Dominican Republic. In: Ramírez, J., García-Segura, L. (eds) Cyberspace. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54975-0_4
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