Features ASSESSING COMMUNITY TELECENTRES Guidelines for Researchers Anne Whyte INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: VOLUME 1 Opportunities and Challenges for Community Development INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: VOLUME 2 The Experience with Community Telecentres INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: VOLUME 3 Networking Institutions of Learning -- SchoolNet KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES ... IN A NUTSHELL Information Technology for Sustainable Development Andreas Credé and Robin Mansell (for IDRC and the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development)

ICT4D focus will be on issues associated with the information economy, opportunities, and challenges; on the role of women in the information economy in the next generation of ICT4D programming; and on the role that entrepreneurship and the private sector play within the information economy in the developing world.

Under ICT4D there are two programs developed in the region:

1. Acacia Initiative which is an international program to empower African communities with the ability to apply information and communication technologies (ICTs) to their own social and economic development.  This initiative is designed as an integrated program of research and development and demonstration projects to address issues of applications, technology, infrastructure, policy, and governance. For more information, kindly click here.
2. Connectivity Africa which aims to improve access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Africa. It provides funding support in four areas: Innovation in the use of ICT, African Regional ICTs, Research and Development in African ICTs, Partnerships and Networks. For more information, kindly click here.

Regional Projects

Within the ICT4D Program Area, IDRC is supporting a regional project in MENA called Knowledge Access in Rural Interconnected Areas Network (KariaNet), which is a multistakeholder partnership between IFAD and IDRC. It aims to enhance networking among rural and agricultural development projects. The project’s main objective is to improve knowledge sharing and information exchange through the use of ICTs. More on Karianet