Remarks by:
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
At the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Week
15 April 2010
ADB Headquarters, Mandaluyong City
I. Introduction
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to join you today to share my thoughts on a very important topic — information and communication technology (ICT) for development. All of us would agree that living in a modern society without ICT is unimaginable. Think about how many times and how often we are using the internet, mobile phones, computers, and blackberries. The technologies that enable this have been integrated in every aspect of our business activities and daily lives.
ICT accessibility and affordability has increased exponentially. As a result, opportunities for utilizing ICT solutions for e-services and for reaching all groups of society, including the poor, users in remote areas, and other disadvantaged groups, have transformed the landscape for development. For example, in Bangladesh, through the national Village Phone Program, more than 270,000 Village Phone Operators, who purchased their phones as borrower members of the Grameen Bank, provide accessible pay-phone services in over 50,000 villages. In rural areas, where isolation and poor infrastructure services are common, access to telecommunications can play an important role in enhancing social and economic development. At the same time, the program has created significant income-earning opportunities for Village Phone operators, who are mostly women.
ADB's assistance to our member countries has been integrating ICT components in broader country and sector development strategies, especially in education, health, and agriculture. These efforts are focused on improving public administration and finance management, as well as providing various electronic services to citizens and businesses. In this regard, I am pleased to acknowledge that ADB has accumulated significant experiences in the past decade in use of ICT for development in various sector operations.
However, the search for better ways to maximize the benefit of ICT for development has to go on — we are just at the beginning of the journey. The so-called digital divide unfortunately is a reality of life we are confronted with in many aspects of development co-operation.
II. ADB Experiences in Use of ICT for Development
Let me share with you some of our experiences in using ICT for development. The promises of ICT seem limitless. It can provide governments, businesses, and citizens with access to better information to make more informed decisions. It enables more efficient processes. And it gives a voice to traditionally unheard peoples.
From ADB's perspective, ICT has an important role to play in delivering our long term strategic agenda, as outlined in Strategy 2020, which is focused on inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Specifically, ADB has three strategic thrusts in its ICT strategy. The first thrust is creating an enabling environment by fostering the development of innovative sector policies, strengthening public institutions, and developing ICT facilities and related infrastructure and networks. The second thrust is building human resources to improve knowledge and skills, and to promote ICT-literacy and lifelong learning of citizens through e-learning and awareness programs and by this contributing to reducing the digital divide. And third thrust is developing ICT applications and information content for ADB supported projects/activities.
ADB- supported ICT projects range from simple web portals and electronic databases, to more complex information and management systems to support inclusive and effective public services and efficiency of government administration. Examples include distance learning to support education and skills building in remote areas; telemedicine to support health care in rural areas; and agriculture information services to provide crop prices, weather forecasts, and new farming techniques that can be translated into improved income for rural people. ICT has also been used for disaster preparedness and early warning, and improving transport and logistics efficiency.
ADB has also selectively financed the broadband and so-called backbone infrastructure to improve cross-border connectivity and rural access using public—private partnerships. These projects range from establishment of regional ICT infrastructure (through fiber-optic backbones and regional exchange hubs) to community-level public ICT access (through broadband wireless networks and rural community e-centers). ICT infrastructure projects supported by ADB target improved connectivity for landlocked countries and remote areas within individual countries, and therefore have significant development impact.
III. Closing Remarks
Looking to the future, ICT for development is not about computers, mobile phones, and the internet, but about help, support, and train people in linking them and communities for communication, learning, and services. This will lead to improved well-being, increased work productivity, support for innovation, and impetus for inclusive growth. ADB, as a regional development financial partner in Asia and the Pacific, is strongly committed to assist its developing member countries in the use of ICT for development.
We do hope that with this workshop we do not only share experiences with the many invited experts, but we can all learn from each other and by this, increase an awareness and knowledge on how ICT can support development in Asia and the Pacific region. Let us now listen to the experts.