Investigating a forgotten 
side of the
Global Digital Divide

A Research Proposal to
Global Digital Divide Foundation
From Digitalright

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Understanding the Global Digital Divide
Global Digital Divide disinformation
Overview of available information
Documenting the IT factor
Project Plan
Selected countries to investigate
Research approach/methodology
Outline of the questionnaire
Institutions to interview
Budget
Qualification
Conclusion
Appendix A: Selected ICT for Development resources
Internet Resources
Search Engines Research
Paper sources
Appendix B: Outline of the proposed questionnaire

Executive Summary
This proposal is seeking a grant to fund a research project aiming at collecting, analyzing and publicize a well define set of data and information regarding a neglected Global Digital Divide issue.
The Global Digital Divide refers to the recent phenomenon of the international disparity in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). While these modern technologies are fostering unprecedented economic growth and socio-economic international integration, billions of people remain excluded from this important enrichment. The spread of ICT to developing countries and the adoption of these new technologies for their sustainable development is a largely recognized international concern which has been in fact included in the United Nation Millennium Goals.
Despite the prominence of the theme within the international development agenda, Digitalright contends that an important aspect of this vast issue is in general overlooked. Before the term ICT, the acronym IT which stands for Information Technology (i.e. computer systems), represented the electronic (digital) innovation. IT has all but disappeared and it is actually the engine powering a substantial part of the post-industrial economies and the heart of the Internet and ICT services in general. Nonetheless, within the vast public information and sizeable professional literature, the IT for Development subject is substantially absent. Digitalright believes that IT is probably more important than ICT in order to enable an economic sustainable development of less advanced economies. The lack of public and professional information regarding this fundamental technical and economic tool reflects very likely its low priority in the ICT for Development agenda. Without diminishing the important role that ICT can play for the Development, we argue that IT is the substratum of the ICT. 
The disproportionate level of consideration is detrimental to a more comprehensive strategy that should include not only the glamorous Internet consumers’ market but also the back-end systems. This less noticeable infrastructure is in fact necessary to power every productive sector as well as the public administration, fundamentally a “country system” as a whole.
Digitalright is proposing to carry out a through research to evaluate the IT aspect of the Global Digital Divide and to verify its impact on the development challenges faced by the governments of many poor countries.

The project revolves around some basic principles:
•	Definition of key terms, methodology, measures and indicators
•	Investigation of the IT sector in few selected countries
•	Analysis and publishing of collected data
•	Establish procedures to continue and update the investigation

ICT for Development is an extremely complex matter that regards the life of billions of people. Tackling this issue requires a clear and broad understanding of the more urgent priorities within a long-term strategy and through a critical analysis of all the relevant information. Leaving the strategic IT sector out of the ICT for Development analysis risks to hamper the creation of a sustainable local industry necessary to power more efficient productive activities and a more effective public governance. 
Digitalright intends to stimulate the interest around this neglected aspect of the Global Digital Divide challenge.
Understanding the Global Digital Divide
In the past two decades the international economic integration, also called Globalization, has advanced enormously with a variety of opportunities, challenges, gains, losses, winners and losers. The process will continue for the foreseeable future and the effects would likely multiply due to the increasing interactions and the technological advancements. Unfortunately the historical experience suggests that in this process differences and gaps tend to increase if there aren’t corrective actions aimed at a more equitable distribution of wealth and opportunities among the world’s citizens.

Technological innovation has historically been an important factor in sustaining the economic growth and human wellbeing. In the last few decades, the Information Technology (IT) has allowed the most advanced economies to increase their productivity, rationalize their infrastructure, improve their efficiency and elevate their citizens’ standards of life. More recently, with the advent of Internet, the field has been renamed Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and it has been a determinant factor in spurring an unprecedented socio-economic advancement and to spread the benefits of these technologies to every common activity.
However, while sophisticated IT (computers and networks to connect them) is today a key element of economic progress the capability to efficiently produce it and effectively adopt it pertains almost exclusively to wealthy countries. Thus, in addition to all of the classical and new development challenges, developing countries face enormous obstacle in procuring and adopting IT. 
The “Global Digital Divide” (GDD) refers to this widening gap between developed and developing countries in the adoption of this important assortment of technologies that affect fields as disparate as industrial production, social services, public administration, health care, education, culture and knowledge in general. The Global Digital Divide is an extremely complex problem; It is a relatively new issue, it regards advanced as well as developing economies, it encompasses different cultures and needs, it provides highly virtual systems as well it enable life saving procedures. The methodological approach to a complex problem should be first of all a clear and common understanding of the relevant issues. However, despite its significance within the Global Digital Divide issue, the IT sector appears to be omitted from the majority of the public information and professional literature.
 
Our proposal does not aim at fixing the complex and broad Global Digital Divide problem. This document will first outline the sector literature and informational panorama and then will illustrate a proposal for a field research aimed at retrieving, analyze and publicize more and better information regarding IT for Development.
Global Digital Divide disinformation
Numerous researches, symposiums, specialized organizations and institutions are devoted at tackling the Global Digital Divide problem from several points of view. However, within this flurry of activities there are some major methodological problems: Disparate definitions of the problem and its components, lack of aggregate and standardized information and analysis and inefficient coordination of the initiatives. 
From the analysis of the extensive public information emerges that different organizations working in this field give different meaning to the acronym ICT, the concept of Digital Divide or the mission of ICT for Development. Many organizations tend to focus on one single aspect of the problem (like education or microfinance) and it seems difficult to convey different strategies toward a common sustainable long-term goal. In this process scarce and precious professional, technical and economic resources are inefficiently allocated. Without an efficient coordination, often, similar projects, unaware one of another, do not leverage previous experiences. The inconsistent available information causes a lack of public awareness both in developed and developing countries which impedes a more significant public support for corrective actions that go behind philanthropy. 
One particularly sensitive issue emerging from the analysis of the existing public information and professional literature is the overshadowed of the IT component by the more alluring ICT theme. To some extent it would seems that IT is not part of the ICT, that ICT is the determinant Development factor and that ICT can be developed regardless of IT.
It is certainly true that the ICT term is more recognizable and by far more comprehensive. From a technical point of view, the definition includes apparatus like telephones, computers, networks, mass media and others and it regards aspects like technical infrastructure, services, regulation, policies, private markets, jobs and more. Moreover, this vast realm can be viewed as applying to fields as diverse as agriculture, industry, government, healthcare, education and many others. 
It can not be denied that the Information and Communication Technologies span a vast technical field and include many aspects of today human life and it is understandable the intention of extending them to every world’s citizen.
However, when the ICT term is associated to the Development, especially the socio-economic progress of under-privileged populations, priorities need to be clarified and targets clearly identified.
Although it can be said that any ICT adoption is part of and bring about an economic development, this mission is too important and the resources too scarce to let initiatives to go astray and objectives to be not prioritized within a long term consistent strategy. 

Socio-economic development is a very complex subject and talking about it for developing countries means first of all attempt to lift out of poverty, starvation and illnesses billions of world’s citizens. Beside primary needs as food, sanitation, housing and medicines, these billions of people need to have access to education, they should be allow to participate to their democratic government, they should be entitled to a fair judiciary system and, needless to say, they need jobs. To add a touch of complexity, all of this has to be achieved in a sustainable fashion, a way that prevent the excessive exploitation of natural resources and in general preserve the natural environment as well as traditional customs. An additional intricacy is related to the growing web of international relationships and commercial agreements that each country needs to stipulate in order to participate to the global economy.

From this superficial description of ICT and Development it should appear clear that ICT for Development is a vast and complex endeavor that requires enormous efforts in term of financial and professional resources and that the vast array of objectives, technologies, sectors and needs listed above, be clearly identified, prioritized and included in a long term strategy.

Without entering in the merit of the strategic policies and implementation plans, this proposal suggests to explore some aspects of the Global Digital Divide that insofar have received little consideration.
Overview of available information
Internet is without doubts the best known and most powerful element of the Information and Communication Technologies vast domain. For this reason it seems reasonable to assume for Internet to be the main instrument to publish ICT information as well as to facilitate the communication among different initiatives. This potent media is the most suitable to diffuse public and professional information as well as to coordinate and make possible the collaboration of the broad and dynamic ensemble of ICT for Development stakeholders.

Digitalright has been researching ICT for Development material for several years, mainly through Internet but also within the traditional publishing.
Through the Internet, this quest for relevant data goes behind geographical barriers and the researches have been performed in English and Spanish. The type of source researched goes from large international organizations to small grass root local organizations in developing countries, from professional associations to the academic world, to publishers and bookstores catalogs. The material analyzed goes from online articles and magazines, academic and professional researches and dissertations, case studies, official statistics, reports and symposiums.

In several years of research, Digitalright has delved into the most relevant web sites like the World Bank, the International Telephony Union (ITU), the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and others.
Appendix A includes a comprehensive list of the most relevant web sites with notes on their availability, consistency and recentness and brief commentary regarding their content. From the analysis of this material is possible to observe the low priority that the IT topic occupies among the highly regarded organizations whose mission includes the narrowing of the Global Digital Divide.
Another common mean of measuring the Internet popularity of a subject is through the use of reliable and dependable Internet search engines. Details statistics about the Internet searches are reported in the Appendix A. From this succinct research emerges clearly that the ICT for Development topic reigns over the pertinent Internet panorama.

Digitalright has also researched and collected a considerable amount of traditional published material. Appendix A includes a detailed list of our library content. In this case too it is possible to notice the preponderance of the ICT topic with regard to all the Global Digital Divide issues.

In its quest to investigate and to raise awareness about the IT topic, Digitalright is a member of several “ICT for Development” online communities and participates to numerous pertinent gatherings. Even within these collaborative channels, the highest consideration goes frequently to the Internet services and related policies and problems.

Despite the large amount of available information on the Global Digital Divide as well as the ICT for Development, we feel that the key IT field is neglected and that a large proportion of the analysis is biased toward alluring themes. The vast majority of available information covers themes like online banking, online education, online health care and almost everything to which can be prefix an “e-“. It seems that most of this information follows the advanced economies’ paradigm of stimulating the consumers’ needs to motivate producers and investments thus expanding the ICT sector. 
At a superficial analysis however, developing countries show more dramatic priorities, starkly different economic mechanisms and a very different or absent ICT industry. Developing countries need first to find affordable mechanism to adopt more and better IT within their productive, public and social infrastructure. Local industries and public administration need to equip themselves with modern ICT and find ways to improve their productivity and efficiency employing these modern technologies. Public administration plays a very important role in impoverished countries, beleaguered by insufficient funds and yet providing many essential services to their citizens. Without subtracting funds to the most dramatic needs, these governments ought to find a way of adopt more and better ICT to provide better services, to increase their overall efficiency and not least to attempt at developing an internal ICT market. 

The detailed analysis of the aforementioned information proves the insufficient attention toward the IT aspect of the Global Digital Divide. In addition, it appears that there is a problematic inefficient coordination and duplication of efforts. Numerous high level initiatives are started with the involvement of significant professional, financial and political resources to die within years without leaving an explicit legacy.

There are further implications and compelling justifications of why the approach to this matter should shift from the current alluring trend to a more sober vision and practical course. However, to fully demonstrate the extent of this analysis, it would be useful a deep and systematic field research to investigate the current situation and the possible improvements of the new approach.

Documenting the IT factor
As explained earlier, Digitalright believes that the ICT for Development international community could benefit from a through and systematic research into the IT aspect of the Global Digital Divide.
Intentionally, following this analysis of the problem, Digitalright prefers in this context to use the term Information Technology (IT) to highlight the importance of this ICT specific aspect. We intend in particular to elaborate some articulate responses to the following type of questions: 
•	What impact does IT have on a developing country economy?
•	What role does IT play in the public administration?
•	What are the current characteristics of IT in the selected countries?
•	What are the IT costs supported by the selected countries? 
•	What are the country’s IT needs? 
•	What would be the cost of upgrading the country’s IT? 
•	How could this investment benefit the country itself from a standpoint of producer rather than consumer? 
•	What are the international trade flows related to the IT sector?

These are very relevant questions for a through analysis of the Global Digital Divide problem aiming at an effective and sustainable solution. 
Digitalright would like to conduct a field research project aimed at finding answers to the above questions. Digitalright would identify two low-income countries and two middle- income countries to use as models. Within these countries the most relevant institutions and organizations will be identified and selected for the survey.
The project would entail the definition of key terms and the questionnaire.
The field research will involve the collection and analysis of the country’s IT data with regard to international trade and IT adoption in public and private organizations with a special emphasis on public administration. Furthermore the researchers would work with the country’s relevant public officials and local organizations to understand their needs for more and better IT. The research would then compare the results of the different country’s investigations outlining similitude and differences in order to provide a comprehensive model of the international IT for development scenario.

Project Plan
The research will follow an accurate plan as described below. The project is planned to last a total of six months and to involve two full time researchers. There will be an external advisor, Professor Nabil R. Adam from Rutgers Business School, which will oversight the research methodology. Dr. Adam will also validate the questionnaire and the selection of the countries, organizations and institutions to interview.
Selected countries to investigate
The research will analyze four countries representative of different levels of income, different cultures, different geographical areas and different economies. Below is an initial hypothetical list of sample countries.

Low-income countries
•	Laos has about 6 million people and a per capita annual GDP of $2,125, official language Lao but officials speak English
•	Ghana has about 23 million people and a per capita annual GDP of $2,700, official language English

Middle-income countries
•	Nicaragua has about 5.5 million people and a per capita annual GDP of $3,600, official language Spanish
•	Guatemala has almost 13 million people and a per capita annual GDP of $4,150 official language Spanish

Much more extensive statistics will be provided for each selected country once the list will be finalized.
Research approach/methodology
•	The first month the two researchers will organize the questionnaire, study the selected countries and establish countries’ contacts
•	Each researcher (who speaks the language and has knowledge of the country’s culture) will investigate two countries
•	2 months of on-the-field time in each country with access to relevant public officials, organizations and data
•	Expense and compensation will be kept at minimum level
•	The last month the researchers will organize and deeply analyze the data collected.
•	The final report will be published on the Digitalright web site, it will be sent to several relevant organizations and post to many appropriate online sites. The final report will be release under the “Creative Commons”, an open republishing license (http://creativecommons.org/)
•	The questionnaire, the contacts and every procedure adopted during the project implementation will be formally documented, made public and recommended to other organizations that might be interested in conduct similar investigations.

Outline of the questionnaire
The survey will be developed along the line of a new ICT classification proposed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in March 2007 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/25/38226951.pdf
Questions will cover the hardware and software aspects, the financial as well as the physical maintenance burden, the supporting infrastructure, the problems, the usage and the future plans. Appendix B presents a detailed although not yet completed outline of the questionnaire.
Institutions to interview
The survey will be conduit with all the country relevant public institutions as well as private and public organizations with stake in the ICT for Development. Typically, at the forefront of the endeavor is the country’s Minister of Science and Technology. Often other Ministers are involved either into a large strategy or with their own IT departments. The most appropriate contacts will be made with the Minister of Healthcare, Education, Communication, Transports and Infrastructure, Economy and Finance and Foreign Trade. Civil society organizations involved in social services like education and healthcare as well as in the economic sector like unions and business development aid agencies will be invited to participate to the research.
Budget
The project will be conducted in the sober spirit characterizing Digitalright approach. The two full time researchers will receive a monthly salary of $2,000 each when in the United States and $1,000 when in developing countries. When in the US there will be no additional expenses. Lodging and traveling expenses will be covered by the project budget for time abroad. The project budget will cover also other costs directly related to the research (for example office material, Internet connection where necessary abroad).
We will seek in kind and material support from the selected countries for office space, material and assistance.
Professor Adam will receive an honorarium of $3,000 for his assistance.
Digitalright personnel will be responsible for their own health insurance and their personal income taxes.

Below is a break down of the amount estimated to complete the project.

Personnel – US	$2,000 * 2 * 2	$8,000	
Personnel – Outside US	$1,000 * 2 * 4	$8,000	
Professor Adam		$3,000	
Flights	$1,000 * 2 * 2	$4,000	
Lodging	$500 * 2 * 4	$4,000	
Other expenses	$5,000 * 2	$10,000	
Total		$37,000	

Qualification
Digital Right was founded in 2003 by a group of ICT professionals compelled by the need to use their professional skills to address the disparity of ICT between developed and developing countries.

Digital Right is an association where diverse people can join together to use their varied talents and skills to achieve our mission: The Empowerment of Developing Nations Through the use of “More and Better Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)”. Digital Right is a totally independent association without any affiliation with any political party, union, lobby, group of interests, corporation or government body.
In the pursuing of its mission Digital Right counts on its member financial contributions for operational costs. We apply for public grants only for major and specific projects.

Digitalright founder, Giovanni Sce, has been working in the IT sector for the last twenty years. He holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Science from Pavia University (Italy) and is in the process to earn a Bachelor degree from the Empire State College of New York in ICT for Sustainable Development.
He helps several non-for-profit international organizations to maintain their ICT infrastructure and actively collaborate to the ICT for Development online community. Giovanni speaks English, Spanish and Italian.

Cristina Neyra is an active member of Digitalright with a social service background and a Master in Business Administration. Cristina blends these qualifications with her international and multi cultural personal experiences as well as a professional career in the human capital development field. Cristina speaks English, Spanish and Italian.

For more information please visit http://www.digitalright.org

Dr. Adam is currently an associate faculty at the Division of Global Affairs of Rutgers University.
Dr. Adam published numerous technical papers in such journals as Journal of Management Information Systems, Int. Journal of Intelligent and Cooperative Information Systems and others. He co-authored / co-edited several books regarding e-commerce and databases. Dr. Adam is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Digital Libraries and serves on the Editorial board of the Journal of Management Information Systems and the Journal of Electronic Commerce.
http://business.rutgers.edu/default.aspx?id=162
Conclusion
Digitalright is committed to research cost effective solutions to foster more and better usage of Information and Communication Technologies for the socio-economic advancement of developing countries. In particular we believe that the Information Technology component of ICT is in general neglected by the majority of public and professional information regarding the ICT for Development and the Global Digital Divide. We have outlined how this lack of consideration from the analysis and plans of the majority of the international efforts undermines the final objective of creating long term ICT economic opportunities for the citizens of developing countries.
We suggest filling this void with an initial and well focused research on the field aimed at understanding the IT relevance within the Global Digital Divide issue and the ICT for Development agenda. Failure to include this topic in the agenda would leave developing countries ill equipped to foster and support their own socio-economic advancement.

This proposal is a modest contribution of our technical expertise and personal commitment to the cause of international development. As such, Digitalright is not seeking profit or gain but only to cover the project’s costs.

The results of the research will be made amply circulating within the large professional circle, published in every possible venue and brought to the attention at the relevant events. The outcomes of the research are expected to bring several benefits:

•	Provide up to date, coherent and comprehensive information on IT for Development
•	Stimulate to review the priorities of the ICT for Development agenda
•	Rise the interest and debate around the IT for Development
•	Provide IT for Development suggestions to the selected countries
•	Establish best practices to continue and enlarge the investigation
•	Improve the allocation of professional and financial resources
•	Encourage a more effective coordination of IT for Development initiatives

Digitalright is convinced that the achievement of these objectives will help the ICT for Development community to better serve the digitally excluded around the world. We believe that this cause is well worth our dedication and that the reasonable amount necessary to carry out the project will promote an innovative vision of this important mission.

We strive to live up to the United Nations former Secretary General words:
“ICT is not a magic formula that is going to solve all our problems. But it is a powerful force that can and must be harnessed to our global mission of peace and development […] I urge everyone in a position to make a difference to add his or her energies to this effort.” http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/sg-5nov-2002.htm

Appendix A: Selected ICT for Development resources

Internet Resources
The ICT for Development Agenda web site was active in 2003 and it is not operating anymore http://www.ictdevagenda.org/.
The ICT for Development Group web site was active in 2003 is not operating anymore http://www.ictdevgroup.com/.

The Development Gateway Foundation “ICT for Development” section introduction states that “The uses of ICT to further development goals are evolving. Techniques to boost crop yield, improve well-drilling, or teach mothers how to better care for infants can be sent instantly around the world. Health specialists can more effectively coordinate to halt the spread of diseases. Citizens can learn about how to open a company online, instead of waiting in long lines at government offices, saving time and money for everyone involved.” http://www.dgfoundation.org/issues/ict-for-development.html. While this is true, from this introduction and delving into the web site material, the IT topic is totally absent.

“Sustainable ICTs” is a research program funded by the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID) aimed at identifying activities that sought to benefit the poor and had an ICT component.  In particular it considers programs where ICTs had enhanced ongoing development activities, the ICT activity could be replicated without sizeable investment, and there was a measure of sustainability.  
http://www.sustainableicts.org/main.htm
It sponsors initiatives on education, disasters’ data collection, e-commerce, e-healthcare, e-advocacy  and similar.

The USAID “dot org” agency purpose is to extend ICT access to the under-served. With an impressive array of partners its core themes are:
•	incorporate ICT in programs for democracy and government, environment, health, education, and economic growth; 
•	develop systems of sustainable community ICT access; e.g., telecenters and community learning centers; 
•	use ICT systems for crisis intervention, distance training, environmental surveillance, and telemedicine
http://www.usaid.gov/info_technology/dotcom/dotorg.html
 
The Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA) finances and supports (through the World Bank, IADB, OAS) projects in the fields of access & connectivity, education & capacity building, e-governance/e-government, content & software, regional consultations & virtual networking, digital inclusion, e-business, health, and policy & regulation

The ICT for Development Platform web site has been created on December 2003 in occasion of a specialized summit and it has not been updated since then. The forum has investigated themes like Internet access, youth, gender and indigenous issues, financing ICT, policies, e-governance, e-business and similar.
http://www.ict-4d.org/

The United Nations (UN) and in particular its Development Program (UNDP) envisioned early on how the Information and Communication Technologies could help fostering socio-economic development in less developed regions. One of its first initiatives has been the “Sustainable Development Networking Programme” created in 1994 to support the IT sector in developing countries has closed in 2001 http://www.sdnp.undp.org/.
It has been replaced by an “ICT for Development” portal which aimed at providing a centralized gateway of related information, resources and efforts. Unfortunately, despite the publication of some news until January 2006, it seems to have ceased its main activities http://www.sdnp.undp.org/it4dev/docs/about_undp.html and many links do not work.
Other UN initiatives in this field have been the UNITeS (organizing IT volunteer activities between the year 2000 and 2005 http://www.unites.org/), the “Information and Communication Technologies Task Force” (terminated in 2005, http://www.unicttaskforce.org/), the “United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UNICT)” (last updated on May 2006 and still publicizing the WSIS November 2005 meeting http://www.unicttaskforce.org/), the UNESCO information and Communication portal (http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1657&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html), the Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) Human Security (http://www.uncrd.or.jp/hs/index.htm) and more.

The latest United Nations ICT dedicated initiative is the “Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development” (GAID) created in March 2006, to promote the use of information and communication technologies for enhancing the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals. http://www.un-gaid.org/

Still of global relevance is the “Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development”, launched in 2004 to harmonize the measurement of ICT indicators at the international levels. It includes, among others the ITU, the OECD, the UNCTAD, the UN ICT Task Force and the World Bank. The list of indicators included only 3 indicators regarding computers (per habitants and household) while Internet appears in 18 indicators
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/partnership/material/set_core_ICT_indicators.pdf

The Digital Opportunity Task Force (http://www.dotforce.org) was instituted by the G8 group on July 2000. Membership of the DOT Force comprises of 43 teams: government representatives, international and multilateral organizations, the representatives from the private sector and non-profit sector from each G8 country.
The web site and perhaps the organization seems to have ceased to work, its work does not seem to have been continued explicitly by other organizations.

The Journal of Information Technology for Development most recent issue seems to be 2003
http://iospress.metapress.com/app/home/journal.asp?referrer=parent&backto=linkingpublicationresults,1:103158,1&linkin=633269587043374268
The form to order a sample copy does not work http://www.iospress.nl/loadtop/load.php?isbn=02681102 

Search Engines Research
The table below reports the results returned from various Internet search engines on October 2007.

(“Scolars” refers to an academic section of Google search engine)

Paper sources
•	D’Costa Anthony P. “The New Economy in Development”. ICT Challenges and Opportunities. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 2006
The book includes several contributions from few United Nations bodies. It does not begin with a significant definition of ICT. Chapter titles go from Internet and economic growth of less developed countries to Software development in Argentina, to ICT initiatives in India and Arab states.

•	Rahul Tongia. “Information and Communications Technology for Sustainable Development”. Defining a Global Research Agenda. Allied Publisher, Bangalore, India, 2005
The culminating effort of Carnagie Mellon researchers’ workshop organized with the support of the United Nations, the World Bank and many large ICT corporations. It realized the computing aspect of the agenda and it links the objective to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Some good example of minor ICT supporting MDG, but it does not propose strategies to foster a local IT industry.

•	James Jeffrey. “Information Technology and Development”. A New Paradigm for Delivering the Internet to Rural Areas in Developing Countries. Routledge, New York, NY, 2004
Table of content focuses on Internet applications, Internet kiosks, and radio and phone services.

•	James Jeffrey. “Bridging the Global Digital Divide”. Edward Elgar Publishing, Northampton, MA, 2003
This publication analyzes, besides Internet, the role of IT within the UN Human Development Index as well as low-cost IT solutions and strategies for developing countries. It mentions hardware and software IT components up to the point of the Open Source software.

•	World Bank. “Information and Communication for Development”. Global Trends and Policies. Washington, DC, 2006
Chapter 4, “The Role of ICT in Doing Business” does not explicitly define ICT but implicitly it intends it as web-sites, email and telecommunication services. It relates it to enterprise productivity and business behavioral preference, it introduces the concept of e-trust and e-processes.
Appendix B: Outline of the proposed questionnaire
Following is a hypothetical schema of the IT for Development questionnaire.  
Partly borrowing from a recent OECD classification of the ICT sector, (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/25/38226951.pdf) the main questions can be outlined as follow:
 
•	Hardware
o	PCs
•	How many?
•	By years?
•	By type?
•	By brand?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who services them?
•	Problems?
o	Servers
•	How many?
•	By years?
•	By type?
•	By brand?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who services them?
•	Problems?
o	Mainframes
•	How many?
•	By years?
•	By type?
•	By brand?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who services them?
•	Problems?
o	Networks
•	How many?
•	By years?
•	By type?
•	By brand?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who services them?
•	Problems?
o	Others
o	Infrastructure
•	Satisfactory electricity power?
•	Satisfactory climate control?
•	Satisfactory security
•	Satisfactory access?
•	Problems?
•	Software
o	Server software
•	How many?
•	By year?
•	By brand/
•	By type of license?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who service them?
•	Problems?
o	Desktop software
•	How many?
•	By year?
•	By brand/
•	By type of license?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who service them?
•	Problems?
o	Office software
•	How many?
•	By year?
•	By brand/
•	By type of license?
•	Total cost of ownership?
•	How many upgrades?
•	Who service them?
•	Problems?
•	Services
o	Type of service?
o	Cost of service?
o	Up to date?
o	Problems?
•	Usage
o	Internal use
o	Organization to organization
o	Organization to citizens
o	Privacy
o	Costs
•	Future plans
o	Hardware
o	Software
o	Infrastructure
o	Services
o	Usages
o	Costs
o	Problems