Communication, Information, and Ict Policy: towards Enabling Research Frameworks Keynote Presentation

In this presentation my aim is to set out a forward looking research agenda which I will argue can be further developed in a way that may contribute to a partial resolution of ongoing conundrums that confront those seeking to ensure that information and communication technologies (ICT) are put into service in ways that are enabling, rather than disabling. ICT-related policies and strategies are being developed by their stakeholders to support a range of important goals and aspirations associated with the wider policy agendas of low income countries. In such countries, there will inevitably be trade-offs among the competing claims of stakeholders for scarce resources of all kinds whether these are associated with investment in ICTs themselves or in the capabilities to design or use them in ways that are compatible with development aspirations, locally, nationally, or regionally. Although ICT policies and strategies have become relatively well-accepted as components of broader policy making initiatives over the past decade – and despite the fact that ICTs are acknowledged as a target area in the Millennium Development Goals, there is debate about how best to underpin these initiatives. Should they be informed by the outputs of research? If they should be, how should dialogues between researchers and practitioners be facilitated to ensure that all parties find such dialogues informative? The first main section of this presentation draws on a “brainstorming” workshop which I chaired in December 2007 hosted by UNESCO. We brought leading researchers together to develop a research framework which would tackle issues and questions that we believe need to be given much greater attention if ICTs are to play a greater role in enabling a variety of development goals to be met. Our main questions were: What new concepts are required to acknowledge