Deriving an ICT4D research agenda: a commentary on ‘Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D): solutions seeking problems?’

‘ I nformation and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D): Solutions Seeking Problems?’ is a stimulating paper that partly reflects developing country reality. Like a runner on steroids, mobiles have shot past Internet-linked PCs in the ICT race and are now close to (though not yet achieving) ubiquity. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, donor-supported efforts tried to force feed the European telecentre model, and often failed. Meanwhile, almost under the development radar, private mobile operators were busy generating 50%-plus growth rates. But that is the historical picture. Does Chaudhuri’s analysis still hold today? The main difficulty is that a number of the black vs white boundaries that existed even 10 years ago have dissolved into shades of grey along at least four dimensions: