SIL 802, Fall 2015: Introduction to ICTD - Long

 

This course will introduce students to the use of information and communication technologies for development. Most teaching will be through case studies of projects in different areas such as communication networks, education, healthcare, and community media.

 

TopicReadings
Why work in development
  • Sen, A. Theory of capability approach. Link
  • Schumacher. Appropriate Technology. Link
  • Habermas, J. Public sphere. Link
  • Write Mills, C. Power elites. Link
  • Smillie, I. Mastering the machine. Link
  • Piketty. Inequality. Link
The lure of ICTD
  • Waverman, Leonard, Meschi, Meloria, and Fuss, Melvyn. 2007.The impact of telecoms on economic growth in developing nations. Moving the Debate Forward: The Vodafone Policy Paper Series #3 2005. Link
  • Miller, D.2004.The unpredictable mobile phone.BT Technology Journal. Link
  • Abraham, Reuben. . Mobile phones and economic development: Evidence from the fishing industry in India. The international conference on information and communications technologies and development, (ICTD 2006) conference proceedings. Berkeley, CA: IEEE. Link
  • Mckinsey India Consumer market. Link
Examples of ICTD in media
  • McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith­Lovin, and James M. Cook. "Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks." Annual review of sociology (2001): 415­444. Link
  • Granovetter, Mark S. "The strength of weak ties." American journal of sociology(1973): 1360­1380. Link
  • GRINS introduction. Link
  • About hyperlocal journalism. Link
  • Khabar lahariya. Link
  • Building sustainable rural information service networks. Link
  • Z. Koradia, P. Aggarwal, A. Seth and G. Luthra, "Gurgaon idol: a singing competition over community radio and IVRS," ACM Digital Library, p. 10, 2013. Link
Other examples of ICTD leading to impact, or failing to make an impact
  • Miller, D. (2006). The unpredictable mobile phone. BT Technology Journal, 24(3), 41-48. Link
  • Zainudeen, A., & Ratnadiwakara, D. Are the poor stuck in voice?. Link
  • Kumar, N. (2014). Facebook for self-empowerment? A study of Facebook adoption in urban India. new media & society, 1461444814543999. Link
  • Putnam, C., & Kolko, B. (2010, December). The social meaning of ICTs: patterns of technology adoption and usage in context. In Proceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (p. 34). ACM. Link
  • Kumar, N., & Rangaswamy, N. (2013, April). The mobile media actor-network in urban India. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1989-1998). ACM. Link
  • Best, M. L., & Kumar, R. (2008). Sustainability failures of rural telecenters: Challenges from the sustainable access in rural india (sari) project. Information Technologies & International Development, 4(4), pp-31. Link
  • Dell, N., Vaidyanathan, V., Medhi, I., Cutrell, E., & Thies, W. (2012, May). Yours is better!: participant response bias in HCI. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1321-1330). ACM. Link
Theorizing about development and ICTD
  • Sen’s Capability Approach Link
  • Development as Freedom By Amartya Sen Link
  • Walk the Talk with Arvind Panagariya Link
  • Thomas Piketty’s “Capital In The Twenty-First Century” Explained Link
  • Thomas Piketty : New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century Link
  • Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2007). The economic lives of the poor. The journal of economic perspectives: a journal of the American Economic Association, 21(1), 141. Link
  • Heeks, R. (2009). The ICT4D 2.0 manifesto: Where next for ICTs and international development?. University of Manchester. Institute for development policy and management (IDPM). Development informatics group. Link
  • Walton, M., & Heeks, R. (2011). Can a Process Approach Improve ICT4D Project Success?. Manchester, UK. Link
Capabilities approach and community involvement in ICTD
  • Kleine, Dorothea. "ICT4WHAT?—Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development." Journal of International Development 22.5 (2010): 674-692. Link
  • Alsop, Ruth, and Nina Heinsohn. "Measuring empowerment in practice: structuring analysis and framing indicators." World Bank policy research working paper 3510 (2005). Link
  • Vaughan, Donna. "The importance of capabilities in the sustainability of information and communications technology programs: the case of remote Indigenous Australian communities." Ethics and Information Technology 13.2 (2011): 1-150. Link
  • Chirumamilla, Padma, and Joyojeet Pal. "Play and power: A ludic design proposal for ICTD." Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers-Volume 1. ACM, 2013. Link
  • Sey, Araba, and Peppino Ortoleva. "All Work and No Play? Judging the Uses of Mobile Phones in Developing Countries." Information Technologies & International Development 10.3 (2014): pp-1. Link
  • Kam, Matthew, et al. "Designing digital games for rural children: a study of traditional village games in India." Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. ACM, 2009. Link
ICTD applied to accountability
  • Narayanan, S. (2010, December). Accountability and the new media: use of ICTs in governance in India. In Proceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (p. 28). ACM. Link
  • Mohan, A. K., Cutrell, E., & Parthasarathy, B. (2013, December). Instituting credibility, accountability and transparency in local service delivery?: helpline and Aasthi in Karnataka, India. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers-Volume 1 (pp. 238-247). ACM. Link
  • Veeraraghavan, R. (2013, December). Dealing with the digital panopticon: the use and subversion of ICT in an Indian bureaucracy. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers-Volume 1 (pp. 248-255). ACM. Link
  • Mudliar, P., Donner, J., & Thies, W. (2012, March). Emergent practices around CGNet Swara, voice forum for citizen journalism in rural India. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (pp. 159-168). ACM. Link
ICTD applied to information sharing
  • Gandhi, R., Veeraraghavan, R., Toyama, K., & Ramprasad, V. (2007, December). Digital green: Participatory video for agricultural extension. In Information and Communication Technologies and Development, 2007. ICTD 2007. International Conference on (pp. 1-10). IEEE.Link
  • Oreglia, E. (2013, December). When technology doesn't fit: information sharing practices among farmers in rural China. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers-Volume 1 (pp. 165-176). ACM. Link
  • Dreher, T. (2009). Listening across difference: Media and multiculturalism beyond the politics of voice. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 23(4), 445-458. Link
  • Servaes, J., Jacobson, T. L., & White, S. A. (Eds.). (1996). Participatory communication for social change (Vol. 24). Sage. Link
  • Patel, N., Chittamuru, D., Jain, A., Dave, P., & Parikh, T. S. (2010, April). Avaaj otalo: a field study of an interactive voice forum for small farmers in rural india. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 733-742). ACM. Link
ICTD for community networks
  • Heimerl, K., Hasan, S., Ali, K., Brewer, E., & Parikh, T. (2013, December). Local, sustainable, small-scale cellular networks. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development: Full Papers-Volume 1 (pp. 2-12). ACM. Link
  • GUIFI.NET Neutral, Open and Free Network for everybody. Link
  • D. Hadaller, S. Keshav, T. Brecht, and S. Agarwal. Vehicular Opportunistic Communication Under the Microscope. In ACM MobiSys, June 2007. Link
ICTD for political and corporate governance
  • Kapur, D., & Vaishnav, M. (2011). Quid pro quo: Builders, politicians, and election finance in India. Center for Global Development Working Paper, (276). Link
  • Chengappa, P. G., Manjunatha, A. V., Dimble, V., & Shah, K. (2012). Competitive Assessment of Onion Markets in India. Institute for Social and Economic Change. Competition commission of India, 1, 86. Link
  • Sukhtankar, S. (2012). Sweetening the deal? political connections and sugar mills in india. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(3), 43-63. Link
  • Oman, C., Fries, S., & Buiter, W. (2004). Corporate Governance in Developing, Transition and Emerging-Market Economies. Link
  • Morck, R., & Steier, L. (2005). The global history of corporate governance: An introduction. In A history of corporate governance around the world: Family business groups to professional managers (pp. 1-64). University of Chicago Press. Lin
  • Höpner, M., & Krempel, L. (2004). The politics of the German company network. Competition and Change, 8(4), 339-356. Link
  • Milaković, M., Alfarano, S., & Lux, T. (2010). The small core of the German corporate board network. Computational and mathematical organization theory, 16(2), 201-215. Link
  • The network of global corporate control. In Decoding Complexity (pp. 95-119). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Link
Competitiveness in the Indian industry
  • O'Brien, Daniel P., and Steven C. Salop. "Competitive effects of partial ownership: Financial interest and corporate control." Antitrust Law Journal (2000): 559-614. Link
  • Mishra, P., & Rao, U. S. (2014). Concentration vs Inequality Measures of Market Structure. Economic & Political Weekly, 49(33), 59. Link
  • Bhattacharya, T., & Rajeev, M. (2013, July). Measuring Linkages to Identify Key Sectors of the Indian Economy: An Application of Input-Output Analysis. In Workshop on Sustaining High Growth in India. Institute of Economic Growth (pp. 25-26). Link
  • Arora, R. R., & Sarkar, R. (2006). Detecting Cartels in the Indian Cement Industry: An Analytical Framework. Link
  • Parhi, M. Dynamics of Inter-firm interactions in Indian Automotive Industry: A Social Network Perspective. Link
  • Murphy, S., Burch, D., & Clapp, J. (2012). Cereal secrets: the world's largest grain traders and global agriculture. Cereal secrets: the world's largest grain traders and global agriculture. Link
Link between politics and corporate governance
  • Gilens, M., & Page, B. I. (2014). Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspectives on Politics, 12(03), 564-581. Link
  • Mian, A. R., & Khwaja, A. I. (2004). Do lenders favor politically connected firms? Rent provision in an emerging financial market. Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market (December 2004). Link

Student presentations
Understanding the health sector
  • National Rural Health Mission Document (2005-2012). Link
  • About Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA). Link
  • CDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme). Link
  • The National Association of Rural Health Clinics Program. Link
  • World Health Partners. Link
  • Bhandari, L., & Dutta, S. (2007). Health infrastructure in rural India. India infrastructure report. Link
  • Health Statistics. Link
  • Sachpazidis, I. (2008). Image and medical data communication protocols for telemedicine and teleradiology (Doctoral dissertation, TU Darmstadt). Link
  • Vinay Venkatraman, Ted Talk. Link
  • Jane Chen, Wikipedia. Link
  • Jane Chen, Ted Talk. Link
  • Life Spring Hospitals, Wikipedia. Link
  • Lunde, S. The mhealTh Case in india. Link
  • Tiwari, P. (2010). Providing healthcare services in rural India: Innovative application of mobile technology. Healthcare and Informatics Review Online, 14(2), 3-9. Link
  • Implementation of mobile medical unit Link
Understanding the livelihoods sector
  • Mohd. Yunus. Link
  • SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS). Link
  • Rural Unemployment Link
  • Microfinance Link
  • Govt. Employment Exchange Act Link
  • Man vs Machine Link
  • Anil Gupta ­ India's hidden hotbed of innovations Link
  • Kiva Link
  • Grameen Bank Link
  • Barefoot Movement Link
Understanding the agriculture sector
  • Digital Green. Link
  • RML in agriculture advisory. Link
  • ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Link
  • Choudhary, V., & Sen, S. (2011). ICT Applications for Smallholder Inclusion in Agribusiness Supply Chains. ICT for Agriculture e-Sourcebook” The Agricultural and Rural Development Deparment & infodev Washington DC: World Bank. Link
  • Food proccessing archives. Link
  • Goyal, A. (2010). Information, direct access to farmers, and rural market performance in central India. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, Vol. Link
  • Kumar, R. (2010). Mandi Traders and the Dabba: Online Commodity Futures Markets in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(31), 63-70. [5] Parker, C., Ramdas, K., & Savva, N. (2013). Is IT Enough? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India's Agriculture Markets. Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India's Agriculture Markets (August 1, 2013). Link
  • Goyal, A. (2010). Information, direct access to farmers, and rural market performance in central India. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, Vol. Link
  • Essential commodity act. Link1 Link2
Understanding the education sector
Understanding opendata
  • United Nations. "The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda." (2013). Link
  • World Wide Web Foundation. “Web Index Report 2014-2015” (2014). Link
  • Kuriyan, R., & Ray, I. (2009, April). E for express 1:“Seeing” the Indian State through ICTD. In Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD), 2009 International Conference on (pp. 66-73). IEEE. Link
  • Gilbert, D., Balestrini, P., & Littleboy, D. (2004). Barriers and benefits in the adoption of e-government. International Journal of Public Sector Management,17(4), 286-301. Link
  • Gupta, B., Dasgupta, S., & Gupta, A. (2008). Adoption of ICT in a government organization in a developing country: An empirical study. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 17(2), 140-154. Link
  • Rosling, H. (2006). TED Talk: Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen. Link
  • Berners-Lee, T. (2009). Tim Berners-Lee on the next web. TED Talks. Link
  • Pradhan, Sanjay. TED Talk: How open data is changing international aid. Link
  • Project Open Data. Link
  • Open Data Handbook. Link
  • Open Data Barometer: 2014 Global Report. World Wide Web Foundation and Open Data Institute. Link
  • Poikola, A., Kola, P., & Hintikka, K. A. (2011). Public data. An introduction to opening information sources. Helsinki, Finland,: Ministry of Transport and Communications. Link
  • Malawi Aid, By Sector. Link
  • Implementation Guidelines for National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP). Link
  • Indian Open Data Initiative. Link
  • Wright, G., Prakash, P., Abraham, S., & Shah, N. (2010). Open government data study: India. Study commissioned by the Transparency and Accountability Initiative. Link