ICT4D

The Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warned a few weeks ago of a looming “spectrum shortage” in the United States. What is even more curious in this affair is the admission by senior legislators in the US that they are largely ignorant about the precise distribution of the airwaves and their uses, much less about the best means of optimizing said distribution.

The FCC Chairman (and to a lesser extent, the NTIA Director who performs similar roles for the US federal government in an advisory capacity), whose primary mandate is telecommunications and electronic broadcasting regulation, therefore faces the uphill, and thoroughly disorienting, struggle of rallying concern about the accelerating scarcity of a resource that the vast majority of Americans are blissfully nonchalant about. And how many of them today even find it relevant that when 3G was first touted in the United States one of the most credible threats to the idea at that time was spectrum politics? (Compare).

When: Friday, January 22, 2010

Where: Twitter, use hashtag #ICT4D

Local governments - from regional to village level - can be both a help and a hindrance to information and communication technology deployments in the developing world. Yet they cannot be avoided and should be brought into the project.

In the January Twitter Chat this Friday, we'll explore three vital questions any ICT practitioner faces when designing and deploying technology-based projects at the local level, using the #ICT4D hashtag in Twitter:

1. Do you work with local governments or bypass them? Why?
2. What are the keys to project success with local governments?
3. Where are examples of positive local government buy-in?

*Update* - We'll be looking at each question as it relates to Haiti, the immediate earthquake response, and the long-term rebuilding process.

Ashoka's Chloe Feinberg will co-host, along with @ICT_Works and @downeym.

We'll start at 12-noon Eastern Time ( http://bit.ly/Noon-worldwide ) with introductions, then move into the discussion.

Our hope is to learn from each other to find ways we can increase our impact and reduce failure, by engaging local governments.

-- Handy Twitter RT to let others know and join in the conversation  --

According to The World Bank Group: between 2000 and 2007 internet subscribers in low-income countries grew from 0.1 to 0.8 (per 100 people), but mobile cellular subscriptions grew from 0.3 to 21.5 (per 100 people).

With this market statistic in mind, social entrepreneurship has been moving strongly to include mobile technology in its scope of work from health care (see video below) to banking.