Course in ICT for Development

At IIM-C we firmly believe that information is power. In the years to come the need for increased sharing of information will govern the changes in organizational structure. A basic understanding of information systems is thus mandatory. We endeavor to ensure that you drive the e-commerce revolution. These courses not only equip you with software tools but also impart an understanding of the hardware which will help you set design your own database. It's time you started your own dotcom at IIMC.

Course Objectives:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can reduce poverty by improving poor people's access to education, health, governance and financial services. The potential of a broadband connection is high among the urban poor as well as the rural population. The course will equip the students with the perceived benefits of ICT in the development sector in India, along with the roles that the government, corporate sector, and people themselves can play. The lectures and discussions will focus on the managerial reforms for introduction of computers as a tool for decentralized development administration, and the institutional aspects to make ICTs an integral component of development projects. The course will be multi-disciplinary in nature, drawing on a wide range of underlying theory and practice to show how sustainable development, poverty, knowledge and technologies are strongly interlinked. On successful completion of the course, the students will be able to appreciate the emergence and scope of ICT for development, understand the wider social frameworks within which ICTs are placed, and develop policies and projects to use ICTs to address the challenges of poverty reduction, spatial division of labour, the environment, education, and health.

Course Content:

* Information processing: from creation to dissemination
* The information infrastructure
* Overview of relevant I & C technologies (ICTs), for example rural broadband
* Policy issues related to ICTs, with special attention to the legal and regulatory frameworks
* Assessing national capability to build ICT for Development
* Economic factors behind ICT for Development
* Social Institutions and ICT
* Corporate sector and ICT for development
* ICT and good governance
* Government Revenues and Pricing of ICTs for the poor
* People's participation in ICT development projects
* Strategies of poverty reduction through ICTs
* Pro-poor market development through ICTs
* ICT and vocational training
* ICT and microfinance
* ICT and the major environmental challenges
* Optimizing policies for rural ICT

Pedagogy

Class lectures and discussions on issues/ clarification raised by the students.