Internet Counts Measuring the Impacts of the Internet (1998) / Chapter Skim
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2. INTRODUCTION
2. INTRODUCTION
Pages 4-11
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From page 4... ...
For the developing world the Internet is considered by many to be a powerful tool for development that will allow countries to leap-frog ahead, economically and socially. Supporters point to the small farming cooperative in an agricultural country, using information technologies to learn about new farming methods and obtain reports on product supply and demand' thereby increasing local exports severalfold and enabling entire villages to prosper; or to the doctor in a rural village, diagnosing and treating a patient with the help of an Internet connection.
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From page 5... ...
The framework contains indicators that can be used by development agencies, national policymakers, individual users, potential investors, and other interested parties to help assess the impacts of the Internet on various aspects of a countty's or a reg~on's development. The indicators are also intended to provide continuity for researchers who are further analyzing and quantizing impacts of the Internet.
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From page 6... ...
to be applied, with limited customization, to other developing countries as well. The framework discussed in this report considers the Internet as a communications mechanism and suggests how to analyze the impacts of its introduction and use.
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asked the National Research Council's (NRC) Office of International Affairs to conduct a series of activities to highlight applications of information and communications technologies to development and to examine ways in which those technologies can help USAID and other development assistance organizations better achieve their goals.
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From page 8... ...
The Internet Society, Canada's International Development Research Centre and its Acacia Initiative, the World Bank the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management, and many other organizations are involved National Research Council, 1996, Bridge Builders: African Experiences with Information and Communication Technology, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. Also, the NRC's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board has conducted a number of studies related to information technologies.
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From page 9... ...
To gain further input, the committee presented its preliminary indicators at the Global Knowledge '97 Nor example, Canada's International Development Research Centre has been involved in a program to measure the impact of information on development, and Bellanet has an initiative on Learning for Development in the Information Age. SThe Internet Society defines the Internet as "a global network of networks enabling computers of all kinds to directly and transparently communicate and share services throughout much of the world." In 1995 the Federal Networking Council passed a resolution agreeing on the following definition of the term Internet: "the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Interpret Protocol (IP)
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From page 10... ...
The committee believes that the number of its site visits and meetings in Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya was extensive and provided the committee members with an accurate, albeit somewhat superficial, overview of the situation with respect to the Internet in those countries. The committee emphasizes that the recommended next steps in research on Internet impacts will require studying a wider range of developing countries in Africa and elsewhere and at a more in-depth level.
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From page 11... ...
The committee reached five main conclusions from its meetings, interviews, and field research that it believes merit the attention of those interested in the diffusion of information technologies in developing areas and the associated impacts: 1. There is an expressed need among development agencies, policymakers, Internet service providers and users, and others for some evaluative framework for analyzing Internet impacts.
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