Morino Institute and Digital Opportunity Initiative Release New Reports Further Examining International and Domestic Impact of Digital Divide
Feature Story by Sridhar Prasad - 7/24/2001
In a major contribution to the developing field of research examining the digital divide, the Morino Institute and the Digital Opportunity Initiative, a collaboration between the Markle Foundation, between Accenture, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), each recently issued new reports examining how technology is impacting society.The Digital Opportunity Initiative report, entitled, “Creating a Development Dynamic” takes an international focus and demonstrates the critical role that information and communication technologies (ICT) are playing in assisting developing nations to enhance the lives of their citizens. The Morino Institute report, entitled, “From Access to Outcomes” examines new solutions to the digital divide in the United States.
Both reports highlight the potential for information and communications technologies to improve the standard of living of under-served individuals. In highlighting how technology can expand access to health-care, education, and economic opportunity, both reports argue that debates over digital policy should not focus simply on breaking down the digital divide as an end in itself, but rather as a bridge towards using information technology as a means to increase opportunity and the standard of living both at home and abroad.
Creating a Development Dynamic
Released on July 16th, “Creating a Development Dynamic” examines the experiences of countries from Tanzania to Estonia in dealing with issues of development and information technology. The report lays out a strategy for developing nations to work not only with the private and public sectors but also de-veloped nations to generate sustainable development and achieve a range of social goals. These include improvements to education, healthcare, and increased economic opportunity.
The report concludes that ICT can play a critical role in improving conditions in developing na-tions throughout the world. However, it also stresses that ICT will be effective only if the strate-gies used in deploying it involve all participants in international development – governments, both industrialized and developing, the business and non-profit sectors, multilateral agencies, and community organizations on the ground. The report finds that ICT has the potential to trigger a “development dynamic” that gains momentum as targeted steps are taken in key areas like tech-nology training, policy reform and enterprise building, but for that to occur, ICT must also be strategically deployed to achieve these goals.
An example cited in the report is the case of Estonia, which, in the decade since regaining its in-dependence from the former Soviet Union, has pursued a concerted strategy to produce a modern telecommunications network, low connectivity costs, high rates of computer literacy and a highly educated and skilled workforce. This has succeeded due to a high level of cooperation between government, business, and non-profit sectors as well as the singular objective of developing a modern information infrastructure for Estonia.
Zoe Baird, President of the Markle Foundation, commented: “The lesson of this report is clear: information and communication technologies have enormous potential to meet development challenges if government, business and the non-profit sectors work together in strategic partner-ship. The sharing of knowledge and risk is critical if major gains are to be made.”
From Access to Outcomes
The Morino Institute, a nonprofit that works to strengthen organizations serving the children of low-income communities, has released a report entitled From Access to Outcomes: Raising the Aspirations for Technology Initiatives in Low-Income Communities. The report, which has been refined with the help of dozens of top thought leaders in the fields of learning and technology, represents an ambitious effort to channel, redirect, and augment the energies that are being devoted to closing the digital divide. The report and extensive supplementary materials are available on the Morino website.
From Access to Outcomes makes the case that technology must not be seen as an end in itself. Although most initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide have focused on expanding access to new technologies, the report concludes that providing access alone is rarely as effective as it is well-meaning. The report finds that initiatives in and by low-income communities are far better at producing meaningful change when people apply technology with tangible economic, educational, and social end results – or "outcomes" – in mind. From Access to Outcomes offers a host of insights and case studies to illustrate how a new focus on outcomes – along with smart, large-scale investments to help achieve them – could help turn the country’s disparate digital divide efforts into a powerful movement capable of producing widespread social change.
