[Sigifp-l] [Fwd: [Information Technology in Developing Countries - Journal June 2009]

[M.J. Menou]

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The June 2009 issue of ‘Information Technology in Developing Countries’ 
is available at: http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/egov/ifip/current.htm

The current issue of Information Technology in Developing Countries 
carries articles that, among others, discuss the impact of ICT focused 
programmes undertaken by the government of Palestine with the objective 
of socio-economic development, examine the findings of a study 
undertaken to identify and understand the benefits and problems 
associated with the use of e-portfolios, attempt to understand the role 
of the Government in achieving sustainable development, and discuss the 
implementation of telecentres inrural Malaysia and assess their impact.

The first article "Creating an Information Society in Developing 
Countries" by Khalid Rabayah and Sami Awad firstly gives an overview of 
the ICT strategies implemented by the Palestinian government for 
enhancing the scope of IT development in the country. The paper presents 
the outcomes of the research efforts that were carried out by a group of 
researchers who investigated the formation process of the strategy. The 
researchers traced the building endeavors through various methods and 
techniques ranging from focus group meetings and semi-structured 
interviews with stakeholders to administering of questionnaires and 
observations of on-going activities. The article also includes a SWOT 
analysis of the ICT strategy, followed by a discussion on the 
effectiveness of the policies in addressing the local needs of the 
Palestinian society. The article concludes that for a plan focused on 
building an information society, it is very important that it be
built considering the context of the society, and that the development
process be harnessed to meet the imperative development goals of the
society.

The second article "Utilization of Digital Media for Professional
Development of Teachers" by Ayse Kok presents the results of a pilot 
study undertaken at a high school in Turkey. The study involved the use 
of an ICT tool called "e-portfolios" by foreign language teachers of the 
school as a part of their daily curriculum. The qualitative study 
addresses the value of e-portfolios as versatile teaching and learning 
tools to showcase the professional skills of the teachers. The research 
gives positive results and suggests that use of e-portfolios can serve 
as a very motivating and beneficial tool for the professional 
development of teachers and for effective communication with students.
However there are still some challenges that need to addressed as the 
use of e-portfolios is extended to larger programs.

The next article by Udo Awerveg and Eduardo Villanueva describes a
successful telecentre project in Peru - the cabinas públicas de 
Internet. The existence of cabinas has facilitated new forms of social 
interaction and social networking among young adults, thereby increasing 
the levels of computer literacy. The article concludes that for 
achieving sustainable development in the technological sector of a 
country, a policy strategy must make use of the latest computer 
technologies available. Given the proliferation of cabinas in Peru, the 
paper raises the question of whether government policies should be 
flexible enough to incorporate changes and new technologies for 
harnessing development or should the government policy
produce practice.

This is followed by a case study on "Kedaikom", the community 
telecenters established for the underserved rural communities in 
Malaysia. These telecentres provide a range of of ICT services to 
facilitate Internet access, e-commerce and e-learning with an aim to 
encourage the usage of ICT and to create community communication. A 
study was conducted to understand the role of KedaiKom in achieving the 
desired outcomes. The article summarises the results of this study and 
concludes that KedaiKom telecentres have had a positive impact on the 
rural people and furthered the Malaysian government’s objectives of 
diffusing ICT to the rural population.

Stephen Rasmussen's article on “Indian Mobile Banking” discusses the
exponential growth in the number of mobile users in India, the financial
inclusion program of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), examples of 
private and public banks offering mobile-enabled banking services to 
their users and the rural population, government policies which act as a 
barrier to successful and large scale deployment of mobile services, and 
the hurdles and issues that exist in the area of mobile banking in India.

This is followed by a report on the two-day "3rd International 
Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development 
(ICTD2009)" that was held at the Carnegie Mellon University in Doha, 
Qatar and a brief note on the launch of the Centre for Development 
Informatics (CDI) at the University of Manchester. Conference 
announcements include the annual eINDIA 2009 conference to be held at 
Hyderabad, India, and the eChallenges Conference and Exhibition to be 
held in Turkey.

Telly Onu
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