The purpose of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of several GICT's (Global Information and Communications Technologies) projects. GICT provides governments, private companies, and community organizations with the capital and expertise needed to develop and apply information and communication technologies to reduce poverty and foster development in countries throughout the globe via satellites. The countries that will be evaluated are: Bolivia, Pakistan and Mexico.
Global Information Economy
The way forward after the Dot. Crash is global. According to McConnell, "E-business, e-government, and e-society are on the front burner today in leading emerging economies. It's seen as a time for catching up with the rich countries." For this reason, the subject of E-Readiness was of most interest. What is E-Readiness? According to Tripod, it is the state or quality of being ready for electronic technology, such as the internet. The Information Age is increasing the gap between the rich and poor, and between the developed and developing countries and is creating a society of information haves and have-nots.
English: Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabita...
Spending on information and communications technol...
English: Graph of internet users per 100 inhabitan...Effectiveness of GCIT's Projects
In September, 2001 GICT worked on a projects for implementation of E-Readiness in these three countries along with several other countries. The total cost for this project was $50,000 and consisted of several activities such as:
- Creation and facilitation of the Working Group and other inclusive forms of participation which will assure broad and active participation in the e-readiness project by the government, private sector, civil society and international community.
- Development and preparation of a methodology to be used in the e-readiness assessment. The methodology to be developed would be suitable for the country and allow for international comparisons.
- Collection and possible purchase of data from open sources, commercial data bases, government agencies, telecommunication sector, and surveys all input into the assessment.