ICT4RD 2011: Information Communication Technologies for Rural Development

To bring together, government, investors, NGOs and social entrepreneurs from across the region - and beyond - to understand the realities of rural development, explore the innovative use of information and communication technology and to catalyse the growth of ICT4RD solutions for scale

ICT4RD 2011 will look at the current state of ICT4RD projects, products and policies but also create an environment for matchmaking, and deep knowledge-sharing; and to fundamentally contribute to the successful use of ICTs in the realities of rural development.

Mobile phones create more than 5 billion human touch points around the world. In the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates will reach 68% at the end of 2010. Between 2000 and 2008, the rate of growth in mobile penetration was fastest in Sub Saharan Africa. Waves of liberalisations in mobile networks has led to 87% of the world’s mobile markets being either partly or fully liberalised. Competition among mobile operators has resulted in the rapid extension of mobile networks, falling prices of services and mobile handsets, and innovative business models. Given efficient markets, it is estimated that by 2015, only 4.4% of populations across Africa will live in the “coverage gap”.

How are ICTs used to support development?

• To improve access to markets, fi nancial services and employment
• To improve access to affordable, quality services such as education and healthcare
• To improve service delivery by governments, the private sector and NGOs, and to make these services more responsive to citizen needs
• To improve security , emergency/disaster relief and efforts to protect human rights
• To support improvements in accountability, transparency and participation, by allowing citizens to publicise their concerns, share ideas, and hold governments to account
• Technology is an important education tool for large, dispersed, income populations with limited budgets
• ICT4RD 2011 will bring together key innovators, implementers, social entrepreneurs and thinkers from across the developing world to explore how information and communication technology innovations can benefit rural populations in the region?

The audience will include:

• Governments looking to learn from policy and programme success in other countries
• Investors and funders looking for evidence based results and opportunities to scale solutions that generate both social and financial returns
• NGOs looking for innovative ideas to strengthen existing projects - looking for the secrets of scale
• Corporations interested in quantifying the opportunity at the base of the pyramid and strategies for tapping into its potential
• Social Entrepreneurs looking for partnerships and investment necessary to take successful pilots to scale
• Researchers seeking evidence of impact to demonstrate the impact of mobile phones on the lives of the poor

For more information, click here for the conference brochure.