Information and Communication Technologies for the Developing World

From the Executive Summary

"Thirty years ago, many believed radio and television would speed the transformation of developing countries and lead to the widespread adoption of 'modern' attitudes and behaviors (Hornik 1988). In the last two decades, radios and televisions became more prevalent and truly effective mediums for health communication. Now, information and communication technologies (ICTs) represent the next significant wave of innovation.

The Internet is perhaps the most important ICT, but a variety of emerging technologies also fall into this category, including the 'mobile Web,' personal digital assistants or PDAs, and short message services (SMS or 'text messaging'). As with radio and television, some are hailing these new technologies as a solution to the problems of development. The Internet, in particular, offers unique strengths as a medium for communication. It is cross-cutting, multifunctional, and enables the creation of social networks. The Internet is also a unique dissemination mechanism that separates content from physical location and allows for the reproduction of content at a declining or zero marginal cost (Digital Opportunity Initiative 2001).

ICTs are interactive technologies, however, that differ in important ways from broadcast technologies. If history teaches any lesson, the development community will need to find innovative ways of using the technologies, as well as endure some initial failure.

Growing evidence demonstrates that ICTs can make a significant contribution to public health under the right conditions. The Internet can facilitate interaction between health professionals and health consumers, manage the demand for services, and enable health organizations and government health agencies to update information far more quickly for surveillance, quality improvement or assurance, and policy purposes (SCIPICH 1999). From a health communication perspective, 'e-health' applications -interactive websites providing tailored health information and other services to users - can be effective in helping people manage diseases, access health services, and obtain social support or provide assistance in changing behaviors. This is a new field, but evaluation of early e-health applications indicates they can have significant effects on behavior and health if they are well designed and well executed (Gustafson et al. 1999). The potential of e-health for prevention and care has led otherwise cost-conscious health organizations to make significant investments in the technology. Case in point: Kaiser Permanente, a large U.S.-based health maintenance organization, invested more than $2 billion in 2003 to provide Internet services to 'empower' their health consumers in the United States.

Yet, e-health in the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia is vastly different from what is occurring in the developing world. The phrase 'digital divide' arguably trivializes the 'yawning chasm' that separates the North from the South in terms of access to these technologies (Sorensen 2001). But ICTs can likely help health communication programs achieve their objectives because the divide is not as simple as it may appear.

Internet access is growing dramatically in the developing world. Satellite Internet connectivity and other wireless technologies eliminate the need for telephones for dial-up access, thus Internet connectivity has expanded to secondary cities and is steadily moving 'up-country.'While access is generally estimated by the number of Internet subscriptions present in a country or among a population, in Africa and parts of Asia, Internet access grows not as a result of individuals or households purchasing computers and obtaining Internet subscriptions, but as a result of telecenters, cybercafes, community kiosks, and other 'community access points' (CAPs).

This [46-page] issue of Health Communication Insights details how ICTs are being used today, challenges and opportunities presented by ICTs, and potential ICT applications for health communication programs."

Health Communication Insights, published by The Health Communication Partnership (HCP), aims to explore issues related to advances in strategic health communication. This June 2004 issue is the premier issue and focuses on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by health communication programmes in the developing world. Health Communication Insights is published one or two times a year.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary on the Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.

Click here to read a related summary of this article in the "Materials" section.