Toward better measures of global ICT adoption and use

Year

2008 - Access to Infrastructure

Authors

Mike Jensen
Amy K. Mahan

Introduction

Efforts to agree on the most appropriate indicators to use for measuring disparities in information and communications technology (ICT) adoption and progress toward information society goals have continued in 2008. However as yet global consensus has not been reached and debate continues over what indicators would best take into account the growing broadband divide, what constitutes “universal access”, and how to accommodate local realities regarding data availability, especially in developing countries.

Institutional overview

Report Year

2008 - Access to Infrastructure

Authors

David Souter

This overview chapter is concerned with ways in which global institutions have addressed access to infrastructure since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), particularly during the last year (2007-2008). The policies and practice of global institutions usually change gradually rather than dramatically. The chapter therefore seeks to put their role in context. Its first section reviews key issues in recent debate about access to infrastructure. The second section considers recent developments in institutional policy and future access challenges.

Open standards

Year

2008 - Access to Infrastructure

Authored by

Sunil Abraham

Organization

Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore

Most computer users today remain “digitally colonised” (Bhattacharya, 2008) due to our unquestioning use of proprietary standards. As users of proprietary standards we usually forget that we lose the right to access our own files the moment the licence for the associated software expires. For example, if I were to store data, information or knowledge in .doc, .xls or .ppt format, my ability to read my own files expires the moment the licence for my copy of Microsoft Office expires.

Themes

Infrastructure

Preface

Year

2008 - Access to Infrastructure

Authored by

Anriette Esterhuysen
Loe Schout

This year’s thematic focus for Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) is “access to infrastructure”. The Geneva Plan of Action that emerged from the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) declared information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure an “essential foundation for the Information Society” and identified it as one of six main action lines.

Themes

Infrastructure

Credits

Year

2008 - Access to Infrastructure

Steering committee
Karen Banks (APC)
Roberto Bissio (ITeM)
Anriette Esterhuysen (APC)
Paul Maassen (Hivos)
Loe Schout (Hivos)
Magela Sigillito (ITeM)

Coordination committee
Pablo Accuosto (ITeM)
Inés Campanella (ITeM)
Monique Doppert (Hivos)
Karen Higgs (APC)
Natasha Primo (APC)

Editor
Alan Finlay

Assistant editor
Lori Nordstrom

Publication production
Karen Higgs

Themes

Infrastructure