ICTD 2015

What is the development role of telecenters, cybercafés, libraries and ICT training centers in a world increasingly inter-connected through mobiles? The discussion will focus on five topics: a review of recent public access impact findings, and a dialogue centered on four critical impact challenges: i. serving rural communities; ii. increasing women’s participation; iii. empowering low-income people; iv. expanding digital literacy.

We propose a space for an invigorating debate about whether the kinds of questions adressed by M4D research are, in the ways that they are commonly framed, less ‘relevant’ for the global north; and why the work done in the north, even when oriented towards socioeconomic outcomes, are not often in conversation with ‘4D’ research. Are the different contexts that radically opposed, and how might research so influenced by geographic frames be bridged?