ICT for Social Inclusion

Many ICT for development (ICT4D) projects focus only on the supply side of the projects such as internet access, ICT infrastructure, computer skills of users and levels of training offered to citizens. In the process, many of the muted desires of the poor and the marginalized population gets ignored and accepted as consents. But ICT4D projects from the demands perspectives of ordinary citizens offer new concepts of social inclusion. Based on this new conceptual understanding, we have developed the Cyber Capability Framework that focuses on improvements on individual functionings. The Framework forms the fundamental analytical tool for our work as it addresses many of the relevant concerns of ICT4D projects in a holistic manner. It shifts the discourses from a focus on straightforward digital growth to discussions on human development; from simple measurements of poverty reduction initiatives to a focus on the socio-political contexts that shape the achievement or deprivation of capabilities of the people affected by the projects. The Cyber Capability Framework opens the door for many suppressed and untold stories associated with different ICT4D projects.