UNIVERSITY : MACHAKOS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL : HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT : LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGES
UNIT NAME : DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
UNIT CODE : UCU 101; E35..... , GROUP NO 18; ENG LIT
TASK : Discuss how ICT can be explored to sprearhead a country’s national
development
MEMBERS REG.NO
1. CAROLINE MUTISO E35-5137-2020
2. CAROLINE MUENI E35-5097-2020
3. CAROLINE JELAGAT E35-5231-2020
4. DIANA KEAGO E35-5314-2020
5. NAFTAL MOMANYI E35-5303-2020
6. PETER IGAYI E35-5362-2020
7. RAHAB THUO E35-3474-2019
8. MARGARET MBALUKA E35-6724-2020
9. ZACHARY KEBASO E35-5276-2020
LECTURER : DR. ALAKA OPONDO.
DATE OF SUBMISSION : 26TH MAY 2020.
ICT is an abbreviation of Information and Communication Technology. It entails
products that store, process, transmit, convert, duplicate or receive electronic
information. Examples of ICT are Electronic textbooks, instructional software, email,
chat and distance learning programs. Information and Communication Technologies
have changed so many aspects in human lives especially in the 21st centuary. This
includes how people find needed information, work, conduct business, interact with
government agencies and how we mange our livelyhood. It provides unprecedented
opportunities to effectively fight against poverty in the developing countries.
Therefore, its exploration and development can lead to great national developments.
The ICT can be explored through the following ways for better development.
The awareness on the advantages of ICT in donors should be stimulated. This
should therefore aid in promoting studies through the usage of technology which
should provide skills in different fields that will enhance the development in
different systems for instance improvement of education system by use of
different types of electronics.
Building ICT at the local level which will make all people to be able to have
knowledge in the usage of the new technology. This will enable the illiterates to
learn and understand how to use electronics such as phones, computers and
televisions hence will support the development and translation of the software
into interior and wider variety of languages.
ICT programmes should be allocated with more financial resources. This allows
for the effective management of the online services and provides financial
institutions with valuable information. It will also help in provision of electronic
storage system that helps in protecting the company’s records therefore providing
references for the future use and proper storage.
Supporting the diffusion of the most simple and interesting technologies for the
ICT which will make people to have to concentrate more on them therefore above
all satelite with the specific aim of bringing communication connections by use of
telephones to many dispersed rural areas therefore people coming up with
different ideas in building up and developing a rural area hence promoting
development.
Creating good and favourable conditions whereby the development of
telecommunications infrastructure can be established this will enable people to
acquire skills for instance skills on the usage of computer hence the skills
diffusing to more different people promoting the development as it will reduce
the over-dependency from other developed countries.
Under education sectors, in the use of ICT to achieve education and development
goals, technology should be used to address areas where system capacity is poor,
schools are underperforming or there are gaps in student learning. A well-
designed technology solution can be used to disseminate resources, connect
students to information, enhance teachers’ practices and students’ performance in
all subject areas, improve school managementand support data-driven policy
making.
ICT should be used to enhance student knowledge and skills if schooling is
intended to be relevant to work and important to society, success in school should
be accompanied by the development of a broad body of knowledge and a
complete range of skills including literacy, numeracy, information literacy and
independent learning skills that contribute to achievement in later life. ICT should
be used to help students build these skills.
The question needs the instances that can be improved in ICT in order to improve on a
country’s National development;
1. Provide incentives for ICT education and training at all levels - Primary and
secondary schools should offer ICT skills training and testing opportunities, and
also colleges and universities should be given incentives and additional resources
for providing ICT skills training.
2. Establish specialized certified training programmes for IT professionals and
developers. - This will help and prepare students for technology carrers and
government to be in a position of encouraging academic institutions to provide
coordinated IT curricula, courseware and also online collaboration tools that
helps students achieve certification in technology.
3. Strengthening business education and training and including ICTs - Government
and domestic business association to be able to provide a framework in order to
encourage business skills development for example through vacational training
and other training programmes directed at improving the business.
4. Remove barriers to private source of capital: - Many ICT firms in the developed
world initially relied on venture capital financing, government should remove
regulatory impediments to these sources of financing and to provide market
access by foreign financial institutions and ensure that rules regarding cross
border transfer of capital do not create impediments to adffordable source of
capital.
5. Support microfinance mechanism - Government to foster microfinance-based
initiative and remove any regulatory obstacles that might impede access to such
financing. This will enable the citizens to access microfinance easily.
6. Incentives for private-sector R & D and ICT spending - To promote productivity
growth, business and other organisations should be offered financial incentives to
invest in ICTs and provide IT training to their employees.
7. Transparent accounting rules - Rules that encourage or require firms to adhere to
industry standard accounting principles aand provide third- party audits will
increase transparency and make domestic ICT firms more attractive to foreign
investors and this will provide foreign exchange to country hence her
development.
8. Avoid policies that would mandate or extend preferences to specific technologies
or development models - Regulatory mandates risk creating product uniformity,
which will restrict competition and prevent users from taking advantage of
alternative technologies from multiple sources.
9. Invest in targeted broadband network development - For example efforts to
provide broadband access to technology parks or other areas with high
concentration of IT firms would stimulate IT sector development and serve as a
model for broadband development more broadly.
10. Provide a technology-neutral regulatory environment - Laws and regulations that
favor certain technologies or networks over others may impede competition and
increase costs to consumers. Competing providers to be free to offer a wide range
of services on the network or platform of their choice.
11. Enact and enforce strong laws against malicious online conduct - Government
should pass laws criminalizing malicious online conduct and allocate the
resources necessary for law enforcement.
12. Support private-sectors efforts to enhance online privacy and security -
Government can best promote online security and privacy by enhancing
technologies and the need to regularly update their operating systems and other
key programmes.
13. Open government procurement to competition - To ensure that the ICT market is
not distorted by preferences for certain classes of providers, government should
base ICT procurement decisions on relevant performances and security.
14. Provide effective patent protection for ICTs - Government should ensure that
their patent laws are consistent with international norms and applicable
procedures yield high quality patents in a timely manner
15. Promote technology transfer and commercialization - The results of Publicity
funded research should be made available under licensing terms that do not
impede their commercialization by the private sector.
16. Encourage collaboration between public and private researchers - Joint research
ventures between public funded institutions such as universities or other non-
profit research institutions and ICT firms can provide an important financing
mechanisms for basic scientific research.
17. Build a regulatory environment that supports micro-finance - Government should
also remove barriers that might impede financial institutions from offering credit
to consumers.
18. Economic self-sufficiency people should be encouraged to start private
operations configuring ICT eg the private sector “SAFARICOM” which has
helped to spread communicating devices which continues to enlighten people on
ICT. This enables people to develop the ICT knowledge right from the ground
level and everybody can be able to stimulate positive interest on ICT.
19. In the countries government, ICT should be encouraged so as to make it deep
rooted. This can make the government activities more efficient and also can make
the government in decision making eg formulation of budgets, taxes, the
government incomes , borrowed money, export etc to be more transparent. Due to
this transparency the countries economy can move to the next level.
20. Academically, the introduction of e-learning, digital literacy, ICT skills
development, infrastructure and telecommunication. These can help in education
sectors where students are able to access learning materials via the internet. It has
also enabled students to learn even when not in direct contact with the
teachers.Again through introduction of laptops in early childhood education,
equips pupils with ICT knowledge early enough this can broaden their minds and
make them industrious at their productive ages. This can as well as help in the
countries development economically.
21. Reduction of telephone and internet cost. Internet is limited to most of the people
due to its high price. Due to this , the information does not reach all the targeted
people. This makes ICT(internet) inaccessible to most of the people. Again the
cost of things like telephone, laptops and credit are so high, this makes all the
products of technology inaccessible to the consumers hence retarding the
productivity of ICT. This can be remedied by the government introducing second
hand electronic gadgets in the market so as to make them accessible to all
consumers, Again reducing the costs of the electronic gadgets so that everyone
can be able to exploit their potential in ICT.
22. Supporting the tele centers diffusion at the political level. Telecenters are
privately owned places where small scale communication services such as
telephone and photocopy are sold to the public. They are preferred as one of the
most successful means to promote ICT diffusion as they increase the access of
people living in rural and remote areas. They help the local community improve
their performance in businesses as they encourage local enterprises such as
agricultural co-operatives, handcraft industries and shops to access better market
and pricing information. Through information, transmission systems, they
become aware of the new market gaps and also benefit from the training and
access to the information provided by the telecenters. They also enable
entrepreneurs to deliver local services that satisfy local needs.
23. The government should reduce piracy. Piracy is the robbery at sea a violation of
the international laws taking a ship away from the control of those are legally
entitled to it. It is also an-authorized duplication of goods protected by
intellectual property law. Through ICT and installation of CCTV’s in ships and
any transport means, this can help to ensure that everything that goes on on the
transport means so as to ensure efficient security. Again CCTV’s should be
standardized to be able to collect both photos and sounds which can ensure higher
level of security. Due to insecurities, through piracy a lot of goods and lives are
lost. some things like in piracy in ship goods are lost which cause a great loss to
the government. so if security is enhanced in transport services then it can
improve the development of a country economically.
REFERENCE
Document for the STOA panel from Maurizio PEDRELLI pragmata, SRI Reggio
Emilia, Italy.March 2001: PE number; PE296.692/Fin.st.
