ICT4D is IT for the developing world. It's unclear to me if that means, in our case, providing IT training to kids, for instance, or whether it includes using IT to provide the services we already provide. According to the group, it's both. In any case, many NetHope members are starting to think about how they can provide technology solutions to the end recipients of our efforts. Most of our clients are the staff of our organizations, but not the refugees (in IRC’s case), so we’re starting to think about how to change that. The challenge is how does the IT department impact programming? Is it about getting lots of hardware donations, or is it about the complete lifecycle of technology – the consensus is the latter, not that hardware isn’t important, but it’s not the only thing.
It's interesting to start with this topic, since it's actually not what NetHope does, traditionally. I think it shows the passion that exists within the NetHope community for technology. Lots of challenges for this, but certainly seems worth it. One thing I've been thinking about for a while in this area is GIS. Maps can provide a significant value to our programs, but has a significan technical footprint. IT can play a leadership role here, which clearly falls into ICT4D.
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