Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)

PGDM (RM) – 41 (2020-22)

Academic Year 2021-22

Term IV
Title of the Course: ICT for Development Credit: 1.5
Name of the Faculty: Harekrishna Misra
Email ID: hkmishra@irma.ac.in Contact No.: 912692221612

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course aims to introduce students to the debates and practices
surrounding the uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in both the Global and
Indian contexts. The course will also draw heavily on case studies to ground theory in practice and will
introduce students to a range of projects that have employed ICTs as a solution to problems in developing
countries. Policies primarily pursued by international bodies like United Nations and International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be included in the discussion while providing details on the Indian
scenario on policy and progresses on ICT use in the development of society and citizens. The course will
introduce and discuss issues related to digital-divides and e-governance, ICT driven citizen-centered
development projects, and describe their outcomes in meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
specified by the UN.

ICT is an infrastructure in national contexts in the world, and measurement standards are emerging to
assess the impacts and usefulness of the ICT interventions related to development. ICT infrastructure has
distinct roles in fostering economic, social, and environmental change in local, regional, national, and
global levels. Thus, there is a need for gaining a theoretical and practical background in the challenges
and opportunities for deploying information and communication technology infrastructure. This course
aims to provide insights to the ICT as infrastructure and related policies in Indian context and
effects/impacts on citizen services due to the interventions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1) To introduce the concept, issues, and dimensions of ICTD discourse
2)To discuss disruptive technologies trends for ICT infrastructure and services related to development
agenda of the UN (SDGs), regional, national, and local contexts
3)To discuss roles of E-Governance and the issues of digital divides: learning in international, regional,
national, and local contexts

LEARNING OUTCOME:
1) Understanding on key debates and conceptual frameworks used for ICT interventions in the
development process
2) Provide knowledge base and the skill to conceptualize, effective planning, development,
implementation, and management of ICTD initiatives
3) Provide new knowledge and skills to create measurement criteria for the assessment of ICT4D projects,
digital divides, and citizen-centered e-Governance initiatives
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COURSE REQUISITES: Exposure to Global Policies on ICT and Development with Indian context

PEDAGOGY / TEACHING METHODOLOGY:

PPTs, Classroom discussions on topics on emerging issues with support from references, individual/group
participation in the class

EVALUATION:
Component *Weightage %
Class Participation
Quiz 50
Individual Assignment
Group Assignment
Take Home Assignment
Research Article Review/Discussion
Any Other Component
Mid Term
End Term 50
TOTAL 100
*No single component should have a weightage of more than 50 percent of evaluation in a 1.5-
credit course and more than 35 percent in a 3-credit course.

DETAILS/INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVALUATION: As per PRM/Examination Handbook

TEXTBOOKS: NIL
ADDITIONAL BOOKS / READINGS: NIL
SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS:
Session 1: Introduction to ICT for Development
Reading(s)
1. Avgerou, C. (2010), Discourses on ICT and Development, Journal of Information
Technologies and International Development, Vol.(6)/3
2. Sharon, Y.P. L., (2003), ICT for Development: An introduction, UNDP Report
3. Geoff Walsham, (2010), ICTs for The Broader Development of India: An Analysis of The
Literature, The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, Vol.
(41)/4
Session 2 and 3: ICT and Millennium/ Sustainable Development Goals
Reading(s)
1. Heeks, R. (2005). ICTs and the MDGs: On the wrong track. Information for
Development, 3(2), 9-12.
2. Wu, J., Guo, S., Huang, H., Liu, W., & Xiang, Y. (2018). Information and

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 communications technologies for sustainable development goals: state-of-the-art, needs
and perspectives. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 20(3), 2389-2406.
Session 4 and 5: ICT – Infrastructure and Development of Global Policies
1. Policies of ITU, UN, WSIS, OECD
a. https://www.aiib.org/en/policies-strategies/operational-policies/digital-infrastructure-
strategy/.content/_download/Full-DISA-Report_final-with-Appendix-2020-01-
10.pdf accessed on June 20 2021.
b. https://www.oecd.org/going-digital/going-digital-synthesis-summary.pdf accessed
on June 20, 2021.
c. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regional-
Presence/AsiaPacific/SiteAssets/Pages/Events/2019/RRITP2019/ASP/ITU_2019_Di
gital_Infrastructure_28Aug2019FNL.pdf accessed on June 20 2021.
2. National Policies, e-Readiness, Impacts of ICT Infrastructure in development initiatives
a. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2014/12/CII-CONNECT-2014-final.pdf
accessed on June 20, 2021.
Session 6 and 7: Digital Divides and Development
Readings
1. Harindranath, G., & Sein, M. K. (2007), Revisiting the role of ICT in development. In
Proceedings of the 9th international conference on social implications of computers in
developing countries, São Paulo, Brazil.
2. Epstein, D., Nisbet, E. C., & Gillespie, T. (2011). Who's responsible for the digital
divide? Public perceptions and policy implications. The Information Society, 27(2), 92-
104.
3. Hidalgo, A., Gabaly, S., Morales-Alonso, G., & Urueña, A. (2020). The digital divide in
light of sustainable development: An approach through advanced machine learning
techniques. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150, 119754.
4. https://www.g20-insights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/digital-infrastructure-
overcoming-digital-divide-emerging-economies-1607610649.pdf accessed on Jun2e 20
2021
Session 8: e-Governance and Development – Indian Context
Readings
1. http://164.100.47.193/Refinput/New_Reference_Notes/English/Digital_India.pdf
accessed on 20-Jun-2021
2. Heeks, R.,(2006) Understanding and Measuring eGovernment: International
Benchmarking Studies;
3. Heeks, R.,(2002) Information Systems and Developing Countries: Failure, Success, and
Local Improvisations, The Information Society, Vol 18Case(s) (if applicable)
4. Estevez, E., Janowski, T., & Dzhusupova, Z. (2013, June). Electronic governance for
sustainable development: how EGOV solutions contribute to SD goals?. In Proceedings
of the 14th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (pp. 92-
101).
Session 9: ICT4D Project Management and Measurements
Readings
1. https://www.itu.int/en/itunews/Documents/2017/2017-03/2017_ITUNews03-en.pdf
accessed on 20-Jun-2021
2. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2020-
Survey/2020%20UN%20E-Government%20Survey%20(Full%20Report).pdf accessed
on 20-Jun-2021)
Session 10: Wrap-up and Consolidation
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IMPORTANT GUIDELINES: NIL

PARTICIPANTS ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES: To Learn, Pre-preparation for classroom

discussions
HOW DOES THIS COURSE IS RELEVANT TO IRMA’S MISSION:
1) Rural-Urban continuum with ICT focus in terms of digital infrastructure and services
2) provide insights to conceptualization, planning and deployment of ICT enabled services in rural
areas – exposure to practices and policies

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