Rawls, D. (2015). Missing Letters: Why the SDGs Could Use a Bit More ICT. Solutions 6(6): 36–39. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/2015/6/why-the-sdgs-could-use-a-bit-more-ict
Perspectives Missing Letters: Why the SDGs Could Use a Bit More ICT by Dana Rawls
T
he newly minted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were released with much fanfare at the United Nations at the end of September. Among its many aims, the 17 goals seek to improve the quality of global education, reduce inequality, and take action on climate change with a seemingly endless arsenal of weapons: from public awareness campaigns; national, regional, and international policy briefings; social media blitzes; and celebrity endorsements. But many feel that one incredibly important and useful weapon isn’t being utilized to its full extent. Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) practitioners have expressed concern that ICTs are not specifically mentioned in any of the SDGs and are found in only four of the 169 targets, such as Target 5.6b, to “enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women,” and Target 9.5c to “significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020.”1 Tim Unwin, the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and the Director of the ICT4D Collective, noted in a recent blog post that, “there is widespread agreement that ICTs have been one of the major factors that have transformed the world over the 15 years of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals)… They have driven extraordinary economic growth, opened up entirely new ways of delivering education, health, and rural development,
transformed the relationships between governments and citizens, and created an interconnected world of communication and knowledge sharing. It is not an exaggeration to say that they have been one of the most significant changes to humanity over the last 20 years.”2 “Yet, those determining the SDG agenda for the next 15 years barely give them any recognition at all. This would not be so worrying if ICTs had not also created some of the greatest inequalities that the world has ever seen; the differences in life experience between someone connected through mobile broadband to a 4G network and someone with only 2G connectivity, let alone without a smartphone or equivalent digital device, is extraordinary.”
an April blog post that ICTs have the potential to integrate and accelerate all three pillars of sustainable development—economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.4 “ICTs have an intrinsic value for long-term sustainable development beyond the four targets in the proposed post-2015 development framework,” wrote Fowlie. “The development of ICT infrastructures… creates an enabling environment required to implement the new sustainable development agenda. Making ICT universally available can deliver important cross-cutting synergies across different sectors.” The use of ICTs in development initiatives is limited only by the imagination of development practitioners.
“There is widespread agreement that ICTs have been one of the major factors that have transformed the world over the 15 years of the MDGs.” —Tim Unwin, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D “Hence, those involved in crafting the SDGs should have paid very much greater attention to the transformative role of ICTs.” In a world where more people have access to mobile phones than indoor plumbing,3 many in the ICT4D field see ICTs as critically important enablers of global economic, health, and social development. Gary Fowlie, Head of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Liaison Office in New York, noted in
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In Sri Lanka, SOS Children’s Villages —a children’s charity operating in over 125 countries—has created a mobile technology program to provide women with parenting tips, guidance on effective family communications, and even financial advice in order to help encourage safe and nurturing environments for children in the region. The program, called Mobile for Development, was started in November 2013 and uses mobile phone technology.5