Speaker: Tim Unwin, Emeritus Professor of Geography and Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at Royal Holloway, University of London
This lunchtime talk will explore challenging questions about the uses of digital technologies in international development, from the optimism of the early 2000s to the challenges of the present. It suggests that most so-called ICT for Development (ICT4D) initiatives are now really D4ICT programmes, with the private sector, governments, civil society and academics all using a problematic definition of “development” to justify and expand their own ICT activities. It also argues that the most pressing needs are now to mitigate the harm done by digital technologies, and to engage citizens in widespread public debate about the kind of cyborg future that “we” want to be a part of.
This event is sponsored by SIPA's Economic and Political Development Concentration (EPD), Technology, Media and Communications Specialization (TMAC), and Technology and Innovation Student Association (TISA).
