Latin America

Towards a conceptual framework for ICT for Development: lessons learned from the cube framework used in Latin America

The ICT for Development community is long searching for comprehensive and adequate conceptual frameworks. In 2003, United Nations Regional Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean proposed a three-dimensional conceptual framework that models the transition toward so-called Information Societies as interplay between technology, policy and social change.

Mobile Applications for Agriculture and Rural Development (May 2012)

Mobile applications in general and mobile applications for agricultural and rural development (m-ARD apps) in particular hold significant potential for advancing development. Though there have been many studies on the mobile revolution, there is a lack of systematic trend analyses, in-depth case studies, and assessments of experiences with m-ARD apps in developing countries. Thus this report examines their development impact, ecosystems, and business models to provide an analytical framework for policymakers and development practitioners.

Empowering women through ICT

From 2007 up until early 2011 Spider supported various gender-focused initiatives that sought to uplift women particularly in the rural regions of the global south. This report offers an analysis of the impact on the lives of the women that participated in the projects. The publication covers five different projects carried out in six different locations.

Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women

The purpose of this paper is to assist women’s rights groups working to end VAW to understand some of the implications of the intersection between these violations and ICTs. It also aims to encourage these groups and other key actors to invest in policymaking processes and advocacy work in this area. This paper draws on the experiences and findings of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) MDG3: Take Back the Tech! project. MDG3: Take Back the Tech! worked with women’s rights organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America between 2009 and 2011.

The Participatory Web - New Potentials of ICT in Rural Areas

This document provides a systematic overview of Web 2.0 experiences made to date in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and explores the potential of the participatory web to improve living conditions in developing countries and regions. The report specifically documents the social networking aspects of Web 2.0 solutions that offer people in rural areas a platform for networking and knowledge exchange, and notes the general challenges of low connectivity, low literacy rates, lack of media competence to use the web and well functioning models to provide and target information.

Women’s Socioeconomic Empowerment through ICT in Latin America: Peru, Colombia, Ecuador

The primary purpose of this report is to describe the process of creating and disseminating an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training curriculum that serves information and economic interests of women entrepreneurs in three Latin American countries: Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. The overarching goal of the training is to provide accessible and regionally appropriate content that teaches women how to effectively harness the power of the information economy and to leverage e-business strategies to improve their socioeconomic statuses.

Turning on Mobile Learning in Latin America: Illustrative Initiatives and Policy Implications

This paper is one of the fourteen working papers of UNESCO focusing on the role of mobile learning in the education sector. The report analyzes the policies and initiatives related to the educational use of mobile phones in Latin America.

It describes the most pressing educational issues, the existing technological infrastructure and the current level of ICT integration in education in the region and provides recommendations to policy-makers interested in the area.