About this Book

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are creating or supporting innovative systems and networks that are increasingly affecting societies and their governments, industries, communities, and individuals. This publication describes a workshop conducted to determine whether the techniques of scenario planning could provide useful insights into the future impacts of ICTs on development and could inform the public policy choices now facing governments and development agencies. It reviews such ICT-related issues as technologies and services, economics, regulation, international frameworks, and government responsibilities, and develops four scenarios (to the year 2010 or 2015) that envisage possible futures for ICT and development. Scenarios vary according to the degree of openness of the global community to ICT and the type of response from developing countries (proactive or reactive) to ICT acquisition and use.