What type of national ICT policies maximize ICT benefits?

摘要

There is a general agreement that policies are needed to bring the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to developing countries. This paper argues that the benefits of ICTs lie in the opportunities it offers developing countries to learn, innovate and create ICT-based jobs, products and services. ICT policies that are tailored to realize these opportunities are likely to enable individuals and organizations to fully participate in and contribute to the global information society while those policies that focus largely on “needs” may fail to lay the foundation for future growth of the information society. The paper looks at Africa's current ability to harness the opportunities ICTs offer. It uses the growth of the mobile phone in Africa and strategies of a number of countries to identify key policy elements and gauges the Korean and Zambian ICT strategies against these elements. It concludes that strategies that seek to realize ICT opportunities often generate clear ICT visions and actionoriented, focussed and measurable targets than those that focus on needs.