PROMOTING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN AFGHANISTAN

Bahawodin Baha, PhD.

University of Brighton, UK.

Invited Lecture,CPHD

Kabul University.

July 23, 2008

Outline

• The relationship between Human Development and Technologies,

• UN MDGs and technologies, specifically related to ICT,

• What is ICT and why it is important,• Reasons for promoting ICT,• Requirements for future workforce in the world,• A New Century with New Technological Frontiers,• New initiatives on ICT at Universities worldwide,• Higher Education and ICT,• Digital Resources for Education,• ICT in Afghanistan,• ICT & Human Development in Afghanistan and• Concluding remarks.

Relationship between human development and technologies

• The advancement in technologies has revolutionized:– Agriculture– Construction industry– Transportation– Telecommunications– Energy– PharmaceuticalThe above sectors have direct effect on human

development

UN MDGs and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

• Part of goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development– In co-operation with private sector, make

available the benefits of new technologies- especially information and communication technologies (ICTs)

– Pharmaceutical companies, provide access to essential drugs

What is ICT?

• ICT is the field of expertise that connects information technology (computers) and telecommunications networks (the Internet) to provide sophisticated applications.

• Digital electronic devices and circuits, communication theory and networks are used to design and develop ICT tools

• ICT tools are widely used in every aspects of daily life throughout the world, e.g. Office work, transport, banking, home appliances, etc.

• Beside other applications, ICT tools and media is playing a major role in educating people around the world.

• ICT tools have been developed to make the governments and businesses more efficient

• To modernise Afghanistan, we need ICT Literate workforce for every sector in the country

• The future workforce is trained at educational institutions around the world, therefore, the problem should be addressed at source

Reasons for promoting ICT Location No Longer Matters.

• The World is changing• “The World is Flat” -- Tom Friedman

– In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down, and Microsoft’s Windows went up.

– $1.5 trillion worth of optical fiber connects the world.

– Globalization has “accidentally made Beijing, Bangalore, London, New York next door neighbors.”

– Many jobs are now just a “mouse click” away from anywhere..

Reasons for promoting ICT (cont)

• 20th Century: – Physics, Electronics, and High-Speed Communications and

Transportation

• 21st Century: – Bio, Nano and information technologies are main challenges– but also Energy, Water, and Sustainability– Large scale multinational projects– ICT literate workforce is key to the success in all these

development

Requirements for future workforce

• Technically Adept

• Broadly Knowledgeable

• Innovative and Entrepreneurial

• Commercially Savvy

• Multilingual

• Culturally Aware

• Able to Understand World Markets

• Professionally Flexible and Mobile

A New Century with

New Technological Frontiers

With New Engineering Frontiers

BioInfo

Nano

Smaller and SmallerFaster and Faster

More and More Complex

Engineering Frontiers

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

Larger and LargerMore and More Complex

Great Societal Importance

Frontiers and Synergies

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

NanoBioInfo

Natural Science

Science and EngineeringAre Merging.

Frontiers and Synergies

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

NanoBioInfo

Social Science

These engineering systems need social science, management, and

humanities / communications.

Frontiers and SynergiesMust be reflected in university education.

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

NanoBioInfo

Social Science

Natural Science

The Payoff will come from Bridging the Frontiers

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

BioInfo

Nano

Bio-based materialsBiomemeticsPersonalized, Predictive MedicineSynthetic BiologyBiofuelsEtc.

New initiatives on ICT at Universities worldwide

• leading US universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley and MIT to provide lectures and research news free of charge • MIT has a program called Open Course Ware (OCW), a free publishing venture

– Teaching Materials for 1800 courses– Free of charge to Anyone, Anywhere

• Some universities in the UK distribute their lectures via the iconic iTunes service• The iTunes service gained its dominant position in online music as the downloading service for the iPod player• Lectures can be downloaded from an academic iTunes service• The early emergence of a Meta University – a dynamic, communally-constructed framework of open materials and platforms on which much of higher education worldwide can

be constructed or enhanced.

Higher Education and ICT• ICT can be used in higher education for the following purposes:

– Teaching• Developing course material • Delivering and sharing content• Communication between learners, teachers and the outside world• Distance learning• Video conferences• Creation and delivery of presentations and lectures

-Academic research • To find information• To find out about research centres• To communicate with other researchers• To share ideas and new development with other fellows

-Administrative support

• Student enrolment• To keep students records• Time table

Digital Resources for Education

• Cyberinfrastructure

• Inexpensive, Limitless Memory

• Digital Archives– JSTOR, ARTstor, Ithaka, Public Library of Science, Google

Library, …

• Platforms / Pedagogy– SAKAI, OKI, Open Learning Initiative (CMU), Connexion

(Rice), Digital Chemistry (Berkeley), VUE (Tufts), Lionshare (Penn State), …

ICT in Afghanistan

• Ministry of Communications and IT• The need of ICT literate workforce in non-

governmental & governmental organizations • The establishment of new IT departments at

Universities• Integration of ICT in the main stream

education is essential• Be able to communicate with outside efficiently• Have access to a rich academic environment

• Progress?

ICT & Human Development in Afghanistan

ICT can help the development in the following areas:1. Government and governance

– Enhance management system

2. Poverty alleviation– Better access to relevant knowledge on agriculture, disease

control and market price

3. Environmental management– Through the use of GIS and early warning system

4. Health– Information and knowledge sharing

5. Education– ICT is playing important role in distance and e-learning

6. Others

In Closing

Some Personal Views about ICT in Afghanistan

• Integrate ICT at the hearth of development in the national strategy

• Strong steps must be taken to Improve the quality of education and integrate ICT in the education system

• ICT literate workforce is essential for the future of the country

• ICT can accelerate the development in the country

Challenges

• Lack of qualified and experience ICT literate human resource in the country

• Lack of affordable ICT tools

• Lack of power especially in the remote areas

• Lack of reliable communication networks

Thank you for your attention.