ICT for Sustainable Development

1. ICT for Sustainable Development Carnegie Mellon University The Bangalore Workshop January 14-16, 2004

2. The Imperative • Developing countries are starved of resources for human development • Developing nations are poor; around 2.5 billion people earn less than $2 a day • The infrastructure is inadequate or unavailable • Technologies to overcome these deprivations are often unknown, untested or not deployed in the developing world Source: Millennium Development Goals, UN Human Development Indicators Carnegie Mellon University

3. ICT as an Enabling Technology • Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is an all-purpose technology • The growth of ICT technology – bandwidth, computational speed and storage – is spectacular • Leap-frogging technologies do not demand a large or preexisting resource base • Successful applications have emerged but remain largely untapped for sustainable development Carnegie Mellon University

4. The Vision • ICT is not the cure-all to the world’s problems • But it can be a powerful tool to facilitate and enable affordable solutions for • Infrastructure Development • Basic Human Needs and Development • Economic Development • Empowerment • However, appropriate ICT is not yet available for many Sustainable Development needs Carnegie Mellon University

5. The Goals of the Bangalore Workshop • A compendium of the R&D agenda—engineering, economic and social—in ICT for SD • Identification of ICT enabled pilot projects for demonstration and diffusion by the WB, UN and the governments • Case exemplars for RD&D (Research, development and deployment) • Recommendation of the organizational structures, collaboration options and linkages between various stakeholders for executing the R&D agenda • Wide dissemination of the proceedings and recommendations of the workshop Carnegie Mellon University

6. The Bangalore Workshop: ICT and Sustainable Development • To be held in Bangalore, India – January 14-16, 2004 • Organized by CMU, IISc and NIAS (India) with NSF, UN, and World Bank support • Participation by invitation only: Expected to be around 90. Approximately 25 experts from the US (ICT and ICT/Development), 30 from developing countries, and 35 from multilateral organizations, government agencies and India Carnegie Mellon University

7. The Bangalore Workshop Provisional Agenda (highlights) • January 14th, 2004 • 0930 – 1045: Inaugural session • The President of India has been invited to inaugurate the workshop • 1100 – 1230: Keynote lectures by Dr. Nitin Desai (on WSIS) and Prof. Richard Newton (on ICT) • 1230 – 1400: Lunch • 1400 – 1700: Four parallel working groups on 4 major themes (details follow below) Carnegie Mellon University

8. Provisional Agenda (cont.) • 15th January • 0930 – 1015: Keynote Address by Prof. Joseph Stiglitz (on Economics and Development) • 1030 – 1230: Working group meetings • 1230 – 1400: Lunch – Intervention by Dr. Ronald Lehman (on Development and Security) • 1400 – 1700: Presentations by the 4 Working Groups and Discussions • Infrastructure development • Basic human needs and development • Economic development • Alienation, Empowerment, and eGovernance Carnegie Mellon University

9. Provisional Agenda (cont.) • 16th January • 930 – 1045: Research Agenda Prioritization and Discussions • 1045 – 1200: Linkages, Partnerships, and Mechanisms for Implementation • 1200 – 1230: Where do we go from here? • 1230 – 1240: Closing Remarks • 17th January (optional) • Industry and laboratory visits in and around Bangalore • Follow-up meetings on specific action items There are several additional addresses during the workshop on select themes and topics, by Prof. Raj Reddy, Prof. V. S. Arunachalam, Prof. Susana Finquelievich, and others Carnegie Mellon University

10. 4 Themes and Working Groups • Infrastructure development • Includes sectors such as water & sanitation, energy and transportation)* • Basic human needs and development • Includes aspects such as healthcare, water, agriculture and basic education)* • Economic development • Includes aspects such as job creation, poverty alleviation, e-commerce, agriculture and higher education)* • Empowerment • Includes issues such as alienation, peace, transparency, democracy, e-governance and gender)* * Each working group will begin with a brief presentation of the white paper prepared for that topic. Enabling IC technologies will be discussed in each group. Working group chairs and rapporteurs will prepare a summary of the conclusions and recommendations for each theme for presentation in main workshop plenary. Carnegie Mellon University

11. White Papers and Pre-Workshop Efforts • Whitepapers for Discussion are under preparation • These will be based on input from various experts • Participants • IT professionals • Reports from NSF, UN, WB, other ICT groups The questionnaires are online: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rtongia/itsd.htm Carnegie Mellon University

12. Enabling ICT Human-Computer Interaction, Sensors, Communication, Databases/Information Systems, Controllers/Actuators/Effectors Themes Infrastructure Development Basic Human Needs and Development Economic Development Empowerment Energy & Transportation Healthcare Job Creation & Poverty Reduction Alienation, Peace, & Prosperity Agriculture Education Transparency, Democracy, & E-Governance Water & Sanitation ICT and Development (Groups)

13. Infrastructure Development Basic Human Needs and Development Economic Development Empowerment S S Advanced Urban Transport Disaster / Weather Forecasting and Warning Distance and e-Learning DB/IS DB/IS DB/IS CTRL C HCI HCI C CTRL C DB/IS Electricity Theft Reduction Health Monitoring and Epidemiology Agricultural Price Discovery E-Governance S DB/IS DB/IS S HCI C HCI C C CTRL C HCI DB/IS S DB/IS DB/IS Electricity Load Management National and Global Inclusiveness Remote Medical Detection / Diagnosis Expanding Markets for Rural / Traditional Goods S DB/IS HCI HCI HCI HCI C C C C CTRL S S DB/IS Digital Libraries Water Management Drip and Advanced Irrigation DB/IS HCI C C C CTRL CTRL Enabling ICT Sensors, Communication, Databases/Information Systems (DB/IS), Controllers/Actuators/Effectors (CTRL), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Incorporates issues of: OS, Protocols, Robustness, Software, Hardware, Power Management, Regulation, Security, etc. Development Needs Drive ICT Research (examples only, non-exhaustive)

14. Bangalore Workshop Identification of Case Exemplars Recommendations from UN, WB, NGOs, and Developing Country Govts. Reports from Workshop Breakout Groups Sustainable Development Needs Research, Development, and Diffusion Process Template for ICT Issues of Appropriateness, Affordability, and Impact are central to ICT research and design, instead of merely affecting penetration and deployment Identification of Enabling IT Availability IT R&D NO YES Engineered Application Customization NO NOT VIABLE YES Re-evaluation of Policies, Institutions, and Incentives Accessibility Affordability Acceptability NO FEEDBACK YES VIABLE Deployment Process Flow Diagram Enabling IT for Sustainable Development Diffusion © 2003 ES, VSA, & RT

15. R&D Areas in IC Technologies • Human-Computer Interaction • Managing and Interfacing with ICT • Includes Devices for ICT (like computers/hardware with compelling price/performance) • Sensors • Acquire and Convert observations into digital formats • Communication • Reach & Richness of networks • Databases/Information Systems • Creating knowledge and contextual bases and algorithms for decision-making • Controllers/Actuators/Effectors • Effecting change (feedback) in nature and the operating domain Many ICT R&D areas are inter-disciplinary Carnegie Mellon University

16. Short-term Medium-term Long-term Development ICT Nexus The Research Questions • What ICT are immediately available? What development needs do they satisfy? How are technologies currently used for development? • What is required to modify and re-engineer existing technologies for development objectives? • What needs require the development of new technologies and infrastructure to be satisfied? • What are the impediments to wide-scale deployment of technology (Technological, Social and Financial)? • What modifications and other development oriented factors such as accessibility, affordability, and acceptability affect the development, selection and deployment of technology? ICT Availability and Applicability Carnegie Mellon University

17. The Research Questions (cont.) • What are the issues in disseminating useful information; how could it be localized and made user-friendly? • What should be the policies that govern the availability of such information; how could transactions between producer and consumer be made pareto-optimal? • What should be the role of the Government and multilateral organizations (WB, UN, etc.) in ensuring ICT innovations are sustainable in the developing world? • Can ICT minimize the divide between the haves and have nots? Can it address concerns regarding the inclusivity of youth and the disempowered into the global mainstream? Cross-Cutting Issues Carnegie Mellon University

18. Deliverables • ICT for SD: Research Agenda • Will incorporate • Short-term agenda – IC Technologies exist and need to be applied • Medium-term agenda – ICT needs modification to be applicable • Long-term agenda – Appropriate ICT to be developed • Balancing technology-push and demand-pull • Each Group will create 3-4 exemplars for Research • Actual research as per the process flow diagrams is a longer-term initiative (e.g., building sensors for pathogen detection) • This workshop’s output will enable researchers to follow-up with funding agencies for such projects Carnegie Mellon University

19. NSF-CMU-IISc-NIAS-MultiLateral Agency Synergies • This effort will • Allow greater feedback for basic ICT research to make it relevant • Help address issues of global importance, such as the environment, epidemics like SARS, etc. • Create international partnerships amongst scholars and researchers, as well as governments, industry, and NGOs • This includes implementing projects and research plans • International environments also offer low-cost test-beds for new and leapfrogging technologies, designs, and paradigms • Sensitize industry to global commercial opportunities in SD and social needs Carnegie Mellon University

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