Development Connections: Unveiling the Impact of New Information Technologies (Development in the Americas)

Development Connections takes stock of recent advances in what is broadly known as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The authors seek to discover how information and telecommunication technologies affect both the public and private sectors in Latin America and how they can optimize ICT returns to society. "Development Connections takes stock of recent advances in what is broadly known as Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) - cell phones, computers, and related Internet applications, as well as software advances that aim at improving the welfare of societies by empowering them. It is a comparative look at Latin America and ICTs in relation to the rest of the world and other countries in the region and the trends for widespread use of ICTs. In turn, the authors seek to discover how information and telecommunication technologies affect both the public and private sectors of the region and how they can optimize ICT returns to society. Projects focus on the use of ICTs for education, health, finance, environment, and labor. ICT trends are crucial to policy makers and ICT development is critical to the future of the region."--Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xxvii A Field of Dreams or a Dream Come True?....Pages 1-27 The Region’s Place in the Digital World: A Tale of Three Divides....Pages 29-68 Banking on Technology for Financial Inclusion....Pages 69-104 Rewiring Institutions....Pages 105-132 Tech Fever in the Health Sector....Pages 133-168 Computers in Schools: Why Governments Should Do Their Homework....Pages 169-211 Help or Hindrance? ICT’s Impact on the Environment....Pages 213-244 Development.com: Using ICTs to Escape Poverty....Pages 245-272 Back Matter....Pages 273-324