ICTs for the Broader Development of India: An Analysis of the Literature

Abstract

India is known around the world for the success of its export-oriented ICT services industry, but this paper asks whether ICTs have been valuable in providing broader development benefits to all Indian citizens. Secondary data from academic articles with a focus on India are used to analyse the contribution of ICTs towards the achievement of specific development goals. The analysis shows that many ICT-based initiatives have taken place over the last decade and some positive effects have resulted. However, the beneficiaries are almost always not the poorest or most disadvantaged groups, it is hard to scale up initiatives to have effects throughout India, and the need for attitudinal and institutional change remains a fundamental problem. It is argued that ICTs should not be seen as ‘silver bullets’ for development but neither are they irrelevant. Rather, they are potentially important contributors towards development in India but only through their integration in wider sociotechnical interventions.