Why Would Information and Communications Technology Contribute to Development at All? An Ethical Inquiry into the Possibilities of ICT in Development

Abstract

This article looks at the ethical implications of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in bringing about development in developing societies. Any proposed means to enhance development has costs as well as benefits. Hence, the evaluation of a given means to development should always be a matter of ‘applied ethics’. When ICT is fully functional, it can help to overcome many problems of material resources that plague developing societies. However, reaching this point requires a lot of resources. As a complex technological system, ICT requires substantial material requisites before it is able to function within a given context. Further, the ability to use ICT will require investments in human capital resources, such as in people's ability to read and write. The article concludes that ICT does indeed have many beneficial applications in the context of developing societies. However, a chosen means for bringing about development always excludes other possible means towards achieving the same goal. As ICT has very substantial requisites, its current use should be recommended with caution in many contexts, and always with the other possible means to development in mind.