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Kerry McNamara

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  • “Sustainability” and “Scale”: What’s that really mean for ICT4D?

    Washington DC | By on October 9, 2009 | Comments Off on “Sustainability” and “Scale”: What’s that really mean for ICT4D?

    What do you think is the single most important issue at the intersection fo technology and development? Recently, the twin issues of sustainability and scale have come to the forefront in many conversations, with both peaking in October in several forums:

    ict4d sustainability
    Is it only about money?
    • Sustainability: This month’s Educational Technology Debate is focusing on ICT4E sustainability and at an IADB meeting, virtually everything that USAID does was suggested to be unsustainable.
    • Scale: I was recently reminded that while there is an incredibly vibrant mobile phone industry, after 15 years of PDA and mobile phone pilots there are few, if any, sustained mobile technology development projects that are more than 5 years old, continued after funding ended, and scaled beyond pilots.

    But what do we mean by “sustainability” and “scale” in ICT4D?

    Now here’s the real issue. What might be our shared definition of both “sustainability” and “scale” with information and communication technology programs in international development?

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