In the developing world, digital technologies have the potential to transform lives. New developments in satellite, banking, e-Science, social media and data technologies have huge potential benefits for good development in the poorest regions of the world.

In September 2010, Mimas, with RCUK China and other Chinese and UK partners, hosted the ICT and e-Knowledge for the Developing World workshop to explore the impact, benefits and challenges of digital technologies – and discussed how they can create better lives in emerging economies.

Session overviews

Five main digital technology areas – all expected to have a major impact on good development – were the focus of this workshop:

1. e-Knowledge for the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
2. Dissemination technologies for good governance
3. ICT and e-knowledge for poverty reduction
4. ICT for disaster mitigation
5. Social media for development

1. e-Knowledge for the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

The workshop took place under the auspices of UN-e-SDDC, a United Nations committee on scientific data and developing countries, in the week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a global initiative to harness digital technologies to help achieve the MDGs.

The workshop examined the possibilities of developing an e-Science environment to allow collaborations of scientists to share and develop methods of poverty reduction analysis worldwide. The workshop group was also asked to advise on UPAN's wider dissemination of public data activities.

2. Dissemination technologies for good governance

Open and accountable government relies on accessible, authoritative open data resources, data literacy and effective dissemination and support. This session examined the new technologies, protocols, initiatives and standards that facilitate the dissemination and exchange of socio-economic data and promote statistical literacy worldwide.

3. ICT and e-knowledge for poverty reduction

Many people in the world have no access to traditional banking services. However, new mobile technologies have the potential to provide basic financial services to these populations.

The rural poor are exposed to seasonal income patterns acerbated by the uncertainty of crop yields and volatile market conditions. Mobile banking (or m-banking) services are typically used by this group to smooth consumption and to allow investment in income-generating technologies.

This session examined the rapid uptake of these new m-banking technologies in providing savings, loans and microfinance for the globally unbanked. We also examined the Chinese experience of adapting telecommunication technologies to deliver distance learning to children in remote communities, and provide farmers with a direct route to markets.

4. ICT for disaster mitigation

Disasters happen across the world, but poor and vulnerable communities suffer the effects disproportionately. New satellite imaging technologies can provide vital information in post-disaster situations such as earthquakes and oil spills, helping search and rescue teams and facilitating reconstruction.

This session examined how policy changes and new developments in Earth observation can make important contributions to the emergency response and longer-term measurement in disaster mitigation.

For example, Harry Wood presented on OpenStreetMap, an editable world map, which is being built by thousands of contributors worldwide. Although the project's development has been driven by a desire for open-licensed, free map data in more developed countries, the same simple tools for mass collaboration allow local people to create and maintain their own maps in places that have never been mapped before.

This type of collaborative mapping also has post-disaster applications, e.g. within 48 hours of the Haiti earthquake, the OpenStreetMap community had created a detailed street map of the stricken cities and made it openly available to search and rescue teams.

5. Social media for development

Digital technologies have allowed a flowering of social innovation (i.e. innovations that are adapted or designed to meet social needs previously left unaddressed by the private sector). The explosion in social media has allowed many social innovations to emerge from the ground up, using the web and open systems to build new networks, mobilise new forms of knowledge and act locally on a global scale.

These technologies can reach more of the poor (breadth of outreach) and more of the poorest of the poor (depth of outreach). Attempts to exploit web-based or online resources vary in scale and complexity – in this session, we explored the challenges for the citizens, technologists and social scientists who are developing and deploying these new technologies to create better lives in the developing world.

For example, EDINA's Stuart Macdonald discussed how social media:

• allow disintermediation, enabling small scale manufacturers in the developing world to connect directly to consumers in the West
• dissolve distances, making digital global assembly lines economically viable
• harness collective intelligence by creating unparalleled opportunities for communities to interact and share information and knowledge in real time

Further information

The workshop took place in Shanghai, China on 26–28 September 2010 and was funded by RCUK China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

The event was organised by Mimas together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A big thank you to the funders whose support and advice made this workshop possible.