Theoretical Approaches to the Role of Telecommunications in Development

In general, two schools of thought explain the relationship between telecommunications and development. These are the technophilic and the technophobic views of the relationship between telecommunications and development. Technophiles believe that telecommunications have a positive effect on development, while technophobes regard telecommunications as having a negative effect on development and contributing towards the expansion of the information gap between the rich and the poor, the literate and the illiterate. The utopian (technophilic) perspective on ICT supports the deployment of ICT in communities and associates positive developments arising as a result of this deployment. This perspective argues that in the economy, ICT will expand productivity and improve employment opportunities, and will upgrade the quality of work in many occupations. Moreover, ICT will offer many opportunities for small-scale, independent and decentralized forms of production. Regarding developing countries, technophiles envision that technology will aid developing countries to leapfrog stages of development (Castells 1998; Mansell & Wehn 1998; Nulens & Van Audenhove 1999).

On the other hand, though admitting that ICT has profound changes in society, Van Dijk (1999) believes that ICT applications and their transformative nature have been greatly exaggerated. ICT may destroy more jobs than they create; the gap between rich and poor may widen, and the huge capital investments required to strengthen national capabilities for using ICT could divert resources from other activities that could have greater development impact (Mansell 1999:36). Furthermore, technophobes argue that ICT reinforces historical trends towards socio-economic disparities, inequality in political power and gaps between knowledge elites and the knowledge-disenfranchised. On the economic level, this perspective forecasts a perpetuation of the capitalist mode of production, with a further managerial control over the means of production. In most countries, it foresees massive job displacement and de-skilling.

In politics the expectation is that a pseudo-democracy will emerge as a result of ICT usage, and this pseudo-democracy will allow people to participate in marginal decisions only, and that ICT will enable governments to exercise surveillance over their citizens more effectively than before. Sussman (1999:18) argues that whether the claim comes from the political left or right, the notion that computers and the Internet represent `revolutionary change is dangerously misconceived and technocentric. Sussman believes that virtual communities will not be a substitute for face-to-face, place-based communities, and that the defence of democracy requires the re-politicisation of discourse about technology and the preservation of a public culture that fosters relationships among citizens rather than consumers, meeting in public places in search of a commonwealth of interests.

Most literature on this subject supports the view that telecommunications has a positive effect on the development of communities. Modern information and telecommunications technology can improve living standards in remote and rural areas by providing important commercial, social and educational benefits (Jussawalla & Lamberton 1982; Share 1993; Madden, Savage & Simpson 1997). In some parts of the world, information and communication technologies and services (ICTs) are contributing to revolutionary changes in business and everyday life. In other parts of the world, the lives of people have hardly been touched by these innovations. If people in developing countries are unable to acquire the capabilities for using the new ICT applications, they will be increasingly disadvantaged or excluded from participating in the global information society. The social and economic potential of these new technologies for development is enormous, but so too are the risks of exclusion (Mansell 1999:35). The above-mentioned technophiles support the availability and accessibility of ICT in developing nations, as they argue that ICT brings, more knowledge and information for development purposes to the people in these countries.

Deane and Opoku-Mensah (1997:5) state that enthusiasts claim that telecommunications in the modern global economy offer a new dawn of economic opportunity for developing countries. Byron and Gagliardi (1998:2) argue that many are optimistic about the profound changes that have been brought about by the information society and the impact of ICT on economic and socio-cultural development during the latter half of the 20th century. They further state that these changes have contributed to the emergence of a global society, in which the traditional barriers to communication, time and space, have been surmounted and new dimensions given to the concept of reality, through the creation of simulated virtual worlds.

Furthermore, Nulens and Van Audenhove (1999:28) argue that the benefits of ICT are not regarded as being confined to the West alone, that several observers believe the widespread use of ICT in developing countries will boost the economic and social situation of Third World populations as well. The new technologies are seen as having the potential vastly to improve working conditions and the overall quality of life for human kind, making possible a more leisure-oriented society. On the other hand, others view the implications of ICT for the future of human society with considerable scepticism or pessimism. While they greatly facilitate access to information, they also have the capacity to create an increasingly isolated, artificial existence for individuals becoming ever more dependent on technology rather than direct human contact for the means of communication (Byron et al 1998:2). This quotation illustrates both the positive and negative effects of ICT on their users. Sussman (1999) and Dick (2000:12) question the revolutionary changes that are said to be brought about by ICT and digital technology and Dick cautions that it is always well worth asking, " Who is revolting?"

"Who needs the information society?" asks Dick (2000:3), who also believes that the global information society will develop a few not many, and that the information society brings Anew circuits of power. This implies therefore, that not everybody may benefit from the information society, especially the poor who have no access to ICT. However, it is the duty of government, in partnership with the private sector, to make sure that the information society is not a society for a few, but is a society for many, if development goals of any country are to be achieved.

The United Nations Commission for Science and Technology Development (UNCSTD) has also conducted research on the effect of the application of ICT on sustainable development. The commission recently spent three years investigating the benefits and risks of ICT and found that there are many instances where ICT is making no difference to the lives of people in developing countries or are even having harmful effects (Mansell & Wehn 1998:1). Furthermore, emerging studies show that many of the claims that are being made about the potential of ICT for development are not supported, and point to the possible counter-productive effects of the use of ICT (Gomez et al 1999:1). It is important that countries and their government apply ICT to specific development goals, if that technology is to be efficient in development.