ICT and social impact

I have just finished my review round for the ITU-T Forum Alumni Forum for the upcoming ITU Asia event. This forum invites alumni of the youth forum of the ITU-T Forum to return to the event in order to showcase how the Youth forum has changed their lives.

Reading through the submissions does make one think. In our increased (research) hype to find the new and better Future Internet, socio-economic issues are increasingly pounded on. It somehow reminds me of other ‘hype’ areas that emerged over time to secure better funding by including certain terms in your application.

But here, in these reviews of lives changed through ICT, you can actually read the socio-economic impact that ICT can have. One does not need to study but merely to read and listen. And then, it seems to me that our western attitude to technology has put us in the position that we often cannot comprehend the simplest advances that could be brought by technology – just because we have the technology already. It is astonishing to read how much these young adults want to commit their knowledge and expertise to make a difference with their technology literacy in order to better the situation of their fellow citizens. I have hardly heard this in our culture where the focus of technology, in particular recent Internet and mobile advances, seems to be consumption of more and better for oneself mainly – albeit often hard to comprehend as to what ‘better’ is really targetted here. Sustainability and advance of human life seems often still secondary, at best.

Having read these reviews really makes you think what needs to be done to change our attitude here…