Since the rise of mobile communications and the Internet, movements have emerged to leverage such technologies to for economic growth, social equity, improved education and healthcare, and other public goods. Under the rubric of “Information Communication Technologies for Development” (ICT4D), donor agencies, NGOs, companies, industry coalitions and other players have clamored to launch initiatives to help countries to bridge the “digital divide” or “leapfrog” to the latest—or next—technology standards.
But both the rapid pace of technological change and the cost of adopting new products have proven to be stumbling blocks. Emerging market government spending on ICT is expected to be $138 billion in 2014, yet many such investments—as well as many ICT related projects undertaken by the World Bank and other donors—fail to result in tangible and cost-effective social benefits.
Now a new generation of digital breakthroughs – cloud computing, big data, social computing, and 3D printing – hold the potential to deliver important social benefits, but only if we change how technology adoption is practiced. We argue that ‘leapfrogging’ should not be thought of as a one-off purchase but a process of incremental, low-cost acquisition of services.
The goal is not to leapfrog over Western economies, but to leapfrog over costly and redundant technologies and make better use of existing tools and services. By focusing on adaptable technologies that can be upgraded over time, countries can reach a higher technology standard that allows them to improve service delivery in the most affordable manner.
In this article we highlight these four key technologies and their potential benefits for developing countries across a range of areas from healthcare to education to transportation, and make recommendations for how various actors such as governments, donor agencies, and NGOs can collaborate on reforming procurement, mainstreaming, skill-building, finance, and other areas to make leapfrogging a sustainable reality.
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