An International Conference on the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in Asia and a Research Methodologies Workshop: International Development Research Centre

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An International Conference on the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in Asia and a Research Methodologies Workshop

Project Leader: Erwin Alampay

Institution: U.P. Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc.

Region: Asia

Start Date: 09/2006

Project Details

Context: Why is this project important?

In today's society, information and information and communication technologies (ICTs) are important components in how people live. As such, many people today live in the so-called information society with a view that it makes life better without fully understanding the broader implications it has on society and people's lives. To date most conferences on ICTs tend to be trade fairs or focus narrowly on applications of ICTs to business (E-Commerce); or Government (E-governance). The conference and workshop supported by this project fills a gap in scholarly conferences by addressing research issues on the information society that are currently being studied by social scientists in the Asian region.

What are the expected outcomes of this project?

- An Asian community of practice of ICTD research

- A shared understanding of the broad methodological challenges of ICTD research

- A regional research agenda on the Asian Information Society

Objectives:

To support the growth of an Asian community of practice and develop a regional research agenda on the socio-economic effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Asia.

- To bring together a multi-disciplinary group of researchers (i.e. from the academe, development agencies, regulators, etc.) in the Asia Pacific interested in understanding the effects of ICTs in society;

- To map the current state of social science research on the impact of ICTs on Asian societies;

- To share various research methods deployed in ICT social science research in the region;

- To discuss emerging ICTD research and ICTD research methodological issues; and

- To establish a common agenda for a collaborative project to develop a guidebook (or similar output) on transdisciplinary methodologies for researching the effects of ICTs in Asia.

Development Impact

The conference and workshop formed the foundation for PAN’s continued engagement and investment in building social science research capacities for ICTD research in Asia. The research methodologies workshop that followed the conference brought together brought together numerous leading thinkers in the field of ICTD research to discuss emerging issues and challenges when conducting theory-based, methodologically sound, interdisciplinary social science research. The workshop resulted in an overall vetted framework that would serve as the basis for supporting research capacity in this field. A follow-up workshop, which was held in Bangalore - coinciding with the ICTD2007 conference - in December 2007. These workshops, and the exchanges that they catalyzed, formed the foundation for a research capacity building grants program administered by Singapore internet ResearchCentre (SiRC) Strengthening ICTD Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA) (104921) supports a competitive small grants competition whereby successful researchers receive research funding plus ongoing mentorship and training opporuntities.

Outputs & Website

Living the Information Society in Asia Erwin Alampay Ed. Jointly published in Singapore by the International Development Research Centre and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009.