2.2.3 ICT for Economic Opportunity

ICT can contribute to income generation and poverty reduction. It enables people and enterprises to capture economic opportunities by increasing process efficiency, promoting participation in expanded economic networks, and creating opportunities for employment.

There are a number of ways ICT is enhancing rural productivity. ICT enables solution sharing between local people and communities, providing access to practical information on small business accounting, weather trends and farming best practices, for example. Timely access to market information via communications networks also helps farmers make astute decisions about what crops to plant and where to sell their produce and buy inputs. In Chile, for example, an Internet network among farmer organizations has dramatically increased farmers' incomes by providing information about crop status, weather, global market prices and training.¹¹ ICT is also providing unprecedented access to rural finance. The financial and information service network provided by Pride Africa¹² offers micro-finance opportunities for local people and small enterprises that previously had no access to flexible financing due to rigid banking regulations and the information monopolies of government and large businesses.

ICT enables improved business process efficiency and productivity. Businesses can reduce operational costs by decreasing material, procurement and transaction costs, resulting in lower prices for intermediate and finished goods, and they can also use more and better information to improve the value of their output. Utilities Afrique Exchange, for example, provides an e-trading platform to utilities companies in Africa and helps both sellers and buyers simplify their procurement processes and reduce costs.¹³ In another example, a number of companies in developing countries are using the Global Technology Network, provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to find comparable small and medium-sized US companies to share business solutions that satisfy their existing technological needs.¹⁴

ICT facilitates global connectivity, resulting in new ways of creating and delivering products and services on a global scale. New business models and market configurations enabled by ICT, including business process outsourcing, value chain integration and disintermediation, provide developing countries with access to new markets and new sources of competitive advantage from which to drive income growth. Through PEOPLink's global artisans trading exchange, for example, local craftspeople in developing countries are increasing their incomes not only through access to new markets, but also because the wholesaling intermediaries for their produce have effectively been removed.¹⁵ Local craftspeople can now receive up to 95 percent of the selling price for their produce where previously they received only 10 percent.¹⁶ Viatru is a similar initiative offering indigenous peoples opportunities to globally market their traditional crafts and farm products.¹⁷

ICT can contribute to better employment opportunities in developing countries both through improved labor market facilitation and direct employment. Using electronic job marketplaces, employers and employees can match labor skills and availability to satisfy their demands. For example, TARAhaat,¹⁸ a portal designed to serve villages in rural India, provides job opportunity information on local web sites in local languages. In addition, the establishment of local telecenters in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Senegal has created direct employment for thousands of local women and men.19, ²⁰