Connected for Development: Information Kiosks and Sustainability

On behalf of the members of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force, I am delighted to present, “Connected for Development – Information Kiosks and Sustainability.” The UN ICT Task Force is charged with lending “a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all.” An integral component of meeting this mandate is learning from experience and collecting best practices to offer useful examples of sustainable progress. This effort helps ensure that field programs are based on a continuously evolving foundation of knowledge. Information kiosks can be a timely model based on lessons learned from Internet Cafes and other community access points that have been deployed to expand opportunities for communication. While the aim of Internet Cafes is to provide market based points of access to the World Wide Web and communication applications, Information Kiosks shift the thinking from the objective being access to computers and places the focus on using the technology as a stool to delivery information and services to the underserved. Thus, the rural and disenfranchised of the world are given a voice. With that voice comes the prospect for expanded self-determination and the pursuit of a better life, as well as the possibility for a power shift from an elite few to a broadly engaged majority.