Asia

This book, the result of an OER Asia research project hosted and implemented by the Wawasan Open University in Malaysia, with support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre, brings together ten country reports and ten case studies on OER in the Asian region that highlight typical situations in each context. China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam all receive extensive treatment, as do the multi-regional initiatives of the Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

In this paper, ICT is proposed to create or strengthen social capital of rural female entrepreneurs. A model of the impact of ICT on rural female social capital and self-employment was founded under the framework of social capital theory and entrepreneurship theory. A field survey conducted in Liaoling province was reported to support the propositions by the author.

21 st century is the century of Hi-Tech. Recently Hi- Tech comprises IT, ICT, BT and Nano-Technology. Today ICT (Information Communication Technology) is a unique technology which is used universally in all span of life. ICT plays a predominant role in the creation and development of knowledge. The ICT revolution has changed the learning process of childhood up to the real world. E-learning is a combination of learning services and technology to provide high values. Internet plays a vital role in e-learning. Elearning is attaining significance in the world of internet.

ICT has been recognized as a powerful tool for a country’s development. The focus of the study is to identify the current level of ICT adoption in the rural areas, the challenges the local agencies faced in delivering public services, and to recommend next course of action to improve the adoption of ICT. Twenty-two villages were involved in the study with total of 922 respondents. Fieldworks were carried out involving questionnaires and interviews. The findings show that ICT adoption in the rural communities is still very minimal and at its early stage.

Malaysians are increasingly finding themselves exposed to disasters especially land slides and flood. However, concern can be raised about citizen’s preparedness of disasters. This paper discusses the level of disaster preparedness among Malaysians from a survey of 346 citizens to assess their perceptions of disaster issues, and their attitudes towards increasing the disaster preparedness.

Mobile applications in general and mobile applications for agricultural and rural development (m-ARD apps) in particular hold significant potential for advancing development. Though there have been many studies on the mobile revolution, there is a lack of systematic trend analyses, in-depth case studies, and assessments of experiences with m-ARD apps in developing countries. Thus this report examines their development impact, ecosystems, and business models to provide an analytical framework for policymakers and development practitioners.

The introduction of ICT in the last two decades or so in India has brought about enormous changes in every sphere of life and especially in the field of education. This new digital technology has become inevitable and essential and it promises revolutionary benefits for the present and future. But along the way it also poses certain challenges which need to be addressed holistically in effective ways in order to keep pace with the rest of the world and ensure a robust system.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have become common place entities in all aspects of life. Across the past twenty years the use of ICT has fundamentally changed the practices and procedures of nearly all forms of endeavor within business and governance. Within education, ICT has begun to have a presence but the impact has not been as extensive as in other fields. Education is a very socially oriented activity and quality education has increased. The use of ICT in education lends itself to more student-centered learning.

Democratic governance mechanisms are becoming more receptive to the potentials of information communication technologies (ICT) to achieve good governance in its implementation. This application of ICTs for governance is covered under the umbrella term of ‘e-governance’. E-Governance is expected to maximise citizen satisfaction by not just improving responsiveness of public service delivery mechanisms but also by augmenting citizens’ participation in governance mechanisms.

The current e-governance scenario in the healthcare sector in India is disappointing. Public health services run by the government are overburdened and collapsing. Large geographical size, increased population density, lack of transport, inaccessibility, illiteracy, poverty, poor nutritional status, diversity in food habit and life style are various impediments. Government priorities for providing food, safe water and school education are yet to be fulfilled. At this stage low budget for health, lack of funds and coordination have triggered down trend in health services.