South Asia

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.

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.

This publication, the first of South Asia Department’s South-South learning series, aims to showcase lessons, replicable practices, and other insights which development practitioners can learn from, and apply in, the context of their respective countries. Projects discussed here represent various sectors such as energy, urban development, transport, information and communications technology (ICT), irrigation, and disaster risk reduction.

The paper intends to underline the features of e-governance at local self-government level in rural India and examines the viability of the e-panchayats in making the local-self governance citizen-centric for efficient, responsive, cost effective, result-oriented mechanism for faster pace of rural development. The epanchayats also become the effective instrument of vibrant grassroots democracy by empowering people with knowledge. Theoretical tenets, application of ICT in local-level governance and outcome features have also been underlined.

From 2007 up until early 2011 Spider supported various gender-focused initiatives that sought to uplift women particularly in the rural regions of the global south. This report offers an analysis of the impact on the lives of the women that participated in the projects. The publication covers five different projects carried out in six different locations.

Governments and public sector organizations around the world are facing to reform their public administration organizations and deliver more efficient and cost effective services, as well as better information and knowledge to their stakeholders. e-Governance is the effective use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the system of governance that is in place, and thus provide better services to the Citizens. e-Governance is considered as a high priority agenda in India, as it is considered to be the only means of taking IT to the “Common Public”.

Right to Education is the primary right of every citizen of India. According to the Article 45 of Indian Constitution the basic elementary education must be provided to all the children up to the age of fourteen years. Even after 64 years of independence some States in India are still struggling to achieve Universal enrolment, retention and quality education. Schools in rural areas are promoted to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India. The main aim of running these types of schools in India is to increase the rate of literacy in rural areas.

The Asian Development Bank has been part of searching for better development solutions and innovative approaches using ICT and experiencing the challenges of realities in implementation.This paper selectively takes stock of ADB initiatives across sectors, countries, and regions to share their experiences.