Developing Information Technology, Informing Technology for Development: A study of ICT and rural development in Sri Lanka

This study provides an analysis of the deployment of information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) in Sri Lanka with a focus on an ICT4D programme managed by the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka, the country’s largest and oldest rural development NGO, and some projects of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), a government agency of Sri Lanka. The study concludes that there is a huge potential in Sri Lanka for deploying ICTs for rural development, thanks, in large part, to the social infrastructure that Sarvodaya has put in place over the years. The challenge now is to interweave technology and information systems into this social infrastructure in ways that bring concrete benefits to rural populations.