Suchergebnisse

Despite global economic disparities, recent years have seen rapid technological changes in developing countries, as it is now common to see people across all levels of society with smartphones in their hands and computers in their homes. However, does access to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) actually improve the day-to-day lives of low-income citizens? This book argues that access to the internet can help alleviate poverty, improve development outcomes, and is now vital for realizing many human rights. This book posits that good governance is essential to the realization of inclusive pro-poor development goals, and puts forward policy recommendations that aim to mitigate the complex digital divide by employing governance as the primary actor. In making his argument, the author provides a quantitative analysis of developing countries, conjoined with a targeted in-depth study of Mexico. This mixed method approach provides an intriguing case for how improvements in the quality of governance impacts both ICT penetration, and poverty alleviation. Overall, the book challenges the neoliberal deterministic perspective that the open market will "solve" technology diffusion, and argues instead that good governance is the lynchpin that creates conducive conditions for ICTs to make an impact on poverty alleviation. In fact, the digital divide should not be considered binary, rather it is a multifaceted problem where income, education, and language all need to be considered to address it effectively. This book will be useful for researchers/students of development, communication technologies, and comparative politics as well as for development practitioners and policy makers with an interest in how modern technology is impacting the poor in the developing world.

The welfare of society and the relationship between people and the natural environment are all directly impacted by engineering work, and codes of ethics are central to the profession. Yet many engineers struggle to incorporate these principles into their daily work because such codes typically emphasize professional conduct without reflecting on the role of engineering within such complex social and environmental systems. In this paper, we propose a human rights–based approach to engineering anchored in five core principles of distributive justice, broad participation, explicit consideration of duty-bearers, accountability for all actors involved, and indivisibility of rights. This is a new paradigm that draws on universal principles to shape individual ethical obligations and the norms of the profession to prevent risk, enhance access to the benefits of technology, and redress social and environmental harms resulting from engineered products or processes. This paradigm could transform both university education and professional practice by harmonizing existing engineering ethics with core human rights obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights.