ICT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT in Senegal

Olivier Sagna. - Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Research Institute
in Social Development (UNIRSD), January 2001, 77 p. - (Technology and
society. Document of program no. 1.)

This document from the program of the United Nations Research Institute
in Social Development (UNIRSD), produced with the support of the Dutch
Ministry for Development Cooperation, is the first report published by
the UNIRSD research project on information technology and social
development in Senegal. Its final objective consists of improving the
level of debate on information technology policies.
Starting from the development of information and communications
technologies (ICTs) in Senegal, the author underlines the important role
played by the national telecommunications company (SONATEL) in the
establishment of a high-quality infrastructure and the availability of
efficient services, as well as the crucial role of radio in the
country's development with the progressive liberalization of FM radio
frequencies.

A set of figures on the role of ICTs in the Senegalese economy is
provided as is an analysis of initial experiences in the facilitating of
access to and use of the Internet, specially in the educational and
health sectors.

The author concludes by suggesting possible future in-depth research
objectives: history of SONATEL; analysis of the usage of ICTs in general
and of the Internet in particular including user profiles; use of ICTs
by the informal sector; ICTs and immigration regions; ICTs in the
service of the citizens; introduction of ICTs in the education system;
ICTs and the move towards "globalization"; ICTs and the young; the
development of cybercafes and other public Internet-access points;
experiences in collective usage of ICTs on Internet radio; and mobile
telephony.

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