The 54 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations represents more than 2 billion people across every region of the world and a vast diversity in development and capacity.

Professor Tim Unwin, well-known as UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, now heads up the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). In this wide-ranging and provocative discussion, he explores the impact of ICT across diverse economies, the value of technology for governance and also provides an overview of the CTO’s work.

Prof. Unwin claims that, while it can change the relationship between citizens and the state, technology by itself doesn’t change very much.  It is how people use the technology that matters.  He also argues that social media’s role in participatory democracy may be over-hyped, and that while technology can accelerate change, it only does so for those who have not only access but also the literacy to use it, and that an over-focus on technology can in fact create a greater development divide.

If ICTs are to be used effectively by governments, all their people need to access them – otherwise, they’re going to lead to greater inequalities.

About Prof. Tim Unwin

Tim Unwin has been Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation since September 2011. He is also Chair of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, and Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. From 2001-2004 he led the UK Prime Minister’s Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education initiative based within the Department for International Development (DFID), and from 2007 he was Director and then Senior Advisor (until 2011) to the World Economic Forum’s Partnerships for Education initiative with UNESCO. His recent work has concentrated  on the use of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), and in 2004 he created the ICT4D Collective at Royal Holloway, University of London, which is now one of the world’s leading centres for ICT4D research and teaching.

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Episode links and resources

• Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
• CTO Strategic Plan (PDF)
• Tim Unwin’s blog
• The ICT4D Collective

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You can use the social sharing links at the top of the page to easily share this story with your networks. You can also follow and join in the social conversation about this episode with:

• People and organisations:
  @CTO_ICT
  @TimUnwin
• Tags: #ict4d #digitaldivide #telcoms

We’re hoping that this event starts to spawn some conversations about making technology work for everybody – making technology work not just for large jurisdictions, heavily populated jurisdictions, urban jurisdictions but also working for some of those rural jurisdictions and all those places in between.

About Jessica Jackson and Michael Walter

• Jessica M. Jackson, Regional Crisis Information System Administrator for the Southeast Texas region has served the state of Texas in different capacities in the field of Emergency Management since 2006.  Jessica has worked several major incidents throughout the State of Texas including numerous Hurricanes; winter weather storms; wildfires; wide-spread flooding events; and other severe weather related hazards. Her area of emphasis focuses on emergency management technology systems, which help prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate natural and man-made disasters.Jessica graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy and Political Science and received her Masters Degree in Public Administration from Walden University.
• Michael Walter is the Public Information Officer for the City of Houston’s Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management.  In his position, he coordinates and administers the emergency public information system for the nation’s fourth-largest City.  In his work there, he has been instrumental in the development of strategies for using social media as an emergency communication tool, and the development of a mobile-optimized website for emergency public information. As part of the Houston Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) he also plays a key role in developing partnerships that seek to use emerging and advanced technology to help residents prepare for, respond to, and recover from catastrophic incidences.Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Media from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Public Service & Administration from the George Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University, where he focused on emergency communication response planning. He has previously worked in television news production, higher education, and for a local emergency management agency in southern California.

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Episode links and resources

• 2012 Regional Technology Seminar & Fair

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You can use the social sharing links at the top of the page to easily share this story with your networks. You can also follow and join in the social conversation about this episode with:

• People and organisations:
  @MichaelMWalter @HoustonOEM
• Tags: #smem