Technology is ubiquitous in even the most far-flung corners of the planet. Moreover, technology is fast becoming more advanced and we are likely to see the increasing incidence of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and quantum computing over the coming decade. This will result in significant changes to the way we live, learn, and work.
This ubiquity and potential of technology is of particular importance in developing countries in the Global South. It is also of great importance to researchers and students working in the ever-growing academic field of information and communication technology for development, commonly abbreviated to ICT4D (Walsham 2017). This field is concerned with ICT-based interventions in developing countries and the use of ICTs for socio-economic and international development (Heeks 2018, Walsham 2017). There is little doubt that these are exciting times for the ICT4D researcher, the ICT4D student entering the field, and the ICT4D practitioner as there is now potential for technology to have real and lasting impact in some of the poorest countries in the world. Increasing bandwidth and the rollout of fibre and 4G networks across many developing countries, combined with cheap and powerful smartphones built specifically for the African market, means that there now exists a critical mass of infrastructure which presents the possibility of addressing many of the challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including the eradication of poverty, zero hunger and good health. Over the coming years advances in technology will mean that the mobile phone will be able to carry out remote diagnosis of various medical conditions and diseases, faster and more reliable transfer of larger amounts of data and information, more sophisticated monitoring and control of data, and the ability to conduct a variety of medical scans with the phone itself.
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