Information and communication technology (ICT) policies should be integrated into broader policies on poverty reduction, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) senior programme officer Khaled Fourati urged on Thursday.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Information Economy Report 2010', which was compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in collaboration with a number of other organisations, including the IDRC, he noted that there was a disconnect between these two policy areas.

Further, in order for ICT to make an impact on poverty reduction across the world, greater collaboration between the private sector, government and civil society was needed, added Fourati.

The report highlights that, with government support, ICT, and especially mobile connectivity, could assist in the development of small-scale enterprises, particularly for those living in rural areas.

"In rural areas, increased access to mobile phones and associated applications and services may have a particularly important impact on poverty," noted the researchers.

However, many rural areas still lacked the required ICT infrastructure and cellphone signals, especially in least developed countries, the report stated.

The report details how mobile connectivity can offer rural people, such as fishermen, farmers and other small-scale businesspeople access to mobile-based information that was vital to the work they do.

For instance, mobile phones could assist fishermen to compare selling prices at various ports while still at sea, allowing them to select the port where they could get the best returns.

Mobile money transfer systems were also assisting small businesspeople without access to bank accounts to transfer money safely with low transaction costs.

Fourati emphasised that overall affordability was key to attracting low-income mobile users in developing and low-income countries.

Meanwhile, the researchers pointed out that ICT-related microenterprises were rapidly growing in many low-income countries, as the selling of airtime, refurbishing of mobile phones and running of Internet cafes, assisted in creating jobs in these countries.

While the barriers to entry were low, the return on investment was also low.

Such microenterprises were better positioned to succeed in urban areas rather than in rural areas.

POLICY MEASURES

Fourati emphasised that policy interventions aimed at achieving developmental gains from the ICT sector had to be demand driven and not supply driven, as this has in the past not achieved the results it should have.

The researchers point out that policymakers should, prior to developing policies, assess the ICT needs and uses of those the country aims to have benefit from the technology.