Global impact study : review

Abstract

The Global Impact Study of Public Access to Information & Communication Technologies (or simply called the Global Impact Study) is a five-year project (2007-2012) to generate evidence about the scale, character, and impacts of public access to information and communication technologies (ICT). Looking at libraries, telecentres, and cyber-cafés, the study investigates impact in a number of areas, including communication and leisure, culture and language, education, employment and income, governance, and health. Implemented by the University of Washington‘s Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA), the Global Impact Study is part of Investigating the Social and Economic Impact of Public Access to Information and Communication Technologies — a broader CAD$7.9 million research project supported by Canada‘s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and a grant to IDRC from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Managed by IDRC, this broader project includes the Global Impact Study (the component to be evaluated) as well as the Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program, led by Universitat Pompeu Fabra, which aims to deepen the capacity of emerging scholars with the goal of increasing the quality and quantity of research on public access to ICT produced in developing countries. The primary objective of this evaluation is to develop a set of recommendations based on the lessons that have emerged from the coordination, management, and implementation of various activities within the Global Impact Study. The results of the evaluation will be used to inform future work in the project, particularly as it begins to move forward on meta-analysis and research dissemination activities. The main approach of the evaluation centres on interviews with key stakeholders (alongside secondary sources). Interviews with representatives of the project donors (IDRC and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), TASCHA staff, Research Working Group members, and other select audiences targeted for project outreach.