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Key Message

The concepts of information society and sustainable development are operationally linked, yet the two policy areas remain largely disconnected.

Information Society and Sustainable Development Policy

Getting past the stereotypes

What's New in Information Society?

  • Resource Wars and Information and Communication Technologies (PDF - 118 kb)
    IISD's Tony Vetter was investigating the impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on sustainable development when he stumbled upon a troubling connection. The last time the price of the mineral tantalum (a key ingredient in compact electronics) spiked, it helped to fuel one of Africa's bloodiest-ever wars. As the demand for mobile phones rises dramatically, so again does the price of tantalum. Will the fragile Congolese democracy be tested?

Discussions about coherence between information society and sustainable development policy have been limited by narrow thinking about the two terms, and by bureaucratic obstacles.

Each has emerged from a different community with a different vocabulary and process for determining national priorities. Information society specialists within national governments have primarily been drawn from the fields of telecommunications and economic development. Sustainable development has frequently been delegated solely to environment ministries, despite the best efforts of its practitioners to articulate a holistic vision of integrated economic, social and environmental decision-making.

The lack of interaction reinforces stereotypes of both fields. Sustainable development is seen as pertaining primarily to environmental issues and grassroots social development, while the information society is perceived as being more relevant to the economic development potential of urban elites. These stereotypes miss the reality that the two are operationally interconnected. For sustainable development to be effective and efficient, it must harness the institutions and tools of the information society; for the information society to sustain itself, it must pay careful attention to the stocks and flows of resources (both material and human) that underpin it.

We have investigated these intersections in a scoping study and the follow-up project which has resulted in a series of national-level case studies. Our work in the area of network and partnership evaluation has also contributed to our understanding of how ICTs contribute to development.

Supporters

IISD gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for our ongoing work in this area.