Lab+Two+CCT+205

Lab Two
Meghan Jeffery CCT 205 Lab Two January 21, 2010 Professor Mike Jones

Information Communications Technologies for Development
The ICT4D program is intended on being a positive influence for developing countries worldwide, which in some people’s eyes is true. It is a highly debatable topic in which there are many factors to consider. The idea is understandable and it seems to make sense when visiting the OLPC website, but there are seriously negative effects to this development.

Children in non-developed countries have very little access to the norms of developed countries such as Canada. The stories they have heard are more than likely just that, stories. I cannot speak for children in those countries as I have never visited, but I imagine they view these accounts of Western culture to be very much a tale that they cannot imagine to be truth. This is where the problem lies in giving children laptops in which they are unfamiliar with and have not grown up with. It is unlikely they will be able to adapt to this huge shift in cultural awareness.

Neo-colonialism is basically against the influence of developed countries, and a Trojan horse is more or less a wide spread virus. I agree with the statement “One laptop per child is a neo-colonial Trojan horse”. ICT4D is influencing under developed countries to become dependent on first world nations, given the fact that the people receiving these laptops will not have the knowledge base to fix them, improve them, or create their own software for them. It is positive in the sense that it will promote learning and advancing technologies, but highly negative in the sense that they will be made more aware what they will (probably) never be able to achieve in their lifetime. It will strike children in different ways. All of a sudden they will have a device, the Internet, to see all the things they are missing out on. They will see food and fashion and entertainment that they will (likely) never have contact with except through a screen. Not only will these children be shown these advanced cultural devices that are highly Westernized, but they will also become even more dependent on Western culture in terms of needing them for software, education, and hardware.

This idea relates to cultural transformation because it is just that. Western culture is attempting to transform cultures of under developed countries to look at our (over?) developed Western culture, and adapt it to their own. This piece of technology will influence children to embody the values of Westerners, by the need to own a laptop, and will transform their culture, and not necessarily in a positive way. The project is highly influential. The idea and the desire to help is there, but these children would benefit more from money being spent on things they need, and not to transform a culture that lacks technology.