The failed promise of IeCT for development: Aunt Ofelia replies to her letter 20 years later
Ricardo Gómez · The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries · 2020
Abstract This paper reflects on the nature of social changes brought about by information and communication technologies for development (ICTD or ICT4D) over the past two decades. We respond to the 2002 Letter to Aunt Ofelia, a publication that resulted from collective workshop of ICTD practitioners in Latin America. The Letter to Aunt Ofelia, written in the form of a letter to an imaginary aunt, presented seven proposals for equitable development using ICT. In this note, we use the epistolary format again as a response from the imaginary aunt, to present 10 challenges that represent failures and setbacks of ICT working against rather than for human development. These challenges pertain to commerce, services, media, surveillance, algorithmic control, addiction, misinformation, acceleration, loneliness, and environmental degradation. These 10 issues deserve our critical attention and creative energies if we are to truly harness the power of ICT for human development with equity, prosperity, and social justice.