Welcome!

The goal of the ICT4G group is looking at novel ways of using technology to foster economic and social development, often targeting areas characterized by a low penetration of ICT. With “low penetration of ICT”, we not only refer to developing countries, but also to societies with significant and tangible gaps.

Our society is demonstrating a growing need to measure development not only in terms of profit, but also in terms of fairness, support to the community, reduction of the externalities to help build a better world for future generations. ICTs can and should have a significant role in supporting communities and making this social collaboration process more efficient and more transparent.

Concerning research directions, the unit is implementing and experimenting solutions to foster development through social collaboration. The longer term problem we are trying to tackle is understanding what processes and what tools can best promote ICT-mediated collaboration and mobilize and support the implementation of global-scale changes. The approach we take is bottom up, developing and experimenting solutions in specific applicative domains.

From the applicative point of view we are focusing on web and mobile applications to promote efficient allocation of resources and trigger virtuous behaviors by imitation. Along this line of development BringFood. In Italy, about 149 kilograms of food are wasted per person, per year. BringFood simplifies food donations, thus helping people redistributing food excess, give access to people in need and, in the process, help allocate resources more efficiently.

A second line of development focuses on tools to empower citizens and decentralize the process of evaluation of procurement indicators. In this line of development the activities in collaboration with the Maputo Living Lab and the World Bank. Among the problems to tackle here, aspects related to trust and data reliability.

Finally the unit strongly believes in “capability building” and “awareness” as tools to foster development. For these reason it is the promoter of the Summer School of ICTs in Mozambique, during which selected students of the Mozambican Universities are trained in mobile and web development. In Trentino, the group is the organizer of Random Hacks of Kindness hackathon,. The event allows local students to work on solutions which can have a positive impact for developing countries. The hackathon is becoming a tool to improve the skills of students and raise awareness on development issues.

Projects

NEWS AND EVENTS