How New Technologies are Shaping Development Communication

The way we communicate about development – and for development – has fundamentally changed. A farmer in rural India checking crop prices on a mobile app, a health worker in Burkina Faso delivering malaria information through automated voice calls, or a citizen in Kenya accessing government services online – all of these are examples of how new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are reshaping development communication. No longer confined to top-down broadcasting through radio or print, development communication today is interactive, data-driven, and increasingly accessible to people once left on the margins of information.

ICTs and the revolution in development communication 🔗

Development communication has traditionally been about informing and persuading communities to adopt behaviors or policies that improve their lives – better health practices, agricultural techniques, or civic engagement. What ICTs have changed is the speed, scale, and direction of that communication. The Internet, mobile phones, and satellite networks no longer just transmit messages; they enable communities to participate in development processes in real time.

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) refers specifically to the strategic use of technologies like mobile phones, computers, the Internet, and even radio to address development challenges in underserved communities – covering areas from education and healthcare to agriculture and governance. Unlike the older model of development communication, which was largely one-directional, ICT4D is built around two-way information exchange, putting communities at the center of the process.

According to UNCTAD’s SDG Pulse, digitalization has fundamentally changed how people produce, consume, trade, and live. By 2024, 92% of the world’s population was covered by 4G mobile networks – double the share from 2015. And while 5G covered 51% of the global population by the same year, these numbers mask a critical reality: access is deeply uneven across regions and income groups.

How new technologies are transforming key development sectors 🔗

Governance and transparency through e-governance 🔗

One of the most significant applications of ICTs in development is e-governance – the use of digital tools to deliver government services, improve accountability, and increase public participation. When citizens can access licensing, permits, welfare registrations, or legal information through an online portal rather than a government office, it reduces costs, saves time, and limits opportunities for corruption.

Research published in Cogent Business & Management highlights that governments adopting ICT for e-governance aim to enhance transparency, efficiency, and public participation in policy development. E-governance platforms generate insights into program operations and effectiveness, which can shape policy, accountability, and performance-based budgeting. The United Nations has further emphasized that ICT applications in e-government strategies promote transparency in public administration and democratic processes, making governments more accountable to citizens.

Satellite technology plays a supporting role here too. Satellite networks enable governments to monitor infrastructure, respond to environmental changes, and share critical data across regions – capabilities especially vital in geographically remote or conflict-affected areas where terrestrial infrastructure is absent.

Healthcare communication 🔗

Mobile technology has opened new frontiers for health communication in the developing world. Rather than relying solely on overextended health workers, ICT tools allow health information to reach people directly – even in areas with poor infrastructure.

A compelling example is the use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. These are automated telephony tools that interact with callers using voice prompts or keypad inputs, requiring no internet connection or literacy. In Uganda, an IVR system developed for cancer awareness helped automate health education, overcome literacy barriers, and provide critical information even during lockdowns when hospital visits became impossible. Similarly, a study on IVR use for malaria literacy in Burkina Faso found significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and practices among communities using local-language IVR services – with a 35% increase in correct health practices recorded among participants in the local language group.

India’s 99DOTS project, born out of Microsoft Research, uses IVR in a creative way for tuberculosis treatment. Patients receive medicine packets that, when opened in sequence, reveal a phone number they must call to confirm they’ve taken their dose. The project has since scaled nationally through Everwell Technologies in collaboration with the Government of India, demonstrating how low-tech IVR can solve complex public health compliance challenges.

Real-time monitoring and data-driven development 🔗

Beyond communication, ICTs enable development programs to be monitored and adjusted in real time. E-government frameworks now integrate real-time data collection to track service delivery, identify gaps, and ensure accountability – shifting governance from reactive to proactive. A 2025 study in the journal Sustainability found positive relationships between government investments in ICT access, digital literacy, and online privacy protections and higher national performance on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – offering empirical evidence that purposeful digital governance directly advances development outcomes.

Confronting the digital divide 🔗

The promise of ICTs in development communication cannot be separated from a critical problem: the digital divide. This is the gap between those who have meaningful access to technology – the “digital haves” – and those who do not – the “digital have-nots.” And it runs along multiple fault lines: geography, income, gender, age, and education.

The figures are stark. UNCTAD reports that in 2024, two thirds of the world’s population used the Internet – but that means 2.6 billion people remain offline. In the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs), only 35% of people use the Internet. Affordability is a key barrier: the annual cost of a mobile broadband subscription amounts to nearly 5% of per capita income in LDCs, making it a luxury rather than a utility.

The ITU’s ICT Development Index 2024 confirms that while there has been overall progress toward universal connectivity, digital divides are actually widening for certain demographics and geographies. Many economies are still in early stages, with connectivity scores as low as 21.3 on a scale of 100. The ITU defines universal and meaningful connectivity as everyone being able to enjoy a safe, enriching, and productive online experience at an affordable cost – a standard that remains far out of reach for hundreds of millions.

Gender and socio-cultural barriers 🔗

The digital divide is not just about infrastructure. Socio-cultural norms, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, often restrict women’s access to mobile phones and the Internet. Research on the gender digital divide identifies this as a persistent barrier to inclusive economic development in low- and middle-income countries. Even when devices are physically available, digital illiteracy – the inability to effectively use digital tools – limits meaningful participation. This means that poorly designed ICT programs can inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities rather than reduce them.

ICTs for empowerment and participation 🔗

Despite these challenges, the potential of ICTs to empower marginalized communities is real and increasingly demonstrated. The key shift is from communication to communities to communication with communities – enabling two-way dialogue that respects local knowledge and gives people agency over their own development.

Mobile Vaani: voice as a participatory tool 🔗

A powerful case is Mobile Vaani, an IVR-based platform developed by Gram Vaani (meaning “voice of the village”), incubated at IIT Delhi. The platform connects hard-to-reach communities in northern India with development messages, employment alerts, and entrepreneurial opportunities – and also conducts community-driven market research. It serves 500,000 households and has impacted an estimated 2.5 million people. Crucially, Mobile Vaani allows users to record and share their own voice messages, making it a genuinely participatory communication platform rather than a top-down information delivery system.

Mobile health and community participation 🔗

Research from rural India published in Springer Nature found that mobile health platforms, IVR tools, and tele-governance services are becoming increasingly embedded in rural public systems. The study found these tools help overcome long-standing barriers of infrastructure gaps, low literacy, and income disparities – though it also flags persistent challenges around women’s unequal access and regional adaptation of digital tools.

In terms of public health, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has documented how eHealth projects across Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, and other nations have demonstrated the power of mobile communication for maternal health, HIV awareness, and non-communicable disease management – with many projects showing improved health behaviors when communities received regular mobile-based information.

From passive audience to active participant 🔗

Empowerment through ICT4D means providing individuals and communities with the tools and knowledge to take control of their own development. By making information accessible and communication easier, technology enables people to make informed decisions, improve their livelihoods, and advocate for their rights. But for this to happen, ICT projects must be designed with genuine community participation – not just implemented on communities from the outside. As the IDRC’s findings illustrate, the most effective eHealth and development communication programs are those where communities are actively involved in identifying their needs, testing solutions, and providing feedback.

Upcoming technologies – artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things – hold further promise for development communication. AI could personalize agricultural advisories for smallholder farmers. Blockchain could make development aid distribution more transparent. But as history with ICTs shows, these tools will only serve development if they are designed to be affordable, locally relevant, and accessible to the most marginalized – not just the digitally connected.

What do you think? As ICTs increasingly shape how development information reaches communities, who should have the most say in designing these tools – governments, technology companies, or the communities themselves? And when a technology successfully serves one group but further excludes another, does it qualify as a development communication success?

References

1. https://www.ictworks.org/ict4d-digital-development-tech4good/
2. https://sdgpulse.unctad.org/ict-development/
3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2024.2340579
4. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/role-e-governance-bridging-digital-divide
5. https://blog.apollosatellite.com/global-and-federal-governments-with-your-satellite-network/
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8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_voice_response
9. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7134271/
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11. https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/idi2024/
12. https://www.ictworks.org/tag/digital-divide/
13. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13198-025-02995-y
14. https://sdg.iisd.org/news/idrc-reports-on-ehealth-projects-in-developing-countries/
15. https://www.ictworks.org/basic-ict4d-concepts-student-guide/