Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are
transforming broad areas where information is a central activity,
including rural development and livelihood security. The
transformation is based on the opportunities for individuals and
communities to be information producers as well as consumers and which builds
on and integrates the capacities of all media (e.g. radio and television). This
enables increasingly low-cost access and distribution of information and also
facilitates interactive participation in the creation and use of information. ICTs
offer the unprecedented opportunity for decentralizing information access and
creation. This in turn brings demand-led innovation in all spheres of informationintensive
activities resulting in a change in the mode of information development
and management. In the recent past various institutions like Governments, NGOs
and International Organizations have started recognizing the enormous potential
that ICTs offer to enhance peoples’ daily lives. Personal and project level
experiences shared amongst ICT practitioners (specifically, those involved in
the rural development sector) are valuable in creating a clear understanding of
the social context