Publication

This paper examines the factors associated with the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural areas, and in so doing looks at the potential role that ICTs can play in rural development. Empirical support for the paper is based on field studies conducted during July-August 2004 in two rural locations in Southern India: Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh and Malappuram in Kerala, where various projects and programs to use ICTs for enhancing developmental opportunities are ongoing in both locations. A major conclusion of this paper is that ICTs can play a potent role in rural development, but only if the basic obstacles to rural prosperity are removed through radical change: land reform, revitalization of rural credit, greater state intervention in rural infrastructure and primary education.