A network of computers and other electronic equipment connected together to create a communication system between other communication points/systems. They can be under local area network, wide area network, metropolitan area network, nationwide network, and others.
Published in Chapter:
Network Deployment for Social Benefits in Developing Countries
Hakikur Rahman (SDNP, Bangladesh)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 7
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-014-1.ch141
Abstract
For many reasons, the establishment of technology is crucial to socio-economic development, as well as increasing democratization of a nation. The technology is pervasive in nature, but the cost benefit together with the national urgency for its introduction through various applications mostly depends on the grass roots awareness and utilization of computers (interconnected computers) for the common people. Hence, the transferability and applicability of e-applications (e-learning, e-commerce, e-governance, e-health, etc.) must assured to be applied at their consistent state and best obtained by the congenial atmosphere at all levels of the policy making. The essential issues are that developing countries, faced with enormous social and economic pressures, must start to confirm consistent economic growth and at the same time accelerate broad-based technology deployment. In this aspect, low-ranking developing countries had to utilize every benefit of it in order to compete with others for a dominant share of the global ICT contribution. In order to realize this vision more efficiently and cost effectively, and to integrate increased human participation within the technology, governments must be proactive in prioritizing limited resources by appropriate planning: build the foundation for a rational expansion of the ICT sector into higher value-added services. In addition, the drive to transform countries into “knowledge-based” societies will necessitate intergovernmental, interagencies, intersocietal, as well as private sector cooperation, commitment, dedication, and partnership in the context of an overall framework for the logical development of the ICT sector. The positioning of suitable foundations requires a comprehensive national strategic vision with elaborate plans. They should ensure seamless interlinkages among all sectors and meaningful participation of all citizens in meeting the challenges to transform the human capital through establishment of various e-applications. At the same time, pervasive education/skill development and the provision for life long learning has to be interlaced within all sectors. As the technology is ever renewing, especially in developing countries, the inadequacy of proper management structure and the scarcity of suitably trained managers deserve immediate attention. This article emphasizes broad-based utilization of ICT applications for social developments, focuses on issues and challenges of their implementations with various usages, and provides a brief discussion on a few cases on networked applications.