cYbEr tIMoR

Information and communication Technology (ICTs) is an umbrella term which is currently used to refer to a wide range of services (telephony, fax, internet), applications (such as distance education and management information system), and technology (anything from ‘old technology’  such as television to ‘new technology’ such as cellular, phones), using various types of equipment and software, often running over telecoms network The ICT or information, or communications, or microprocessor) revolution is radically affecting  the way we share information about development issues; and government, NGOs, business,  institutions, and individuals have jumped on the bandwagon to make ICTs part of their day to day organizational processes. Moreover, the revolution brings leverage in two essentials commodities of time and distance which in business terms translate into efficiency and cost. The issues of transparency is easier to manage with ICTs, which may result in monetary savings in addition to stakeholder confidence in development processes and systems.

However, it is also true that if care is not taken to ensure that ICT provision and use is tailored to specific needs of the group that really need them is a danger that existing alienation and marginalization will be reinforced and increase.

There is a general agreement that ensuring access to the fundamental tools of the digital society is one of the most significant investment the world can make for the future. But the world’s most valuable resources in its people. Thus, the significant of ICTs is not in the technology as much, but in the possibilities, they open up for access to knowledge, information, and communication, elements of ever increasing importance in present day economic and social interaction. While some of the issues surrounding ICTs have similarities with those in other areas of Infrastructure, such as roads, and portal services  other are of course diferente and highly specific, with the potencial to produce differential development of local and global cultures.