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ICTs, Economy & Society

Home/ ICTs, Economy & Society
Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Discipline Core NA 4

Course coordinator and team Dr. Nidhi Tewathia (ntewathia@aud.ac.in)

Pre-requisites None

Summary/Introduction

Innovations in ICTs have brought radical changes not only on the economic front but also in the social and personal areas of human life. The process of digitalisation is boosting India’s economic growth but also intensifying social challenges in terms of inequalities and marginalisation. To understand the trade-offs between prospects and challenges posed by ICTs, this course takes an extensive and interdisciplinary perspective, combining insights from a variety of socio-economic dimensions. The course aims to take students through diverse dimensions of ICTs like (a) ICT development & diffusion in India (b) Digital economics (c) Role and impact of ICT in Indian economy (d) Digital divide and related inequalities (e) Human wellbeing related to digitalisation

The course will also engage the students in reading and comprehending various international reports related to ICTs and digitalisation.

Aims & Objectives

  1. To introduce students to the ICT development and ICT diffusion in India
  2. To build an understanding of the role of ICTs in an economy and the impact of ICTs with emphasis on Indian economy
  3. To expose students to the concept of digital divide and its repercussions in terms of socio- economic inequalities
  4. To provide an understanding of the effects of digital consumption and human well being
  5. To offer a holistic approach towards the understanding of ICTs.

Course Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. explain the state of ICT development and diffusion in India with the help of facts and figures.
  2. discuss the role of ICT in Indian economy by highlighting the economic performance of various sectors in India
  3. elucidate the socio-economic effects of unequal access of ICT assets among Indian households
  4. critically examine the impact of digital consumption on human well being

Brief description of each module along with reading list:

Module 1- ICT Development and Diffusion

This module will introduce the students with basics of ICT development and related branches like growth, development, wellbeing, economic performance, digital divide and inequalities. The module exposes the students to the history, present and future of ICT4D research. The module will also raise some questions related to the pattern of digitalization and development in India by discussing the network readiness index. Finally, the module familiarizes the learners to the Digital India platform.

Essential Readings

  • Geoff Walsham, (2017) ICT4D research: Reflections on History and Future agenda, Information Technology for Development, Vol 23, No.1, pp 18-41, Taylor & Francis, Routledge, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2016.1246406
  • Maiti, D., Castellacci, F., & Melchior, A., (2020). Digitalisation and Development: Issues for India and Beyond (pp. 3-18). Springer Singapore
  • Dutta, S., and Lanvin, B. (2023). Network Readiness Index Report 2023, Portulans Institute.
  • Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2022, International Telecommunications Union
  • Digital India Platform Portal: digitalindia.gov.in

Module 2 – Digital Economics, Role and Impact of ICTs in Indian economy

This module initiates the discussion on the term digital economics, provides a brief history of digital technology and proceeds to explain reduction of search costs and its effects, prevalence of digital platform-based businesses, replication cost of digital goods, digital public goods, and economics of internet infrastructure. The module explains the role and impact of ICTs in terms of rural development, e-commerce, manufacturing, and e-governance with reference to India.

Essential Readings

  • Greenstein, S., (2020). The Economics of Internet Infrastructure
  • Goldfarb, A., & Tucker, C. (2019). Digital Economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1), pp 3-27.
  • Singh, N. (2015). Information technology and its role in India’s economic development: A review. Development in India: Micro and Macro Perspectives, 283-312,

Module 3 - ICT inequalities and the effects of Digital Divide

This module will deal with the concept of digital divide, state of inequality in digital access, multidimensional divide, gendered divide, determinants of the digital divide, digital literacy, mapping the ICT access in India through teledensity the density of ICT devices in Indian households (state-wise), rural-urban divide, digital divide in education, health and financial inclusion. The module will also highlight the role of digital divide in marginalisation leading to exclusion of certain groups in India.

Essential Readings

  • Mohanty, P.C., Is India Digitally Divided? Identifying the Determinants of ICT Diffusion at the Household Level (Section1, 2 & 5) in Maiti, D., Castellacci, F., & Melchior, A. (2020). Digitalisation and development: Issues for India and beyond. Springer Singapore
  • James, C. Witte and Susan E. Mannon, The Internet and Social Inequalities, (2010) Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Ch-3 & 4
  • Tewathia N., Kamath, A., & Ilavarasan, P.V., (2020) Social Inequalities, Fundamental Inequities, and Recurring of the Digital Divide: Insights from India’, Technology in Society, 61 (2020) 101251. 0160-791X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101251
  • Digital Divide: India Inequality Report 2022, Oxfam India Module 4 - ICTs and Wellbeing
  • This final module will provide basic exposure related to excessive internet use, information gathering, multitasking, attraction of video games, attention problems, displacement of exercise and homework, sleep among the overall indicators of human wellbeing. The module concludes by explaining how such issues lead to economic loss to a nation.

Essential Readings

  • Paul Howard-Jones, (2011) The impact of Digital technologies on Human wellbeing: Evidence from the sciences of mind and brain.
  • Castellacci, F., & Tveito, V. (2016). The Effects of ICTs on Well-being: A Survey and a Theoretical Framework, TIK Centre, University of Oslo (TIK Working papers on Innovation Studies)
  • Goldfarb, A., & Tucker, C. (2019). Digital Economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1), 27-31.

Assessment structure

  • Continuous: a) Assignment: 30%
  • Project & Presentation: 30%
  • End-of-course performance: Summative end-semester assessment will be 40% of the course grade

Additional Readings for the entire course

  • The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators January – March, 2023, pp: iii- xiii, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
  • Digital India Programme: Going Full Circle, ICT India working paper # 56, August 2021, Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD) Working Paper Series: Towards a New Indian Model of Information and Communications Technology-Led Growth and Development
  • Heeks, R. (2017). Information and Communication Technology for Development, Routledge Perspective on Development, Routledge.
  • Mehta, N. (2023). India’s Techade: Digital Revolution and Change in the World’s Largest Democracy, Westland.
  • Ragnedda, M., & Muschert, G. W. (2013). The Digital Divide- The internet and social inequality in international perspective, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Shetty K.V., Tewathia, N., Bamney, U., & Rawat, V.K., (2022) Micro and macro-level economic implications of digital addictions: A case study, MGM Journal of Medical Sciences, Vol 9, No. 4, pp 588-90. https://doi.org/10.4103/mgmj.mgmj_199_22
  • Singh, P. (2004). M, IJT~ 46/1&2 (2004), Information Technology and the Digital Divide in India: Ethical Perspectives, International Journal of Technoethics, pp 33-44
  • Unwin, T. (2009). Information and Communication Technology for Development, Cambridge University Press.
  • Unwin, T. (2017). Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development, Oxford University Press
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