“Information and communication have always opened opportunities for the poor to earn income, reduce isolation, and respond
resiliently to disasters, conflicts, and emergencies. With mobile phone use exploding across the developing world, even marginalized communities are benefiting from modern communication tools. Some of the world’s poorest people now spend substantial
portions of their income to make a mobile phone call or go online. This book explores the impacts of this unprecedented technological change. Drawing on unique household surveys undertaken by research networks active in 38 developing countries, it helps to fill knowledge gaps about how the poor use information and communication technologies (ICTs). How have they benefited
from mobile devices, computers, and the Internet? What insights can research provide to promote affordable access to ICTs, so that
communities across the developing world can take advantage of the opportunities they offer?”
