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Organizations
The expansion of ICT can have direct negative outcomes. Expenditure on ICT has been known to cause intra-household conflict, foster male dominance over resources and divert household resources away from food and other essentials. Human right concerns such as child labor have also been raised over the use of conflict materials in the production of ICT devices.

In many impoverished regions of the world, legislative and political measures are required to facilitate or enable application of ICTs, especially with respect to monopolistic communications structures and censorship laws.

The literacy issue is one of the key factors why projects fail in rural areas; as education in literacy sets the foundation for digital and information literacy, proper education and training are needed to make the user at least understand how to manipulate the applications to get the information they need. Constant follow-up with the community is needed to monitor if the project has been successfully implemented and is being used meaningfully.

In the case of India, technological advancement has been more of leapfrogging in nature: the affordability of mobile phones allowed more people to acquire mobile phones before learning to use personal computers and desktops. This unfamiliarity with computers could be seen as problematic as it creates digital divide if technological devices provided are computers; a disconnect between computing technology and people causes difficulty for some of the ICT4D project initiatives to take effect. For instance, in rural parts of India, the Ministry of Education rejected OLPC initiative due to lack of facilities and trained professionals for computer teaching and maintenance. While closing the gap of digital divide through training teachers so that technology may be used for teaching process is challenging, there is yet another problem of failing to recognize technology as a tool for learning process. Studying how learners and/or students interact with technology is vital for developing and designing technologies for them.

Projects in marginalised rural areas face the most significant hurdles – but since people in marginalised rural areas are at the very bottom of the pyramid, development efforts should make the most difference in this sector. ICTs have the potential to multiply development effects and are thus also meaningful in the rural arena.

However, introducing ICTs in these areas is also most costly, as the following barriers exist:
 * Lack of infrastructure: no electrical power, no running water, bad roads, etc.
 * Lack of health services: diseases like HIV, TB, malaria are more common.
 * Lack of employment: there are practically no jobs in marginalised rural areas.
 * Hunger: hungry users have problems concentrating.
 * Illiteracy: Text user interfaces do not work very well, innovative Human Computer Interfaces (see Human Computer Interaction) are required.
 * Lack of means to maintain the project: some projects may be left to deteriorate in time because maintenance is sporadic and if a component breaks it is costly to obtain skilled people and parts to make a repair..
 * Lack of means to maintain the project due to short-terms grants
 * Lack of support from the local government
 * Social contexts: the potential users living in rural marginalised areas often cannot easily see the point of ICTs because of social context and also because of the impediments of hunger, disease and illiteracy.
 * Possibility of encouraging brain-drain.
 * Corruption is one of the factors that hampers the implementation of ICT projects in rural areas.
 * Training and seminars must be conducted according to a suitable time for farmers, to make sure that their daily routine is not affected.
 * Many applications are not user friendly.
 * Projects are sometimes not being needs-driven and not relevant to local context.

Another significant problem can be the selection of software installed on technology – instructors trained in one set of software (for example Ubuntu ) can be expected to have difficulty in navigating computers donated with different software (for example Windows XP).

A pressing problem is also the misuse of electronic waste in dangerous ways. Burning technology to obtain the metals inside will release toxic fumes into the air. Plastics, chips and circuit boards are destroyed to gather their raw and sellable materials. These practices cost the health of communities, affecting the respiratory and immune system. Presence of harmful chemicals are stuck on soils like lead, mercury and cadmium. Sadly electronic wastes are profound in developing countries where they are dumped due to large recycling costs. Developing countries are forced to labor on these waste to get money. (Certification of recyclers to e-stewards or R2 Solutions standards is intended to preclude environmental pollution.)

Finally, while the training, support, hardware and software may all be donated, it is rare for another vital component of technology, Internet access, to be made available at a discounted rate. "In about half the countries in Africa, one year of [dial-up] Internet supply will cost more than the average annual income."

TechChange, The Social Impact Lab and the World Bank have highlighted many of the above issues and complexities around implementing ICT4D projects through an animation short.

These negative impacts are observable but the platforms to identify, measure, analyze, and address them are insufficient. This is exacerbated by the idea that ICT only provides benefits to society. As new ICT practices are introduced, new challenges tag after them. However, conceiving policies to minimize the negative impacts requires time and resources. Conceptualization of effective and definite measures to counter these negative impacts is in the development stage as part of future priorities.

Lessons learned
Crucial in making any ICT4D effort successful is effective partnership between four key stakeholders:


 * Public sector (governments from developed nations, developing nations, international bodies and local governments)
 * Private sector (companies belonging to members of the target audience, multinational organizations wishing to expand their markets to the 4 billion people under US$2/day, pro-poor or social companies)
 * Informal sector (NGOs, advocacy groups, think tanks)
 * Representation from the target audience

InfoDev has published six lessons from an analysis of 17 of their pilot programmes (see below). These lessons are backed by a variety of examples as well as a list of recommendations:
 * Lesson 1: Involve target groups in project design and monitoring.
 * Lesson 2: When choosing the technology for a poverty intervention project, pay particular attention to infrastructure requirements, local availability, training requirements, and technical challenges. Simpler technology often produces better results.
 * Lesson 3: Existing technologies—particularly the telephone, radio, and television—can often convey information less expensively, in local languages, and to larger numbers of people than can newer technologies. In some cases, the former can enhance the capacity of the latter.
 * Lesson 4: ICT projects that reach out to rural areas might contribute more to the MDGs than projects based in urban areas.
 * Lesson 5: Financial sustainability is a challenge for ICT-for-development initiatives.
 * Lesson 6: Projects that focus on ICT training should include a job placement component.

Sustainability and scalability
Currently, the main two perspectives coming out of this sector are to emphasize the need for external aid to build infrastructure so that projects can reach viability, and the need to develop and build on local talent.

Establishing a clear and effective initial design serves as a foundation of any development projects. Starting on existing community assets and knowledge promotes collaboration and cooperation among participants resulting to collective decision-making. Thus, involvement of potential participants in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation is valuable. Adding a substantial effect on a project's long-term sustainability is the implementation. The success of project implementation is reflected in a comprehensive evaluation of the expected net benefits. The interdependence between these project components based on a holistic consideration of livelihood systems, needs and opportunities, provides significant contribution to the overall impact of the project on the community.

A growing perspective in the field is also the need to build projects that are sustainable and scalable, rather than focusing on those which must be propped up by huge amounts of external funding and cannot survive for long without it. Sustaining the project's scalability is a huge challenge of ICT for development; how the target user will continue using the platform. ICT4D is not a one-shot implementation but rather it is a complex process to be undertaken continuously, and the progress of each project evolves around the local education for, and adaptability of, the technology

Also, a number of developing countries have proven their skills in IT (information technology). Using these skills to build on ICT4D projects will tap local potential and a key indigenous partner in the growth of this sector will be gained. The balance of trade for these nations due to imports in both hardware and software might be an additional consideration.

Different countries have variety on these strengths some are better in hardware production, both high end and low end. There are some who are good in production of programs and other content. ICT is a US$3 trillion industry (2010) and is growing every year. Communication, media and IT present opportunities for further growth and expansion.

Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals is an opportunity for the world to work together to reach goals such as ending poverty, protecting the earth and ensuring prosperity for the planet. Technology if used effectively will accelerate the SDG's task of reaching its goals.

In order for SGDs to achieve their goals, changes are required of each sector. Development sectors like livelihood, agriculture, health, education, water, sanitation and power, infrastructure, disaster relief, government and human rights, environmental protection and crosscutting should achieve their goals of ending poverty by providing sustainable agriculture to ensure food security and improved nutrition for people to have healthy lives. Sustainable management of water, sanitation and modern energy should be achieved as well as the construction of safe and resilient infrastructure for communities. Aws promulgating equal rights should also be achieved. Lastly, protection of the environment should be undertaken.

ICT can address the needs and provide benefits to various organizations and individuals. These organizations include consumers, entrepreneurs or employees, businesses, government agencies and civil society organizations.

Challenges in SDGs However, there are a lot of challenges in implementing SDGs at it focuses on many aspects. Suggestions have been made on how to goals can be achieved at the desired timeline, such as decreasing cost in implementing ICT and increasing public awareness about ICT. Another hindrance is the hierarchy of organizations. There are reports that some agencies are treated as higher than the other, thus, making the development slower. Also, though there are a lot of talented leaders, not all of them are exposed to the real situation. The most contributing factor is that once they are pushed to do something, most individuals and institutions focus on their own sectors, thus, not being able to have a collective mind towards one goal. SDGs also have a huge territory; they focus on too many fields, making it slower for the development of ICT to happen. Though they focuses on the most crucial needs of the people, the progression is not at par with their previous goals. SDGs have a long way to go with its goal to be reached by 2030. Improvements are still on its way but there are challenges that needs to be resolved to be able to move forward, by having a collective mind.