Clicking Toward Development: Understanding the Role of ICTs for Civil Society

The purpose of this article is to analyze, discuss, and assess some of the competing viewpoints and factors regarding the role of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) within civil society. By outlining the various actions that civil society organizations (CSOs) need to take in order to maximize the positive impacts and mitigate the negative consequences that these revolutionary technologies will bring, it will become clear that the employment and utilization of ICTs by civil society has yet to reach an optimal point. However, over the next few decades, while these technologies will inevitably come to transform the development landscape, the hope is that CSOs will fully integrate ICTs into the development process and will come do so with realistic expectations. By adopting an ICT “plan of action,” CSOs could better harness the power of these new technologies and, in turn, will be able to more successfully apply them towards the promotion of improved human development.