Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Poverty Alleviation

Emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has generated new enthusiasms about development prospects for poor countries. Many scholars believe that new technologies can provide a faster route to better living standards and improve the quality of life than the one afforded by the standard process of industrialization. Therefore, It can be considered that Information and knowledge are critical components of poverty alleviation strategies. This paper attempts to evaluate direct, indirect, and economic impacts of ICTs on the poverty alleviation, A sample of developing countries are selected whose are directly used ICTs to alleviate poverty. Panel data technique are used for selected developing countries using the data over the 2000-2005 period, Three ITC measures are considered to test the effects of ICT on the poverty alleviation. They comprise ICT expenditure (% of GDP), Internet users and Telephone mainlines & Mobile phone subscribers. Results of this paper reveal that there is a negative and significant relationship between ICT indices and human poverty index.