Activities

Projects

The SPIDER supported projects are either initiated directly by partners in developing countries or by Swedish partner universities in collaboration with their southern partners. The latter projects are part of our mission to build and strengthen a Swedish resource base in ICT for development. The projects initiated by our developing partners are on a rolling applications basis, whereas the partner universities can apply for support once every funding period. We also acts as the Swedish counterpart for Sida financed bilateral ICT projects. Sida, through its former department for research cooperation (SAREC), has launched a number of ICT projects at universities in developing countries where the aim is to computerize the university and connect it to the Internet. SAREC has entrusted SPIDER to be the counterpart for universities in Honduras (UNAH), Burkina Faso (UO and CNRST) and Bolivia (UMSA).

Helpdesk in ICT4D

SPIDER was created with a view to act as a Swedish resource base in the area of ICT, and thus one of its important functions is to provide advice and assistance to Sida, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Embassies in developing countries. SPIDER can assist with project assessments, evaluations, studies, consultancy missions, etc.

Academics

To increase the awareness and knowledge about how ICT can contribute to socio-economic development, SPIDER has supported the establishment of an MSc in ICT4D. The two-year program is intended for students and professionals alike and is opened to bachelor graduates in ICT, business administration and social sciences. The program offers students initially studying ICT a better understanding of the development context, and gives those with business or social sector backgrounds better understanding of the opportunities that ICTs provide.

In response to the needs for onsite ICT expert assistance in developing countries, SPIDER sends skilled and motivated junior ICT experts to organizations in developing regions. The developing country gains from knowledge transfer, whilst the individual experts broaden their horizons and learn to work in challenging environments with limited resources. The program is a collaboration with the non-profit organization AIESEC that coordinates and recruits junior ICT experts for SPIDER development projects.

We also support the international PhD student network IPID which organizes a community of ICT4D researchers from all over the world, for knowledge sharing and peer support.

Dissemination

With the active participation of our network and leading authorities on any given issue, we organize workshops on ICT in relation to key development issues such as e-learning, gender, environment and healthcare. We also support the participation of our partners in the south, in international conferences. ICT has an important role to play in international development cooperation and one of our objectives is to increase general awareness of this. We do this in a variety of channels: through our website and newsletter, publications, seminars and presentations.