Activities

In his TEDTalk, Shashi Tharoor shares some surprising statistics about the Indian cell phone market, supporting his claim that India has become "an astonishingly connected country." What do you know about the availability and uptake of various ICTs in countries other than your own? Pick a country or region and learn more about ICT use there. What technologies are most prevalent, and why? How have specific cultural, economic, political and/or geographical circumstances shaped the country's ICT use? How well have the government leaders there understood and built upon the communication configurations described by Clay Shirky and others? Begin your research with one or more of the following sources:

As is suggested in the summary essay, experts are divided as to whether ICTs have any intrinsically positive or negative impact on individual and collective freedoms. Using the related resources suggested in Cyber-Influence and Power, sponsor a discussion or debate on your campus, in your community, or – better yet – online, engaging individuals in other countries. Identify several case studies from the TED Study materials or from your own research that highlight some of the critical challenges that nations and non-government actors must address. What solutions do you see as most feasible, and who are the agent(s) responsible for making the necessary changes?