Background

infoDev is a partnership of international development agencies, coordinated and served by an expert Secretariat housed in the Global ICT Department (GICT) of the World Bank, one of its key donors and founders. It acts as a neutral convener of dialogue, and as a coordinator of joint action among bilateral and multilateral donors—supporting global sharing of information on ICT for development (ICT4D), and helping to reduce duplication of efforts and investments. infoDev also forms partnerships with public and private-sector organizations who are innovators in the field of ICT4D. Priorities and strategies for infoDev are guided by a governance framework, approved by infoDev Donors in June, 2005.

infoDev’s mandate is to help maximize the impact of ICTs in global efforts to achieve the internationally-supported Millennium Development Goals. infoDev helps donors and their developing country partners identify ways ICT can contribute to objectives such as improving access, education and health services, making public institutions more efficient and transparent, supporting rural livelihoods, and contributing to economic growth by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises that use ICT for their businesses.

infoDev sponsors cutting-edge research and analysis to help identify global best practice in the use of ICT4D. Research typically begins with a “mapping” exercise to understand “what we know and do not know” in a particular field. This may be followed by analytical research, surveys, evaluation of past experiences and/or the initiation of pilot projects designed to yield further knowledge of the field.

infoDev uses the knowledge it gathers to develop workshops, training seminars, toolkits, handbooks, and briefs to support donors, policy makers and others working in the field of ICT4D who are charged with turning knowledge into action. infoDev support assists them in setting policies, designing and implementing programs and projects, undertaking monitoring and evaluation, and building capacity. To perpetuate and strengthen the knowledge/action cycle, infoDev incorporates the feedback it receives from such activities to strengthen the knowledge-base and to identify new research opportunities.

infoDev helps developing countries and their international partners make intelligent choices and develop effective partnerships for enabling access to information infrastructure, applications and services in ways that are sustainable and maximize private investment and leverage public resources where necessary. This includes sponsoring research, toolkits and capacity building on regulation issues, expanding access to broadband, promoting municipal networks, etc.

Mainstreaming ICT As Tools Of Development And Poverty Reduction

Through a rigorous program of field-based experimentation, research, and analysis, infoDev helps developing countries and their international partners make smart choices about when and how to deploy ICT as tools of their core development goals in health, education, livelihoods, public sector reform and other areas.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Growth

infoDev helps developing countries and the international partners maximize the contribution and impact of the private sector through direct support for ICT-enabled innovation, new business and partnership models and toolkits, and networking among entrepreneurs, private sector investors and the donor community. Our network of over 40 incubators around the developing world provides unique insight into the challenges facing ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Business Incubation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA)

ECA Business Incubators and Technology Parks Network As a region of economies in transition, most ECA member countries’ economies have been undergoing a transformation from planned to market economies. Business incubators and technology parks in ECA play a key role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. The ECA Network of Business Incubators and Technology Parks was launched in May 2005 at the ECA regional workshop in Kiev, Ukraine.

In September 2007, our ECA incubators regional workshop in Yerevan (Armenia) focused on the role of business incubators and technology parks in innovation development and technology transfer in economies in transition.

We invite you to join us!

Our mission ECA incubators and technology parks network aims to add value to its members’ activities by fostering and strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship support, exchanging information and knowledge, collaborating among incubators and entrepreneurs in the ECA region and on global level, and disseminating knowledge about national SME and innovation development policies and programs. (ECA Mission Statement, May 2005) ECA members prepared and signed a MEMORANDUM on collaboration and network development in 2005.