The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Implications for ICT4D Research

Richard Heeks explores new post-2015 development agenda and its implications for ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development) research priorities. With the Millennium Development Goals about to reach their sell-by date, the new post-2015 development agenda is currently being formulated. This talk explores that agenda and its implications for ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development) research priorities. The presentation begins with an overview of the post-2015 process and a cross-check that the new agenda is worth attending to. Arguing it will be the single most important shaper of future development priorities, the talk then analyses three aspects of the post-2015 framework compared to that inspired by the MDGs: elements of the agenda that are becoming less important; issues which continue; and new issues and ideas that are on the rise. With two years to go until the post-2015 framework is activated, now is a good time to consider the implications of this comparison for our future research priorities in the sub-discipline of ‘development informatics’, and the extent to which these might – or might not – cohere around a vision of “Development 2.0”.