The impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is tremendous in present day world. ICTs plays a crucial role in the increasingly globalize world. In context of North East one can think the SMS campaign and voting through mobile phone and also internet that helped one of it’s singer from Assam to win Voice of India award in 2006. ICT has impact in the economic, social, cultural, political and even individual spheres of life. It has dramatically transformed society’s world over. ICT has a direct connection with youth. It is often the younger generations who feel more comfortable using ICT to further expand their knowledge or to disseminate information and also to collect information. The role of young people in shaping their societies is becoming increasingly evident, particularly in terms of social challenges, means of communication, development of ideas and involvement with issues of global significance. It has helped young people in networking with their global peers.
The major population of youth in the world lives in the developing countries. The United Nations defines youth as those who fall within the 15-25 years of age. Demographic trends shows that more than 85% of youth population live in the developing countries out of which a large number of youth are estimated to live on less than $ 2 a day. Out of this significant number are illiterate or drop outs from the school, unemployed and living with HIV/AIDS. Most of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) are youth oriented (education, health, HIV/AIDS, etc). Linkages between poverty and youth need more extensive research to determine the long term impact on issues that affect the youth. The fastest growing youth populations are to be found in Africa though young people in Asia constitute 61% of the total youth population in the world. The rapid growth of youth population is such that the youth constitute a third of half of the population, placing strains on the entire infrastructure of the state.
Given the demographic significance of the global youth population it has become an important and crucial to see how ICT has or can play a role for the development of this age group. There is no shadow of doubt that ICT has transformed the lives of people around the world and young people have influenced their own lives and also that of their communities. It is the right time to find out how ICT can help in shaping lives of our future generation, and how communities, national governments and the international community can assist in realization of global youth development using ICT. The use of ICT varies from region to region and also from nation to nations.
The main issue concerning access for young people to ICTs is that of the digital divide. Unless this divide is given priority attention by policymakers and other stakeholders, the gap between the ‘information rich’ and ‘information poor’ will continue to widen. In a country like India where a major population consists of youth so using ICTs can transform the country from developing to develop stage in a short period of time. The infrastructure for ICTs must be available for the young people so that they can make best use of it. Government and private sector must take initiatives to boost up ICTs in North East India. It is a matter of shame that the internet connection and even telephone connection are not available in all parts of the North East India due to which the youth population of this part remains untouched by the digital revolution. ICTs can enhance in attaining the MDGs and young people must make use of it .Both ICTs and youth are dynamic agents for change . The combination of ICTs and youth offer tremendous possibilities for explosive transformation of society. The synergies relationship between ICT and youth can very well be part of the solution to many of the development challenges around the world.
(With Inputs from GAID Publication)
Compiled by- Ranjan K Baruah
