Information matters. In daily life. In production. In consumption. In markets. Information helps people make better decisions across what they do. This we know.
In production, information helps people make better decisions on the PPF. This too we know.
In agricultural production, a weather forecast can change a planting decision. A scientific discovery can change yield. An agronomy advisory can improve the efficiency of inputs used. A telephone call can change an exchange. But how much of that information gets used depends on whether income remains visible on the PPF. This too we know.
For more than a century, information and communication technologies have transformed how information is generated, stored, transmitted, shared, and used. Human advice and print carried knowledge before the newer technologies arrived. Radio carried information farther. Television carried information into homes. Telecommunications carried information across distance. Computers stored and processed information. The internet connected information globally. Email made exchange faster across distance. Mobile phones carried information into every pocket. Big data gathered, combined, and analyzed information at scale. AI now rearranges and generates information in new ways. This we see.
Each leap in information technology makes information more abundant, faster, cheaper, more accessible, and more sophisticated. New industries form. Existing firms become more productive. New forms of work appear. A knowledge economy emerges where the right information often makes all the difference. Information helps people move further on the PPF when income is already visible. Information technologies repeatedly transform the broad-based economies where they emerge. This we know.
As each leap transforms broad-based economies, we in Development follow. What increased income in broad-based economies would increase income in narrow-based ones. What created new enterprises in the broad would create the same in the narrow. What transformed broad-based analog economies into knowledge economies would transform narrow-based economies the same way. This we say.
Earlier information technology advances bring radio, television, and telecommunications. Information reaches farther than before and extends into the narrow-based economies. This we see.
We in Development respond with educational broadcasting, agricultural radio and television programming, and communication initiatives designed to carry knowledge to the poor. This we do.
The next advances bring computers, databases, expert systems, and CD-ROMs. Information can now be stored, processed, copied, and distributed at unprecedented scale. Access to knowledge expands. This we see.
We respond with information systems, digital knowledge initiatives, and efforts to place access to knowledge closer to the poor. This we do.
Then comes the internet. Information becomes globally connected and reaches places previously disconnected. This we see.
We respond with telecenters, ICT4D, digital extension, email advisories, and connectivity projects to bridge what becomes known as the digital divide. This we do.
Then comes a different kind of advance. Low-cost computers, handheld devices, and school laptops are designed for poor people and poorer places before ordinary computing becomes cheap, small, and mobile enough on its own. It is not quite the next leap in information technology. It is the leap we in Development try to make for the poor before the technology reaches them in the ordinary way. This we see.
We respond with initiatives to design, build, and place low-cost devices directly into schools, villages, households, and the hands of the poor. This we do.
Then come mobile phones. SMS. Smartphones. Messaging apps. Voice apps. Video apps. Digital payments. Information moves continuously between people, markets, and places. Mobile phones spread through the narrow-based economies, and the poor adopt them widely. Information reaches even the remote places. This we see.
We respond with mobile agriculture, video extension, mobile learning, digital inclusion, and digital transformation initiatives. This we do.
Then comes big data. Information from satellites, sensors, phones, platforms, transactions, weather systems, and administrative records can now be gathered, combined, analyzed, and used to predict, target, and guide decisions. This we see.
We respond with data for development, dashboards, remote sensing, digital public infrastructure, predictive analytics, precision advice, and data-driven targeting for the poor. This we do.
Now comes AI. Information becomes searchable, combinable, conversational, personalized, and generative. This we see.
We respond with AI for Development and efforts to place expertise itself within reach of every poor person and household. This we do.
Across these advances, the technologies change and the language changes with them. Leapfrogging. Communication for Development. The Digital Divide. ICT4D. The Knowledge Economy. Digital Inclusion. Data for Development. Digital Transformation. AI for Development. This we see.
The promise remains. Information would reach the poor. Knowledge would reach the poor. Income would reach the poor. Poverty would fall. Smallholders would escape poverty. This we say.
The poor adopt information technologies when they have reason to. Mobile phones spread. Messaging spreads. Digital payments spread. What does not spread the same way is information use that cannot become income on the PPF. Adoption of information technology is not the problem. This we see.
Radio. Television. Telecommunications. Computers. CD-ROMs. The internet. Email. Low-cost devices. Mobile phones. Smartphones. Digital payments. Big data. AI.
Where pre-digital information does not become income on the PPF, digital information does not become income because the medium changes. Human advice, print, radio, television, apps, video, data, and AI still meet the same production decision. This we Question.
Each new leap in information technology brings more information, faster information, and more sophisticated information to the poor. What changes is the information technology. What remains is the old PPF. The producer still responds within the old PPF. This we Question.
So here is the Unquestion:
If each new leap in information technology brings more information to the poor while the same PPF remains, what does it tell us about what information alone cannot change?
And if each information revolution transformed broad-based economies while meeting the old PPF in narrow-based economies, what does it tell us about what must become visible first?
If this Unquestion meets one you have carried quietly, this is the place to say it out loud, so we can see the clarity we already hold together.
The more we Unquestion, the more clarity we gain. The more we Unquestion now, the less future generations will have to.
We are not lost.
We simply avoid the turn.
Once we Unquestion, the direction is already clear.
Thank you for seeing.