INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AS A POVERTY REDUCTION TOOL

Abstract

In a world where the scourge of poverty affects more and more people, we believe that any possible wicket, any possible tool to reduce poverty must be exploited. In this context, due to the expansion that information and communications technology has experienced in recent years in developed and in developing countries, in poor countries, starting from the premise that poverty means not just the lack of resources to cover basic needs, food, clothing, housing, but also limiting access to information, our work is projected as an analysis of ICT’s impact in poverty reduction. Our research is an extension of our latest work “A view on the role of ICT in the fight against poverty”, and is built on a review of the existing studies from the specialized literature which analyze the relationship between poverty and ICT and confirms the role of ICT in reducing poverty. The literature review that highlights the role of ICT in poverty reduction is followed by a concise analysis of ICT penetration in Romania.

Keywords

• information and communications technology (ICT)
• poverty reduction
• ICT penetration
• Romania.