Context: Why is this project important?

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are generally acknowledged to play a critical role in the establishment, development and growth of enterprises by contributing to enhanced efficiency, wider communications reach, greater potential profitability, and scalability to evolve into a medium level enterprise. There have, however, been a limited number of research studies conducted to reveal evidence to support or refute these claims.

In India, where ICT penetration rates have been increasing at a rapid pace - especially in urban centers - there is a need to understand what roles can ICTs play in poverty reduction in urban centres. In a country where experts have projected to see the urban population grow to 40% by 2025, the shift will likely be accompanied by a rapid increase in urban poverty. As a result, there is a need to examine the role of ICTs among different groups to understand the impact on social inclusion/exclusion, capabilities attainment and monetary income growth.

The Project: How does this initiative address the development problem?
This project seeks to deepen the understanding of the interplay of ICTs and SMEs and uses Mumbai as a case study. Mumbai represents India's largest urban area; it is home to 12.8 million mobile subscribers (the highest rate in the country); and it has a vibrant informal sector, which accounts for two-thirds of total employment in the city, providing thus a perfect setting for this study. Positing poverty as a multi-dimensional construct, the researchers will use three main categories of poverty-related indicators: 1) monetary 2) capabilities and 3) social exclusion.

The study that will focus on three key areas, notably: 1) current and potential patterns of mobile phone, PC and cybercafé use 2) relationships between different ICTs and the stability or growth of urban micro-enterprises and 3) identifying urban micro-enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs that will most likely benefit from using different ICTs.

Objectives:
The general objective of this project is to deepen the understanding of how the effective deployment of ICTs can facilitate poverty reduction in urban centers of the developing world. More specifically, the project will:

• generate scientifically rigorous data regarding ICT use by micro-entrepreneurs in Mumbai, India;
• reveal different aspects of the relationship(s) between ICTs and urban micro-enterprises, informing discussions of ways that ICTs might help micro-entrepreneurs raise local standards of living by maintaining and growing their businesses, by providing new or better-paying jobs, and participate on a more equal footing in the global marketplace; and
• inform and influence academic thinking, policy planning, and program creation around the issues of mobile phones, PCs, and Internet cafés as enablers of equitable and sustainable economic growth.

Development Impact
This project focuses primarily on building a body of evidence that could contextualize anecdotal trends in ICT and urban micro-enterprise studies; inform local and state policy-makers; and create a foundation for future inter-city and inter-state studies in India, as well as other urban centers in the Asian region and beyond. Given the limited knowledge of the size, scope and nature of the information sector that houses the majority of urban micro-enterprises in Mumbai, the research results from this project will help build a foundation to help garner a deeper understanding of the sector, its access and usage behaviours vis-à-vis ICTs, and the resulting effect on poverty.

Outputs & Website
All publications and materials related to this project will be available as the project progresses.