The Microsoft Unlimited Potential E-centers in Bhutan: Using ICT for development

This paper will present the potential effects specific to the Microsoft Unlimited Potential community E-centers, as a creative and innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution to rural development in Bhutan. It will also explore the impacts that Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have on four other aspects of development, namely economic growth, political evolution, good governance, and gender equity. While evaluating the impacts of ICT in general and E-centers in particular on development in Bhutan, this paper will concentrate on the potential value of ICT as agents of change in enabling development, based on the past experiences of such use of ICT in other developing countries. This paper will also argue in favour of the use of ICT to serve broader development purposes in the ongoing debate about the need and effectiveness of ICT in the developing world, where it has been argued that other areas such as health care and education deserve higher priority. Information and Communications Technology in Bhutan The reach of media and information across Bhutan, especially in the rural villages, is scarce and difficult as its population is scattered across a mountainous terrain. Yet, the Bhutanese government is aware of the tremendous impact Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have in enabling development and the need to utilize the resources that IC