The use of ICT in developing local content

I think by far the best application of ICT is in the area of adaptation or creating locally relevant content. There is basically two ways of creating content. One is to search online for any near-to-what you want content and edit to suit your situation. The other is to take a suitable application and begin creating from scratch. The first option is almost always preferred if not recommended. This is because construction of knowledge is a a structured discipline i.e you always build on existing and tested knowledge. Many people take time to first investigate what is existing and from there embark on the next process of either extending it or, what most us do, retain the facts and simply add meaning to suite our different situations. Changing Facts is another undertaking and is a scientific process involving research etc. So if you look at this challenging process, gather available content, comparing, editing and reproduction simply fits the ICT bill. Take for instance, a teacher in rural Zambia preparing content in civics about natural endowment, all s/he does is take general text edit few names and possibly add a picture of local river from his/her digital camera. This is what ICT is meant to do; something old forms of technologies could only accomplish when done by highly skilled people and at prohibitive costs.   

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