The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider) is a resource centre for ICT for development (ICT4D). Spider was established in 2004 and is based at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University. Spider’s thematic focus is aligned with Sweden’s ICT4D priorities, while the crosscutting issues it addresses reflect its vision and mission.
Thematic areas: democracy, education, health.
Crosscutting ICT issues: low-cost and high-quality technology, free and open source software (FOSS), mobile technology for development (M4D).
Crosscutting development issues: youth empowerment, cultural creativity, capacity development.
Its vision is an interconnected world built in the spirit of digital solidarity for future generations.
Its mission is to support the innovative use of ICT for development and poverty reduction through synergistic partnerships, while strengthening the global ICT4D knowledge base through networking, brokering, and open sharing of information.
Spider is a network organisation that serves as an ICT4D broker. It functions like a node in a network of actors from academia, civil society, government, and business. It combines networking and knowledge brokering with support to innovative ICT4D projects and ICT4D research in partner countries.
Spider focuses primarily on the 12 priority countries for Swedish development cooperation: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The geographical scope is narrower for its ICT4D projects in partner countries and broader for the Spider network.
Work supported:
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Holding government accountable for combating gender-based violence in Cambodia (2012-2013)