Information Communications Technology for Development (ICTD)

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have contributed to dramatic improvements in the productivity of businesses in advanced economies; they have expanded access to information of all sorts, empowered citizens and communities, and helped to strengthen governance.

These technologies can be employed to address problems in the developing world as well, where a large proportion of the population lives in poverty and without access to adequate food, nutritional information, education, health care, credit, and other social and economic opportunities.

The Information and Communication Technologies and Development certificate program equips students to work across boundaries to identify, evaluate, and implement solutions to pressing societal problems in the developing world.

The program has three broad components:

  • Understanding processes of technology diffusion and adoption in developing regions.

  • Acting through the design and deployment of information systems in close collaboration with the communities they are meant to support.

  • Redefining the dialogue about the role of technology in the global economic and political processes that affect developing regions.

The Graduate Certificate in Information and Communication Technologies and Development is issued by the School of Information but is open to all UC Berkeley graduate students. The certificate is in addition to a student’s regular degree program and is designed to complement a wide range of existing degree programs. Upon graduation, you will be issued a certificate in addition to your diploma, and completion of the certificate program will be noted on your official transcript.

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Admissions

Applicants must already be registered UC Berkeley graduate students, in any school or college. Applicants must be in good academic standing (3.0 minimum GPA and making good academic progress). Admission requires the approval of the student’s primary advisor in their home department. To apply to the certificate program, students should complete the Admission Application Form and submit it to ictd-certificate@ischool.berkeley.edu. Students may apply at any time from the beginning of their enrollment in a Berkeley graduate degree program until graduation. We encourage you to apply early; students who have already been admitted to the certificate program will be given enrollment priority for the required course INFO 283.

Certificate Requirements

The Graduate Certificate in ICTD requires both coursework and fieldwork. The Certificate Completion Form must be submitted by the last day of instruction of the student’s final semester, after the completion of all certificate requirements.

Coursework

At least nine units of approved graduate-level or upper-division undergraduate ICTD courses, with a grade of B or higher, including:

  • Information and Communications Technology for Development (INFO 283) (3 units)
  • One course in social sciences methods from the approved list (3 units)
  • Additional ICTD elective(s) from approved list (2 units)
  • INFO 290 Special Topics in Information (1 Unit)
Introductory Course
INFO 283Information and Communications Technology for Development3
Social Science Methods

Choose one course from this list.

A,RESEC/PUB POL C253International Economic Development Policy3
DEVP 229Quantitative Methods and Impact Evaluation3
DEVP 237Leadership, Conflict Resolution, and Community Development3
ENE,RES 273Research Methods in Social Sciences3
INFO 214User Experience Research3
INFO 272Qualitative Research Methods for Information Systems and Management3
INFO 287Course Not Available
ADDITIONAL ELECTIVES

Development Policy

A,RESEC 213Applied Econometrics4
A,RESEC C253International Economic Development Policy3
DEVP 233Law, Politics, and Policymaking3
POL SCI 202ATheories of Development and Political Change4

Development Theory and Methodology

A,RESEC C251Microeconomics of Development3
A,RESEC C253International Economic Development Policy3
ECON 270BDevelopment Economics3
ECON 270CDevelopment Economics3
ENE,RES 273Research Methods in Social Sciences3
ENE,RES 102Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems4
GEOG 214Development Theories and Practices4
GEOG 215Seminar in Comparative and International Development4
POL SCI 139BDevelopment Politics4

Resources and the Environment

DEVP 222Economics of Sustainable Resource Development3
DEVP 227Principles of Natural Resource Management2

Science, Technology, and Society Studies

AFRICAM 134Information Technology and Society4
COMPSCI 195Social Implications of Computer Technology1
STS C200Topics in Science and Technology Studies3
STS C250Science and Technology Studies Research Seminar3

Information Technology Design and Infrastructure

COMPSCI 160User Interface Design and Development4
INFO 213Introduction to User Experience Design4
INFO 214User Experience Research3
MBA 290TSpecial Topics in Innovation and Design0.5-3
MEC ENG 221Graduate Introduction to Lean Manufacturing Systems3
MEC ENG 290PNew Product Development: Design Theory and Methods3

Public Health for Developing Regions

PB HLTH 202BEthnic and Cultural Diversity in Health Status4
PB HLTH 212AInternational Maternal and Child Health2
PB HLTH 220EGlobal Health Policy3
PB HLTH 226DGlobal Health Economics3
DEVP 232Foundations of Public Health2
PB HLTH 253BEpidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases3
PB HLTH 253DBehavior and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention3
PB HLTH 259BPractical Applications of Epidemiologic Methods in Developing Countries3
PB HLTH 271DGlobal Burden of Disease and Comparative Risk Assessment3
PB HLTH 260FInfectious Disease Research in Developing Countries2

Business

CIV ENG 209Design for Sustainable Communities3
CIV ENG 292ATechnologies for Sustainable Societies1
MBA 215Business Strategies for Emerging Markets: Management, Investment, and Opportunities2-3
MBA 292TTopics in Business and Social Impact (Entrapreneurship for Sustainability: Driving Change From Within Corporations)1

Education

EDUC 240BTheoretical Issues in the Study of Literacy3
EDUC 241BLanguage Socialization3
EDUC 241CNarrative across Learning Contexts3
EDUC 250AQualitative Research in Language/Literacy Education3
EDUC 290BSpecial Topics Seminars: Education in Language, Literacy, and Culture1-4
EDUC 295BTechnology, Computing, and Data in Classrooms3
EDUC 295CIntegrating Technology into Secondary English Instruction4

Wrap-Up Course

INFO 290Special Topics in Information (ICTD Research Seminar)1-4

Fieldwork

Certificate students must complete at least six weeks of eligible, approved development-focused fieldwork.

The goal of the field work requirement is to give students a hands-on experience of day-to-day happenings in a development context. While long-term ethnographic research focuses on forces, factors, histories, and people who play decisive roles in determining social outcomes issues, by situating local relationships, understandings and meanings, within shifting policies and economies, a six-week field trip is geared more towards getting a sense of the way a local partner functions within a community and the lifestyles, everyday interactions, and problems faced by the communities these partners serve.

Eligible Fieldwork

Most eligible fieldwork will be conducted abroad, with an organization involved in development. Students may also receive approval for fieldwork performed locally, if the project is with an organization focused on development and the student’s work is clearly development-focused. Eligible fieldwork may include organizations that are not primarily development-oriented, if the student is embedded in a division focused on development or ‘emerging markets.’ In some cases, fieldwork may be eligible even if the organization has no international presence, if it has a clear non-profit social mission, working with local underprivileged or marginalized communities. Fieldwork conducted independently (not through an established organization) may be eligible, particularly for Ph.D. students, if the student can demonstrate the project’s development focus.

Arranging Fieldwork

We expect that most eligible fieldwork will be conducted as an internship with a development organization (although some Ph.D. students may instead perform independent research fieldwork).

Students are responsible for arranging their own fieldwork or internships. Trips are usually arranged in conjunction with a local partner. Students will receive limited assistance from I School faculty through their connections and can make use of several highly active ICTD-themed mailing lists, as well as applying their own initiative to secure fieldwork or internship opportunities.

No dedicated funding is available to support student fieldwork; students should seek paid opportunities or otherwise arrange funding themselves (for example, through dissertation grant funds such as from the NSF or Fulbright Foundation).

Fieldwork Approval

Students must submit the Fieldwork Approval Form for approval of the fieldwork for the ICTD certificate. All projects must be approved by the I School ICTD advisory committee.

Deadline: When possible, the form should be submitted at least two months before the expected start date of the fieldwork, in order to allow time for feedback. However, in exceptional cases, the Fieldwork Approval Form can be submitted after the completion of the fieldwork.

Fieldwork

Certificate students must complete at least six weeks of eligible, approved development-focused fieldwork.

The goal of the fieldwork requirement is to give students a hands-on experience of day-to-day happenings in a development context. While long-term ethnographic research focuses on forces, factors, histories, and people who play decisive roles in determining social outcomes issues, by situating local relationships, understandings and meanings, within shifting policies and economies, a six-week field trip is geared more towards getting a sense of the way a local partner functions within a community and the lifestyles, everyday interactions, and problems faced by the communities these partners serve.

Eligible Fieldwork

Most eligible fieldwork will be conducted abroad, with an organization involved in development. Students may also receive approval for fieldwork performed locally if the project is with an organization focused on development and the student’s work is clearly development-focused. Eligible fieldwork may include organizations that are not primarily development-oriented if the student is embedded in a division focused on development or ‘emerging markets.’ In some cases, fieldwork may be eligible even if the organization has no international presence, if it has a clear non-profit social mission, working with local underprivileged or marginalized communities. Fieldwork conducted independently (not through an established organization) may be eligible, particularly for Ph.D. students, if the student can demonstrate the project’s development focus.

Arranging Fieldwork

We expect that most eligible fieldwork will be conducted as an internship with a development organization (although some Ph.D. students may instead perform independent research fieldwork).

Students are responsible for arranging their own fieldwork or internships. Trips are usually arranged in conjunction with a local partner. Students will receive limited assistance from I School faculty through their connections and can make use of several highly active ICTD-themed mailing lists, as well as applying their own initiative to secure fieldwork or internship opportunities.

No dedicated funding is available to support student fieldwork; students should seek paid opportunities or otherwise arrange funding themselves (for example, through dissertation grant funds such as from the NSF or Fulbright Foundation).

Fieldwork Approval

Students must submit the Fieldwork Approval Form for approval of the fieldwork for the ICTD certificate. All projects must be approved by the I School ICTD advisory committee.

Deadline: When possible, the form should be submitted at least two months before the expected start date of the fieldwork, in order to allow time for feedback. However, in exceptional cases, the Fieldwork Approval Form can be submitted after the completion of the fieldwork.

Contact Information

School of Information

102 South Hall

Phone: 510-642-1464

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