Climate change and environment

The use of ICT in weather forecasting is broad. Weather forecasting offices use mass media to inform the public on weather updates. After tropical storm Ondoy in the Philippines, the Filipino people are more curious and aware about the weather hazards. Meteorological offices are also using advanced tools to monitor the weather and the weather systems that may affect a certain area.

Monitoring devices

· Weather satellites

· Weather radars

· Automatic weather stations

· Wind profilers

· Other synoptic data or weather instruments, including Earth Simulator which is used to model climate and weather conditions.

Education

The use of ICTs in the educational system would not be able to solve the current problems in the educational system, but rather provide alternative solutions to the obstacles encountered in the conventional educational system. ICTs would be able to provide education and knowledge in a wider reach, even with a limited amount of resource, unlike conventional systems of education.

ICT has been employed in many education projects and research over the world. The Hole in the Wall (also known as minimally invasive education) is one of the projects which focuses on the development of computer literacy and the improvement of learning. Other projects included the utilization of mobile phone technology to improve educational outcomes.

In the Philippines, there are key notes that have been forwarded to expand the definition of ICT4E from an exclusive high-end technology to include low-end technology; that is, both digital and analog. As a leading mobile technology user, the Philippines can take advantage of this for student learning. One project that serves as an example is Project Mind, a collaboration of the Molave Development Foundation, Health Sciences University of Mongolia, ESP Foundation, and the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) which focuses on the viability of Short Message System (SMS) for distance learning. Pedagogy, Teacher Training, and Personnel Management are some of the subgroups of ICT4E. UPOU is one of the best examples of education transformation that empowers the potential of ICT in the Philippines' education system. By maximizing the use of technology to create a wide range of learning, UPOU promotes lifelong learning in a more convenient way.

Since the education sector plays a vital role in economic development, Education System in developing countries should align with the fast evolving technology because technological literacy is one of the required skills in our current era. ICT can enhance the quality of education by increasing learner motivation and engagement, by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills and by enhancing teacher training which will eventually improve communication and exchange of information that will strengthen and create economic and social development.

Health

ICTs can aid in collaborative efforts to create a reliable, timely, high quality and affordable health care and health information systems and to promote continuous medical training, education, and research. WSIS also promotes the use of ICTs to facilitate access to the world’s medical knowledge, improve common information systems, improve and extend health care and health information systems to remote and under served areas, and provide medical and humanitarian assistance during disasters and emergencies.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 15% of the world's total population have disabilities. This is approximately 600 million people wherein three out of every four are living in developing countries, half are of working age, half are women and the highest incidence and prevalence of disabilities occurs in poor areas. With ICT, lives of people with disabilities can be improved, allowing them to have a better interaction in society by widening their scope of activities.

Goals of ICT and disability work

· Give disabled people a powerful tool in their battle to gain employment

· Increase disabled people’s skills, confidence, and self-esteem

· Integrate disabled people socially and economically into their communities;

· Reduce physical or functional barriers and enlarge scope of activities available to disabled persons

· Develop a web content that can be accessed by persons with disabilities especially the visually impaired and hearing impaired

At the international level, there are numerous guiding documents impacting on the education of people with disabilities such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), moving to the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) includes policies about accessibility, non-discrimination, equal opportunity, full and effective participation and other issues. The key statement within the CRPD (2006) relevant for ICT and people with disabilities is within Article 9:

"To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and rural areas. (p. 9)"

Another international policy that has indirect implications for the use of ICT by people with disabilities are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although these do not specifically mention the right to access ICT for people with disabilities, two key elements within the MDGs are to reduce the number of people in poverty and to reach out to the marginalised groups without access to ICT.