We are the World Research Project

Abstract for “Bridging Afghanistan’s Digital Divide” Essay

I chose the topic of Afghanistan’s Digital Divide to explore in my research paper. Afghanistan is a country that, because of almost three decades of conflict, now lags behind other developed nations in many areas including information and technology communications (ITC). My paper explores the numbers behind Afghanistan’s ITC disparity, what obstacles make overcoming the disparity difficult, and suggestions for overcoming those obstacles.

I explored the issue through research in scholarly journals, magazines, and websites that, through the course of the semester, I have been evaluating for usefulness, credibility, and ideas that fit with the topic. Secondarily, I used my personal relationships with people who served in the Army during Operation Enduring Freedom to get an idea of the ground conditions in Afghanistan. I used this knowledge to help me in during the source selection process to determine which of the accounts I encountered best matched the reports I was given by my interview subjects.

I relied heavily on the Afghan government’s policy papers and websites to gain knowledge about actual data and goals they have on ITC in the country. I found the Ministry of Communication’s website to be exceptionally useful in finding information about their goals for the next 5-10 years, figures relating to ITC, and budgetary considerations. Newspaper and journal articles mostly contributed to my recommendations for overcoming some of the barriers that are keeping Afghanistan from meeting these goals.

My recommendations include: effectively rebuilding the infrastructure, the U.S. continuing to sustain a large troop presence in the region until Afghan forces can provide adequate security, additional support from the international community and private corporations for infrastructure and training projects, and a fee schedule that allows local companies to operate and revenue to be collected from foreign corporations.

My essay can be viewed here. Click on the link that says Click here to download "MCGREGOR_Essay.pdf" This will open the pdf as a new window.