Offering a comprehensive overview of contemporary theoretical and programmatic issues in the fields of sustainability, culture, communication, development and social change, this book explores the relationship between communication and sustainability from a social change perspective.

Currently, around one to two billion users are able to connect to the Internet, most of them living in the industrialized parts of the world. However, if we want to improve the quality of life of the world population with the help of access to information and education, it is necessary that in the next decade an additional five billion people gain access to the Internet. The next five billion Internet users are mainly living in emerging economies. Therefore, the main challenge is to lower the economic barrier using new approaches for infrastructure deployment and service delivery to billions of people. This book reflects the discussions of the challenges from the Münchner Kreis with representatives from the ICT industry, academia, non-governmental organizations and governmental development organizations, among them many representatives from emerging economies in Africa and Asia. They had highlighted the real demand for ICT, and what impact ICT creates for the wealth and lifestyle of the people.

This publication identifies the role of digital infrastructure in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)--including education, employment, agricultural sustainability, food security, and spatial inequality--in 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It identifies a gap between the outcomes achieved for each SDG in the countries studied and those achieved in OECD countries. Moreover, the region still has a long way to go to achieve the SDG targets set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The authors explain how investment in digital infrastructure can help close the gaps between the region and these two benchmarks (OECD countries and SDG targets). They also quantify the investment in telecom in the region between 2008 and 2017 and estimate what amount is still needed to help close these gaps.

Communication for Development is about dialogue, participation and the sharing of knowledge and information among people and institutions. The 9th UN Roundtable (Rome, September 2004), focused on "Communication and sustainable development" and addressed three key inter-related themes that are central to this issue: Communication in Research, Extension and Education; Communication for Natural Resource Management; and Communication for isolated and Marginalized Groups. The selection of key note papers presented in this publication offers views and perspectives that contribute to these themes.