THE CONTINUING saga of the national broadband network/ZTE scandal is another grim reminder of one of the biggest reasons information and communications technology still hasn’t really benefited many Filipinos: good ideas (maybe even good intentions) easily give way to greed in this country.

Of course, many government projects become mired in scandal and corruption, but somehow government IT projects seem even more susceptible. Probably because, on the one hand, everyone knows how important it is for our country to fully embrace ICT in order to remain globally competitive, but, on the other hand, much of the stuff is pretty technical that it might be easier to pull off a fast one. Then again, if one cynically assumes that the people who broker such deals are just after kickbacks, then they don’t really have to understand or care about the technical issues; it just so happens that ICT projects are “sexy” enough to be considered national priorities.

Frankly, I’m not really sure what to believe anymore. I’ve always maintained that ICT can be used to improve the lot of Filipinos, and I’ve always been optimistic about our capacity for self-improvement. Yet over the years, we’ve seen so many ICT initiatives fall by the wayside, heard so many promises about making the Philippines an ICT hub, seen so many ICT champions come and go. I still believe those of us who have been fortunate to become one of the digital haves should do our share in helping the digital have-nots. But how do we achieve these lofty goals in the face of unrelenting greed?

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AS tech evangelists, we might assume that, given the opportunity, everyone would want to embrace the changes brought about by the digital revolution.

But the reality check is that apart from the digital divide brought about by the fact that many poor people can’t afford technology, we also have to contend with the mindset of those who are unwilling or afraid to have anything to do with technology.

Consider the results of the Pew Internet & American Life Project report “A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users.” You can check out the PDF of the report here and of the questionnaire they used here.

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