The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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PAPER The Drum Beat - 24 - Ohio University - Information Transfer

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The Drum Beat - 24 - Ohio University - Information Transfer
Additional Information and Commentary - Please contact the student identified for a full copy of their paper.


By Thelma (Xiaodong) Tang
International Student of Ohio University
July 1999
xt346492@oak.cats.ohiou.edu


24. Abstract of Information Transfer --- Growth of the Next Millennium

As we approach the next millennium, the development issue seems more and more challenging; "elimination of poverty requires analyzing the ability of the Earth to sustain an adequate level of development to feed, clothe, and house the world's increasing population." (Smith, 1994) The notion of "sustainable development" has been widely accepted as a new development paradigm; yet the term still needs to be more clearly defined and more importantly, new strategies and means for implementing sustainable development need to be explored in this new era of information age which could pose a challenge as well as an opportunity for development. The newly appeared information communication technologies (ICTs) bring with them seemingly limitless potential to the field of communication and development. As Mansell and Wehn (1998) pointed out, "Rapid advances in information and communication technology (ICTs) are central to transformation in local and global markets and the way people conduct their everyday lives. ... ICTs are increasingly a key focus for policy makers and corporate strategists concerned with development issues." Acknowledging the importance and the exciting perspective of the issue, the research reviews the newly emerged literature regarding the information society and information transfer, trying to explore the rationale behind them as well as to find out to which degree information transfer can play an important role in development. Through the case studies of Telecottage in Sweden and the application of Remote Sensing technology in Sudan, the researcher concludes that information transfer can actually facilitate local or even national development. But other questions pop up. For example, how can ICTs be implemented not only at a local level, but at national and international level, so as to narrow rather than widening the information gap resulted from the economic gap? How can ICTs be implemented without sacrificing the rich social and cultural diversities? Further studies contributing to a set-up theory in the field are urgently needed.