Socio-economic Impact of Information and Communication Technology: A Case Study of Kerala Marine Fisheries Sector

Technology and technological change are the two major ingredient factors for economic growth and development. Invention and innovation make the technological change in its forms and operation. The diffusion of technology brings the technological change in practice. The potential benefit of any technology is analyzed only when a new and more advanced technology is successfully diffused to a large number of end users. Capable of absorbing such (skill) capacity is also very much concerned one. In the present context, new and advanced technology in the fisheries sector is Information and Communication Technology (ICT); is a state of the art technology of modern civilization. This research paper looks into the role of ICT in the fisheries sector of Kerala and absorptive capacity of the fisherfolk in Kerala to make knowledge base fisherfolk. With the help of GPS, Sonar, Fish remote sensing, Wireless set, Computer, Mobile phone, fishermen can make a significant impact on productivity, cost efficiency, safety and security The study is conducted in two coastal villages; Munambam in Eranakulam and Pozhiyoor in Thiruvananthapuram. All the fishermen got benefited by the Information and Communication Technology with improvement in productivity and income. The diffusion of new knowledge and proper training are major hurdles for the use of Information Communication and Space technologies in an appropriate way.