A Methodology for Context—Specific Information Systems Design Theorizing

Prescriptive knowledge constitutes one of the important contributions of information systems design theorizing in information systems (IS) research. Existing methods for IS design theorizing apply kernel/reference theories as sources of justificatory knowledge that serve to justify and validate the knowledge produced. This has gaps in guiding how specific contexts of stakeholders and their practices can be entertained in the design process. This research attempts to address the above void, taking a socio-technically complex agricultural extension information service and the contexts that define it into account. The research builds on an existing IS design theory framework and shows how it can be improved by incorporating context into its components. It contributes to theory by adapting the existing frameworks using contextual insights from the local development practices and the stakeholders’ conditions. It in turn contributes to practice by developing a context-specific knowledge that can guide practitioners engaged in rolling out information and communication technology for development interventions in such environments

Digital Transformation for Development: A Multilevel Conceptual Framework

This article aims to address the underlying challenges and opportunities associated with digital transformation for development. One intends to identify the main impacts of digital technologies in developing countries and how it is possible to extend their benefits to mitigate the digital divide and enable development. As such, based on a review, interpretation, and synthesis of both digital transformation and ICT4D1 literature and through a structured narrative literature review, this study proposes a Digital Transformation for Development (DT4D) conceptual model. Grounded on a critical interpretive approach, this model pinpoints how digital transformation scholarship has focused on organizations and overlooked the potential of existing digital technologies to enable development at a societal level. That way, the main objective of the model developed is to investigate the role and impact of digital transformation in supporting development at a societal level and propose avenues for future research

Bridging the ICT4D Design-Actuality Gap: “Human ATMs” and the Provision of Financial Services for “Humble People”

Most challenges in ICT for development (ICT4D) projects can be related to differences in perceptions of systems developers and their actual users. Such design-actuality gaps exist both because designers take an uninformed stance towards the user context, and also because problems that ICT4D projects address are nested in systems whose interplay is nearly impossible to predict. Although gaps are inevitable, users are not passive recipients whose only choices are to accept shortfalls in design or reject ICT4D technologies. Rather, users may act to remedy shortfalls through system work-arounds. In this paper we investigate the design use gap in the Brazilian correspondent banking model, an ICT4D project in which local small businesspeople interact with social, financial, government, and technical systems to provide financial services mostly for poor populations. Our findings suggest that correspondents’ acts to alter the financial and social systems proved sufficient to permit success of the project. Our results point to the importance of taking into account user actions and the separate roles of individual systems when designing ICT4D projects and theorizing their performance

A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON QUANTIFICATION OF DEVELOPMENT IN ICT4D

Many donor-funded ICT4D interventions are implemented to quantitatively measure, monitor, and evaluate results of development projects and programs in the global South. We focus on how quantification processes aren’t neutral and in the temptation of evidence-based efficiency, can potentially form new inequalities. Current studies within this field overlook the role of ICTs in the quantification process and how IT-enabled quantification systems potentially contribute in bringing institutional change with ethical and social implications for development. In this paper, using institutional logics, affordances, and the concept of IS artifact, we take a first step towards theorizing this problematic side of ICT4D and quantification. We further outline our plan to empirically illustrate this framework through an ongoing interpretive case study in Nepal. The case study explores a donor-funded public sector ICT4D intervention, implemented for assisting local governments to self-evaluate their institutional capacity through ICT-enabled quantification system. Finally, we contribute to the IS literature by providing a critical theoretical lens to scrutinize ICT4D interventions

Designing for a ‘Sweet Spot’ in an Intervention in a Least Developed Country: The Case of e-Government in Bangladesh

Despite the potential for information systems to improve societal conditions in developing countries, a lack of cumulative knowledge building to inform interventions hampers progress. This paper reports an integrated action research – design science project that addressed the problem of limited adoption of e-government in Bangladesh and contributes to design theory. Inadequate knowledge of the nature of e-government systems was identified as an underlying cause of many other problems. Activities included the delivery of a training program and a handbook targeted at senior government officers. The project had relatively modest resources and yet yielded positive outcomes. Critical reflection has established a number of design principles for an intervention of this type, with the most important principle being to first identify a “sweet spot”, a point of maximum leverage, and then work on it

ICT4D Research – Literature Review and Conflict Perspective

ICTs can positively influence development outcomes. However, ICT4D projects have achieved limited success in achieving their development objectives. In this study, we conduct a literature review of ICT4D studies conducted over the period 2006 - 2016. We find that theory linking ICT use and development impact is lacking, and that mobile devices might offer high positive impact possibilities than personal computers. We also find that studies characterize development in different ways: 1) development as expanded digital inclusion, 2) development as increased economic productivity, 3) development as expanded freedom, and 4) development as increased well-being. Across these development perspectives, however, conflict among stakeholders impacts development outcomes. By examining the literature under the lens of postcolonial theory, we find that power asymmetry among stakeholders might increase the resource dependency of beneficiary communities on donors, and might lead to the former resisting further ICT interventions

Context is key in ICT4D: A longitudinal case study of the Eswatini livestock traceability system implementation - 2012 to 2022

All Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) research has a contextual aspect. However, there is no specific theory used to describe the context. This article explores Eswatini’s context with their implementation of the Swaziland Livestock Information and Traceability System (SLITS). Two frameworks are combined to emphasize the role of the project’s context, specifically the cultural context, as the community is highly-contextualized. Hall’s Theory of High-Context/Low-Context (HC/LC) is combined with the Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) framework. The longitudinal case study leans toward a rich contextual analysis, with the data collected presented as six distinct themes. The main findings suggest the contextual setting of an ICT4D project leads to unique findings, with the cultural aspects of the context needing greater emphasis. Future research will include identifying similar constructs in longitudinal ICT4D projects to derive a widely-used framework applicable to more such projects