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

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

A Guide for Stakeholder Analysis in IS/IT Management and Research: The Case of Broadband Availability in Rural North Carolina

Stakeholder analysis is a methodology that can provide valuable insights about a phenomenon. Information systems and information technology researchers have utilized stakeholder analysis to understand and learn from successes, failures, and other aspects of IS/IT initiatives. In this tutorial, we provide guidelines for conducting a stakeholder analysis currently missing in the IS/IT discipline despite being called for a long time. For our analysis, we review and combine studies from within the IS/IT discipline with work in organizational and strategic management and public policy. Our guidelines start with determining who the stakeholders are related to a phenomenon and what key concerns these stakeholders have about the phenomenon. In the next step, we relate stakeholders to one another and across the key concerns and point out how to identify possible coalitions. Last, we describe how to apply these findings to determine strategies for managing stakeholders or build theory around a phenomenon and its concerns. These final steps can be used to make policy recommendations, provide guidance for IS/IT-related initiatives, or present constructs and relationships that can be tested by future researchers. We demonstrate the applicability of our guidelines with a case study about broadband availability in rural North Carolina

Harnessing ICTs to scale-up agricultural innovations (ICT4Scale) : case study report

Annex 1 to Final Technical ReportThis report provides the outcomes of a case study that involved projects in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Ethiopia. The purpose was to examine the roles of ICTs and the institutional arrangements needed for the effective use of ICTs in support of scaling up innovations. Overall, the wider project examined the roles and contributions of ICT in scaling agricultural solutions for food, nutrition and income security, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. It focused on the role and contributions of ICT as an enabler to building awareness of agricultural improvements, and the skills, knowledge and contacts to apply them

A Guide for Stakeholder Analysis in IS/IT Management and Research: The Case of Broadband Availability in Rural North Carolina

Stakeholder analysis is a methodology that can provide valuable insights about a phenomenon. Information systems and information technology researchers have utilized stakeholder analysis to understand and learn from successes, failures, and other aspects of IS/IT initiatives. In this tutorial, we provide guidelines for conducting a stakeholder analysis currently missing in the IS/IT discipline despite being called for a long time. For our analysis, we review and combine studies from within the IS/IT discipline with work in organizational and strategic management and public policy. Our guidelines start with determining who the stakeholders are related to a phenomenon and what key concerns these stakeholders have about the phenomenon. In the next step, we relate stakeholders to one another and across the key concerns and point out how to identify possible coalitions. Last, we describe how to apply these findings to determine strategies for managing stakeholders or build theory around a phenomenon and its concerns. These final steps can be used to make policy recommendations, provide guidance for IS/IT-related initiatives, or present constructs and relationships that can be tested by future researchers. We demonstrate the applicability of our guidelines with a case study about broadband availability in rural North Carolina

Communicating for development using social media: A case study of e-inclusion intermediaries in under-resourced communities

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDSouth Africa is committed to accelerating the roll-out of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support development at all levels. E-inclusion intermediaries (e-IIs) are used in the country to bridge the digital divide and to create equal opportunities for citizens to benefit from using ICTs. E-IIs are established mainly in under-resourced communities by private, public and third-sector organisations to provide physical access to ICT services for free or at a very low cost. The aim of e-IIs is to make ICT services affordable for and accessible to marginalised and poor community members, who can use the ICT to support community development. The debate is ongoing regarding the contribution of e-IIs towards community development due to, in part, the lack of quantifiable evidence to support the impact that the e-IIs have on development in the communities. Furthermore, despite the existence of e-IIs in communities, there still are community members who do not use the e-IIs. This has been attributed to the lack of awareness of the e-IIs and the services they provide. This lack of awareness is often blamed on the ineffective communication strategies of e-IIs. E-IIs are accused of relying heavily on traditional communication channels and conventional mass media, which do not share information and create awareness effectively in the communities. The increased uptake of modern technologies, such as the Internet and mobile devices, in South Africa has created new opportunities to communicate with community members to share information and create awareness. Social media, for instance, which are mostly accessed through mobile devices, have made communication more accessible and inexpensive for community members with limited skills and resources. Social media have also become popular among development actors in their attempt to direct policy, create awareness and garner community members’ support for development interventions. Arguably, e-IIs could also benefit from using social media, which have become popular in some communities, to communicate with community members in order to create awareness of the e-IIs, the services they provide and the benefits of using ICTs to support community development. The investigation undertaken in this study was twofold. Firstly, the quick-scan analysis method was used to analyse fifty e-IIs. Using this method it was possible to explore the services that are provided by e-IIs as well as how e-IIs communicate with community members and other development actors. Secondly, using six in-depth case studies this study further investigated how e-IIs’ services support community development and how the e-IIs communicate for development, paying special attention to their use of social media