Sizing Up Information and Communication Technologies as Agents of political Pevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa

It is widely speculated that the emergence of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) will boost political development in the developing world. This expectation anchors on solid foundation since, presumably, the ICT revolution would radically alter access to information, dislodge entrenched social cleavages, and unleash new patterns of citizen consciousness and civic engagement by hitherto marginalized mass publics, and orchestrate new and decisive political equilibriums. In this research, we provide an empirical assessment of the impact of ICTs on political development in sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis suggests that speculation about the potential for ICTS to enhance political development in the sub-Sahara is not unrealistic. The levels of phone, computer, and internet diffusion are associated with political development, although only the effect of the phone remains once other variables are specified. The phone is the most robust of all individual factors explaining variations in political development. However, t he effect of ICTs on political development can neither be certified as revolutionary, nor can they be codified as panacea

Gendering Technologies: Women In Cameroons Pink-Collar ICT Work

This paper examines the rise of low-skilled, low-paying, female dominated jobs in Cameroons information and communication technology (ICT) sector. It seeks to understand why and how women (mostly between the ages of 18 and 35) seem to be naturally drawn to these jobs, described in the literature as pink-collar jobs. Through interviews with ICT workers and observations at ICT training centers and call centers in Buea, a major city in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, the paper explores the factors that hinder womens entry into more technical ICT jobs in Cameroon. It concludes that some of these factors, such as the prior income level of female ICT workers and the absence of female instructors at ICT training centers, further reinforce gender-based job classifications and the rise of ghettoization in Cameroons ICT sector