An analysis of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the Sub-Saharan African region

This thesis focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, and the market-based approach that is being taken in the design and implementation of ICT initiatives in the Sub-Saharan African region. From a political economy standpoint, I provide a critical analysis of ICTs for development in the Sub-Saharan African region. In particular, I argue that current attempts by international business entities and international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to wire the continent are based on the dominant paradigm, which views ICTs as the index of modernization, and the only means for Africa to 'leapfrog' to the industrial stage. As a result, if care is not taken, these initiatives might create new forms of economic dependency for the region, similar to development initiatives in the 1960s and 1970s which relied on the modernization paradigm of Lerner and Schramm. To avoid creating a new form of techno-dependency in the Sub-Saharan African region, this thesis concludes with suggestions for effective use of ICTs in development

Neo-Gramscian Approach and Geopolitics of ICT4D Agenda

For the last two decades, the notion of Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) has had significant traction in both praxis and scholarly work of international development. While it has dystopia and utopia dimensions, ICT4D came out of particular history and intellectual climates. The historical and political contexts that shaped the ICT4D agenda deserve examination. Grounded within the canon of neo-Gramscian perspectives, this paper discusses the geopolitical construct of the ICT4D agenda and the agenda-building roles of international institutions in the process. In situating the ICT4D agenda in the geopolitical context, this paper highlights the institutional discursive structure and embedded geometries of power relations in the global communication and international development agenda

Toward a Sustainable African Information Society in 2010: An Analysis of the Global Influence on the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)

This thesis examines the interaction in the network of international and regional organizations in setting the norms, rules and strategic directions for international development and governance of global information society. Situated within the theoretical framework of international regime theory and Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, it uses the “Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI): An action framework to build ICT infrastructure in Africa” as its case study. Based on the empirical evidences gathered from the historical policy document analysis and qualitative semi-structured interviews, it provides a critical analysis of how the diffusion of global neoliberal agenda through the international organizations shaped the AISI policy prescriptions. It analyzes the challenges confronting the AISI implementation and ICTs for development agenda in Africa. In view of the inherent contradictions between the transnational character of the AISI and the national characters of the region, it examines the implication of these problems and suggests potential ways of addressing them. It concludes by stressing the importance of contextual local institutional forces and cultural ethos in the ICT policies and development process in Africa