Consultants as intermediaries and mediators in the construction of information and communication technologies for development

This article considers the role of one actor that is in the ascendancy in the development sector, namely the multinational management consulting organization. Drawing on science and technology studies concepts, we argue that such consultants are increasing and important, yet relatively invisible intermediaries and mediators in the development sphere that justify critical examination. Empirically, we draw on secondary data relating to the shape and nature of consulting in the development sector and focus specifically on a report by a multinational consulting organization to illustrate our argument. Our discussion argues that consultants can be treated both as intermediaries, relays in a network of development provision, and as highly political mediators that seek to expand and stabilize their position in the development network and, in so doing, actively shape what we take development to be. Overall, we suggest that understanding the ways in which such actors engage in the development sphere are important to current and future discussions and developments in information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D)

ICT in Developing Context(s)

This paper seeks to develop a theoretical contribution to studies in the areas of ICT in developing contexts by reviewing how the notion of context has been understood to date, before offering a rethinking of how it is handled in the IS and development studies literature. To do this we draw a case study of M-PESA a mobile banking initiative in Kenya, on science and technology studies ideas and specifically Cooper and Law’s (1995) distal and proximal perspectives, to argue that we need to better attend to the multiplicity of practices which take place within development arenas, and also to better consider the processes by which context is represented. The paper concludes by addressing some of the implications for information systems research and development

BOUNDARY OBJECTS AND BLINDING: THE CONTRADICTORY ROLE OF GIS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

Based on detailed observations of how senior officials and forest rangers collaborate together using geographic information systems (GIS) this article examines the contradictory role of boundary objects in the enforcement of deforestation control policies in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Specifically, we unpack the mechanisms behind the way in which these artifacts have simultaneously facilitated joint work and fostered conflict between different groups working in the region. From these observations it emerged that the reification of work related the role of GIS as a boundary object contributed on the one hand the emergence of new forms of collaboration at a distance but on the other hand led to a process we call boundary-blinding, namely, the inability of managers to understand the practices and outcomes of the work of the groups across boundaries. From that the paper proposes a (re)conceptualization of the notion of boundary objects that pays particular attention to the process of reification and its contradictory outcomes in the context of joint work. The paper also concludes point out to some of the challenges involved in fostering inter-departmental collaboration through ICT in the public sector

Power, Knowledge and Management Information Systems Education: The Case of the Indian Learner

This paper considers the challenges that arise for Indian students who undertake postgraduate Management Information Systems programmes outside India. We discuss how the educational practices in India differ from those that are required by MIS postgraduate programmes in the UK. Drawing on empirical work that has been conducted in India between November 2005 and January 2006, we highlight some of the key features of the Indian undergraduate education experience before suggesting that these are in contrast to those that Indian students encounter while studying at the postgraduate level in the UK. We argue that MIS programmes also pose significant challenges due to the diverse subject matter that is typically taught and assessed. Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, we argue that education processes in both India and the UK are inextricably interlinked to claims about what constitutes legitimate knowledge and the practices that produce and reproduce such claims. Suggestions for change to MIS programmes derive from our analysis

Ensembles of Practice: Older Adults, Technology, and Loneliness & Social Isolation in Rural Settings

This paper considers whether, and if so how, ICT might play a role in addressing loneliness and social isolation for older adults in rural areas. We base our paper on a longitudinal co-creation study that has been undertaken in a rural location in the North of England. We adopt a practice perspective to examine the everyday practices of older adults as they sought out opportunities to address their desire for social connectedness and explore how technology might support them in those practices. Specifically, we argue that we need to identify the linking practices that enable participation in social connectedness through ICT. Based on this, we develop a model to guide future practice based studies and interventions

ASSEMBLING ‘DIFFERENCE’ THROUGH DIGITIZED MUSIC: THE CASE OF URBAN PIRACY IN RECIFE, BRAZIL

This paper draws from work-in-progress research focusing on the piracy of digitized music within informal markets in the global south. We consider this topic with reference to empirical data garnered from an ethnographic study of informal media markets in Recife, Brazil. These markets are composed of piracy hawkers – street sellers with piracy stalls equipped with CD/DVD player, car battery and speakers, who walk the streets playing and selling copied digital media, particularly, locally produced music. Overall we seek to explore how these alternative means of production, distribution and consumption of locally produced content enable engagement with local culture and, through this, preserve their cultural ‘distinct-ness’ within the global south. We draw on Deleuze and Guattari (1987) assemblage theory and argue that these piracy stalls are part of complex urban arrangements which enact and extend the circulation and consumption of local music by means of local product and service curation, and through market scaling. Thus, they preserve and emphasize cultural ‘difference’ through digitized music. The findings reported here are based on ongoing analysis

Participatory Design as the Temporal Flow of Coalescing Participatory Lines

This paper argues that the existing literature on participatory design (PD) tends to focus on frontstage design interactions (workshops, participants, methodologies, techniques, etc.) to facilitate PD ‘here and now’—referred to as the interactional approach. In contrast, the paper proposes to contribute to an evolving literature, referred to as the transformational approach, that takes a more longitudinal line and which attends to both the frontstage and backstage within an extended temporal frame. To do this the paper draws on the work of the social anthropologist Tim Ingold, in particular, his concept of the happening of ongoing life as a bundle of flowing lines. The paper argues that PD becomes possible when ongoing participation is conceived of as a set of corresponding (or coalescing) and conditioning lines of flow—each line with its own history, attentionality, rhythms, tempos and so forth. To illustrate what this reorientation might mean for PD the paper draws on an in-depth action research study of a PD initiative that sought to develop a digital service to address loneliness and social isolation in a rural location in the UK. The paper explores how project members, individual participants, non-governmental organisation, government representatives, evaluators and funders co-responded to each other (or not) as they engaged, or became implicated, in the PD process. The paper concludes with some practical implications of what such an Ingoldian reorientation might mean for the ongoing development of PD as a transformational methodology

Loneliness and older adults: psychological resilience and technology use during the COVID-19 pandemic—a cross sectional study

Introduction: This study investigated how psychological resilience influenced greater technology use among older adults, and whether they moderated the impact of social isolation on loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also explored whether technology mediates the impact of psychological resilience on loneliness. To explain the relationship between variables, the research drew upon the socio-emotional selective theory, which posits the notion that older adults are more focused on current and emotionally important relationships and goals concerning emotional regulation goals such as psychological well-being.Methods: Using a cross-sectional observational design, data were collected from 92 residents aged 65 to 89 in England from March 2020 to June 2021. Participants completed the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Technology Experience Questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Lubben Social Network Index. Pearson correlation, mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to investigate the hypotheses.Results: Most participants experienced moderate to severe levels of loneliness, displaying higher levels than pre-pandemic. Psychological resilience predicted greater technology use, and lower levels of loneliness. Technology was found to mediate the relationship between psychological resilience and loneliness. Neither technology use, nor psychological resilience was found to moderate the impact of social isolation on loneliness.Discussion: Findings suggested that strategies directed towards screening older adults for psychological resilience levels and low technology experience may help identify those most at risk for adapting poorly when exposed to stressors in situations like the Covid-19 pandemic. Early interventions can be initiated to increase psychological resilience and technology use, including empirical interventions, that may help decrease loneliness, especially in times of elevated risks for loneliness

Overflows of technological innovation in emerging economies: the case of MPesa

This paper contributes to the debate on technological innovation in the domain of emerging economies. Using the example of M-Pesa, the well-known m-banking application developed in Kenya, we argue that technological innovation in emerging markets should be seen as arising from an assemblage of actors in which context matters.  We develop this argument by drawing on concepts from the sociology of markets. Through our detailed empirical analysis of the career of M-Pesa in Kenya, we propose that innovation in this case is emergent, highly provisional and politically constituted. Overall we provide insights into the non-technological issues critical to technological innovation in emerging economies.  We will conclude by discussing the implications for future mobile technological innovation specifically and technological innovation more broadly in emerging economies.Author has checked copyrigh