Intervention or Collaboration?:Rethinking Information and Communication Technologies for Development

Abstract

Over the past decades information system developers and knowledge engineers in ICT projects in wealthy regions of the world have come to realize that technical work can only be successful when situated in a broader organizational context. However, for low-resource environments (or example rural Africa), where contextual embedding is even more demanding given the complexity of these environments, practical, context-oriented methodologies how to "do" information systems engineering are still lacking. This book gives a basic but thorough insight how to develop information systems and services for people in low resource environments, from a socio-technical, information systems engineering perspective, presenting field-validated methods that cover the complete lifecycle of information systems engineering, with emphasis on context analysis, needs assessment, use case and requirements analysis and (business) sustainability analysis. Since technical development does not go without critical reflection, this book also investigates which (tacit) assumptions affect the way technologies are implemented in poor, low-resource environments. Linking collaborative sociotechnical development with theories of complexity and social networks of innovation, this book offers a reflective and critical approach to information and communication technologies for development