In ICT4D: Graduate Papers on Development, Globalisation, and ICT

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In ICT4D: Graduate Papers on Development, Globalisation, and ICT Faculty of Economic Sciences, Communication and IT Department of Information Systems John Sören Pettersson Editor Defining the ‘D’ in ICT4D: Graduate Papers on Development, Globalisation, and ICT Working Papers August 2009 Defining the ‘D’ in ICT4D: Graduate Papers on Development, Globalisation, and ICT Edited by John Sören Pettersson, course examiner August 2009 1 © 2009 the authors Printed at Karlstad University 2 Foreword Development, Globalisation and ICT (Defining the ’D’ in ICT4D) IPID 1 – the International Network for Postgraduate students in ICT4 D – arranged this course in the academic year 2008/2009 as a response to several requests from IPID members for an introduction to development theories and for guidance in how to define the ‘D’ in the expression ICT4D . As Richard Heeks put it a few years ago: […] the explosion of work on ICTs for development (ICT4D) has (unconsciously) followed Marx’s dictum: “the philosophers have only interpreted the world differently; the point is, to change it.” There has been a bias to action, not a bias to knowledge. We are changing the world without interpreting or understanding it. Most of the ICT4D research being produced is therefore descriptive not analytical.” 2 The aim of the course “Development, Globalisation and ICT (Defining the ’D’ in ICT4D) – 7.5 ECTS” was thus to provide a sound foundation for advanced studies in ICT4D. The course was designed to provide insights into some of the most influential development theories. The selection was made on the basis of classical bodies of ideas with a strong impact on recent notions of development. The course moreover illuminated development theory from various angles, especially the perspectives of different social sciences, viz., anthropology, political sciences, and economics. I am very happy to acknowledge the contribution from the three scholars that provided literature lists, lectured, and also reviewed student papers: Paula Uimonen , Peter Smekal , and Anders Danielsson . These devoted researchers have also written summaries of their lectures and included short introductions to the student papers that make up this report. Thirty postgraduate students from all over the world registered for the course. Video recording was used to provide access to the lectures for those who could not attend. Now, finding time for assignments was hard for many – some have started to write on their essays but not found time to complete them – and in the event we have eleven completed papers, which are presented here. Special thanks for financial support go to SPIDER – The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions 3. Finally, I must express my deep and sincere gratitude to the IPID co-ordinator, Gudrun Wicander , research student at Karlstad University, who took the initiative for this course and also made all the arrangements around it. I am sure I am not the only one to be thankful for this initiative and all the efforts! Karlstad in July, 2009 John Sören Pettersson Course examiner, Professor in Information Systems 1 http://www.humanit.org/PID/ 2 Heeks, R. (2006) Theorizing ICT4D Research. Information Technologies and International Development 3 (3):1-4. 3 http://www.spidercentre.org/ 3 Contents Perspectives on Development presented by an Anthropologist, a Development Theorist, and an Economist ................................................................................................. 1 Paula UIMONEN, Peter SMEKAL, Anders DANIELSSON An ICT4D project’s impact on rural women’s life: Results from an explorative study in a Bangladeshi village ............................................................................................. 7 Mahfuz ASHRAF Gethok Tular in ICT4D: Defining the (Advanced) ‘D’ by Way of a Traditional Method ................................................................................................................................ 19 Nuria WIDYASARI Mapping the Information System Context in Organizations ......................................... 27 Tuija TIIHONEN Is e-learning promoting social capital? ............................................................................ 38 Zahra OJAGH An analysis of how underlying ideas of development are reflected in education and possible roles for ICT ................................................................................ 45 Annika ANDERSSON Education for Development – Realizing the Millennium Development Goals ............. 57 Mathias HATAKKA Investigating Universal Access from a Human Development Perspective .................... 67 Florence Nameere KIVUNIKE The invisible hand of the market or the visible hand of the state – How to reach universal access? ................................................................................................................. 77 Gudrun WICANDER Participatory Design Approach: The missing link in user adoption of the new health information system ................................................................................................. 84 Bahol RAHIMI Gender Dimensions of Information Communication Technologies for Development ....................................................................................................................... 94 Arzak KHAN M4D Applications in Agriculture: Some Developments and Perspectives in India ... 104 Kasina Venkateshwar RAO 1 Perspectives on Development presented by an Anthropologist, a Development Theorist, and an Economist Paula UIMONEN 1, Peter SMEKAL 2, Anders DANIELSSON 3 1Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University Email: [email protected] 2Department of Government, Uppsala University Email: [email protected] 3 Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Regeringskansliet, Stockholm, S-103 33, Sweden Email: [email protected] Abstract: Three researchers gave lectures and read the student papers of this course. In this chapter each teacher presents the perspective she or he represents and gives also short summaries of the students papers following later on in this report. An Anthropological Perspective on ICT4D This series of four lectures analyzed ICT4D from an anthropological perspective, moving from macro-level global theories to empirical case studies in developing country contexts. The main thrust of the lectures was to identify and explain the dynamic interplay between ICT and society. To this end, sociological and anthropological knowledge was brought to bear on ICT, building on ethnographic research on the social, cultural and political dynamics of ICT development in developing countries. In the first lecture, social network theories were introduced, combining Castells’ (2004) theories on the emerging network society with Uimonen’s (2003) ethnography on Internet and globalization. Contextualizing Castell’s work in theories on the information age, it was underlined that his focus on organizational transformation enabled him to identify networks rather than information or knowledge as the defining criteria of society in the information age. Although networks are a fundamental aspect of social life, and have been so throughout human history, the development of ICT has led to networks becoming a dominant social structure in contemporary society. This amounts to the rise of what Castells defines as the network society, with specific economic, political, cultural and social features. Building on Castells’ notion of the global network society, which he defines as inherently diverse and fragmented, anthropological theories were used to explain salient features of the networked world order. Inseparable from the process of globalization, the Internet has contributed to a higher degree of global interconnectedness and interdependence, as evidenced in Uimonen’s ethnography of Internet development in developing countries. Generally defined as the network of networks, the Internet enables the transnational flows that underlie globalization, tying the world into webs of communication and interaction. Nonetheless, the Internet also reflects the asymmetric nature of the networked world order, which continues to be divided into centres and peripheries, of economic, political and cultural power. This global division is illustrative of the diversified nature of modernization. Despite the common belief in science and technology-driven unilinear progress, modernization takes different paths in different contexts. If anything, the Internet unravels some of the inherent 1 contradictions of modernity, not least the notion of bounded, sovereign nation states versus boundary crossing networks. The second lecture focused on the cultural underpinnings of ICT. Using an anthropological definition of culture, the lecture emphasized the social and cultural embeddedness of ICT. Viewing Internet as a cultural construct, a result of culturally informed social practise, some of the cultural characteristics of ICT were identified. Sociological and anthropological analyses of ICT development were used to pinpoint the values of openness, freedom, creativity and sharing to be prominent among people involved in technological development, such as software developers and Internet pioneers. This culture of the Internet, which has been defined as the culture of networking, has a pronounced libertarian and cosmopolitan ethos, reflecting the technical interfaces of the Internet, and the ideas and values accompanying its development (Uimonen 2003). The culture of networking is, however, varied and flexible. It interacts with other cultural forms in different social and cultural contexts,
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