Role of ICTs in participatory development: An Indian experience

Participation of local communities has been important at least in two domains: (a) rural development processes in developing countries and (b) information systems design. The issue of participation becomes especially important in the contemporary contexts in which the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is being integrated within rural development initiatives in developing countries, for example in e-governance. This article attempts to synthesize the issues around participation from both IS and development studies literature in order to identify four key problematic areas: viz., (a) who defines the participation agenda, (b) what capabilities do stakeholders have to participate and how can this be strengthened, (c) what is the role of institutional conditions in enabling effective participation, and (d) how do local participatory processes experiences get integrated into broader networks to become sustainable. These four themes provide a theoretical framework to analyze how the use of ICTs is reconfiguring the dynamics between participation, rural development, and ICTs. This framework is applied in the context of an ICT initiative for rural development in India. Implications for both theory and practice are developed based on the need to judiciously integrate both structural and behavioral approaches to participation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Research on information systems in developing countries: Current landscape and future prospects

The current landscape of the information systems research literature concerned with developing countries is surveyed by examining a range of research articles published from 2000 onward. These are discussed in terms of the key challenges addressed, including the role of technology, and the methodological and theoretical approaches used. Prospects for future research are discussed, based on a conceptual view as to how to study information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries, to classify existing work, identify gaps, and suggest future opportunities. The authors contribute to the important debate on how ICTs in general, and information systems research in particular, can make a positive difference in the developing countries. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Factors affecting the adoption of information and communication technology in small and medium enterprises: a perspective from rural Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can play an important role in the national economy of developing countries. The adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled local SMEs to participate in the international market. However, little research has addressed issues related to SMEs adopting ICTs, especially in rural areas of Middle Eastern developing countries such as Saudi Arabia. Using the extended technology-organization-environment framework with personal innovativeness, this study examined the factors that influence the adoption of ICTs among SMEs in rural areas of Saudi Arabia. The study found that relative advantages, top management support, culture, regulatory environment, owner/manager innovativeness and ICT knowledge had a significant relationship with ICT adoption among SMEs in Saudi Arabia, whereas compatibility, complexity and a competitive environment had no significant relationship with ICT adoption. The findings of this study will potentially help SME managers/owners and the Saudi government in the successful adoption and diffusion of ICT in SMEs located in rural areas in Saudi Arabia.     

Rethinking positive and negative impacts of ‘ICT for development’ through the holistic lens of the sustainable development goals

ABSTRACT

The field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) is driven by the conviction that ICTs can be used to improve peoples’ lives. Yet, it often faces criticism related to the negative effects that are associated with ICTs. Instead of viewing these as arguments against ICT4D, this article presents an integrated approach to incorporating them in our conceptualization of ICT4D impact. For this purpose, we envision a framework that is grounded in the interrelated set of Sustainable Development Goals, which make the complex interdependencies between different development goals explicit. By mapping the potentially harmful impact of ICTs within this network of goals, this framework provides a point of reference for holistically conceptualizing ICTs’ negative impact through the lens of policy coherence. Based on this framework, this article discusses, how to conceptualize ICT4D impact, taking into account the multidimensional implications for the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development.     

ICT4D research: reflections on history and future agenda

Research on the use of ICTs for international development, or information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research, has a history going back some 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the ICT4D research field at this important juncture in time, when ICTs are increasingly pervasive and when many different disciplines are involved in researching the area. The paper first provides some reflections on the history of the field broken down into three phases from the mid-1980s to the present day. This is followed by a detailed discussion of future research agenda, including topic selection, the role of theory, methodological issues and multidisciplinarity, and research impact. ICT4D research started largely in the academic field of information systems but it is concluded that the future lies in a multidisciplinary interaction between researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers.     

Technologies of care in community-based organisations: agency and authenticity

Based upon research into small community-based organisations, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be interpreted as a technology that emerges from complex environments of support, teaching, and community development. While the ICTs investigated are commonplace and relatively simple systems (personal computers, Internet), they are part of complex and extended systems of action, knowledge, information, and support that reach into local communities. This basket of processes and skills, oriented around social justice principles, can be conceived of as ‘technologies of care’, strongly influenced by the values and work activity primarily concerned with supporting people in need. Furthermore, prior research has tended to take a dystopic view about the use of technology by women, who are the major workforce in such environments, but a more nuanced approach is taken her, demonstrating that while workers are competent with ICTs, they is only one element in a process which relies upon communicative and interpretive independence. This understanding of the place of ICTs in human services work has important implications for those implementing or designing ICTs, though clarifying workers’ tacit understandings is a research challenge. Based on more recent research, suggestions are also made about the limitations of the study and the need to take into account other ways of articulating tacit, practical knowledge about ICT relationships through methods such as CO-MAP.     

Are we Building a Better World with ICTs? Empirically Examining this Question in the Domain of Public Health in India

As social scientists engaged in Information Technologies for Development (IT4D), a question we need to necessarily engage with is “are we building a better world with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)?” This question, first posed by Professor Geoff Walsham in the IS field, was the topic of my plenary discussion at the IFIP 9.4 meeting in Jamaica 2014, and had now been further developed to this “view from practice” paper for this journal. A first step in this paper has been the reformulation of the question which Professor Walsham raised: “What distortions and obstacles are created by the historical, material, and institutional conditions, and how these shape our efforts of ICTs creating a better world?” This reformulation is done to bring in more explicitly the political dimension into the question, and to nuance the technological deterministic argument implied in the question of technology (always) creating a better world. Taking an empirical example of an ICT intervention from the public health sector in India, deliberately chosen to emphasize distortions typically seen is similar Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) projects, the analysis focuses on understanding the conditions of distortions, why they occur, and what can be done differently to contribute to our notion of a better world.     

ICT for socio-economic development: A citizens’ perspective

There is a widespread belief that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play a significant role in the socio-economic development of a developing country. ICT has the potential to affect many aspects of economic and societal activities such as GDP growth, employment, productivity, poverty alleviation, quality of life, education, and healthcare. While the literature provides a myriad of definitions and elements of socio-economic development, the focus tends to be on theoretical conceptualizations from various disciplines and impacts from isolated individual projects. In particular, the impact of ICT on socio-economic development has not been carefully examined from the viewpoint of the ultimate stakeholder, the citizens of a country, who are the final consumers of the technology. This study fills this gap by focusing on the citizens’ view in describing ICT-driven socio-economic development in a developing country. A theoretical framework influenced by the “capabilities approach” was developed to guide this research, and the interpretive stance was used to conduct the study. More specifically, the narrative research method, which is seldom used in IS research but is appropriate for this study, was used. Narratives allow deeper and profound insights into social representations and participants' beliefs about the role of ICT in socio-economic development. Using this methodology, a model of the impact dimensions of socio-economic development is presented.     

Design process knowledge for crisis-driven information systems solutions: Insights on building digital resilience from an action design research study

As global disruptions escalate, digital resilience (DR)—the capacity to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to external shocks by leveraging Information Systems (IS)—has become crucial for individuals and organisations confronting and managing unprecedented crises. This research advances understanding on how to develop DR, drawing on insights from an Action Design Research (ADR) study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research explores a particular facet of DR: the capacity to manage exogenous shocks through the design  of new IS solutions. We introduce the ADAPT framework, comprising five key enablers—Agility, Designation, Alignment, Participation, and Trust—recommended to support design teams developing IS solutions during and for crises. Our ADR project, which resulted in the creation of a telemonitoring system used by over 115 frontline healthcare workers to monitor the symptoms of more than 1000 COVID-19 patients, demonstrates the instrumental role these five enablers play in supporting a crisis-propelled IS design process that is urgent, resource-limited, and multi-partite. By presenting new design process knowledge and practical recommendations that guide crisis-driven IS design, we aim to equip design teams with the understanding they need to effectively navigate similar challenges in the future. We also hope to inspire and support IS researchers to apply their expertise in the design, deployment, and use of IS solutions to contribute to crisis-driven design endeavours that tackle the pressing and urgent challenges of our time.     

Blogging for ICT4D: reflecting and engaging with peers to build development discourse

Information and Communication Technology‐enabled Development (ICT4D) discourse relies upon the idea that ICTs can foster development in particular by encouraging wider participation in development initiatives. In this paper, we question how the blogging practices of development professionals shape such ICT4D discourse. Through a combination of interviews and analyses of blog contents, we examine two major purposes of blogging: reflecting upon development practices and engaging with a self‐selected audience. Our analyses reveal that these two purposes were interwoven in ways that contributed to making bloggers' ICT4D discourse innovative but oriented towards a small community of peers rather than a larger audience. Through blogging, development professionals refined their expertise on ICT4D. As they did so, they also generated a personal speaker's corner that primarily attracted like‐minded peers rather than promoting larger participation in ICT4D discourse. This research contributes to the emerging literature on social media practices by showing how blogging practices enable the formation of what a discourse is about, and by highlighting differences between perceived and actual levels of interactions between bloggers and their audience. The paper also adds to the ICT and development literatures by revealing that blogging practices can deepen ICT4D discourse, but that they do not necessarily enhance participation in development. Such insight is crucial for development professionals to develop realistic expectations of blogging for ICT4D.     

Making the world a better place with fintech research

Financial technology (fintech) is seen as possessing significant potential to provide the poor access to financial services and help them escape the clutches of poverty. Surprisingly, Information Systems (IS) research has engaged little with fintech's promise of fostering financial inclusion for the poor. In the spirit of ‘making a better world with ICTs’, conducting ‘responsible IS research for a better world’ and ‘understanding and tackling societal grand challenges through management research’, we advance a framework for guiding IS research on fintech-led financial inclusion. Drawing on the IS literature and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) scholarship, we extrapolate five areas of research that can better illuminate fintech's contributions to financial inclusion: (a) business strategies for fintech-led financial inclusion; (b) digital artifacts of fintech-led financial inclusion; (c) business environment of fintech-led financial inclusion; (d) microfoundations of fintech for financial inclusion; (e) developmental impacts of fintech. We conclude with a discussion of how the five areas offer opportunities for impactful research on fintech and the promise of building a financially inclusive society.     

Beyond organisational agendas: using boundary critique to facilitate the inclusion of societal concerns in information systems planning

As the development of the information society takes place worldwide, individuals, groups and organisations face the challenge of taking advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs). ‘Digital divides’ are emerging: some sections of society are gaining access to information, knowledge and technologies while others are being excluded. There also seems to be an over-concentration on the use of ICTs for organisational purposes, with traditional information systems (IS) planning approaches largely ignoring the needs and concerns that people express outside formal organisations. One answer to this problem might be to adopt a systems approach to IS planning. At first sight this appears to be a good idea because of the aspiration of systems approaches to comprehensiveness, presumably looking beyond organisational concerns. However, a review of two popular systems methodologies employed in IS planning suggests that there is potential for their scope to be equally limited by organisational boundaries. There is a need to enhance the critical review of the boundaries of IS planning processes, enabling people to consider family, community and other concerns. In this paper, we use the systems theory of boundary critique to derive a set of questions to help practitioners reflect on different possible boundaries for IS planning exercises. These should be seen as complementary to existing systems approaches rather than as a replacement for them, enabling the latter to be practised more critically. We end by presenting our reflections on using these questions in the context of an IS planning project in a Colombian University.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vive les differences?</Emphasis> Developing a profile of European information systems research as a basis for international comparisons

The information systems (IS) community is truly international, yet there is often a sense that different elements of the community have different profiles in terms of their research and publication expectations. This paper contributes to this discussion by developing a profile of European IS research that can be used as a basis for international comparisons. It reflects on European research on IS as presented during the first 10 years of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). Based on an analysis of all papers published in the ECIS proceedings during the period 1993–2002, the paper presents the key characteristics of the ECIS conferences, together with a profile of European IS research activity as presented at ECIS. In particular, it highlights the key references and sources used by researchers presenting papers at ECIS. It articulates the research areas presented at ECIS and explores the claim that European IS draws more on social theories than elsewhere. Its contribution in presenting a profile of European research in the IS field lies in identifying particular characteristics of the European style of research that can be compared to that undertaken in other parts of the world.     

Factors contributing to adoption and use of information and communication technologies within research collaborations in Kenya

Use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support research work is becoming increasingly common. This study set out to establish how ICTs are being used to support collaborative research in Kenya, and identify factors within the ICT ecosystem that contribute to their adoption and use. A mixed methods research design, involving 248 academic scientists in 4 disciplines across 4 major Kenyan universities, was employed. We find little diversity in forms of ICTs used to support collaborative research within the studied population. Several factors affect adoption and use practices, including availability and access to ICT resources, nature of the work, national and institutional ICT and research environments and the social cultural practices of researchers. We explain our findings using Venkatesh et al.’s Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model, which identifies four main constructs that affect adoption of technology such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence.     

Towards the improved treatment of generalization of knowledge claims in IS research: drawing general conclusions from samples

This paper presents a framework for justifying generalization in information systems (IS) research. First, using evidence from an analysis of two leading IS journals, we show that the treatment of generalization in many empirical papers in leading IS research journals is unsatisfactory. Many quantitative studies need clearer definition of populations and more discussion of the extent to which ‘significant’ statistics and use of non-probability sampling affect support for their knowledge claims. Many qualitative studies need more discussion of boundary conditions for their sample-based general knowledge claims. Second, the proposed new framework is presented. It defines eight alternative logical pathways for justifying generalizations in IS research. Three key concepts underpinning the framework are the need for researcher judgment when making any claim about the likely truth of sample-based knowledge claims in other settings; the importance of sample representativeness and its assessment in terms of the knowledge claim of interest; and the desirability of integrating a study's general knowledge claims with those from prior research. Finally, we show how the framework may be applied by researchers and reviewers. Observing the pathways in the framework has potential to improve both research rigour and practical relevance for IS research.     

“Missing women”: Gender,ICTs, and the shaping of the global economy

In a key article (Walsham & Sahay, 2005) outlining research on information systems in developing countries and suggesting potential areas for future research, a notable omission was the issue of gender and gender relations. In this article, we draw on the substantial gender and development literature to demonstrate the centrality of gender to our understanding of information systems (IS) in developing countries. In particular, we consider the relationship among gender, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and globalization to illustrate how changes in the global economy both impact on and are influenced by changing gender identities and roles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Narrowing the age-based digital divide: Developing digital capability through social activities

Healthcare information technologies (HIT) have shown great potential for improving the effectiveness and quality of healthcare services. However, the inequal ability of older adults to use HIT may limit their exploitation of these benefits. To narrow the age-based “digital divide”, this research further develops the concept of digital capability and emphasises the link between older adults and their social context. Based on a qualitative inductive study of 33 participants, who included Chinese patients and their family members, we generate a novel theoretical model for understanding the process by which social activities may shape older adults' digital capabilities. Based on the model, we suggest two strategies that might encourage older adults to engage with HIT. This research contributes to the information systems (IS) literature by strengthening digital capability as a conceptual lens to investigate individuals' engagement with information communication technologies (ICTs). It also extends research on the social context for ICT use by revealing how social processes at multiple levels influence digital capability development. Finally, this study offers practical implications for governments and private sectors to encourage and promote ICT use by older adults.     

Blockchain from the information systems perspective: Literature review,synthesis, and directions for future research

This paper profiled blockchain studies in information systems (IS) journals from 2016 to 2022. Drawing on the 443 selected articles from 77 IS journals, we proposed a classification scheme from the IS perspective. Current blockchain articles are highly skewed, focusing on research agendas and system design. We proposed a theoretical framework by summarizing the current status of the blockchain literature and highlighting 15 future research questions for the IS research community. We are optimistic that the proposed framework and future research questions can guide blockchain research and advance its scale and impact.     

Understanding collaborative resilience from continuous disruption: an actor-network perspective

People need help to recover after crises. With the help of information and communication technologies (ICTs), people can engage in resilience collaboratively. Specifically, they can develop new routines to access various infrastructures and meet their societal needs via ICTs. Therefore, the role of ICTs in supporting collaborative resilience needs further examination and clarification. In this study, we use actor-network theory (ANT) to understand collaborative resilience during and after a war, which is a specific kind of crisis that may last a long time. We revisit a published case to clarify how ICTs help people develop new routines so that their societal needs still can be met. We find that a number of issues suggested by ANT, such as problematisation and translation, contribute significantly to the process and outcomes of the case. We provide practical implications to present the essence of our findings. Overall, our study suggests that an ANT-informed understanding can help practitioners better understand the role of ICTs in supporting collaborative resilience.     

Tomorrow’s ethics and today’s response: An investigation into the ways information systems professionals perceive and address emerging ethical issues

This paper explores the question of how foresight and futures research can identify and address ethical issues in the field of Information Systems (IS). Starting from the premise that such IS are part of socio-technical systems, the interaction between technology and human actors raise ethical concerns. Early recognition of these concerns can address ethical issues and improve the use of the technology for a range of social and organisational goals. This paper discusses research conducted in two futures research projects. Both projects investigated emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ethics. The first project established approaches for identifying future technologies and their related ethical concerns. This led to the identification of 11 emerging ICTs and their associated ethical concerns. The second project took these general ethical concerns and focused on their role in IS. Specifically, how IS professionals view future emerging technologies, their associated ethical concerns, and how they think these concerns could be addressed. The key findings are that IS professionals are primarily interested in the job at hand and less so in the ethical concerns that the job might bring; ethics is a concern that is best left for others to deal with. This paper considers the implications of research on ethics in emerging ICTs and draws general conclusions about the relevance of future technologies research in IS.