Discourses on ICT and development.

Research on ICT and development (ICTD) involves assumptions on the nature of ICT innovation and on the way such innovation contributes to development. In this article I review the multidisciplinary literature on ICTD and identify two perspectives regarding the nature of the ICT innovation process in developing countries - as transfer and diffusion and as socially embedded action - and two perspectives on the development transformation towards which ICT is understood to contribute - progressive transformation and disruptive transformation. I then discuss the four discourses formed by combining the perspectives on the nature of IS innovation and on the development transformation. My review suggests that ICTD research, despite its remarkable theoretical capabilities to study technology innovation in relation to socio-economic context, remains weak in forming convincing arguments on IT-enabled socio-economic development.

Exploring the socio-economic structures of internet-enabled development: a study of grassroots netpreneurs in China

types: ArticleThis is an open access article that is freely available in ORE or from the publisher's web site. Please cite the published version.There is increasing interest in the potential of internet platforms for networking and collaboration - often referred to as web 2.0 - to open up unprecedented prospects for individuals to come together and engage in economic and political activities, bypassing and indeed subverting the corporate structures of the market economy and state control. The prevailing discourse on this technology-driven transformative potential focuses on networks of individuals interacting through technology tools with little, if at all, attention to the social context that gives rise and sustains their networked economic or political activities. In this paper we study the social embeddedness of the empowering potential of internet-enabled economic activity. We present and discuss a case of intense entrepreneurial activity in a Chinese community, engaging in e-commerce trading conducted on a platform of internet tools. Our analysis of this case juxtaposes the emerging views on web2.0 business activities with views drawn from a long established literature on entrepreneurship as a networked activity. We found that internet-based entrepreneurial activity at this case of grassroots development enacts online social networking mechanisms of peer-to-peer and vendor-customer interactions and heavily depends on a corporate service provider, as well as the historically developed community infrastructure for commerce. Overall, our research explores whether economic activity enabled by web 2.0 is an individualistic phenomenon, or it relies on institutional bearings and if so what is their nature

Affection not affliction: The role of emotions in information systems and organizational change

Most IS research in both the technical/rational and socio-technical traditions ignores or marginalizes the emotionally charged behaviours through which individuals engage in, and cope with the consequences of, IS practice and associated organizational change. Even within the small body of work that engages with emotions through particular conceptual efforts, affections are often conceived as a phenomenon to be eradicated – an affliction requiring a cure. In this paper, I argue that emotions are always implicated in our lived experiences, crucially influencing how we come to our beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong. I draw from the theoretical work of Michel Foucault to argue for elaborating current notions of IS innovation as a moral and political struggle in which individuals’ beliefs and feelings are constantly tested. Finally, I demonstrate these ideas by reference to a case study that had considerable emotional impact, and highlight the implications for future work

Electronic Payment Systems Development in a Developing Country: The Role of Institutional Arrangements

This paper examines the institutional arrangements in the development of Nigeria’s electronic payment system (EPS) using a new institutional economics (NIE) perspective. A case study of Nigeria’s EPS was carried out using semi structured interviews to collect data from 18 participating stakeholders; a thematic method was used for the data analysis. The study suggests that a well-functioning set of arrangements, which is lacking in the institutional setup in Nigeria may be required to build necessary institutional capacity suitable for development of safe and efficient electronic payment systems. Although the technological payment infrastructure in Nigeria is modern and of comparable standard, the failure to put in place reliable and relevant market and collaborative agreements has not enabled full exploitation of the available infrastructure. Current governance structures show elements of power struggle and distrust between stakeholders (players and regulators), hampering the creation of an environment that would sustain free market economic activities and effective development of payment systems

Information Systems in Developing Countries: A Critical Research Review

In this paper I review the Information Systems (IS) research on how developing countries have attempted to benefit from information and communication technologies (ICTs). First I identify three discourses on IS implementation and associated organizational and social change that coexist in information systems in developing countries (ISDC) research, namely as a process of technology and knowledge transfer and adaptation to local social conditions; as a process of socially embedded action; and as a process of transformative techno-organizational intervention associated with global politics and economics. I then point out the distinctive research agenda that has been formed in ISDC studies, both in the more familiar IS themes - failure, outsourcing, and strategic value of ICT - and also in studies of themes relevant specifically to the context of developing countries, such as the development of community ICT and information resources. Finally, I call the reader\u27s attention to the potentially significant theoretical contributions of ISDC research for understanding IS innovation in relation to social context and in relation to socio-economic development theories and policies

CREAT NG AN INFORMATION SYSTEMS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

There have been Various initiatives addressing the problem of inadequate information systems for national planning in developing countries by establishing information sources or decision making capacity, or by providing technical support for data processing and communication. This paper identifies three different approaches for the creation of information systems for development planning and examines the main problems that hinder their effectiveness

Teaching the Listening Skill in Greek Secondary Education

The present assignment aims at 1 critically approaching the skill of listening as it is taught in the Greek State Secondary Education in the framework of teaching English as a foreign language EFL in state Junior High Schools This critical study of the skill of listening is of particular interest since EFL books for use in State Junior High Schools have only been recently introduced by the Greek Pedagogical Institute in Greek Secondary Education and 2 creating an authentic-in nature listening input followed by original tasks made by a teacher of EFL in a State Junior High School so as to be consistent with the criteria that are applicable to the skill of listening in modern Applied Linguistic

A business model perspective for ICTs in public engagement

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published article can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ElsevierPublic institutions, in their efforts to promote meaningful citizen engagement, are increasingly looking at the democratic potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Previous studies suggest that such initiatives seem to be impeded by socio-technical integration barriers such as low sustainability, poor citizen acceptance, coordination difficulties, lack of understanding and failure to assess their impact. Motivated by these shortcomings, the paper develops and applies a business model perspective as an interceding framework for analysis and evaluation. The underlying principle behind this approach is that it is not technology per se which determines success, but rather the way in which the businessmodel of the technological artifact is configured and employed to achieve the strategic goals. The business model perspective is empirically demonstrated with the case of an online petitioning system implemented by a UK local authority. The case illustrates the importance of considering ICTs in public engagement from a holistic view to make them more manageable and assessable

An evaluation of information systems students internship programs in Nigeria : a capability perspective

Most published research on Information Systems (IS) education in developing countries have focused on curriculum design, transfer and implementation issues. Research focusing on the evaluation of these programs and concrete analysis in terms of their long-term developmental impact have been limited. In this paper, Amartya Sen’s capability approach served as a theoretical lens for assessing the effectiveness of internship programs for IS students and their contributions to human development. We use the key elements of the capability approach to focus on the developmental impact. We based our evaluation on IS students industrial work scheme in Nigeria. Our analysis shows that, even though the scheme has been designed to further the development of student, the lack of conversion factors makes the program contextually problematic. The study concludes with some recommendations for policy makers advancing an agenda for the improvement of IS education and internships programs for students in tertiary institutions