[AISWorld] CFP: Special issue of ITD on ICT and Development in Africa

[Shana Ponelis]

Information Technology for Development 


Call for papers: Special issue on ICT and Development in Africa 

The African continent, in spite of great strides in terms of socio-economic development, continues to lag economically advanced nations in its research on the developmental impact of information and communication technology (ICT). Encompassing modern technology that is used to aid the electronic capture, processing, storage and disseminating of information, whether in numerical, textual, audio or visual format, ICT is an important driver for economic development and growth. With a population of more than 1 billion people Africa represents a significant portion of the world population and ICT is a vital tool to release the creative potential and knowledge embedded in her people. Whilst African countries are enthusiastically embracing ICT for socio-economic development, mainstream IS research remains focused on the issues related to ICT in developed, mature economies in North America and Europe (Roztocki and Weistroffer, 2008) . Increasing our understanding of the possibilities and limitations of ICT and how to promote its adoption and use in Africa is of vital interest to information systems researchers and practitioners. 

The aim of this special issue is to provide insight into the practices and applications of ICT, identify problems and barriers, present context-specific findings and solutions, illustrate how ICT is enabling development of Africa and its countries and to support the flow of information from and about Africa with the world. We encourage the submission of original research papers as well as practice papers. We especially invite papers from authors based in Africa or papers reporting on empirical research conducted in Africa. Research from interpretive and critical research traditions encompassing quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods are also encouraged. 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: 

• Drivers and barriers for ICT adoption in Africa 
• Innovative applications of ICTs in African countries, including mobile applications 
• E-government, e-health, or e-learning applications in Africa 
• Building capacity in ICT 
• Acceptance and use of cloud computing in African contexts 
• User interfaces, information presentation and local language adaptation 
• Research frameworks and methods to study ICT in Africa, African countries or communities 
• Impact of Africa on the ICT industry 
• Impact of the Cheetah Generation on ICT in Africa 
• ICT for socio-economic development in the African continent 
• ICT infrastructure in African countries 
• ICT policy and legislation in African countries 
• Strategies for addressing the digital divide and information poverty 
• Information and computer literacy in African countries and communities 
• Indigenous knowledge systems and ICT in African countries 
• ICT and social entrepreneurship in Africa 
• Ethical aspects of ICTs in Africa, including e-waste 
• Country-specific case studies of ICT adoption or use 
• Digital divide and information poverty 
• ICT and community-based development approaches 
• ICT and the UN Millenium Development Goals in Africa 


Deadlines 
Deadline for submission: February 1, 2013 
Notification of initial acceptance: March 31, 2012 
Deadline for revised papers: May 31, 2013 
Notification of final acceptance: July 31, 2013 
Tentative publication date: September 2013 


Paper submission instructions and review 
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit original papers using the journal submission and reviewing web site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/itd . Detailed submission guidelines can be found at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=0268-1102&linktype=44 . The papers should follow the instructions for authors and authors should indicate “ICT and Development in Africa” special issue when uploading their papers. Submissions to the special issue should be full research papers (maximum 21 pages or 9000 words) or practice papers (approximately 4000 words). 

Each submitted paper will be peer-reviewed in the same manner as other submissions to Information Technology for Development . Relevance, quality and originality of the contribution are the major acceptance criteria for each submission. After initial screening, papers are reviewed by selected members of the editorial board and an international pool of peer reviewers for quality, consistency and research contribution. Authors are welcome to nominate one of the special issue editors or preferred reviewers when submitting their paper where no conflict of interest exists (an existing business or professional partnership, past or present association as thesis adviser or thesis student, and/or collaboration on a project or on a book/article/report/paper or co-editing of a journal, compendium, or conference proceedings constitutes a conflict of interest). Please remember to remove all your personal identifiable information from the main manuscript before submitting it for review. Papers submitted to this journal must contain original results and must not be submitted elsewhere while being evaluated for publication in the Information Technology for Development . 


Special issue editors: 
Shana Ponelis 
School of Information Studies 
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 
Milwaukee, WI, USA 
ponelis at uwm.edu 

Marlene Holmner 
Department of Information Science 
University of Pretoria 
Pretoria, South Africa 
marlene.holmner at up.ac.za 



_______ 
Dr Shana Ponelis 
School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 
Northwest Quadrant Building B, Room 3420, Milwaukee, WI 53211 
ponelis at uwm.edu || 414-229-2514 

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