[AISWorld] Call for Papers ITD Special Issue

[Sajda Qureshi]

The Journal of Information Technology for Development
Call for papers
Special Issue on Conceptualizations of Development in ICT4D - what is development, and how do we know when it is happening?

Special Issue editors
Mathias Hatakka (Örebro University School of Business, Sweden)
Yingqin Zheng (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
Sundeep Sahay (University of Oslo, Norway)
Annika Andersson (Örebro University School of Business, Sweden)

Editor-in-Chief of ITD
Sajda Qureshi
(College of Information Science & Technology, 
University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA)

Aims and Scope
Definitions of central concepts in a field are important as they affect what we do and how we understand the phenomena we study. When we talk about “development”, what are we talking about? The concept of “development” refers to different things depending on ideology, philosophical outlook, social norms, individual beliefs, methodological approaches, and political views. They also tend to change over time. Depending on one’s perspective, “development” could mean economic growth, diffusion of technology, improvement of well-being, establishment of certain institutions or citizen-state relationship, expansion of individual agency, equitable distribution of resources and/or opportunities, human rights, gender equality, and many more. 

However, most ICT4D studies are ambivalent about what kind of development is implicated in a particular piece of research. While the literature has covered a wide range of development-related topics, such as education, healthcare, gender, freedom of speech, digital divide, little research in ICT4D explicitly discusses what development really means and how development is linked to ICT use (Andersson & Hatakka, 2013; Brown & Grant, 2010; Thapa & Sæbø, 2011; Walsham & Sahay, 2006). A high proportion of ICT4D publications focus on the adoption of technology itself, while others may employ indicators other than technology acceptance rate, or combine different indicators to provide a more holistic approach to evaluating the impact of ICT in development (Hatakka, 2013). 

As Zheng (2009) suggests, ICT4D researchers should identify which “space” of development technologies seeks to intervene. On this basis, the selection of theoretical perspectives is of high importance, as they allow us to see, and focus on, different aspects of development. The ICT4D field is replete with approaches originating in various disciplines. For example, economic theories, the capability approach, gender theories, livelihood frameworks, critical approaches, technology 

Seeking to raise conceptual awareness in our field, this special issue calls for papers that consider how we define development and how we conceive the role of ICT in relation to development. In particular, we encourage critical and reflective discussions of when and how we can claim that ICT contributes to development. Beyond the actual definition, this includes epistemological issues regarding how we can come to know when, how and why development takes place, as well as methodological issues regarding how we can evaluate development processes and outcomes. 

The Journal of Information Technology for Development has previously illustrated the importance of these discussions – see for instance Andersson & Grönlund (ITD 18-1), Byrne, Nicholson & Salem (ITD 17-1), Madon & Bada (ITD 12‐3), Silva & Westrup (ITD 15‐2), Zheng (ITD 15-2), and Qureshi (ITD 19-3). The present special issue builds upon the existing body of work and solicits research that investigates the various ways in which development has been viewed in ICT4D, ideas on how it should be viewed, discussions of how and why the notion of development is changing, and epistemological questions of how we can measure and evaluate how and when development is taking place. 
We invite papers on the following sub-topics: 
1.	How do we define development in ICT4D? What assumptions underpin a particular definition of development? On which conceptual basis is a definition of development constructed? 
2.	How can we assess, measure, and evaluate development in a particular context of ICT4D? This could include critical discussion of various development indexes, such as Gross Domestic Product, the Human Development Index, the Happiness Index, and so on. 
3.	What should ICT-based development interventions focus on? This could be analysed in the light of which “space” of development is being addressed. For example, in relation to gender, are we seeking to promote equal access to technology between men and women, or to enhance the agency of women? 
4.	Which social processes are enacted in a particular space of ICT4D? How do we understand and assess the affordances of ICTs in these processes?
5.	What are the roles of institutions and governance models in ICT4D? For example, how should responsibility and liability for development be distributed and managed? 
6.	How can we understand, describe, and evaluate the relations between the use of ICTs and development? What could be the impact of technology for development, including positive as well as negative influences?
7.	What are the strengths and limitations of various conceptual devices and theoretical lenses? What do the lenses we use allow us to see? And what are the lenses we use filtering out?
8.	Which methodologies are appropriate in answering our research questions, given a particular take on development?
9.	What can we learn from other disciplines, e.g. geography, development studies, economics, political science, organisation studies, media and communication studies?
10.	What critical approaches could be employed in ICT4D, in particular considering processes and consequences of globalization and the growth of market economies? 

We welcome conceptual discussions on the topic as well as theoretical analyses of empirical studies, including novel approaches. All submissions should strive to provide future guidance to the field. We do not only look for success stories; criticism of the field and of existing approaches may be just as insightful as guidance for future efforts. In addition, we are also interested in papers about how development theories influence ICT4D practice (for the view from practice section of the journal).
Deadlines
Deadline for submissions of papers: November 13, 2015
Notification of initial acceptance: March 18, 2016
Deadline for revised papers: May 30th, 2016
Notification of final decisions: August 30th, 2016
Deadline for final versions: October 30th, 2016
Tentative Publication Date: February 2017

The revision and final decision deadline are subject to the length of time taken for reviewers to return their comments, satisfactory completion of revisions and number of revision cycles. The editors of this special issue reserve the right to send promising papers out for multiple rounds of reviews before making final decisions on papers. 

Paper Submission Instructions
Authors are invited to submit original papers using the journal submission and reviewing web site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/itd. In order to submit your paper, please register through this website to create an account. When uploading your paper please indicate that it is being submitted for the Conceptualizations of Development in ICT4D special issue. Authors must simultaneously email an electronic copy of the submitted paper to the guest editors (email addresses below).
This journal follows a double blind review process. All papers will undergo a process of one or more rounds of double blind review. After initial screening, full research papers will be reviewed by selected members of the editorial board and peers from an international pool of researchers for quality, consistency and research contribution. Particular attention is paid to the use of research method. Please refer to papers published in the Journal when developing your manuscript. These may be found through the following website: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/titd20/current.
Please remember to remove all your personal identifiable information from the main manuscript before submitting it for review. Submissions to ITD may be either full research papers published in the main part of the Journal, or commentaries published in the section "Views from Practice".
Papers must contain original results and must not be submitted elsewhere while being evaluated for ITD. Detailed submission guidelines can be found at: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/titd20/current.

Your paper must contain original results and must not be submitted elsewhere while it is being evaluated for the Journal of Information Technology for Development. If you have submitted a version of this paper to another outlet, please let us know and ensure that it is cited in your submission.
Questions regarding submission should be directed to the special issue guest editors:
Mathias Hatakka (main contact), mathias.hatakka at oru.se 
Yingqin Zheng, yingqin.zheng at rhul.ac.uk 
Sundeep Sahay, sundeep.sahay at yahoo.com 
Annika Andersson, annika.andersson at oru.se 

References
Andersson, A. & Grönlund, Å. (2012). Development as freedom–how the capability approach can be used in ICT4D research and practice. Information Technology for Development, 18(1), 1-4.
Andersson, A., & Hatakka, M. (2013). What are we Doing? - Theories Used in ICT4D Research. Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
Brown, A. E., & Grant, G. G. (2010). Highlighting the duality of the ICT and development research agenda. Information Technology for Development, 16(2), 96-111. 
Hatakka, M. (2013). The capability approach in ICT4D research. PhD Thesis, Örebro Studies in Informatics 6, Örebro University, Sweden.   
Qureshi, S. (2013). Information and Communication Technologies in the Midst of Global Change: How do we Know When Development Takes Place? Information Technology for Development, 19(3), 189-192. 
Thapa, D., & Sæbø, Ø. (2011). Exploring the link between ICT and development: a literature review. Paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries.
Walsham, G., & Sahay, S. (2006). Research on information systems in developing countries: Current landscape and future prospects. Information Technology for Development, 12(1), 7-24. 
Zheng, Y. (2009), “Different spaces for e-development: What can we learn from the capability approach?”, Information Technology for Development, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 66–82.