[AISWorld] CFP: The Contribution of Practice Theories to ICT for Development

[Stan Karanasios]

*Call for papers:*



*The Contribution of Practice Theories to ICT for Development*



IFIP Work Group 9.4 on Social Implications of Computers in Developing
Countries



Yogyakarta, Indonesia. May 22-24, 2017



*Track chairs:*

Stan Karanasios RMIT University, Australia (stan.karanasios at rmit.edu.au)

Pär-Ola Zander, Aalborg University, Denmark (poz at hum.aau.dk)

Natalie Pang, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (
nlspang at ntu.edu.sg)



*Track theme:*

Despite the growing body of research on ICT and development (ICTD) it has
been argued that the theoretical contribution of research in the ICTD field
is weak (Avgerou, 2010; Karanasios, 2014). It has also been argued that
there is a difficulty in identifying relevant theoretically grounded
approaches to frame ICTD research, which are of maximum benefit to theory
and practice (Walsham & Sahay, 1999). This track focuses on the use and
development of practice theories in ICTD. Practice theories, such as
actor-network theory (ANT), structuration theory and activity theory can be
described as focusing on understanding change and development of human
practice (Miettinen et al., 2012) and deepening understandings about the
recursive interactions between social structures, human agents and
technologies (Orlikowski, 1992). Within ICTD, the use of practice theories
remains under-developed. ANT (e.g. Andrade & Urquhart, 2010), structuration
theory (e.g. Walsham & Han, 1993) and activity theory (e.g. Karanasios &
Allen, 2013) are perhaps the most common theoretical approaches (Steyn,
2015).



*Exemplar topics and types of contributions looked for:*

We seek relevant and rigorous submissions which address several of the
following criteria:

• Apply and develop practice theories by demonstrating the empirical and
theoretical contributions they offer

• Offer new contributions to practice theories, for instance extending the
approaches or signalling how the field of ICTD can offer a fertile
landscape for their application

• Offer in depth comparison between practices theories and their
contribution to ICTD

• Critical studies on practice theory, and papers that illuminate on the
difficulties of applying them

• Contribute to understand of use of technologies in developing countries
using practice theories

• Explore how practice theories may guide interventions in expansive
learning processes and understand the practice of policy-making and
enactment of these processes



Ideally, submissions will provide new understandings of ICTD and practice
theory. Submissions will be evaluated using rigorous criteria associated
with high quality academic research.



See http://2017.ifipwg94.net/ for paper submission details



*Associate editors:*

1. Professor David Allen, University of Leeds, UK

2. Dr Mira Slavova, GIBS Business School, South Africa

3. Dr Aljona Zorina, University of Leeds, UK

4. Dr Stephen Burgess, Victoria University, Australia

5. Dr Larry Stillman, Monash University, Australia

6. Dr Jyoti Mishra, University of Bradford, UK

7. Dr Gary Cifuentes Alvarez, University of Los Andes, Colombia

8. Senior Researcher Jacki O’Neill, Microsoft Research India

9. Dr Saifuddin Khalid, Aalborg University, Denmark

10. Professor Sikder Monoare Murshed, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

11. Dr Markus Rohde, University of Siegen, Germany

12. Dr Mega Subramaniam, University of Maryland, USA

13. Professor Gary Burnett, Florida State University, USA

14. Professor Schubert Foo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore



*Important dates:*

Submission Deadline: November 15, 2016
Notification of Acceptance: January 31, 2017
Resubmissions Due: February 28, 2017



For more information please contact Stan Karanasios (
stan.karanasios at rmit.edu.au)



References

Andrade, A. D., & Urquhart, C. (2010). The affordances of actor network
theory in ICT for development research. Information Technology & People,
23(4), 352-374.

Avgerou, C. (2010). Discourses on ICT and Development. Information
Technologies & International Development, 6(3), 1-18.

Karanasios, S. (2014). Framing ICT4D research using activity theory: A
match between the ICT4D field and theory? Information Technologies &
International Development, 10(2), 1-17.

Karanasios, S., & Allen, D. (2013). ICT for development in the context of
the closure of Chernobyl nuclear power plant: an activity theory
perspective. Information Systems Journal, 23(4), 287-306. doi:
10.1111/isj.12011

Miettinen, R., Paavola, S., & Pohjola, P. (2012). From Habituality to
Change: Contribution of Activity Theory and Pragmatism to Practice
Theories. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 42(3), 345-360. doi:
10.1111/j.1468-5914.2012.00495.x

Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept
of Technology in Organizations. Organization Science, 3(3), 398-427.

Steyn, J. (2015). Idols on the ICTD theatre - The Stage. Paper presented at
the 13th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in
Developing Countries, Negombo, Sri Lanka.

Walsham, G., & Han, C.-K. (1993). Information systems strategy formation
and implementation: the case of a central government agency. Accounting,
Management and Information Technologies, 3(3), 191-209.

Walsham, G., & Sahay, S. (1999). GIS for district-level administration in
India: problems and opportunities. MIS Quarterly, 23(1), 39-65.