[AISWorld] CFP: Understanding local social processes in ICT4D research (Special Issue: Information Technology for Development)

[Efpraxia Zamani]

* Special Issue Call for Papers *

Information Technology for Development


Title: Understanding local social processes in ICT4D research


The 1990s debates about the role the Internet played on different human 
development dimensions gave rise to the Information and Communication 
Technologies for Development (ICT4D) field. Existing research shows that 
digital technology can make a difference in people’s lives. ICT has the 
potential to empower marginalized individuals and groups, supporting 
social inclusion (Baron & Gomez, 2013; Díaz Andrade & Doolin, 2016) and 
financial inclusion (Diniz, Bailey & Sholler, 2014; Joia & dos Santos, 
2019). It also allows them to participate in mainstream socio-economic 
activities (Mthoko & Pade-Khene, 2013; Armenta et al., 2013; Krauss, 
2013). These positive outcomes may result in the perception that digital 
technology is the ‘cure-all’ for diverse societal problems. However, 
development is not a straightforward issue that can be solved simply by 
introducing digital technology (Lwoga & Sangeda, 2018). ICT4D is about 
the local interpretations of development and understanding of local 
processes involved in delivering development (Unwin, 2009).

In this special issue, we would like to draw attention to the social 
processes in which ICT4D research projects occur. Presently, most ICT4D 
studies occur in developing countries in the Global South and many focus 
on describing ICT4D interventions. However, most of those studies draw 
from theories developed and applied in the Global North, such as 
institutional theory (Bass, Nicholson, & Subhramanian, 2013) or 
technology acceptance (Thomas, Li, & Oliveira, 2017), among others. 
While drawing upon such theories can, of course, help us understand 
emerging phenomena, context cannot be ignored (Andoh-Baidoo, 2017; 
Davison & Martinsons, 2016). ICT4D research requires deliberate 
attention to the conditions in the field. Equally critical in ICT4D 
analyses is the choice and application of theories, whether deductively 
(to guide the investigation) or inductively (to discuss the findings). 
Both discerning contextual conditions and careful consideration of 
theory are conducive to understand the local meaning of development.

Theorizing and employing theory in different settings is a social 
practice, an act informed by the socio-cultural conditions of the time 
(Horkheimer, 1982). Against this background, we argue that the phenomena 
that inform ICT4D research directions, portray specific ways of valuing 
and thinking that are typically informed by discourses from ‘developed 
nations’, and which often ignore local contexts, culture and historicity 
(Ndhlovu, 2017). ‘Imported’ conceptualizations often fail to account for 
the different ways of knowing in the Global South (Connell, 2014), 
making the simplistic one-to-one translation of categories, paradigms, 
meanings, and reasonings from one context to another a pointless 
exercise – e.g., from Europe to India (Chakrabarty, 2000). However, 
ICT4D research is a moving target. For example, an influential 
perspective that shaped what we do in ICT4D is the idea that there are 
developing and developed countries, First and Third world countries, 
North and South, Western and non-Western, etc. This dichotomous 
categorization is diminishing. Furthermore, problems of deprivation are 
not unique to the Global South; ICT4D research acknowledges the 
vulnerability of marginalized communities in the Global North (Loh & 
Chib, 2019) and the multidimensional nature of development (Qureshi, 
Noteboom & Schumaker, 2015). The rise of ICT4D research informed by 
non-Western philosophies (Jimenez & Roberts, 2019) and recent calls for 
research on Indigenous theories (Davison & Díaz Andrade, 2018) herald 
the presence of more endemic research in the information systems field. 
Regardless of geographical location, awareness of contextual 
circumstances is needed in theorizing and using theory in ICT4D research 
(Avgerou, 2017). (Our understanding of theorizing and use of theory 
includes different categories of theory (Gregor, 2006))

In this special issue, we invite authors to explore relevant questions 
that will help the ICT4D community understand the local social processes 
that explain ICT4D phenomena. Submissions that explore and challenge 
dominant research directions and goals, and that help articulate 
research practices that underpin success stories and ICT4D failures are 
particularly welcome.


Topics may include, but are not limited to:

- Contextualizing of established theories and methodologies in ICT4D 
research
- Endemic theories and epistemologies for ICT4D
- Local understandings of ICT-enabled development
- Localized examples, narratives or data-driven ICT4D case studies
- Studies on the local culture of ICT4D research
- Critical engagement with hegemonic tendencies in ICT4D research
- Self-reflexive narratives about ICT4D research experiences


* Guest Editors *

Kirstin Krauss, University of South Africa (UNISA)
Efpraxia D. Zamani, The University of Sheffield
Antonio Díaz Andrade, Auckland University of Technology

* Important Deadlines *

- Manuscript Deadline: 31 January 2022
- Notification of decision: April 30, 2022
- Deadline for revised papers: August 30, 2022
- Notification of final acceptance: December 30, 2022
- Tentative publication date: March 31, 2023