Cultivating Technological Innovation for Development

Abstract

This paper essays the viewpoint that the development or innovation in society of technologies, such as information and communication technologies, should be self-cultivated rather than imported. Ideas are drawn from multiple research disciplines to inform the elaboration of this perspective. A behavioral notion of development, based on the notion of structural conditioning of behaviors of social units, is discussed and adopted. Concepts of change from cybernetic theory are then delineated, to be used analogously later on for illustrating behavioral aspects of technology adoption and societal development. Subsequently, current theoretical formulations in the economic literature on technological change are reviewed, to muster key insights for furthering an understanding of the behavioral notion of development. The paper then recruits principles and ideas from current developments in sociotechnical systems (STS) theory. The applicability of these ideas for promoting understanding of macro-phenomena in national development systems is discussed. Finally, the paper integrates these various strands of theoretical formulations into the assertion that it is more important to invest in the cultivation of the patterns of behavior that underpin the various technological innovations of modernization than it is to invest in the pervasive uptake of information and communication technologies.

A Developmental Perspective on Technology in Language Education

“…Teachers not only should be able to use today's CALL software but should also have successful strategies for evaluating and adapting the new waves of software that will surely come. And institutions should have the capacity not just to make use of technologies but also to participate in the generation and improvement of technologies (Corea, 2000).…”

Desperately Seeking Systems Thinking in ICT4D

“…This approach was applied in a western setting, but Walsham et al (ibid) argue that the characteristics it exemplifies are suited to the conditions in developing countries. Corea (2000) belongs to the school of thinking that technological innovation is the most important driver for economic development. He proposes that development has to happen from within.…”

“…Nepal and Petkov 2002, Gunawardena and Brown 2007, Turpin et al 2009, Murthy et al 2010). Some work is at a theoretical or conceptual level (Corea 2000), or proposes the use of certain methodologies (Walsham et al 1988). In the papers where systems thinking does not play a central role (Nicholson andBabin 2011, Twinomurinzi andGhartey-Tagoe 2011), a systems approach is suggested as an improved way of dealing with problems identified on the respective case studies.…”

Late Adopters and Laggards: Should We Care?

“…Yet many of the tools (outlined in the last section of this paper) have arisen or been used in design contexts. Corea (2000) noted the need to start with understanding the social environment and to build up relationships to develop behaviours intrinsically motivated to engage with such technologies, with the goal of being innovative rather than replicating.…”