South‐South and triangular cooperation in ICT4D

Abstract

This paper addresses cooperation between countries in the Global South based on information and communications technologies (ICTs) and also triangular cooperation including partners in the developed countries. It is argued that now is an important time for research and action in this space and in information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D) more generally. Some opportunities are identified, selecting mainly from papers in the IFIP WG9.4 conference in Dar‐es‐Salaam, Tanzania, in May 2019. The paper has a strong critical dimension, asking questions such as who is driving ICT4D projects, who benefits from the work, and are the less advantaged adequately included in the process. The paper ends with five broad principles on which further ICT4D research could build.

Novice researchers' perspectives on affordances in ICT4D research collaboration

“…Furthermore, foreign researchers can bring much-needed resources and expertise, which could improve the local authors' research impact (Van Biljon & Renaud, 2019). Walsham (2020) supports efforts to bring together different countries and organizations to work on collaborative projects, but expresses concern that the driving force behind a particular project is not always discussed and an explicit analysis of who gains from the project and who loses is not always presented.…”

“…A review of the prominent ICT4D journals (EJISDC, ITD and ITID) from 2009 to February 2020 using the English language and the word collaboration as the search term in the title, keywords and abstract produced 45 journal articles out of the 1133 papers considered. Having excluded manuscripts that were editorial notes and reports, we found only three articles, one from EJISDC and two from ITD, where research collaboration was considered the object of study (Muriithi et al, 2016;Van Biljon et al, 2017;Walsham, 2020). In 18 articles, collaboration was used as a variable and 24 articles viewed collaboration as a connector.…”

“…The key principles listed include a common endeavor, respect for national sovereignty, partnership among equals, mutual accountability and transparency and a multi-stakeholder approach. Walsham (2020) questions the feasibility of achieving the UNDP principles in practice and advocates the position that all information system (IS) and ICT4D researchers should be explicit about how they are contributing to the world with their engagement. We argue that this, being explicit on how researchers contribute to the world, motivates theorizing research collaboration as an object with properties that can be evaluated.…”

Digital development for a progressive networked society

“…Key among the inhibiting factors is a lack of collaboration within and between communities and institutions, as well as a growing inequality, which is also fuelled by unequal access to opportunity‐enhancing information and communication technologies (ICTs). Networked co‐action is also encouraged between developing countries in the form of South‐South collaboration and triangular cooperation in ICT4D as articulated by Walsham (2020). While the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment that affect the developing world are due to a lack of human development and capability‐enhancing policies as articulated by Sen (1999), the scourge of inequality is exacerbated by the absence of progressive policies such as social protection and progressive taxation (UNDP, 2017).…”

“…This special issue, therefore, adds its voice to this endeavour by presenting research contributions and case studies that address how to harness IS for improving the lives of people in the developing world. Furthermore, its quest for the building of a progressive networked society resembles Walsham's (2020) call for cross‐societal and cross‐organisational collaborations in ICT4D. The topics addressed include electronic health care, ICT enabled remittances and e‐business adoption.…”