The Influence of Intangible (‘Soft’) Constructs on the Outcome of Community ICT Initiatives in Ghana: A Gap Archetype Analysis

Ayoung, Daniel Azerikatoa; Abbott, Pamela; Kashefi, Armin

doi:10.1002/j.1681-4835.2016.tb00562.x

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…However, the reality is still far from ideal. Ayoung et al (2016) report widespread closure of these CICs in the country’s northern part. Steeves and Kwami (2019) report that the One Laptop Per Child programme’s termination after just three years of implementation.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Kubuga

Ayoung²,

Bekoe

2021

DPRG

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Purpose Nearly at the end of its lifespan, the Ghana ICT4AD policy is in a position for a holistic view, especially through the eyes of the intended beneficiaries. This paper aims to fill that gap. The paper measures the gap between what was intended and what has been realised and, based on that, makes recommendations for stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The research used the design reality gap analysis approach to numerically examine the deviation or otherwise of the ideals of the Ghana ICT4AD policy from or to the reality on the ground. It required the breaking down of the problem into dimensions and subdimensions and involved interviewing office holders, academics, practitioners and students over a three-year period. The recommendations include a review of the policy before it expires and an explicit designation of an agency responsible for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the various stages of the policy. Findings The chief finding is that Ghana’s ICT4AD policy might miss the targets totally, or might well be a partial failure unless action is taken to close the design–reality gaps identified by the research. As the policy is almost at the end of its lifespan, recommendations are even more useful when the recommended revision takes place. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of the is that it looks only at the implementation success or failure without a probe into the causal factors and/or the impact on society. Practical implications The policy runs full term at end 2022, with large gaps between the plans of the framers and the reality on the ground. An immediate revision of the policy is most recommended. Originality/value Besides this study, the authors have not come across any such comprehensive study of the Ghana ICT4AD policy, especially with the amount of data now available after two decades. There is a similarity with a Pakistani study, which has been acknowledged in this study, but the two works differ greatly in methodology, context and style.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Kubuga

Ayoung²,

Bekoe

2021

DPRG

Self Cite

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“…Mukerji (2008) described the emergence of telecenters as developmental intervention in rural India; a typology was developed and serves as a starting point for further in-depth studies to answer questions regarding models and related issues such as ownership, sustainability, and socioeconomic impact. Ayoung et al (2016) examined how the interaction between "soft" constructs (politics, culture, emotions, people, partnerships, and context) affected the outcome of a telecenter initiative. The findings from telecenter studies highlight the importance of contextual and financial factors in the continuous development of telecenter initiatives in underserved communities, and also indicate how to increase the benefits of ICT facilities to poor or deprived people.…”

Section: Ict For Development (Ict4d)telecenters In Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internet Village Motoman Project in rural Cambodia: bridging the digital divide

Luo

Chea

2018

ITP

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Purpose Community wireless networking has become a growing trend in both metropolitan and rural areas around the world. However, few studies have sought to understand what motivates people to use community wireless networks and the unintended effects that those technologies have on communities, particularly for rural users. The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and usage of an asynchronous wireless internet system in a rural village of Cambodia to examine the issues and challenges in the acceptance of a new technology in a less-developed country. Design/methodology/approach By employing qualitative methods of in-depth case analysis, the authors revealed various usage motivations and unintended effects of the system. Findings The authors identified five reasons that motivated users to use the system: avowed identity, a means to an end, maintaining personal ties, power and influence, and psychological commitment and ownership. The unintended effects of the system included increased number of interactions among actors and other uses of the system, including internet commerce, telemedicine, and e-government. Research limitations/implications This study explores the wireless internet project known as the “Internet Village Motoman Project” that was initiated by a non-governmental organization with funding from private donors, supplemented with matching funds from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Originality/value This study contributes to the academic understanding of rural regions of Cambodia and its evidence supports the current theoretical assumptions that user behaviors are not determined only by users’ decisions alone (as proposed by traditional cognitive IS research), but also by users and their social interactions as stated in the four-dimensional social actor framework proposed by Lamb and Kling (2003). The latter provides better explanation of the motivation for internet use in the region. The theoretical contribution of this study is the useful adoption of the actor-network approach in a non-organizational setting. The findings also contribute to the literature on how practical internet engineering can bridge the digital divide. Fulfilling the needs identified in the research and understanding unintended effects of the system will contribute to the successful implementation of new internet projects in other rural areas.

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Designing for Context Versus the Lock-in Effect of ‘Free’ Global Digital Platforms: A Case of SMEs from Nigeria

Tolani

Owoseni

Twinomurinzi

2020

Designing for Digital Transformation. Co-Creating Services With Citizens and Industry

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This paper reports on the design and evaluation of an app that was designed using the newly created elaborated action design research method and critical realism to overcome the social and economic structural challenges that SMEs in Nigeria face. The results show that even though the app took into account the full range of SME dynamic capabilities and proved valuable, SMEs remained dependent on the affordances of the existing global digital platforms. The findings point to the lock-in effect of freely available digital platforms and that SMEs tend to default to their path dependency (and therefore the existing global digital platforms) rather than explore local digital innovations. The paper suggests that intentional efforts from powerful actors such as government might be necessary to overcome the path dependency and lock-in effect of freely available global digital platforms. The paper identifies the extra efforts required to sustain local digital innovation in the face of well-resourced global digital platforms. The paper further reveals the utility of the new elaborated action design research method for designing for context. Six (6) design principles for designing for SMEs in resource-constrained contexts were also elicited.

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The Influence of Intangible (‘Soft’) Constructs on the Outcome of Community ICT Initiatives in Ghana: A Gap Archetype Analysis

Cited by 4 publications

References 44 publications

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Ghana’s ICT4AD policy: between policy and reality

Internet Village Motoman Project in rural Cambodia: bridging the digital divide

Designing for Context Versus the Lock-in Effect of ‘Free’ Global Digital Platforms: A Case of SMEs from Nigeria

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