Information and Communication Technologies for Development

Social Harmony involves the peaceful interaction of people in a social setting. In this keynote address I briefly examine the historical antecedents of social harmony and identify some of the salient barriers to its realisations, before selecting examples of ways in which ICT can contribute to social harmony, with particular attention to the Asian region. I conclude by looking ahead to future research opportunities.

Research on information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) requires the combination of multiple theoretical strands. Central among them are the foundational theories on technology, on context, and on socio-economic development. In addition, ICT4D research draws from middle range theories, which shed light on specific topics of ICT related phenomena in the context of a developing world. In this paper, I explain what each of the three foundational theories is about and indicate the need for middle range theories. I suggest that the challenge for ICT4D research is to draw creatively from existing theoretical debates and to construct analytical routes and theoretical propositions suitable for the complex phenomena of ICT and development.

As with other forms of social change, international development requires deep changes in human attitudes, skills, and values. Traditional design, however, stresses convenience and accommodation of users. Thus, while development requires human change, designers seek to avoid any need for people to change. This mismatch between the demands of social change and the mainstream attitude of design is at the heart of a range of persistent challenges in ICT for development. I propose that the problem can be addressed in part by shifting from an approach based on needs to an approach based on aspirations.

Research on antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs reveal that HIV positive patients who adhere to treatment substantially improve their life expectancy and lower the risk of progression to full-blown AIDS. While there is a significant body of research in the medical and social science fields on ART adherence, Information Systems (IS) research has paid little attention to this subject. Especially lacking is research on how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solutions can be developed to better support ART adherence programs. We argue in this paper that software platforms offer capabilities that can be leveraged to address more effectively the information management challenges associated with ART adherence programs. The motivation for this paper is taken from a broader action research project planned to be carried out to support an ART adherence program in Sierra Leone.

Uninterrupted supply of health commodities is a prerequisite for a well-functioning healthcare system. Establishing and maintaining effective supply chains is at the same time challenging in developing countries. A key part of this chain and the focus of this paper are the information systems supporting the communication and distribution of commodities between national warehouses and health facilities. Such systems supporting storage, transportation, wastage reduction, forecasting, planning and avoiding commodity stock-outs are invariably called Logistics Management Information Systems (LMIS). However, the blurred boundaries between the various parts of the supply chain and the numerous information systems involved is reflected in the lack of a clear definition of LMIS. The main aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what an LMIS is, and how it interacts with other information systems. By presenting two case studies, from Tanzania and Uganda, we show that the landscape of LMIS consists of a patchwork of information systems, which often have tighter coupling with systems of other domains (such as patient management) than with the supply chain. This leads us to ask the following research question; what are appropriate information systems architectures for LMIS? Our response, main argument and contribution is that the nature of these supply chains favours the emergence of several independent information systems. This is particularly due to the variation in resources and capacities on the different levels of the health system and thus the supply chain. Interoperability between the different levels and other related information systems should then be considered, necessitating a scrutinous evaluation of what data needs to be shared with whom.

The article is addressing the problem posed by fragmented and poorly coordinated Health Information Systems (HIS) in developing countries within the framework of complexity. HISs that can provide quality data for monitoring, management and health services provision are important for countries, which requires a sensitive understanding of complexity and how they can be managed. Using a case from Indonesia, we discuss the challenges of integrating HIS using the concept of attractor for change from the field of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). The dashboard is positioned as such an attractor as a means to get different stakeholders to discuss and reach a consensus on how to integrate and share data without disturbing the underlying systems too much. A more generic model to manage complexity is proposed.

A software ecosystem consists of a software platform, a set of internal and external developers and domain experts in service to a community of users that compose relevant solution elements to satisfy their needs. Open source is well-known for its potential to frame software ecosystems with its networking tendency and provision for further customization with access to software source code. Open source is increasingly becoming the choice for health information system implementations in low resource settings.This longitudinal case study was designed to study the research question, how a software ecosystem is being built around an open source health information system implementation. Empirically the study was positioned in a multi-sector initiative identifying and support nutritionally at-risk households to eliminating malnutrition. The discussion reveals how new dependencies between health and non-health sector actors were created with the emerging software ecosystem based on an open source framework and supplementary custom-built web and mobile components.

While open source health information software platforms provide developing countries a low-cost, quick and less risky way to build health information systems as compared to in-house solutions, human resource capacity challenges can limit their ability to leverage such platforms. Drawing from a case study focusing on the deployment and operation phases of the DHIS2 platform in Malawi, we observe open source software platforms require a range of human resource capacities that go beyond capacity to use the platform. To fully leverage open source health information software platforms entails the availability of platform usage capacity, platform deployment capacity, platform customisation capacity and platform module development capacity. Most capacity building initiatives for information systems in developing countries have been short-term efforts focused on initial end user capacity to use such systems. However, to cope with rapid innovations and evolution associated with open source software platforms, capacity building ought to be a continuous process encompassing a range of human resource capacities not only use of the platform.

Health sectors in developing countries are commonly struggling with disarrayed health information architectures, where multiple vertical, disease-specific programmes have implemented their isolated information systems. A consequence is parallel and overlapping systems where information is stored at different locations and in different formats. To address this, multiple global standardization efforts to harmonize health information architectures have been initiated. Still, there is only limited knowledge about the role of these global standardization communities in shaping national health information architectures. This article is based on a case study of the global Open Health Information Exchange (OpenHIE) standardization community. With an Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) ecosystem perspective, we aim to improve our understanding of the relationships between global standardization communities and national ICT ecosystems. Theoretically, we contribute with our conceptualization of national ICT ecosystems.

Utilizing concepts derived from computational thinking—a method of thinking coined by Jeanette Wing—a problem-solving paradigm is presented to demonstrate the applicability of thinking computationally beyond the realm of computer science. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used as a set of real world problems to elaborate the function of the proposed four-stage paradigm. The paradigm seeks to provide a method of approaching problems with the aim of finding local and contextualized solutions that reach all members of different societies. This paper also serves as the foundation of further research in the development of computational thinking as a fundamental tool for finding solutions in a broad scope of disciplines and real-world situations.

Women are still facing exclusion in the use of telecentres, largely because of cultural perceptions that they are responsible for the home; telecentres are also widely perceived appropriate for men to find employment. This paper presents an analysis of the benefits women derive from using telecentres. This study explores how telecentres empower women in the rural communities by analysing three telecentres in the rural setting of Western Cape, South Africa. A qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews was used to gather in-depth details on individual empowerment of the rural women. The results obtained show that some rural women used the telecentres to enhance economic standards, which resulted in individual empowerment in social, psychological, information and economic dimensions. This study highlights the potential of telecentres in empowering women and proposes that the government and NGOs consider the telecentre as a means of addressing gender digital divide issues.

ICT4D is slowly making inroads into various communities in developing contexts globally, and this slow pace is equally noticeable within the field of gender and development. This paper draws from an ongoing research project that uses a qualitative feminist framework to investigate young women’s participation in the call centre industry in Cape Town, South Africa. The paper further draws on intersectionality to tap into lived experiences of young women working in different call centres to critically explore the “value” for call centres as a project empowering young women economically in the South African context. Drawing from descriptive data collected from young women working as call centre agents, the paper argues that call centres may indeed be a huge ICT4D empowerment project for young women in the South African context, but also cautions that call centres continue to parade the hallmarks of ‘traditional female employment ghettos’.

Information practices, whether mediated by technologies or not, have critical roles on the experience leading up to and resulting from migration. This paper analyzes the relationships between information practices (information seeking, use, and sharing [1]) and Latino migration in and towards the US. The paper is based on findings from two convergent studies of Latin American migrants in the US [2, 3]. The two studies are based on the qualitative collection of stories by undocumented Latino migrants in different contexts. Based on our findings, we contend that migration is not a process that follows a linear progression of stages, as some scholars indicate, and that information practices can not only help expand migrants’ perceptions of their place of origin and of destination, but they also help them reaffirm their notions of wellbeing, or what a good life means to them. In addition, we show that information and communication technologies (ICT) are affording migrant lives a stronger sense of ‘in-betweenness’, generating new experiences of nationhood, sense of belonging and citizenship, as well as forming new national-transnational identities. Methodologically, our convergent studies evidence the power of using stories as a research method to gain deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics and experiences of migration, a central phenomenon of our time.

There is little overt engagement with research paradigms in ICT4D research but what there is shows a dominance of positivism and interpretivism. In this paper we explore the value of a “third way” research paradigm: critical realism. We concisely review the main features of critical realism: its ontological realism combined with epistemological relativism; its iterative, pluralist and reflexive methodology; and its emancipatory values. Alongside the general value of explicit use of any research paradigm, we argue two particular types of value of critical realism for ICT4D research. First, generic values including exposure of context, a contingent causality that reflects real-world ICT4D experiences, legitimisation of different stakeholder views and reduction of research bias, and support for ICT4D’s interventionist approach and its goal of delivering international development. Second, specific value in addressing current trends in ICT4D research: the growing search for causal links between “ICT” and “D”, and the political and ethical turns in ICT4D that are spurring researchers to engage more with issues of power, rights and justice. We conclude that delivery of critical realism’s utility will require the ICT4D research community to take actions that enable this emergent research paradigm to flourish.

The rapid expansion of hundreds of innovation hubs across Africa and Europe raises compelling questions about the relevance of this dynamic sector for development. To address this, our paper presents findings of how the social and economic context of hubs influences its members’ construction of concepts of community, collaboration and development. The paper argues that what counts as innovation is often constructed in Western discourse and projected onto African realities. Doreen Massey’s theory of space-making is used as a lens to analyse how different hubs produce distinct forms of collaboration and innovation for development. The aim of this paper is to explore alternative narratives of innovation hubs through a spatial perspective with the aim of revealing a multiplicity of forms for these hubs. It draws on findings from two innovation hubs in London and Lusaka respectively, using the methodology of multiple case studies. This article thus contributes firstly to the so far very limited empirical data on innovation hubs, and second, strengthens the theoretical framings of innovation for development which have so far emanated from a Western- centric empirical evidence base.

The ontological questions ‘What is ICT?’ and ‘What is development?’ are described and documented in literature. Similarly, methodological approaches for understanding how ICT leads to development or for measuring the impact of ICT are described. However, explaining ‘why’ ICT works or not in the contexts of developing countries needs further investigation. We propose a critical realism based methodological approach for answering the above mentioned ‘why’-question. The core of a critical realism based approach is to identify the underlying mechanism(s) that may explain a phenomenon of why ICT leads to development. We demonstrate the proposed methodology through applying it on a case in an ICT4D context from Nepal.

This work-in-progress paper presents a line of research analysing the affordances of a range of participatory technologies for development. Affordances are the ‘actionable possibilities’ that are made possible (but not determined) by a technology. Participatory technologies are a range of technology-mediated practices used in participatory development initiatives, such as participatory video and participatory digital mapping. This research examines the relationship between technological artefacts, participatory processes and development outcomes and asks to what extent one contributes to another. As this is work-in-progress it is too early to draw firm conclusions however this paper identifies the need to distinguish between a participatory technology’s technical features, its functional affordances and the affordances of participatory video practices. Affordances seem to provide a potential conceptual means to bridge the relatively technocentric and realist approaches of some IS, HCI and ICT4D with the relatively anthrocentric and constructivist approaches of some STS and development studies.

Positive deviance is a social mechanism whereby a beneficial practice that is not considered as normal gets taken up and spread within a community. This enables a community to solve its own problems aided by mentorship and facilitation. Through two long term case studies, we have identified positive deviants and are now learning how to leverage the ICT inherent in our interventions to cultivate and amplify positive change. We find both ourselves and beneficiary communities developing through various stages of dependence, independence and interdependence. We consider the latter a strong form of development. We now look at ICT4D projects as opportunities to identify positive deviants, and to amplify positive deviance with ICT. We posit that affordable, accessible and generic ICTs offer a way to do so, and that explicitly aiming to mentor and facilitate positive deviance with such ICT offers a path toward community development and interdependence.

This paper explores the reuse, recycling and sharing of open data (OD) as a potential solution to bridge gaps in existing baseline data and information in areas with scarce data resources. It focuses on open data generated during disasters, and analyses how these voluminous ‘free disaster data,’ such as social media posts, images, damage assessment reports, etc., could be reused and recycled to serve purposes other than emergency response and relief. To illustrate this, the paper makes use of a previous research that analysed how the open data of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the hydrometeorological disaster which affected several nations, and gained both local and global attention, could be reused and recycled as inputs for development planning, especially in post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation, and pre-disaster mitigation and prevention planning.

The “data revolution for development” pundits tout data as representing an undeniable opportunity for transforming and improving societies through the deployment of data-centric development approaches. The critics on the other hand question the legitimacy of these claims made on the role to data to transform society and development work, in particular considering the numerous systemic and structural challenges faced by some of the least developed countries. In this paper we consider the real positioning and role of the data, and in particular Big Data, for sustainable development in Africa. We highlight three perspectives and dynamics associated with the data revolution for development and suggest that the real utilization of data for development in Africa can only be realized when other ecosystem factors are considered in tandem.

Organisations now invest in ICT solutions to drive business activities and to provide the agility sought within changing environments. Owing to many reasons including inadequate financial resources, organisations in developing countries are characterised by mergers of two or more institutions. It means therefore that disparate systems with different data management schemes are merged or made to collaborate making access to quality data almost impossible. In turn, a level of inefficiency finds its way with potential to generate inaccurate, missing, misinterpreted and poorly defined information. This research is motivated by the need to investigate data governance challenges in institutions within developing countries that are characterised by complex dynamics rooted in merged and collaborating environments. The study has been empirically scoped to explore data governance challenges in a large university of technology in the Western Cape Region of South Africa as a developing country. The challenges with regards to ICT and data governance are equally applicable in higher education institutions as they do in business organisations. Higher education institutions have a growing ICT infrastructure used in everyday activities and online functionality, making them prone to data problems. Challenges related to data management in universities are a lot more pronounced in universities which were established through the merging of independent institutions and also those that exchange data through collaborations. Thematic analysis has been employed within the theoretical lens of two models, contingency model (Wende and Otto 2007) and the data governance decision domain model (Khatri and Brown 2010). Analysis of data through the two models led to the development of a data governance framework applicable to the case under study and deemed to apply to any organisation in the same context. Challenges related to data principles, data access, data quality, data integration, metadata, data lifecycle, and design parameters emerged as the main findings from the study. Since the institution under study was established through a merger of independent technikons, the findings were deemed to be applicable to many other institutions where mergers and collaborations characterise their environment.

What are the institutional attributes that support the use of ICTs for social innovation? Based on the concept of the ‘hybrid domain’, we seek to better understand how various stakeholders with different priorities collaborate, combine economic and social objectives, and reconceptualize multi-stakeholder collaborative governance in the Global South. Using insights from behavioral economics and social psychology, we focus on two institutional aspects of social innovation - organizational arrangements and rationality. On the one hand, it is well recognized that social innovation stakeholders include not just states and commercial enterprises, but also NGOs, social enterprises, and for-profit/non-profit hybrid organizations. On the other hand, the rationality that brings together these stakeholders is not well articulated. While scholarship has emphasized utilitarian rationality, we highlight the importance of pro-social behavior in collaboration. We argue that scholarship in the past century has focused on utilitarian rationality while neglecting the role of prosocial behavior in collaboration. Further research on prosocial behavior and its incorporation in organizational theory would contribute to understanding the dynamics of collaboration for social innovation.

This paper is based on a survey of the current landscape of information systems research concerned with developing countries and development. Significant gaps are identified representing a lack of focus on digital technologies and the impact and significance of digital innovation for developing countries and development. We need to expand our focus from primarily addressing the challenges of access to and the ability to use ICTs, to also include how developing countries can participate in and take relevant roles in digital innovation. We are witnessing a wide-spread digitization of organizations and societies at large, and these significant changes warrant a new research agenda for information systems in developing countries. This paper proposes three new directions for research to support this shift; empirical research on digital innovation by developing countries; theorizing digital innovation by developing countries; and participation in digital innovation as freedom.

The community dynamics revolve around shared interests, norms, and identities. The sustainable exchange of resources for development is only possible if the members of the community are connected and the collaboration opportunities and practices are well-understood. This work in progress paper proposes social mapping as an innovative way of making sense of the connections between Development Informatics researchers towards understanding the research landscape and behavioural collaboration patterns. The data set includes the associations, collaborations and publication connections of at least 50 South African researchers. The maps were constructed using the Kumu social mapping tool. The results show that social mapping has the potential for presenting research connections visually in a way that supports sensemaking of the social dynamics within the society by considering the structural and behavioural patterns. The findings are limited by the fact that any attempt at representing the members of a dynamic community is seldom up to date and never complete. That limitation is managed by rigorously specifying the data capturing process and period. Furthermore, sensemaking theory informs that human sensemaking implicitly involves the unmaking of sense to adjust to time-space gaps. The contribution is a description and demonstration of how social mapping technology can be used to display information towards making sense of a research community.

Technology is ubiquitous, including in some public sector organisations in developing countries. This paper explores the introduction and use of e-services into the land records service in Bangladesh and how the role and position of ‘middlemen’ has re-asserted itself. The concept of affordance, both dispositional and relational, together with social affordance (habitus) offers an opportunity to better understand why this has happened and potentially to look at how to approach this in the future.

The Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 invoked a socialising form of accountability through which communities and health workers participated in and were jointly accountable for primary healthcare. Aside from a few experiments, by the 1990s these ideals were quickly replaced by policy prescriptions based on increasing efficiency in data quality and reporting through the introduction of health information systems. More recently, there has been a revival of interest in community participation as a mechanism for improving the poor status of primary healthcare in developing countries through the constitution of village health committees. This paper documents and reflects on nine years of research on interventions aimed at improving primary healthcare accountability in rural Karnataka. Over this period, our focus has shifted from studying how computerised health information systems can strengthen conventional accountability systems to a period of extended participatory action research aimed at socialising accountability practices at village level. The findings from this study constitute vital knowledge for reforming the primary healthcare sector through different policy measures including the design of appropriate technology-based solutions.

Information systems (IS) failure in developing countries has been often understood as the failure of development practitioners to think and act in accordance with the local context. Such explanatory accounts mostly take contingency as the situation in the local context in which multiple stakeholders can coordinate and adapt to the local. There is a lack of understanding of contingency as the global context of the international development field, in particular how IS failure can be shaped by the state actor. In this paper, we trace the change of the global aid governance that influenced the context of aid information management systems (AIMS) in Indonesia. We argue that understanding the failure of AIMS in Indonesia needs to move from the project’s local situation to the global-level, recursive relationship between the field of aid governance and the state actor. Interpreting AIMS failure as the result of Indonesia’s strategic agency in the shifting landscape of global aid agenda allows information communication and technology and development (ICTD) researchers to reflect upon the macro political economy of development, in particular how the emerging powers can shape the development agenda in which future ICT innovations unfold.

Efforts to fight communicable diseases in Africa have been harmonized through the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) framework. Following recent large outbreaks of SARS and Ebola further calls to strengthen disease surveillance and response, for example through information technology, are being made. To avoid parallel systems, data for IDSR is sought to be integrated into countries’ existing electronic health information systems (HIS). As experiences in this area are still limited, studying existing practices of disease surveillance and response could serve as a prerequisite for providing such electronic support for IDSR. The paper engages in this question by applying a knowing-in-practice perspective to a case of disease surveillance and response in Burkina Faso. The findings suggest that disease surveillance and response can be conceptualized as two interrelated yet distinct practices; that of surveillance and that of response. Surveillance is being both sustained and developed through everyday practices. It is also similar to routine HIS data collection, and thus seems fairly straightforward to integrate in existing HIS. Response, on the other hand, is both more complex and less sustained in everyday practice due to low frequency and unpredictability of outbreaks. Providing electronic support for IDSR should focus on maintaining a link between surveillance and response, but it would require an IS design flexible enough to also accommodate for situations that are yet unknown.

ICT4D projects in rural communities face many challenges to successful execution. These include the development of an ICT artifact which is suited to the needs of a specific community, as well as a complex socio-cultural context which can have unexpected impacts on an ICT4D project. In Mafarafara, a remote rural community in South Africa’s Limpopo province, researchers who were using a Design Science Research framework to guide the development of an ICT platform recognized the importance and potential impact of unvoiced social and political issues. Managing these dynamics are important for not only a better understanding of the community, but also for the success and sustainability of the project. Activity theory is used to complement the DSRM to make these social aspects visible, thus contributing to the success of the project. Two examples of the socio-political dynamics are described using the activity theory concepts of tension and hierarchical activity.

This practitioner report outlines the nature of constraints to the development of ICT markets in Kenya, and identifies the cause of key market failures to grow domestic capacity. Results of an initiative to improve Kenyan ICT capacity though mentoring, international collaboration and the use of Agile project management methods are discussed. Based on findings from CodePamoja, a two-year collaboration between Dutch and Kenyan IT companies and the German government, the report explains how the use of cross-border Agile teams may align well to the objectives of those working in ICT4D.

This paper provides empirical evidence of agile method adoption in smaller companies in Ethiopia. Agile methods are emerging as best practice for software development in the global north. So, is there evidence that agile methods are being used in Ethiopia? A Grounded Theory approach was adopted using face-to-face interviews with 17 software professionals from 7 software companies, which were selected by using a snowball sampling technique. The interviews were semi-structured and open-ended and have been audio-recorded and transcribed. Participants in the study identified the importance of agile principles, values and practices. Agile practices are used to address issues with requirements and to encourage user participation. However, it was discovered that the companies in the study were conducting software projects for government clients that mandate substantial documentation with elaborate staged approval procedures, using fixed price contracts with predefined delivery schedules.

Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is used by community members for survival in the rural context and to sustain their way of living. The procedures on how community members share their knowledge amongst themselves and with others are unique. Cultural practices communication protocols differ from mainstream research and technology development procedures. Thus appropriate community engagement is instrumental towards the success of technology co-design with communities. Co-design endeavors should be framed in consistent and harmonized partnerships between community members and researchers for mutual learning and benefit. However, this has not been formulated as an objective of many ICT endeavors with communities in the past. With a raising number of interaction challenges reported we are reviewing our own community design experiences and promoting the development of an engagement protocol.

The imbalance of health workforce between rural and urban has the most severe impact in low-income countries (LICs). One of the key elements in this disparity is the lack of professional development opportunities, such as Continuing Medical Education (CME), for rural medical practitioners. There exist few useful tools to effectively bridge the paucity of resources and access to CME for rural health care workers. Focusing on Nepal as a test-bed, we build, deploy, and evaluate an ICT-based platform called CMES (CME on a Stick), for the delivery and sharing of affordable and high-quality CME content for rural medical practitioners. We also refine the Citizen-centric Capacity Development (CCD) framework for ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development). The CCD framework guided the development and evaluation of the CMES platform. The research contributes not only to the theoretical knowledge of linking ICT design and achievement of development goals, but also the practical knowledge of building ICT-based CME capacity for rural areas in LICs.

For the development of sustainable ICT services, participation of the local communities is crucial. A meaningful involvement requires awareness and understanding of the various possibilities of the ICTs. In this paper, the processes of awareness raising among underprivileged population in the Sri Lankan tea estate district of Nuwara Eliya are examined, drawing on the findings from an empirical study conducted at two telecentres. A specific participatory methodology, where co-inspirational sessions and brainstorming constituted main activities of co-creation of knowledge was applied. Our empirical data confirms that the participatory methods can trigger curiosity and engagement among participants. Ideas and suggestions that emerged during brainstorming demonstrate relevance, realism as well as they are a proof of real needs and requirements of a population that lives under difficult conditions in remote locations. Participatory methods can initiate community engagement for a longstanding, sustainable transformation of the TCs, in collaboration with ICT developers, and TC staff.

Online outsourcing (OO) involves global outsourcing of tasks from clients to freelancers via platforms such as Upwork, Guru, Freelancer and Fiverr. Governments and donor agencies in several developing countries are currently starting OO training initiatives to enable access to digital livelihoods for marginalised groups such as youth and women. However, little is known about the impact of these initiatives and in response this paper reports on empirical research into OO projects in Pakistan. Supported by the sustainable livelihoods framework, the analysis shows a context of politico-economic vulnerability. Many freelancers do not succeed but some entrepreneurial individuals motivated by earnings potential are able to generate sufficient livelihoods. Contrary to an image of deinstitutionalised work, this form of digital labour involves a substantial institutional ecosystem. This implies a broad range of stakeholders including the platforms, formal interventions from policymakers and development agencies and the creation of informal support mechanisms.

Telecenters are meant to provide public access to information and communication technology (ICT) services to contribute to the development of the masses. The government of Malawi is implementing a telecenter project to provide ICT services to rural areas. However, most of the telecenters are not meeting the expected goals. The aim of this study was to explore how telecenter projects in rural areas are conceptualised and implemented. The study sought to understand who was involved in the project and how that influenced the sense of ownership of the telecenters. The research used the Stakeholder Theory as a theoretical framework. It was found that the telecenters faced challenges in the management of stakeholders. Although the projects identified stakeholders at the initiation of the project, they failed to keep the stakeholders engaged in the later phases of the project. This led to a low sense of ownership. Due to these occurrences, the telecenter projects have worked in isolation of the key stakeholders.

The urgent need for inclusive and sustainable agriculture has seen transition towards holistic, situated and participatory approaches to agricultural development such as agroecology. In this paper we use observations drawn from an action research project to examine the implications of such approaches on ICT design and implementation strategy. We suggest that ICTs designed for sustainable agriculture need to shift their emphasis from packaging and transmitting information toward facilitating communication and sharing of practice, adopting diverse collective, social and situated forms of knowing and learning.

The high failure rate of development interventions is well known. An approach to sustainable interventions is defined, based on a systems perspective that focuses on the ability of a system to integrate an intervention. The design of an intervention requires an understanding of the current state of the system from the perspective of being able to realise the intended benefit. This is called the readiness of the system, and is constituted by the level of maturity of the essential elements and the nature of the interrelationships that are required to realise and sustain the benefits. Interventions can be designed to match the current readiness of the system and to define the system changes toward the desired end state. These principles were developed during the implementation of an ICT for Rural Education (ICT4RED) project in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The practical implications for project design, execution and handover to the education system are illustrated.

The uncertainty and complexity of ICT4D projects call into question the suitability of conventional approaches to project management that are imposed exogenously, particularly in relation to the challenge of supporting sustainability and resilience. Attempts to transfer knowledge or ownership to local stakeholders or other responsible bodies fail, and consequently many worthwhile initiatives become unsustainable. The problem is particularly acute in the case of citizen engagement projects, where diverse stakeholders are involved and perspectives need to merge when identifying and realising the benefits of the initiative. Borrowing from literature on project management, knowledge management and organisational learning, this paper draws on experiences from a citizen engagement initiative for basic service delivery in a local municipality in South Africa, by reflecting on the learning processes that can contribute to ongoing sustainability in such projects in the global South. The findings highlight the value of emergent learning and negotiation rather than rigid processes linked to pre-determined success factors that are typically adopted in project-based ICT4D initiatives.

The paper addresses the wicked problem of unsustainable health information systems in the context of low and middle income countries (LMICs), specifically using a case study from India in the public health sector. The paper makes the argument that current analysis of sustainability tends to be largely “supply-driven” focusing on the provision of external resources and technical assistance needed to sustain a project. But since these external injections are self-multiplying, requiring more and more over time, they tend to not lead to satisfactory and sustainable solutions. The paper argues for a more “demand-driven” approach, where the focus is on the user and the use context. Taken from this perspective, the paper identifies two sets of processes – evolving local ownership and enhancing use – as being key to establish sustainability. Further, these processes are seen to be mutually self-reinforcing, and supported by an enabling context of use.

In the wake of “the mobile revolution”, there has been an immense surge in mobile phone-based health innovations. Scholars and industry specialists have found a large portion of such innovations in less developed economies unsustainable beyond pilot projects. However, “sustainability” is a difficult aspiration to operationalize. Based on insights from recent literature on digital innovation, the paper suggests an alternative focus on generativity – a perspective on longevity that emphasizes the continuous facilitation of innovation over stewardship and control. To illustrate the relevance of generativity to ICT4D, the paper draws on examples from a mobile phone-based implementation to strengthen routine reporting of public health data in Malawi. By foregrounding generativity as an ICT4D aspiration, the paper begins to consider implications at the level of projects, national policy and international development collaboration.

The present study aimed to determine the sustainability of the aAQUA (Almost All Questions Answered) e-Agriservice in Maharashtra state, western parts of India covering the four districts of the state. The study used the ex-post facto (cause to effect) research design in a quasi-intervention setting. The list of registered users was obtained from the service provider (presently Agrocom Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) and total of 120 users were selected randomly from four districts (30 users from each district). The sustainable-Agriservice Index (SeAGRSI) was computed based on the five dimensions viz. technological, economic, social, institutional, and political by using combinations of Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA), Mixed Method Approach and Normalized Rank Order Method (NROM). The study revealed that the SeAGRSI for the social indicators was the highest among other dimensions of the sustainability (SeAGRSI = 0.77) followed by the technologically (0.73), economic (0.71) political (0.62) and institutional (0.58) sustainable. It was also found that the mean SeAGRSI was 0.70 as reported by one third (32.50%) of the users, which means 70% the aAQUA e-Agriservice was technologically, socially, economically, institutionally and politically sustainable. The indicators developed would be useful to develop strategy for sustainability of ICT efforts in many developing countries.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used to support developing countries in many different ways, such as poverty reduction, public services enhancement, and disaster management and recovery. Mobile4D is a software framework that applies the crowdsourcing paradigm to facilitate information exchange between people during disaster situations. It acts as a disaster reporting and alerting system as well as an information sharing platform. Mobile4D facilitates rapid communication between local citizens and administrative units. Moreover, it allows exchanging experience and knowledge between people to reduce poverty and increase living standards. The Mobile4D framework has been deployed in a pilot study in three provinces in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The study was limited to report particular types of disasters, however, it revealed further use cases and identified the required extension of Mobile4D to cover the entire country. This paper presents a report about Mobile4D: initiative, challenges, status, and further extensions.

In the 3 years since initial discussion on application of ICT for the Lao Health and Management Information System (HMIS) and initiation of the Lao Health Sector Reform process, DHIS2 has become the official national health information reporting platform for the HMIS including the major health programs, such as MNCH, TB, Malaria and HIV. The platform now provides a data warehouse that collects and manages routine data from all public health facilities nationwide and dashboards for dissemination and use of information. The system generates programme reports, national health system reports, statistics reports as well as other reports serving monitoring purposes for the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Government of Lao (SDGs; UHC). This article describes the process of developing the integrated HIS in Lao People Democratic Republic (PDR) from 2013 to December 2016. Overcoming challenges of human resource capacity and infrastructure disadvantages; strengthening the utilisation of health information especially for planning and decision making have been and will be crucial for the strength and sustainability of the integrated HIS on DHIS2 platform similar to other setting in developing countries.

Health Information Systems in developing countries struggle with vicious cycles of lack of information use. Substantial investment has been spent to improve the situation but results are still very limited. Adding to the body of research on strategies and solutions to break out of such cycles, this paper focuses on the effects of making routine data public through mass media and using data to fuel debates on critical health issues. Based on an action research project building a reporting system for accidents and emergencies during the Tet holiday in Vietnam, this paper discuss how making data public can have direct impact on the use and quality of health data in the health system. We discuss and draw implications related to tactics to improve the demand and use of routine health data.

The Indonesian government-year period 2014–2019, endorsed the National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) with the concept of building Indonesia from the rural area. One of the RPJMN focus is the development of rural and border areas brings a new paradigm for the village development. This village development paradigm change requires the support of village information system. Village Information System and Rural Areas (SIDeKa) has developed and implemented in dozens of villages in the some district as a pilot project. The transaction data and information in the village have captured accurately using SIDeKa. These data and information becoming crucial sources for development planning in the next phase. This paper describe design and build OLAP Business Intelligence for development planning at village and supra village (district) that integrates SIDeKa’s data from all villages and aligns the development planning with the vision, mission, and objectives of rural development. This paper presents model/architecture for ETL, star schema, and new measures that capture spatial and temporal dimensions. OLAP Business Intelligence will be useful for Village Sustainable Development Planning.

In the search for explanations of contradictory effects and its disappointing outcomes in developing countries, Information Systems (IS) have been critiqued as pursuing techno-economic rationalities of western modernity with no recognition of alternatives. Development has also been critiqued as a western program promoted through discourses that do not admit local conditions and histories. Through critical discourse analysis (CDA) and a case study of Ghana’s trade clearance system (TRADENET), we analyse how problematizations of IS in developing countries relate with local positions and contexts. We draw on the concepts of subalternity and hegemony to evaluate TRADENET’s effects vis-à-vis its problematization by powerful actors. We find that TRADENET is contradicted by historically formed behaviors, culture and traditions that were unrecognized in technical problematizations of trade, development and IS. Despite importance of unrecognized, alternative or ‘subaltern’ positions in shaping IS in developing countries, they remain unrecognized in dominant or ‘hegemonic’ problematizations. Findings suggest that uncovering subaltern positions might illuminate ‘blind spots’ of IS in developing countries such as peculiar contradictory effects; and hence, inform better theory and practice.

Indicators are foundational for planning, monitoring and evaluating of health services in developing countries. Most health indicators use population-based data, to enable comparison across geographical areas and over time. This paper is based on an interpretative case study on health indicators and how they are calculated and used at health facilities in Cameroon. We found that health managers at different levels of health systems do not share the same understanding of health indicators and we observed a wide-spread absence of population data. We further observed that health managers derive alternative ways of calculating indicators in the absence of population data. This paper contributes by discussing the implications of a lack of a common understanding of health indicators and the absence of population data to calculate health coverage indicators. Though this study was limited to data and program managers at district and regional levels, the findings raise issues that have wider applicability in the implementation of electronic health information system as well as how indicators such as UHC goals are calculated.

With the current growth of personas studies in HCI, we undertook the mapping out of the research approaches done for the past 18 years to provide an overall view on the landscape of personas research. Based on the narrative literature review of published work and paired with the three waves of HCI research development, we identified (1) the publication milestones of personas, (2) established genre of research approaches, and (3) the emerging issues and research trends. By looking at historical development of personas, the studies highlighted some key areas which might be the future trends of personas in the new wave of HCI. These will provide significant insight and direction for future research of personas.

The increased adoption of technology in government-driven processes and services over the years has led to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as mechanisms and platforms for citizens to access justice services and participate in the judicial process. In Uganda, there are current and ongoing efforts, through e-justice initiatives in the Justice, Law and Order Sector, to integrate case management information systems in criminal justice institutions as a means of improving worker productivity, facilitating information sharing, collaboration, better information access by the general public, citizen engagement and satisfaction with public services. The focus for this study was to devise a model that provides guidance on how to develop integrated information systems that are usable – by supporting improved human-driven legal processes, increased citizen engagement and facilitation of interaction between justice agencies and the general public. Based on the requirements for usable integrated information systems obtained from the review of literature and a survey, a model for guiding development of usable integrated case management information systems known as the Architecture-driven Usability Process Model (AdUPRO) was created.

The paper explores how technology created visibility of work and its implications. Places create social meanings and significance in which work is situated. Community health work is mostly confined in places of physical settings for many mobile and distributed workers. As their work contexts stretch in place and far from other actors, the visibility of their work becomes blurry. An in-depth interpretive case study of a mobile health system designed to support decision-making for Community Health Workers in maternal and infant care in Malawi was used to unravel how mHealth systems make their work visible. We uncover work aspects like; work interactions, collaboration, coordination, surveillance among others that flow through place and space in our empirical findings. Each relates to work visibility/invisibility creating both theoretical and practical implications.

Telecentres have been widely deployed worldwide particularly in the area of ICTD to bridge the gap between urban and rural development. This paper explores the value and impact of a telecentre on the community living in Bario, a small village in the highlands of Malaysia. The focus is mainly on the less studied tangible and intangible impacts of the telecentre on users and non-users. This topic is discussed based on stories collected through “Most Significant Change Technique (MSC)” providing facts from the insights of the local community. In nutshell, Bario community has greatly benefited from the use of the telecentre, whether directly or indirectly, particularly in the areas of connectedness, psychological empowerment, and financial improvement. Greater awareness and use of the telecentre shall continue to benefit this small rural community in their social and economic wellbeing.

This paper addresses the linkage between information and communication technology (ICT) and agriculture knowledge management (AKM) process in non-government organizations (NGOs) in India. Sample of 145 respondents were collected using questionnaires in two NGOs. The analysis and hypothesis testing were implemented using structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis shows that there is a significant ($$\beta = 0.61$$ at p = 0.001) and positive relationship between ICT and AKM process. The results obtained would help managers to better understand the linkage between ICT and AKM process in their organizations. They could use the results to improve their ICT infrastructure and tools for effectiveness of AKM process.

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) penetration is growing at exponential rates and affecting societies, countries and organizations, which has led to a need for understanding whether they contribute to development. To ascertain whether ICT are contributing to development, the example of a current ICT, Twitter is used, along with the aim of this research: To understand and explain how public sector organizations are adopting and using online social networks; namely twitter, for the delivery of e-government services that will provide a better world to live in the Omani public sector. By considering this aim, we attempt to explain whether Twitter, contributes towards the creation of a ‘better world’ to live in, or leads to diverse outcomes in a developing country, Oman. To achieve the aim, we used two public sector organizations workforces’ experiences and applied the Choice Framework (CF) developed by Kleine [1]. For the research approach, we employed a qualitative approach and the data collection techniques, reference to archival documents, interviews, photographic evidence and observations. The analysis was completed using the lens of interpretivism, socio-materiality along with grounded theory concepts. The study reveals that ICT4D is providing a better world for most of the citizens, but for the providers of the improved e-government services, it implies aligning local practices to the technology, which affects their home/work life balance. The contributions of this research lie in emphasising largely how the use of Twitter in Oman will lead to development. The Choice Framework selected for our understanding was adapted and led to diverse results to those mentioned in previous ICT4D studies; therefore, our research makes a contribution of understanding ICT4D in an e-government context, which was amiss in the previous frameworks. For businesses, our findings inform practitioners on the ICT Technologies areas that need attention while implementing them within an environment similar to Oman’s public sector. For policymakers, this research informs of the areas that require policymakers’ attention when placing their efforts where they are best served.

This study aims at unveiling strategies based on the patterned use of social media by politicians. Using an interpretive case study involving Indonesian politicians from national, provincial, and district level parliaments, the study identifies four strategies: nominal, instrumental, manipulative, and genuine. The selected strategy is reflected by internal and external affordances of social media perceived by the politicians, and influenced by a variety of constraints. These include poor Internet connection, limited capabilities of politicians, low ICT literacy among constituents, security issues, personal attack, unsupportive regulation, and fake accounts.

Firmly grounded on the assumption that using digital technology is an intentional, conscious and subjective experience, this study adopts a transcendental phenomenological approach to reveal the meaning of the individual experience of using digital technology. This study reports the experience of a self-described technophobe, creative woman, who, after learning how to type on a computer keyboard, used word processor software on a donated computer to write and eventually publish a novel. As result of a reflective analysis, according to the tenets of transcendental phenomenology, the essence of the lifeworld phenomenon of using digital technology revealed three interdependent experiences: imaginative, epiphanic and symbiotic. This study explains how an individual uses digital technology to fulfil her needs and achieve her goals as well as demonstrates the potential of transcendental phenomenology in information systems research.

Strategic IT decisions are critical and can result in major impacts on an organization’s ability to remain competitive. Improved management of influencing factors on such decisions can lead to a reduction of cost overruns and greater return on the investment of large-scale IT expenditures. However, limited IS research has investigated strategic IT decision making processes and their associated influencing factors. To address the current knowledge gap, Tamm et al. (2014) proposed a Strategic IT Decision Making Model (SITDMM) based on a comprehensive literature synthesis. However, the SITDMM had not been tested with empirical data. This research-in-progress paper conducted a preliminary testing of the SITDM model by using a qualitative approach. An initial interview was conducted with a senior executive who was involved in a strategic IT decision at an Australian pharmaceutical company.The preliminary testing of the model demonstrates the usefulness of the SITDMM in capturing key influencing factors affecting the strategic decision making process in the case organization. This paper demonstrates that the Top Management Team played the most significant role in influencing the extent to which the SITDMM process was analytical, intuitive, and political. These factors influenced the final decision outcome. Future research will include the analysis of more strategic IT decision cases in order to further test the SITDMM and provide a framework which organizations can use to better assess and therefore manage factors influencing strategic IT decision making processes.

The growing presence of the technology cause of an essential need to explore cancer patients’ behavior in online communities. Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook provide an interactive environment to deliver health information to cancer patients. Only a few studies have looked at the role of Facebook for cancer patients despite their potential deliver health messages to large audiences. Hence, there should be more rigorous research to explain the cancer patients’ behavior in SNS. This study propose a theoretical framework to explore the cognitive, social and technological constructs that affect the performance of cancer patients in Facebook by using social cognitive theory (SCT). Based on purposive sampling, questionnaires were distributed to 178 breast cancer patients in cancer support groups in Peninsular Malaysia. Through this study, a basis for the investigation of Malaysian social network support in using SNSs is successfully established.

The ICT industry that consists of IT and IT- Enabled Services (ITES) components has been contributing significantly to the economy of many countries globally. Due to its importance, understanding factors affecting the growth of this industry is critical for developed and developing countries. Currently, there is still a limited understanding of relevant factors and their influence on the IT/ITES industry growth in developing countries. Bhutan, in particular, is a small developing country that is striving to build this industry to diversify its economy. This study is the first study that explores factors affecting the growth of the IT/ITES industry in Bhutan. Qualitative research involving different stakeholders is employed to gain an understanding on factors facilitating and inhibiting the growth. The study findings indicate that Human Resources, Policy, Infrastructure, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Culture are particularly crucial for Bhutan’s context. Due to the uniqueness of Bhutan, this study helps drive the development of the industry and enhance the current understanding in this area particularly in the context of developing countries.

Social Networking Sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, can be used to maintain social connectedness especially with friends and family, irrespective of geographical distances or physical impairments. This is particularly beneficial for older people who are more prone to social exclusion. This paper investigates the impact that the use of Facebook has on the quality of life (QOL) of senior citizens living in Cape Town. The study use a positivist approach with a conceptual model comprised of parts of Kleine’s Choice Framework and CASP-19 as the theoretical lens for evaluation of how Facebook impacts the QOL of senior citizens in Cape Town. Results of an anonymous survey confirmed that respondents were light users of Facebook, using only a limited number of features. The research also revealed that the respondents used Facebook primarily to stay socially engaged with their friends and family which adds happiness to their lives and ultimately translates to an improved QOL. The results reinforced a causal relationship between Facebook use and the QOL of senior citizens in Cape Town.

Despite agreement amongst donors, business and political leaders concerning the negative effects of corruption, levels have not fallen in East Africa. The continued high levels of corruption, reassert the need for a better understanding if mobile phones, if prolific enough, can be an effective tool against corruption. Through a literature review of ten years M4D and ICT4D research on mobiles as a citizens-controlled tool for (a) accessing government information either directly or through citizens’ crowd-sourcing of information and (b) mobilization to demand greater government transparency, as well as, (c) instantaneous reporting of corruption in East Africa; this study attempts to gauge the status of this research field. The review included the ten highest ranking open access ICT4D journals, and six journals from parent disciplines; information system and development studies, as well as conference proceedings from the M4D conferences, and the SIG Globdev Workshops. The review concludes that earlier optimism around mobiles’ potential to support citizens’ counter-corruption actions, has not resulted in a significant body of research. Nor does the literature provide any substantive clues as to why this urgent topic has not been explored more fully.

Despite the advancement of more integrated land information systems (LIS), conflicts and disputes over land in Indonesia remain. Our study seeks to explain this situation. Using an interpretive case study conducted in Eastern Indonesia and framed within the concepts of information system (IS) artefacts, we find that tensions within and between information, technology, and social artefacts help to explain the sub-optimal LIS impacts. Inconsistent information, unsuitable technology, and conflicting social arrangements are examples of such tensions. Unless the tensions are properly resolved, LIS use cannot fulfil its potential for more appropriate management of land administration.

This paper presents a new approach to assess the e-Government maturity with an aim to facilitate public sector innovation in developing countries. NIAT takes a rare approach to comprehensively assess the needs and capabilities by a participatory measure. It provides a standardized assessment process in order to ensure the quality of data. NIAT contributes to the service innovation by providing improved contents for e-Government services and identifying priorities of ICT strategy. It also stimulates organizational innovation in the public sector by building capacity of stakeholders across governmental silos and sectors. NIAT is a toolkit for quick deployment of ICT strategy and action plan grounded on actual experiences of e-Government developments in Korea. By offering a proven, pre-costed pool of projects readily applicable in practice, NIAT allows an accelerated prioritization of the relevant projects. In addition, the participatory process involving key actors in the government is a consensus building mechanism to generate political buy-ins for the project chosen.

Open development is the public, networked sharing of communication and information resources towards a process of positive social transformation. Open development likewise imposes a challenge, because new actors, practices and problems of inequality are introduced. Accountability at its core is meant to redress issues of power and inequality [1], thus offering potential to improve open development processes and initiatives. However, the distinct and innovative characteristics of open processes render some concepts of accountability inadequate. This article compares three purposes and perspectives on accountability for their relevance to open development. The purpose of which is to suggest future areas of research and theoretical development in this field.

Information Ecology represents a system of people, values, and technologies in a specific local environment. What makes Information Ecology different is that the spotlight is not on the technology but on human activities that are served by technology. As such it could be a powerful lens for understanding, evaluating, and eventually guiding South-South cooperation. We use Information Ecology to critically analyze two ICT-infused community health services, one in Bangladesh and one in Rwanda; and propose improvements for each case. Based on that analysis we believe that this framework can facilitate theoretical basis for guiding South-South cooperation, transferring knowledge and technology, and implementing policy recommendations.

In this paper, we leverage an actor-network theory approach to examine an information system that produces and disseminates weather forecasts and associated agricultural recommendations to small-scale and marginal farmers in two districts in West Bengal in India. We find an actor-network important in understanding technology-related social practices. The emphasis ANT places on the negotiations and contestations in the context of a technological initiative allows us to understand the mechanisms (rather than merely the outcomes) of such developmental interventions.

Waste management is one of the significant activities for preserving the environment from pollution that has impact on society mirrored on people’s health. This study approaches the topic of waste management using interpretive qualitative case study method to understand problems in the Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) system in Alexandria city, the second largest city in Egypt. Alexandria has been facing a problematic situation with regard to MSWM, which is worth paying attention to. Furthermore, we explore opportunities for benefiting from Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the MSWM system in Alexandria.

There are two major challenges in implementing technological solutions as part of institutional reform in development project: the alignment issues with bigger – nationwide – agenda and addressing the resistance in – usually – corrupt environment. This paper aim to provide some reflections on the implementation of information technology to reform the Indonesian judiciaries. Lessons learned from past experiences are provided, as well as a proposal to modify the classic IT-business alignment model and the use of agent based approach to determine the information technology implementation roadmap.

Outsourcing is a popular term in the business world for last several decades. Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) have been dominating the outsourcing jobs to developing countries. Recently, a new shift of outsourcing to impact sourcing have emerged through which digitally-enabled jobs are given to marginalized individuals so that their conditions would be improved. However, only limited studies have been done to explore the recruiting process of marginalized communities and the impacts to the workers and their families.Cloud Factory, as one of the pioneer impact sourcing service providers in Nepal, is targeted to conduct further research. Initial investigation has shown that flexibility to work from any place such as their own home or internet cafes on flexible hours have attracted college students to this impact sourcing model in Nepal. In the future, further analysis on improvement on employees’ lives by impact sourcing will be conducted.

This study investigated ownership of desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets using survey information on Indonesian university students. The data show that 98% of students own at least two of these personal computing devices. Laptop & smartphone are the most common bundle to have, owned by 41% while 15% own all four of them. Applying logistic regression method to the dataset shows that student socioeconomic status has no effect on laptop and smartphone ownership but it is strongly associated with desktop and tablet ownership. Gender preference is also indicated in tablet ownership where females are more likely to own than males. Furthermore, the same logistic regression method applied to device bundle ownership shows that students with high socioeconomic status are way more likely to own all four devices while the opposite is true for laptop & smartphone bundle ownership. The findings in this research can serve as a foundation for further research in quest of optimizing technology use to improve educational attainment, especially among Indonesian students.

Where do ICT4D champions come from? The paper explores this question because, as is demonstrated from literature, knowledge and understanding about the origins of champions are insufficient, yet these individuals are known for their decisive contributions to ICT4D initiatives. An empirical exploration of the origins of three ICT4D champions is reported. Following an inductive methodology, the paper proposes an ICT4D Champion Origin Conceptual Framework; it demonstrates that this model both synthesises and extends existing understanding about champion origins thereby contributing to the identified knowledge gap. The model is significant because it lays the foundation for future ICT4D champion research and suggests to practitioners that champions can be identified, developed and deployed in ICT4D initiatives thereby harnessing the potential positive contributions these individuals can make to digital development.