Information Technology & People

The affordances of actor network theory in ICT for development research

Antonio Díaz Andrade Cathy Urquhart
Article information:
To cite this document:
Antonio Díaz Andrade Cathy Urquhart, (2010),"The affordances of actor network theory in ICT for
development research", Information Technology & People, Vol. 23 Iss 4 pp. 352 - 374
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09593841011087806
Downloaded on: 22 February 2017, At: 18:27 (PT)
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

References: this document contains references to 69 other documents.

To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 2383 times since 2010*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
(2004),"Guest editors’ introduction: Actor-network theory and information systems. What's
so special?", Information Technology & People, Vol. 17 Iss 2 pp. 116-123 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/09593840410542466
(2009),"In and out of actor-network theory: a necessary but insufficient journey", Information Technology
& People, Vol. 22 Iss 1 pp. 9-25 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09593840910937463

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:532276 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.


ITP
23,4
352
Received 29 June 2009
Revised 24 August 2009
Accepted 25 June 2010
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)
Information Technology & People
Vol. 23 No. 4, 2010
pp. 352-374
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-3845
DOI 10.1108/09593841011087806
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0959-3845.htm
The affordances of actor
network theory in ICT for
development research
Antonio Dı́az Andrade
Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, and
Cathy Urquhart
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Manchester, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This paper seeks to use actor network theory (ANT) to examine the different phases – i.e.
translation process – of an information and communication technology (ICT) initiative intended to
bring development to underserved rural communities in the Peruvian Andes by providing access to
computers and the internet.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a holistic-multiple case study based on
cross-sectional data collected between July and November 2005 by means of in-depth interviews, field
notes and photographs gathered in eight rural communities in Peru, plus demographic data and
background reports obtained from the sponsor of an ICT for development (ICT4D) project. The
collected data are analysed through the lens of ANT.
Findings – The ANT analysis dissects the history of the translations of the ICT4D project. ANT
analytic dimensions of convergence and devices afford a great deal of insight into the underlying
anatomy of the project and its assumptions. The study shows that when actors’ interests are not
aligned and the network procedures defined by the ICT4D initiative sponsors are unfamiliar to local
people, the network cannot be established.
Practical implications – Since ICT4D projects invariably superimpose technological networks over
existing networks, ANT analytic dimensions do provide some unique and useful understandings for
such projects. ANT overall affords visibility of the actions of both humans and non-humans, and their
disparate goals. The focus on the alignment of disparate goals is particularly important in ICT4D
research, where the recipients need to be engaged in a different way. Often in ICT4D projects,
participants are using ICT for the first time, and there is no compulsion for them to do so. So the
process of translation is very important in an ICT4D context; while there are many ways to engage
participants, ANT gives particular insight into how that process might play out.
Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the usefulness of ANT’s concepts for analysing a rural
telecentre project and itemises how the use of each ANT analytical concept might contribute to ICT4D
research.
Keywords Community development, Communication technologies, Rural areas, Developing countries,
Networking, Peru
Paper type Case study
The authors would like to thank their colleagues from the Qualitative Research Group at The
University of Auckland Business School, who gave useful feedback when a preliminary version
of this document was discussed in May 2008. Likewise, the authors would like to express their
gratitude to the Editor and reviewers, whose comments helped to frame the argument.
 Introduction The affordances
This paper uses actor network theory (ANT) to examine the different phases of an of actor network
information and communication technology (ICT) project – named here “the project” –
intended to bring development to underserved rural communities in the Peruvian theory
Andes by providing access to computers and the internet. ANT gave us a theoretical
lens for the analysis of the relationship between technology, brought by the project,
and society, represented by local people. We were interested in using ANT as a vehicle 353
for analysis of this ICT4D initiative, to see if it could add insights over and above what
we already understood about the project, and its somewhat contradictory outcomes (cf.
Dı́az Andrade and Urquhart, 2009).
Initiated by Callon (1986) and Latour (1986), ANT is concerned with the dynamic
and simultaneous mutual influence of both the social and the technical (Akrich et al.,
2002), assuming symmetry between human and non-human actors. We live in a world
made of both social and technical artefacts; we cannot detach society from technology
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

– neither can we isolate technology in the abstract. As Law and Bijker (1992) claim
most compellingly:
Purely social relations are found only in the imaginations of sociologists, among baboons, or
possibly, just possibly, on nudist beaches; and purely technical relations are found only in the
wilder reaches of science fiction (p. 290).
We were hopeful that ANT’s emphasis on the socio-technical middle ground would
enable us to obtain some unique perspectives on the trajectory of the implementation
process of the project.
The paper is organised as follows. In the next section, we situate our paper in the
literature of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), and
justify the use of ANT for our analysis. Then, in the third section, we describe the
context of the case study. In the fourth section, we explain how the ANT vocabulary
has been incorporated for the analysis and present the findings using ANT analytic
dimensions. In the fifth section, we discuss why different actors’ interests led to the
failure of the network, and explain the methodological contribution we feel that ANT
made to our analysis. In the final section, we note the emergence of a new network that
circumvents the one proposed by the project sponsors, and highlight the analytical
attributes that ANT can potentially afford to ICT4D research.

Literature review
In the following sub-sections, we present the extant literature on the two building
blocks of this paper:
(1) information and communication technology for development with focus on the
use of telecentres; and
(2) the appropriateness of ANT for this study.

ICT for development and telecentres

“Development” is a contested term, whose definitions vary depending on historical
circumstances and axiological considerations. The concept of development has evolved
from its original association with economic growth and modernisation according to
Western standards, to an integrative view that entails health, education and quality of
 ITP life that recognises cultural differences (Mchombu, 2004). This integrative view is
23,4 exemplified by the Human Development Index, which not only measures the level of
income, but also life expectancy and education. Ultimately, development entails the
opportunities the society as a whole gives to individuals to improve their lives (Sen,
1999); in other words, development should be understood as allowing the individual
becoming the author of her/his own fate. It is at this point that ICT tools intersect the
354 development debate, since the former are considered useful devices that could
contribute to stop the perverse circle that exacerbates some individuals’ lack of
autonomy (Walsham, 2001).
Madon (2000) argues that ICT tools can contribute to the different dimensions of
development – economic productivity, health, education and empowerment, among
others – through intermediary institutions such as governments and nongovernmental
organisations. At the peak of the internet boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a
number of agencies and international bodies called for access to the new ICT tools to be
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

made available to underserved communities. For instance, the World Development

Report 1998/1999, Knowledge for Development, advocated for the use of ICT as a means
to spread knowledge and, consequently, improve living conditions of poor people in
poor countries (World Bank, 1998) and the most powerful countries’ leaders expressed
their hope of using ICT to address economic and social challenges (G8, 2000). Similarly,
the Human Development Report 2001, Making New Technologies Work for Human
Development, praised ICT tools as enablers of political participation, greater
transparency, new sources of income and improved people’s health (United Nations
Development Programme, 2001).
The unspoken assumption in these reports and statements is that ICT could
contribute to development only if the prevailing market regime is embraced (Avgerou,
2003, our emphasis), which eventually would bring the supposed beneficiaries under
the influence of powerful and interested groups (Schech, 2002). Indeed, the extended
use of ICT tools has become a standardising force that is promoting interaction and
trade at a global scale – i.e. “informationalism” – with the two-fold effect of connecting
valuable individuals, organisations and societies and simultaneously leaving out the
non-valuable (Castells, 2000). As a case in point, Thompson (2005) reveals a “markedly
North American worldview into the developmental sphere” (p. 1) through a critical
discourse analysis of the then World Bank President’s speech. Moving beyond the
criticism on the existing perspectives on development efforts – which is not the aim of
this paper – we do observe a disconnection between what the recipients need and what
the donors offer. As Avgerou and Madon (2005) persuasively argue:
. . . the root of counter-development obstacles to ICT, that find their expression in terms of the
digital divide problem, might be the extent to which the information society conveys
aspirations, and privileges technologies, information and knowledge that are irrelevant to the
way the majority of people in the many communities in developing countries live their lives
(p. 206).
It seems that the most common approach adopted by governments and donors to
provide access to computers and to the Internet under ICT4D programmes has been the
implementation of telecentres in both the developed world (e.g. the e-gateways in
deprived British neighbourhoods; Liff and Steward, 2001) and the developing world
(e.g. the e-choupals for farmers in Indian villages; Prahalad, 2005). Generally speaking,
 a telecentre is a public facility that offers shared access to ICT – usually for a fee – and The affordances
provides opportunities for social gathering (Salvador et al., 2005). In most of the cases, of actor network
telecentres aim at improving living conditions by addressing communal information
needs; however, the documented experiences so far are inconclusive. Although theory
computer enthusiasts can make a difference in the transmission of computer-mediated
information (Dı́az Andrade and Urquhart, 2009), technical (i.e. available infrastructure)
and institutional (i.e. way of life) contexts must be taken into consideration before the 355
technological intervention takes place.
Another major issue open to discussion about the telecentres is their long-term
viability, which can be expressed in terms of scalability and sustainability (Walsham
and Sahay, 2006). The former involves the rolling out of small projects across wider
areas and/or increasing the complexity of the services offered over time, while the
latter entails making the initiative independent from government or donors’ funds.
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Providing e-government and e-health services (Best and Maclay, 2002) or increasing
returns in the form of economies of scale and economies of scope (Tschang et al., 2002)
may not be workable solutions in the developing world, especially in rural areas.
However, telecentres can play supplementary, yet important, role in supporting the
distribution of information through the traditional social networks (Duncombe and
Heeks, 2002).
While the initiative analysed in this paper can be straightforwardly categorised as
one of “transformative discourse” (Avgerou, 2008) as its declared aim was to improve
people’s living conditions, our study focus is on how the existing social context
interacted with the technology provided by the ICT4D-oriented telecentres. Therefore,
our position falls within the “social embeddedness of information systems
implementation discourse” (Avgerou, 2008).

Actor network theory

As its major proponents maintain, ANT is entirely appropriate for socio-technical
research (Akrich, 1992; Callon, 1986; Latour, 1992; Law and Callon, 1992). ANT
perceives the border between the social and the technical as a negotiation process
(Hanseth et al., 2004) that can assist researchers in circulating the tension between
agency and structure (Latour, 1999a). ANT calls upon us to adopt a symmetrical
approach to humans and non-humans:
To insist on symmetry is to assert that everything deserves explanation and, more
particularly, that everything that you seek to explain or describe should be approached in the
same way (Law, 1994, pp. 9-10, emphasis in original).
Even though some scholars criticise the assumption of symmetry because power
structures might hide behind objects designed by humans (Whittle and Spicer, 2008),
ANT recognises agency attributes of nonhumans, but not intentionality. Latour (2005)
makes clear the difference between humans and objects in ANT: humans are
empowered with intentionality; the latter are not. However, both can modify a state of
affairs – like the remote control that makes the TV watcher a couch potato. The
purpose of studying the interaction between human and nonhuman actors in a
symmetric fashion is to avoid imposing “a priori some spurious asymmetry among
human intentional action and a material world of causal relations” (Latour, 2005, p. 76).
 ITP ANT has been widely used since Walsham’s (1997) call to explore its use in
23,4 information systems research. For instance, ANT has informed the analysis of the
implementation of inter-organisational information systems (Rodon et al., 2008), health
information systems (Cho et al., 2007) and enterprise resource planning systems
(Elbanna, 2008). It has also been used in the study of the redeployment of a
computer-aided dispatch system for the London ambulance service (McGrath, 2002) as
356 well as the re-examination of the failed implementation of the computerised baggage
handling system at Denver International Airport (Mähring et al., 2004). Likewise, ANT
has demonstrated its value in explaining technology standardisation, for example
personal digital assistant (Allen, 2004) and web browser (Faraj et al., 2004), and
technology adoption, for example internet (Hannemyr, 2003) and e-commerce (Tatnall
and Lepa, 2003). Similarly, ANT has proved particularly useful to understand the
dynamics of the actions of heterogeneous actors both at the organisational level (Sarker
et al., 2006) and across organisations (Baygeldi and Smithson, 2004).
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

ANT has also been used for the analysis of information technology development,
implementation and/or adoption in the developing world. It served to demonstrate the
conflict between the Western assumptions inscribed in a geographical information
systems and the local practices in India (Walsham and Sahay, 1999). In the same way,
Gao (2007) explains the difficulties of achieving standardisation when the actors have
dissimilar views, while Heeks and Stanforth’s (2007) study reveals the tension between
stabilising the network of actors and stabilising the technical design of a Sri Lankan
e-government initiative. The ANT analysis of the scalability of the Health Information
Systems Program (HISP), a project aiming at the delivery of primary health care in
several developing countries, not only highlights the relevance of an attractor – the
one which enrols users around a new design – but also confirms Latour’s (1986)
observation that divergent yet sufficiently similar interests of the actors make the
network robust (Braa et al., 2007).
The studies summarised above demonstrate the advantages of using ANT as a
theoretical lens. ANT makes it possible to frame the analysis of the interplay between
technology and society in the middle ground amid two conflicting approaches:
(1) technological determinism; and
(2) social determinism.

This characteristic becomes of particular value in our analysis on the superimposition

of a technological network brought by the project sponsors on existing social networks.
As we have discussed, a number of information systems studies have used ANT in
both the developed and developing world; however, none to our knowledge have used
ANT to analyse the implementation of telecentres, as part of ICT4D projects, in rural
settings.
Overall, we believe the main merit of ANT for this study on ICT4D is that, by
tracking the history of the translations, it allows us to observe the actants’ disparate
goals, which eventually led to the failure of establishing the network of actors as
planned by the project sponsors. Since the ways in which technology will ultimately
be used cannot be predicted in definite terms, by tracing the interaction between
humans and non-humans we were able to understand the negotiation process that
took place during the implementation of the telecentre initiative. By adopting an
 ANT perspective, we make a deliberate effort to gain visibility into and to discover The affordances
why a supposedly hopeful ICT4D initiative was not successfully deployed. In other of actor network
words, an ANT examination affords visibility (cf. Latour’s “reversible blackboxing”;
Latour, 1999b, pp. 183ff) in revealing the actants’ interaction characterised by theory
simultaneous resistance and compromise that, in this case, provoked the collapse of
the network.
357
Project background
The project, funded by six international cooperation agencies and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) under the direction of one British NGO, aimed at providing
timely and useful information to local people in eight rural communities in the region of
Cajamarca, in the Northern Peruvian Andes. In attaining its objective the project
implemented telecentres – named infocentros – in Chanta Alta, Chilete, Combayo,
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Huanico, La Encañada, Llacanora, Puruay Alto and San Marcos. As a result, these
communities had computers available and were connected to the internet for the first
time in 2003. Table I summarises their most salient characteristics; it is worth noting
the distance and travel times from the city of Cajamarca – the largest in the region – to
get an appreciation of the remote nature of some of these communities.
Since rural areas in Peru neither provide the market potential nor enjoy the
infrastructure that the cities do, they entirely depend on government’s decisions for
getting access to telecommunications infrastructure. Hence, the government created
the Fund for Investment in Telecommunications (FITEL), whose mission is to provide
the required funds for telecommunication services in locations of recognised social
interest by meeting the expense of the initial investment in order to attract
complementary private venture. The project built upon the existing telephone network
installed by a foreign telecommunications company, named here as Satel. Satel had
provided access to satellite telephones to more than 6,500 rural communities
throughout Peru by virtue of an agreement with FITEL.
At the time of the fieldwork, Chilete, La Encañada, Llacanora and San Marcos
enjoyed an acceptable infrastructure: electricity 24 hours a day, television broadcasting
and public telephones – even home landlines in San Marcos. In addition, these towns
were served with relatively good roads and had easy access to Cajamarca City.

Altitude (above Distance from Travel time from

Communities Population sea level, m) Cajamarca City (km) Cajamarca City (h) Electricity

Chanta Alta 539 3,800 68 2.5 No

Chilete 2,600 857 50 2.0 Yes
Combayo 300 3,150 30 1.5 No
Huanico 300 3,700 78 14.0 No
La Encañada 1,200 3,098 34 1.0 Yes
Llacanora 520 2,606 25 1.0 Yes
Puruay Alto 500 3,000 16 2.0 No
San Marcos 8,000 1,800 65 1.0 Yes Table I.
Beneficiary communities
Sources: Instituto Nacional de Estadı́stica e Informática (2006) and local authorities of the project
 ITP Accessing computers was relatively unproblematic too. In Chilete and San Marcos,
23,4 there were some internet cafés – usually crowded with young people – and a small
number of households owning computers. In Chilete, La Encañada and San Marcos,
besides the computers available at the infocentros, students had the chance to access
computers from the local high schools. In Llacanora, if the infocentro was closed,
people still had the option to commute to Cajamarca City if they wanted to access
358 computers – indeed, many people commuted daily to study or work in the city and,
once there, took advantage of the several available internet cafés.
On the other hand, Chanta Alta, Combayo, Huanico and Puruay Alto had neither
electricity nor telephones; the only telephones available were at the infocentros, which
were equipped with solar panels. Drinking water in Chanta Alta was provided with
major restrictions and public sewage had just been made available in February 2005. In
Huanico, drinkable water was not available at all due to the dry season; Puruay Alto
had neither electricity nor public sewage and there was only one tap at the main
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

square. The only computers available were the ones at the infocentros; except for
Combayo, where the infocentro’s computer had been stolen for the second time in 2004.
In addition, travel to these communities is either extremely difficult (i.e. Combayo and
Puruay Alto) or far away (i.e. Chanta Alta) or a combination of both (i.e. Huanico).
Something distinctive in these four communities, marking a clear contrast to Chilete,
La Encañada, Llacanora and San Marcos, is the existence of two major institutions in
their own right: the Peasant Organisation and minka. The former provided the
legitimising forum for collective decisions, while the latter is the millenarian tradition
of communal, voluntary work.

Using ANT as an analytic device

The heuristic nature of ANT provides insights into the process of constructing (or
not) the network (Law, 1994). It is the ANT emphasis on empirical enquiry that
allows the researcher to see the relations among different actors in the network
(Doolin and Lowe, 2002). By following the actors’ actions throughout the different
stages of establishing the network, ANT assists us in interpreting the events and
explaining the outcome. Latour (1999a) compares ANT to ethnomethodology and
highlights that:
. . . actors know what they do and we have to learn from them not only what they do, but how
and why they do it. It is us, the social scientists, who lack knowledge of what they do . . . (p.
19).
Although Latour (2004) calls for good descriptions, which should not need
explanations, we beg to differ in this paper. We strive to present a detailed account
of the phenomenon under study, and simultaneously introducing our own
interpretations.
We favour the use of ANT for the analysis of this case instead of theory of
innovation diffusion (Rogers, 2003), the natural alternative since both are concerned
about explaining the dissemination of technological solutions. Diffusion of innovations
is largely focused on the innovation itself – i.e. technology – and does not challenge its
implementation; it accepts the innovation as it is and relies on certain individuals – for
example, early adopters and opinion leaders, among others – for its diffusion. ANT’s
 sociology of translation affords the reconstruction of the mobilisation of a complex The affordances
network of players (Madon et al., 2004). ANT is focused on the arrangement of and the of actor network
negotiation between both humans and non-humans – i.e. the actants, who “act or shift
actions, action itself being defined by a list of performances” (Akrich and Latour, 1992, theory
p. 259) – around the proposed innovation to adapt it to a specific context. In other
words, ANT makes explicit the contingency whether or not the innovation would be
able to generate interest among the intended users (Akrich et al., 2002; Bijker, 1992). 359
This is obviously important in a ICT4D context where engagement is crucial and not
mandated. Actants have both variable content (associations between humans and/or
association between non-humans) and variable geometry (different meanings for
different actants) (Callon, 1991).
In applying ANT to this study, we have strenuously avoided falling into the
goal-directedness bias of ANT (Monteiro, 2004). Throughout our account we
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

emphasise the fluid role of the actants, whose improvised actions eventually made
the network unstable. Similarly, we have steered clear of the presentism trap,
which ignores the unique circumstances that influence the shaping of the network
of actors (Avgerou and Madon, 2004; Kallinikos, 2004). Unlike Latour (2004), who
considers contextual explanations irrelevant – “mere ornaments” (p. 68) – in ANT
studies, we strive to portray the contextual background that helps in
understanding actors’ behaviour. Knowing the context in which the project was
deployed contributes to the understanding of the institutional allegiances within
which the negotiation process between humans and nonhumans took place
(Avgerou and Madon, 2004).
Both primary and secondary data were collected during four and a half months of
fieldwork between July and November 2005 in the aforementioned rural communities.
Thirty-eight in-depth interviews (with local people and the project sponsors), more
than 200 pages of hand-written annotations and over 100 photographs were produced.
Among secondary data, the researchers gathered demographic information as well as
reports and both electronic and printed material elaborated by the project. All these
pieces of data were analysed through the theoretical lens of ANT.
The effort to establish the network – the translation process in Callon’s (1986)
words – was initiated when the leading NGO approached other NGOs, FITEL, Satel
and communities’ representatives trying to convince them about the benefits of the
initiative. This negotiation process in the making of the project included people,
organisations, computers, communications hardware, procedures and content. The
translation process involves four stages, as shown in Figure 1:
(1) problematisation;
(2) interessement;
(3) enrolment; and
(4) mobilisation (Callon, 1986).

Establishing the network requires the four stages to be realised in full; otherwise, it
never stabilises. Tracing the project evolution throughout these four stages provides
rich insights that allow us to observe the various and contradictory interests of the
actors during the network deployment.
 ITP
23,4

360
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Figure 1.
Translation process

Problematisation
In this stage, the initiator defines the interests and the roles of the other actants; the
defined interests should be consistent with those of the initiator (Callon, 1986, 1991).
The leading NGO had conceived the project in 1996; its first stage started in 1998 and
was implemented over two and a half years, partially funded by the World Bank. As a
result, local libraries – without computers – were installed in Chanta Alta, Combayo,
Huanico, La Encañada and Llacanora in 2001. Likewise, the leading NGO opened an
Information Processing Centre at its premises in Cajamarca City in 2001.
Certainly, the project’s initiator defined the problems and solutions. Since the very
beginning, the leading NGO’s assumption was that they would be the suppliers of
apparently much needed information to local people in rural communities in the
Cajamarca region. The wording of the project’s specific objectives makes it evident: “to
design and install a system for information delivery” (author’s translation, Pereyra
Romo, 2002, p. 29). The project manager justified their approach: “Cajamarca is a
region where we had been working for some years; a lot of work needed to be done in
order to rebuild the grassroots organisations”. The project sponsors’ dominant idea
was that if they provided information, they would be contributing to improving the
living conditions of local people. One of the project sponsors declared:
We planned to give rural people, the small producers, information for decision making like
what they should plant, how much and how to do it, how to sell their produce, how to know
 about market opportunities, about fertilisers, about technical assistance from international The affordances
cooperation, etc.
of actor network
The Information Processing Centre’s role was to consolidate the information received theory
from different sources and distribute it to the communal libraries. In this way, the
Information Processing Centre, a proxy of the project’s initiator, implicitly became an
“obligatory passage point” (Callon, 1986). As the project coordinator said:
361
The experts [who elaborate the information] are based here [at Information Processing
Centre] . . . we prepare the information in different formats and then distribute it through the
local libraries.
Although the project did not preclude the infocentros of being producers of
information, it defined its position as an arbiter who would filter, reformat and
selectively distribute the received information.
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Interessement
This stage “emphasises the existence of a bundle of links which unite the object to all of
those which handle it” (Akrich et al., 2002, p. 205). Specifically, it “involves convincing
other actors that the interests defined by the initiator(s) are in fact well in line with their
own interests” (Mähring et al., 2004). Between 2001 and 2003, the initiator NGO
engaged other international agencies and NGOs working in the Cajamarca region in
order not only to increase the funding sources but also to coordinate the information
production and distribution effort while expanding the project’s geographical scope.
The manager of one of the contributing NGOs remembers:
Back in 2001, we held the first meetings . . . The project’s objectives [presented by the
initiator] were consistent with ours, so we committed our organisation as soon as we were
invited to participate.
International agencies and NGOs were not the only parties to be engaged in the project.
By the end of 2001, the idea of creating a rural telecommunication system, which would
integrate and provide instant access to the database created at the Information
Processing Centre, came up. Given that the local libraries were not interconnected at
that time, the leading NGO also started negotiations with FITEL in order to include the
communities – where the communal libraries had already been set up – under the
government’s countrywide rural telephony initiative. An officer from FITEL explains:
[The initiator] proposed a telecommunications project pilot where they had already installed
the libraries . . . Our share was to provide the telecommunications infrastructure.
As a result of the negotiations, Puruay Alto, which was not part of the project’s original
plan but had already been included within the rural telephony programme, was
incorporated as another beneficiary of the project. The intention of transforming the
libraries into fully equipped infocentros with access to and linked to each other by the
Internet revealed one facet of scalability – i.e. raising the complexity of the project.
A series of negotiations with local authorities and communal representatives had
been taken place since the early stages of the project too; it comes from the time of the
installation of communal libraries back in 1998. The prolonged presence of the
international agencies and NGOs in the region facilitated the discussion of the new
 ITP plans with local people in the would-be beneficiary communities. As the project
23,4 manager reasoned subsequently:
Providing telecommunication services at and interconnecting the local libraries were the
obvious move . . . It was a kind of offspring project.
In August 2003, the Llacanora infocentro was equipped with three computers with
362 access to the Internet. Soon after, the infocentros at Chanta Alta, Combayo, Huanico, La
Encañada and Puruay Alto were provided with Internet access too. Later, the project
opened infocentros in Chilete and San Marcos, depicting another facet of scalability –
i.e. rolling out the service to a wider area. The infocentros offered, for a fee:
.
internet access;
.
document printing, scanning and typewriting;
.
phone calls and phone messages; and
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

.
computer training courses.

To be sure, although computers engendered a feeling of fascination among local people

– as Fernando, the Puruay Alto infocentro manager, recalled: “Students exclaim, ‘Gee!
If we had money we would stay all the time . . . Chatting is awesome!’” – telephone
communication became by and large the most popular and highly appreciated service.
Most of the interviewees spontaneously mentioned the telephone as the most important
contribution from the infocentros, even though the telephone infrastructure was not the
main benefit that the project sponsors, mainly the initiator NGO, had planned to offer
to the recipient rural communities.

Enrolment
In an attempt to establish a solid network – i.e. to make it irreversible (Callon, 1991) –
actants needed to be organised. With the technical aspects somewhat solved – the
infocentros linked to each other and with access to the Information Processing Centre
database through the internet – the project was on the move. FITEL had already done
its share; having signed a contract with Satel, it was in the latter’s hands to provide the
telecommunication service and maintain the technological infrastructure. However,
there were some issues – the non-technical aspects – that still needed to be addressed.
The NGOs shared their responsibilities in a way that resembled their geographical
scope previous to the launching of the project, while the initiator NGO kept its
coordination role and leadership position. As regards the infocentros, their
management model included three interrelated entities:
(1) the owner;
(2) the supervisory committee; and
(3) the manager.

Depending upon the political structure of the community, which sometimes was an
identifiable formal local authority and sometimes not, the actual ownership of the
infocentro was open to question. According to the project plans, municipal authorities
were supposed to be the legal owners in Chilete, La Encañada, Llacanora and San
Marcos. In the smaller communities – Chanta Alta, Combayo, Huanico and Puruay
 Alto – with no official authorities, their Peasant Organisations – in other words, the The affordances
community – were nominated as the owners of the infocentro. The supervisory of actor network
committee, whose role was to oversee the proper use of the infocentro facilities, was
constituted by individuals appointed by either the local authority or the Peasant theory
Organisation. As regards the infocentro managers, they were appointed on a two-step
competitive basis. First, the project sponsors offered computer training to those who
volunteered and presented the shortlist for local consideration; then, the community 363
made the final decision based on the candidates’ leadership qualities. That said, there
were instances where the infocentro’s legal owner was still the project (i.e. Puruay Alto
and San Marcos), the supervisory committee was non-existent (i.e. Chanta Alta) or the
infocentro manager appointment process was overlooked (i.e. Huanico).
Regardless of the infocentro management model, interaction between human and
non-human actants became apparent. On the one hand, local people granted agency
properties to ICT tools. For example, Antero from Puruay Alto vigorously affirmed
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

that “computers represent development for our future generations” and Marı́a from
Llacanora maintained that “having the infocentro represents a symbol of progress for
our community”. On the other hand, ICT tools were perceived by local people as a
means for achieving their personal goals. For instance, Manuel from Huanico
envisioned the empowerment computer-mediated information can offer: “If you learn
how to use computers, you might have information to confront local authorities”, while
Antenor – the Chanta Alta infocentro manager – recognised: “I became known by
very important people because of my role as infocentro manager”. These instances
illustrate the dynamic and mutual influence between humans and non-humans.
Furthermore, they demonstrate the indeterminacy of the actant, at times “a power
which enrols and dominates or, by contrast, an agent with no initiative which allows
itself to be enrolled” (Callon, 1999, p. 182).
A second reading of these quotations also reveals the unrealised potential of the
provided computers; except for Antenor, whose role as infocentro manager gave him a
tangible benefit, the other participants reflect more a desire, a hope, than an actual
advantage. These expressions of longing, rather than actual benefits from the
infocentros, when the project has been well underway for at least two years, are signs
that the network has not yet been solidly established.

Mobilisation
Mobilisation is the stage when actants become spokespersons representing the
network (Callon, 1991). This stage involves the “use of a set of methods to ensure that
allied spokespersons act according to the agreement and do not betray the initiators’
interests” (Mähring et al., 2004, p. 214). The project initiator’s objective was to establish
the network as a single actor, including both humans and non-humans; in other words,
it functioning as a “black box” (Latour, 1987, 1999b).
The project initiator, with the support of the other sponsors, made sure that the
opening of the infocentros was not an unnoticed event. It was announced through
different media format – web site, news clips on the radio and press – enriched with
testimonials from local folks. Well-known and distinguished people in each of the
communities were invited to the openings and posters and brochures were distributed
to advertise their services and explain their advantages. The infocentros’ location was
 ITP another aspect to be considered; they were located at the heart of each community – at
23,4 the main square, next to the school, or at the communal meeting room – and some of
them had their exteriors decorated with murals painted by one of the infocentro
managers. From a visitor’s perspective, besides the church, and the municipal building in
those communities where formal local authorities do exist, the infocentro was the first
recognisable building upon arrival. Furthermore, loudspeakers were installed in the
364 exterior of those infocentros located right next to the area where the open-air markets
take place – i.e. Chanta Alta and Huanico. The idea was to page phone call messages not
only to local people any time but also foreign traders who visited the communities during
the once-a-week crowded fairs. It was a deliberate attempt to attract more people to the
infocentros. As if these measures were not enough, Chanta Alta, Huanico and San
Marcos benefited from the installation of radio broadcasting stations. The project
sponsors mobilised all the available resources around the network.
Following the initial enthusiasm of having access to computers and to the internet for
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

the first time, the acid test was making the infocentros sustainable. The project sponsors
unambiguously expected the infocentros to be independent from the funds they were
providing, while contributing to the region’s development through the provision of
computer-mediated information. The truth is that the infocentros did not reach
self-sustainability, compromising their operation – which ultimately should have
contributed to bring development to the region, as the project sponsors had planned.

Discussion
The ANT four-stage description of the project so far hints at the fragility of the
network. The emerging question is whether the actants’ interest was sufficient and
whether the modus operandi of the project was appropriate in order to establish the
network. An examination of the interaction between the project’s technological
network and the existing social networks can shed light on this matter.
The issue that we were particularly interested to address was whether all the
actants were committed to and interested in the success of the project, as the initiator
conceived it. Callon (1991) defines convergence as the degree of agreement among the
actants; when convergence is high, the network should tend to stability. An analysis of
the two dimensions of convergence, alignment and coordination, reveals the facets of
the process of establishing the network that are hidden at first glance.

Alignment
Alignment refers to the extent to which actants can agree to the translation (Callon,
1991). Not all the actants agreed on the terms of the translation of the project, as can be
seen from our analysis below. While different actors’ agendas make a network robust,
this diversity denotes the actants’ pluralism in terms of their contribution to the
network; yet a minimum degree of agreement is needed (Braa et al., 2004).
Enthusiasm describes the recipients’ initial sentiment toward the project. However,
not everybody uniformly shared this feeling; some individuals were more enthusiastic
than others, and in general their level of commitment toward the project started
diminishing over time. In the communities where local government bodies existed, the
authorities initially perceived the arrival of the computers with great satisfaction,
because it might have contributed to their own agenda (e.g. the Chilete infocentro was
 managed by the local council). However, different priorities across local governments The affordances
over time made the allocation of council budgets for the infocentros expenses irregular. of actor network
A case in point is the San Marcos infocentro, which was transferred from the
Mayoralty to the Prefecture, including a period in limbo, when the former Prefect theory
judged that the project’s objectives were not aligned at all with the Prefecture’s.
Among the funding international agencies and NGOs, interests were dissimilar and
sometimes incongruent. At the time of the fieldwork, one of the sponsors had deserted 365
the project, and two others were considering withdrawing their participation –
eventually, they did so. Silvia, the project Coordinator of one of the NGOs, explained
the source of disagreement:
Our position is different from the initiator’s . . . Communication is not an issue in Chilete
[because it got an acceptable infrastructure] . . . What they need there is information, not
communication . . . Some other sponsors emphasise information in places where it is simply
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

not possible for geographical and technical reasons.

This statement reflects the different material and social conditions of the communities
under the project, which aimed at implementing a one-size-fits-all solution. Not so
much because the project initiator lacked the knowledge of the peculiarities of each
community, but because of economic pressures that made them to compromise their
original plans in an attempt to make the network stable.
FITEL and Satel made even more evident the problem of dissimilar interests. If
FITEL had not been really committed to the initiative – they just authorised the use of
the existing telecommunications infrastructure – then Satel was the most apathetic
participant. On top of being responsible for the telecommunications infrastructure,
Satel had now the burden of maintaining and repairing the computers used at the
infocentros under a special provision of the contract signed with FITEL. This lack of
interest did put at risk the technical aspects of the project; in a region characterised by
unreliable infrastructure, having a reliable technical service was critical. This is a
confirmation that the project underwent a series of transformations, which eventually
put its fate “in the hand of the others” (Latour, 1991, pp. 105-6), not in the way the
project initiator had planned it.
In addition, the infocentro managers, the links between the human and nonhuman
actants, who at the beginning were proud of their appointment and enjoyed public
recognition, soon found themselves in an untenable position. On top of struggling to
make ends meet, they were also obliged to look after the infocentros on a voluntary basis;
their planned source of income would be from the service fee users paid at the infocentro
(which were uncertain and irregular, if any). When they realised villagers were not using
the infocentros as was supposed to happen, and consequently they were not receiving the
expected income, they naturally started considering other alternatives. Indeed, many of
the infocentro managers were actively looking for a job during the fieldwork. Four of
them confirmed to us, in subsequent e-mail communications, that they had already left
the infocentros in order to work in paid jobs.

Coordination
Coordination is the degree to which the interpretive flexibility is restricted by rules or
conventions (Callon, 1991). In an ideal scenario, coordination should have resulted from
 ITP a bargaining process on which everybody had compromised in order to accept the rules
23,4 of the planned network; however, this was not the case. The initiator – and its partners
at the beginning – demonstrated their willingness in and commitment for a successful
venture, but failed in putting into effect the planned rules. Unsolved tensions among
the actants persisted along the way.
A case in point is the contract between FITEL and Satel, which stipulated that the
366 satellite telephones must be accessible between 08:00 and 20:00 every day, and if they
were not, the latter was to be fined. Obviously, Satel avoided the slightest possibility of
making the telephones unavailable; Satel prioritised the operation of the telephones
and imposed severe restrictions on the functioning time of the computers – only two
hours a day in the communities where power supply was not available. Since Satel was
the government contractor for providing satellite telephones in thousands of other
rural communities, their dedication to the project was almost nonexistent, which had
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

created some friction with local people. For instance, Fernando – the Puruay Alto
infocentro manager – had manipulated the solar panel timer in order to have energy
for more hours; when Satel detected this manoeuvre, they tried to confiscate the
computer and faced strong local opposition. The project initiator mediated in this
conflictive situation and Puruay Alto eventually kept their computer. Paradoxically,
Puruay Alto was not in the original plan of the project; it only became one of the
beneficiary communities after a negotiation with FITEL.
There were other unsolved tensions too. The attempt to establish the project as the
obligatory passage point through the Information Processing Centre, through which it
would control the information flows to, from and among the infocentros, proved to be
unrealistic. On the one hand, the project could not address every question the peasants
might ask – they were as diverse as their interests, needs and contexts. One of the
project sponsors representative admitted:
We overestimated our capacity to provide answer to peasants’ inquiries . . . We designed a
system by which the peasant asked a question, we processed the answer and then delivered
the answer . . . It just did not work.
On the other hand, the majority of people in the beneficiary communities were not able
to use a computer; they resort to their face-to-face contacts when they need information
bypassing the somewhat insufficient and inadequate information prepared by the
project. As Latour (1986) affirms, the diffusion “of anything – claims, orders, artefacts,
goods – is in the hands of people” (p. 267).
The preceding discussion makes clear that human and nonhuman actors did not
converge according to the project initiator’s plan. Devising the Information Processing
Centre as an “obligatory point of passage” (Law and Callon, 1992) did not contribute to
make the network stable.

Devices and passages

ANT recognises three kinds of devices:
(1) substantial;
(2) material; and
(3) procedural.
 The interplay among these devices establishes the network (Callon, 1999). Identifying The affordances
the substantial device circulating throughout the project’s network is clear-cut: of actor network
information. The material device, the medium supporting the transmission of
information, was represented mostly by oral communication and radio – it was theory
common to see people hanging radio receptors around their necks while working in
their farms or even when playing football. The introduction of the infocentros – first
with librarian services followed by computers interconnected through satellite 367
communications – increased the material devices for the circulation of information.
The procedural device represents how people in this particular rural environment
exchanged information. The evidence from the data collected during the fieldwork
indicates that the favoured procedural device for exchanging information were
face-to-face encounters at periodic communal assemblies, at the weekly open-air
markets or at people’s farms or houses. The project – and its technology – sought to
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

extend the locally situated environment of information exchange and augment the
sources of information. This initiative carried with its own procedural device; it
assumed unidirectional communication logic from the Information Processing Centre
to the communities through the infocentros and also defined the role of the infocentro
managers as the exclusive information brokers in their communities.
This procedural device, designed by the project and which the project attempted to
impose, proved to be inappropriate for local conditions. As a result, there was a
superimposition of the project’s technological network over the existing social
networks, and the logic of the former was to be an obligatory point of passage. The
passage between these two networks implied “movements that are difficult or
impossible” (Moser and Law, 1999, p. 205). Simply, that was not the way that rural
inhabitants exchange information; that is why sustainability – making the telecentre
independent from donors’ funds – could not be achieved. It is a reminder that the
“adoption of an innovation . . . goes through a series of decisions which depend on the
particular context within which the innovation is to be inserted” (Akrich et al., 2002, p.
202), well beyond the intrinsic characteristics of the innovation.
From our perspective, the use of ANT as an analytic device is revealing in of itself.
In Table II, we summarise the insights we gained from applying various analytical
constructs of ANT to the project, and comment on their possible wider application in
ICT4D.
Viewing through the lens of the translation process enabled us to see the trajectory
of the project. For instance, we could see that the original problematisation of the
project, with the Information Processing Centre as the sole conduit of information,
caused some issues later on. We could also see that the interessment stage was
somewhat imperfect in terms of various differing objectives on the part of the
stakeholder organisations. The enrolment stage, too, could be seen to have various
problems in terms of how the management of the infocentros was organised. We could
also observe quite clearly the attempts to mobilise individuals around the project using
different means. That said, it would be quite possible to have these insights without
necessarily having to see them as part of a translation process using ANT.
The useful insights that ANT provided for us in this study occurred when we
applied the analytical dimensions of convergence and devices. In particular, the degree
of restriction of interpretive flexibility in the network helped us to see the importance of
 Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)
Table II.
in ICT4D research
and possible applications
constructs to the findings
Applying ANT analytical
ANT analytical construct Key findings from this study
Alignment as a dimension of convergence – Some individuals enthusiastic, but commitment
degree to which actants can agree with the diminishing over time
translation Lack of commitment of resources from apparently
supportive authorities
Economic pressures on NGOs leading to a
uniform solution for all communities in the project
FITEL and Satel unenthusiastic about
maintaining computers and infrastructure
Coordination as a dimension of convergence – Prioritisation of satellite phones operation over
degree to which interpretive flexibility is computers by Satel, due to fines if phones
restricted by rules and conventions unavailable
Solar energy restricted by Satel and their attempt
to confiscate the computer at Puruay Alto
The bypassing of the infocentro as an obligatory
passage for the seeking of information, due to
price and access restrictions
Substantial devices (which interplay with material The substantial device in the network was
and procedural devices to establish the network) information of all kinds
Material devices (which interplay with substantial The material devices were oral communication
and procedural devices to establish the network) and radio, and the infocentros increased the
devices available to participants
Procedural devices (which interplay with The project assumed one-way communication
substantial and material devices to establish the coming from the Information Processing Centre to
network) the infocentros (top-down approach); however, the
usual procedural device was face-to-face
communication
ITP
23,4
368
Possible applications in other ICT4D research
While most ICT4D projects conduct some form of
stakeholder analysis, the idea of alignment
enables the analysis to go one step further in
thinking about the degree to which actants are in
agreement with how the project will proceed
Many ICT4D projects proceed with an incomplete
knowledge of rules of conventions in the host
country, so this is an analytical dimension that is
very useful. Also, looking at the way spoken and
unspoken rules and conventions in a project may
operate is also very helpful
For ICT4D projects, this is an important question
– what is the substantial device in the network?
This presupposes a network view, of course, but it
allows the researcher to understand the key
purpose of the network
In most ICT4D projects, the material device is
assumed to be ICT. Yet this assumption might
well ignore other existing material devices
In ICT4D projects, certain assumptions might be
made about how people interact, or their
willingness to interact in another way. So an
examination of procedural devices, of how people
interact, gives an insight into the implementation
of the project and its underlying assumptions
 existing rules and procedures and how they might work against a project. Close The affordances
examination of the alignment of actors’ agreement with the translation also helped us of actor network
see some issues, and to think about why alignment is so crucial in ICT4D projects,
where the use of the technology provided is completely voluntary. Looking at the theory
substantial, material and procedural devices was particularly helpful, as it helped us
think more deeply about the networks involved and we realised that the project in fact
superimposed a network over another network. Given that all ICT4D projects probably 369
seek to supplement existing networks, we think these analytical dimensions are
important and useful, as they necessitate a deep look at what the network actually is,
and the underlying assumptions of the ICT4D initiatives. Table II gives our view in
detail on each analytical dimension and the possible applications to other ICT4D
projects. The key strength of these ANT analytical dimensions was a detailed
understanding of the overall anatomy of the project under study.
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Conclusion
During the fieldwork, it became apparent that information was highly appreciated by
local people. Individuals were constantly exchanging information and did not hesitate
to walk long distances across valleys and mountains to find the piece of information
they needed. Indeed, information is not a new phenomenon and computers cannot
make information more important now; its importance has been recognised throughout
history (Holvast et al., 2005).
The introduction of computers opened new possibilities for obtaining information;
however, computers were not massively adopted in these communities. Just a few
individuals in each community enthusiastically learned to use computers – sometimes
by themselves – and made them part of their toolbox in their everyday life. They
demonstrated a great interest in using computers and overcame many difficulties in
accessing them, including technical restrictions at the infocentros and/or unattended
infocentros – so these individuals resorted to accessing computers in internet cafés
during their periodical visits to Cajamarca City. Interestingly, they operated as
“activators of information”, forwarding their fellow villagers’ questions to their virtual
contacts or searching through internet web sites for an answer and sharing the
collected computer-mediated information through their traditional face-to-face
networks (cf. Dı́az Andrade and Urquhart, 2009). In their actions, local villagers
were using procedural devices other than those envisaged by the project.
The causes of the structural weakness of the project are to be found in the inability
to build the network throughout the four stages of the translation process. In the
problematisation stage, the project initiator conceived a centralised information system
distribution, where they would be the hub through the Information Processing Centre;
however, the Information Processing Centre never became the planned obligatory
point of passage. The interessment stage shows mixed episodes. Although the initiator
managed to draw other actors around the idea, not all of them were equally committed
to the project; most importantly, the plan of making computer-mediated information
available in rural communities was not fully understood by most of the alleged
beneficiaries who felt that their most immediate needs were not addressed. As a
consequence of the somewhat lukewarm involvement of some of the actors – i.e. poor
convergence – the fissures of the project became apparent during the enrolment stage.
 ITP It followed that in the mobilisation stage the network was left adrift to the needs of
23,4 quite dissimilar contexts of the communities and the priorities given by different
actors. The project’s attempt to substitute the supposedly uncoordinated interactions
between rural inhabitants with a centrally controlled purpose-built network has not
been successful because the network itself constituted a bad passage (cf. Moser and
Law, 1999).
370 From an ANT perspective, the existing social networks and the superimposed
technological network were incompatible. Although the infocentro managers to some
extent had polyvalent characteristics because they were participating in both networks
(cf. Hanseth and Monteiro, 1998), there was little that they could do because of the
weakness of the project network. However, the growing interest by some individuals in
using computers – the computer enthusiasts who bypass the infocentros to access
computers – demonstrates that a new network is emerging; one that we call a
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

disentangled network, which circumvents the project network.

In this study, we have demonstrated the usefulness of ANT’s concepts for analysing
a rural telecentre project. We have also endeavoured to itemise how the use of each
ANT analytical concept might contribute to ICT4D research. ANT provided us with a
point of view that other theories could not, both by revealing the fragility in creating
the network along the translation process, and by drawing attention to the fact that the
project was designed in a way that existing procedural devices were ignored. From our
perspective, applying the analytical devices of convergence and devices helped us see
the underlying assumptions of the project, and understand the anatomy of the project
in a way that we had not previously understood it. We now realise how crucial the role
of convergence might be in an ICT4D context where coordination is weak or alignment
is difficult to achieve. Often in ICT4D projects, participants are using ICT for the first
time, and there is no compulsion for them to do so. So the process of translation is very
important in an ICT4D context. While there are many ways to engage participants in
ICT4D, we feel that ANT gives particular insight into how that process might play out.
We also contend that ANT is particularly useful in studying the role played by
telecentres in the context of ICT4D research. If a telecentre is conceptualised as
imposing a network over other networks, ANT’s network focus has particular
relevance for analysing how that network might be implemented.

References
Akrich, M. (1992), “The de-scription of technical objects”, in Bijker, W.E. and Law, J. (Eds),
Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA.
Akrich, M. and Latour, B. (1992), “A summary of a convenient vocabulary for the semiotics of
human and nonhuman assemblies”, in Bijker, W.E. and Law, J. (Eds), Shaping
Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, MIT Press, Cambridge,
MA.
Akrich, M., Callon, M. and Latour, B. (2002), “The key to success in innovation part i: the art of
interessement”, International Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 6, pp. 187-206.
Allen, J.P. (2004), “Redefining the network: enrollment strategies in the PDA industry”,
Information Technology & People, Vol. 17, pp. 171-85.
 Avgerou, C. (2003), “The link between ICT and economic growth in the discourse of The affordances
development”, in Korpela, M., Montealegre, R. and Poulymenakou, A. (Eds), International
Federation of Information Processing, IFIP 9.4 and 8.2 Joint Conference on Organizational
of actor network
Information Systems in the Context of Globalization, Kluwer, Dordrecht. theory
Avgerou, C. (2008), “Information systems in developing countries: a critical research review”,
Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 23, pp. 133-46.
Avgerou, C. and Madon, S. (2004), “Framing IS studies: understanding the social context of IS 371
innovation”, in Avgerou, C., Ciborra, C. and Land, L. (Eds), The Social Study of Information
and Communication Technology: Innovation, Actors, and Contexts, Oxford University
Press, Oxford.
Avgerou, C. and Madon, S. (2005), “Information society and the digital divide problem in
developing countries”, in Berleur, J. and Avgerou, C. (Eds), Perspectives and Policies on ICT
in Society, Springer, New York, NY.
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

Baygeldi, M. and Smithson, S. (2004), “Ability of the actor network theory (ANT) to model and
interpret an electronic market”, in Gupta, J.N.D. and Sharma, S.K. (Eds), Creating
Knowledge Based Organizations, Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA.
Best, M.L. and Maclay, C.M. (2002), “Community internet access in rural areas: solving the
economic sustainability puzzle”, The Global Information Technology Report 2001-2002:
Readiness for the Networked World, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Bijker, W.E. (1992), “The social construction of fluorescent lighting, or how and artifact was
invented in its diffusion stage”, in Bijker, W.E. and Law, J. (Eds), Shaping
Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, MIT Press, Cambridge,
MA.
Braa, J., Monteiro, E. and Sahay, S. (2004), “Networks of action: sustainable health information
systems across developing countries”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 28, pp. 337-62.
Braa, J., Hanseth, O., Heywood, A., Mohammed, W. and Shaw, V. (2007), “Developing health
information systems in developing countries: the flexible standards strategy”,
MIS Quarterly, Vol. 31, pp. 381-402.
Callon, M. (1986), “Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and
the fisherman”, in Law, J. (Ed.), Power, Action and Belief, Routledge & Kegan Paul,
London.
Callon, M. (1991), “Techno-economic networks and irreversibility”, in Law, J. (Ed.), A Sociology of
Monsters: Essays on Power, Technology and Domination, Routledge, London.
Callon, M. (1999), “Actor-network theory – the market test”, in Law, J. (Ed.), Actor Network
Theory and after, Blackwell, Oxford.
Castells, M. (2000), The Rise of the Network Society – The Information Age: Economy, Society and
Culture, Blackwell, Malden, MA.
Cho, S., Mathiassen, L. and Nilsson, A. (2007), “Contextual dynamics during health information
systems implementation: an event-based actor-network approach”, European Journal of
Information Systems, Vol. 17, pp. 614-30.
Dı́az Andrade, A. and Urquhart, C. (2009), “The value of extended networks: social capital in an
ICT intervention in rural Peru”, Information Technology for Development, Vol. 15,
pp. 108-32.
Doolin, B. and Lowe, A. (2002), “To reveal is to critique: actor-network theory and critical
information systems research”, Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 17, pp. 69-78.
 ITP Duncombe, R. and Heeks, R. (2002), “Enterprise across the digital divide: information systems
and rural microenterprise in Botswana”, Journal of International Development, Vol. 14,
23,4 pp. 61-74.
Elbanna, A.R. (2008), “Strategic systems implementation: diffusion through drift”, Journal of
Information Technology, Vol. 23, pp. 89-96.
Faraj, S., Kwon, D. and Watts, S. (2004), “Contested artifact: technology sensemaking, actor
372 networks, and the shaping of the web browser”, Information Technology & People, Vol. 17,
pp. 186-209.
G8 (2000), Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society, available at: www.mofa.go.jp/policy/
economy/summit/2000/documents/charter.html (accessed 5 August 2000).
Gao, P. (2007), “Counter-networks in standardization: a perspective of developing countries”,
Information Systems Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 391-420.
Hannemyr, G. (2003), “The internet as hyperbole: a critical examination of adoption rates”,
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

The Information Society, Vol. 19, pp. 111-21.

Hanseth, O., Aanestad, M. and Berg, M. (2004), “Guest Editors’ introduction: Actor-network
theory and information systems. What’s so special?”, Information Technology & People,
Vol. 17, pp. 116-23.
Hanseth, O. and Monteiro, E. (1998), “Changing irreversible networks”, Proceedings of ECIS ’98:
Institutionalisation and Infrastructure, Aix-en-Provence, 4-6 June.
Heeks, R. and Stanforth, C. (2007), “Understanding e-government project trajectories from an
actor-network perspective”, European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 16, pp. 165-77.
Holvast, J., Duquenoy, P. and Whitehouse, D. (2005), “The information society and its
consequences: lessons from the past”, in Berleur, J. and Avgerou, C. (Eds), Perspectives and
Policies on ICT in Society, Springer, New York, NY.
Instituto Nacional de Estadı́stica e Informática (2006), Banco de Información Distrital, Instituto
Nacional de Estadı́stica e Informática, Lima.
Kallinikos, J. (2004), “Farewell to constructivism: technology and context-embedded action”,
in Avgerou, C., Ciborra, C. and Land, F. (Eds), The Social Study of Information and
Communication Technology: Innovation, Actors, and Contexts, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Latour, B. (1986), “The power of association”, in Law, J. (Ed.), Power, Action and Belief, Routledge
& Kegan Paul, London.
Latour, B. (1987), Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Societies,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Latour, B. (1991), “Technology is society made durable”, in Law, J. (Ed.), A Sociology of Monsters:
Essays on Power, Technology and Domination, Routledge, London.
Latour, B. (1992), “Where are the missing masses? The sociology of a few mundane artifacts”,
in Bijker, W.E. and Law, J. (Eds), Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in
Sociotechnical Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Latour, B. (1999a), “On recalling ANT”, in Law, J. (Ed.), Actor Network Theory and after,
Blackwell, Oxford.
Latour, B. (1999b), Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies, Harvard University
Press, Cambridge, MA.
Latour, B. (2004), “On using ANT for studying information systems: a (somewhat) Socratic
dialogue”, in Avgerou, C., Ciborra, C. and Land, F. (Eds), The Social Study of Information
 and Communication Technology: Innovation, Actors, and Contexts, Oxford University The affordances
Press, Oxford.
of actor network
Latour, B. (2005), Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-network-theory, Oxford
University Press, Oxford. theory
Law, J. (1994), Organizing Modernity, Blackwell, Oxford.
Law, J. and Bijker, W.E. (1992), “Postcript: technology, stability, and social theory”, in Bijker,
W.E. and Law, J. (Eds), Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical 373
Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Law, J. and Callon, M. (1992), “The life and death of an aircraft: a network analysis of technical
change”, in Bijker, W.E. and Law, J. (Eds), Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in
Sociotechnical Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Liff, S. and Steward, F. (2001), “Community e-gateways: locating networks and learning for social
inclusion”, Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 4, pp. 317-40.
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

McGrath, K. (2002), “The golden circle: a way of arguing and acting about technology in the
London Ambulance Service”, European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 11, pp. 251-66.
Madon, S. (2000), “The internet and socio-economic development: exploring the interaction”,
Information Technology & People, Vol. 13, pp. 85-101.
Madon, S., Sahay, S. and Sahay, J. (2004), “Implementing property tax reforms in Bangalore:
an actor-network perspective”, Information and Organization, Vol. 14, pp. 269-95.
Mähring, M., Holström, J., Keil, M. and Montealegre, R. (2004), “Trojan actor-networks and swift
translation: bringing actor-network theory to IT project escalation studies”, Information
Technology & People, Vol. 17, pp. 210-38.
Mchombu, K.J. (2004), Sharing Knowledge for Community Development and Transformation:
A Handbook, Oxfam, Quebec.
Monteiro, E. (2004), “Actor network theory and cultural aspects of interpretive studies”,
in Avgerou, C., Ciborra, C. and Land, F. (Eds), The Social Study of Information and
Communication Technology: Innovation, Actors, and Contexts, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Moser, I. and Law, J. (1999), “Good passages, bad passages”, in Law, J. and Hassard, J. (Eds),
Actor Network Theory and after, Blackwell, Oxford.
Pereyra Romo, A, (2002), Sistematización Fase Piloto: Proyecto Sistema de Información Rural
Urbano (SIRU) – Socializando Nuestra Experiencia, ITDG, Cajamarca.
Prahalad, C.K. (2005), The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through
Profits, Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Rodon, J., Pastor, J.A., Sesé, F. and Chirstiaanse, E. (2008), “Unravelling the dynamics of IOIS
implementation: an actor-network study of an IOIS in the seaport of Barcelona”, Journal of
Information Technology, Vol. 23, pp. 97-108.
Rogers, E.M. (2003), Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York, NY.
Salvador, T., Sherry, J.W. and Urrutia, A.E. (2005), “Less cyber, more café: enhancing existing
small businesses across the digital divide with ICTs”, Information Technology for
Development, Vol. 11, pp. 77-95.
Sarker, S., Sarker, S. and Sidorova, A. (2006), “Understanding business change failure: an actor
network perspective”, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23, pp. 51-86.
Schech, S. (2002), “Wired for change: the links between ICTs and development discourses”,
Journal of International Development, Vol. 14, pp. 13-23.
 ITP Sen, A.K. (1999), Development as Freedom, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.
23,4 Tatnall, A. and Lepa, J. (2003), “The internet, e-commerce and older people: an actor-network
approach to researching reasons for adoption and use”, Logistics Information
Management, Vol. 16, pp. 56-63.
Thompson, M.P.A. (2005), “ICT, power, and developmental discourse: a critical analysis”,
Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, Vol. 20, pp. 1-26.
374 Tschang, T., Chuladul, M. and Le, T.T. (2002), “Scaling-up information services for development:
a framework of increasing returns for telecentres”, Journal of International Development,
Vol. 14, pp. 129-41.
United Nations Development Programme (2001), Human Development Report 2001: Making New
Technologies Work for Human Development, United Nations Development Programme,
New York, NY.
Walsham, G. (1997), “Actor-network theory and is research: current status and future
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

prospectus”, in Lee, A.S., Liebenau, J. and DeGross, J.I. (Eds), Proceedings of the IFIP TC8
WG 8.2 International Conference on Information Systems and Qualitative Research,
Chapman & Hall, Philadelphia, PA.
Walsham, G. (2001), Making a World of Difference: IT in a Global Context, Wiley, Chichester.
Walsham, G. and Sahay, S. (1999), “GIS for district-level administration in India: problems and
opportunities”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 23, pp. 39-66.
Walsham, G. and Sahay, S. (2006), “Research on information systems in developing countries:
current landscape and future prospects”, Information Technology for Development, Vol. 12,
pp. 7-24.
Whittle, A. and Spicer, A. (2008), “Is actor network theory critique?”, Organization Studies,
Vol. 29, pp. 611-29.
World Bank (1998), “Knowledge for development”, available at: www.worldbank.org/wdr/
wdr98/contents.htm (accessed 15 November 1998).

Corresponding author
Antonio Dı́az Andrade can be contacted at: antonio.diaz@aut.ac.nz

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
 This article has been cited by:

1. Lisa Payne. 2017. Visualization in analysis: developing ANT Analysis Diagrams (AADs). Qualitative
Research 17:1, 118-133. [CrossRef]
2. Geoff Walsham. 2017. ICT4D research: reflections on history and future agenda. Information Technology
for Development 1-24. [CrossRef]
3. Hart O. Awa, Ojiabo Ukoha, Best C. Eke. 2016. Adoption of emerging ICTs: The role of actors in a
social network. Cogent Business & Management 3:1. . [CrossRef]
4. Georgette Briggs, Erik Blair. 2016. Everyday personal laptop usage in secondary schools in Trinidad and
Tobago. Education and Information Technologies 21:3, 545-558. [CrossRef]
5. Leroy White, Katharina Burger, Mike Yearworth. 2016. Understanding behaviour in problem structuring
methods interventions with activity theory. European Journal of Operational Research 249:3, 983-1004.
[CrossRef]
6. Xuequn Wang, Yibai Li. 2016. Understanding collaborative resilience from continuous disruption: an
Downloaded by Telkom University At 18:27 22 February 2017 (PT)

actor-network perspective. Behaviour & Information Technology 35:2, 151-162. [CrossRef]

7. Richard Heeks, Carolyne Stanforth. 2015. Technological change in developing countries: opening the
black box of process using actor–network theory. Development Studies Research 2:1, 33-50. [CrossRef]
8. Erik Blair, Kimila Inniss. 2014. Student evaluation questionnaires and the developing world: An
examination of the move from a hard copy to online modality. Studies in Educational Evaluation 40, 36-42.
[CrossRef]
9. Sunday Chinedu Eze Business Systems, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK Yanqing Duan Business
Systems, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK Hsin Chen Business Systems, University of Bedfordshire,
Luton, UK . 2014. Examining emerging ICT's adoption in SMEs from a dynamic process approach.
Information Technology & People 27:1, 63-82. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
10. Richard Heeks, Carolyne Stanforth. 2014. UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION: AN ACTOR-NETWORK PERSPECTIVE. Public Administration and
Development 34:1, 14-31. [CrossRef]
11. Alysson Bolognesi Prado, Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas. 2013. Addressing structural and dynamic
features of scientific social networks through the lens of Actor-Network Theory. Social Network Analysis
and Mining 3:4, 1263-1276. [CrossRef]
12. Kristine Dery, Richard Hall, Nick Wailes, Sharna Wiblen. 2013. Lost in translation? An actor-network
approach to HRIS implementation. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 22:3, 225-237. [CrossRef]
13. Alysson Bolognesi Prado, Maria Cecilia Calani BaranauskasRepresenting scientific associations through
the lens of Actor-Network Theory 87-92. [CrossRef]
14. Sachin Ruikar, Pei-Chia ChangAchieving Network Stability through Convergence--Case Study of an E-
Government Project Using Actor Network Theory 2593-2602. [CrossRef]