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548-1352-1-Pbappropriate Ict As A Tool To Increase Effectiveness in Ict4d-Theoretical Considerations and Illustrating Cases PDF
548-1352-1-Pbappropriate Ict As A Tool To Increase Effectiveness in Ict4d-Theoretical Considerations and Illustrating Cases PDF
ABSTRACT
The need to bridge the digital divide is no longer a point of discussion and therefore focus has
shifted to the design and implementation of programs that have the potential to close the
information and knowledge gap between the developing and developed nations. Unfortunately,
the majority of these programs are small and mimic what has been successful in the developed
world. It has become increasingly clear that these successes do not necessarily translate well in
the context of developing nations. This paper develops the hypothesis that Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) projects in developing countries will become successful
only when they are adapted to local conditions. The general concept of Appropriate
Technology (AT) will be explored for the field of ICT. AT has already been embraced by fields
like architecture, building technology and agriculture, but has not yet been rooted in ICT.
The paper proposes a preliminary theory of Appropriate ICT along the lines of existing
theories in AT and System development. The theory identifies Appropriate Technology
principles at three levels: hardware, software and ICT change management. By means of real
life mini cases in the ICT for Development context in Africa, the guiding principles for
Appropriate ICT are illustrated. The paper will conclude with an agenda for further research in
the three identified levels. The research agenda targets academia, governments, NGO's and
industry.
Keywords: ICT for Development, hardware design, software design, Africa, appropriate
technology
1. INTRODUCTION
It sounds pretty normal: when you plan a mountain hike you ensure that you wear strong boots
and a pullover against the cold at higher altitudes; in case you go to the tropics you choose a
light, well ventilated tropical out-fit and a hat or cap against the merciless sun. You have been
taught that you need to adapt to the local circumstances. In disciplines such as architecture,
civil technique and industrial design, identifying, selecting and introducing appropriate and
suitable technology is well recognized, but in the field of ICT (being a young discipline) this
process is still in its infancy.
Not only computer hardware and software, but also methods and techniques for design
and implementation of information technology, are almost without exception
invented/developed in the developed countries (Europe and North America). The contextual
and cultural elements of these countries are ingrained in the design. These elements limit the
transferability of the technology to other, different, environments (Collins, 1992; Evans &
Collins, 2007). Tacit assumptions become clear in case of breakdown of operations (Winograd
& Flores, 1986) and will form the start of an explanatory of problem solving-discussion or
discourse (Habermas, 1985). In the field of ICT for Development (ICT4D), this discussion on
the limitations of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) ICT tools, softwares and methodologies in
the context of developing countries has been initiated (Gurstein, 2003, Gairola et al., 2004,
Dymond & Oestmann, 2004, Reijswoud & Topi, 2005) but is still young.
The field of ICT4D has grown dramatically in size and importance over the past decade
(McNamara, 2003, Levey & Young 2002). ICT4D is based on the premise that ICT is able to
bridge the digital divide between the developed and developing countries and thereby
contribute to equal distribution of wealth. Two dimensions are identified to achieve this goal:
increasing access to ICT and rationalization of work procedures to increase transparency and
accountability (Krishna & Madon, 2003). ICT is considered to be vital for the improvement of
governance and production resources (Sciadas, 2003).
The importance of ICT for poverty alleviation has been recognized at the highest
international levels when the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) dedicated
their Annual Human Development Report to the role of information and communication
technologies (UNDP, 2001). At present, most of the large development organizations have
programs with a substantial ICT component and a growing number of smaller development
initiatives have started targeted projects in the field of ICT.
In spite of all the efforts, the digital divide has not been bridged and well-documented
success stories of the application of ICT for poverty alleviation are hard to find (Krishna &
Madon, 2003, Curtain, 2004, Osama, 2006, Walsham et al., 2007). Evaluation of ICT projects
often reveals underutilization of the resources because the newly introduced ICT has not been
well integrated within the local context (Kozma, 2005), in the worst case as a result of
'dump-and-run' approaches (Volsoo, 2006, Reijswoud et al., 2005), and lack of local ownership
in the receiving communities (Vaughan, 2006). Also technical (hardware and software)
problems resulting from the 'hostile' conditions in which the ICT was introduced put a strain on
the actual impact (Gichoya, 2005). High rates of hardware breakdown combined with the low
locally available technical problem-solving skills have lead to underutilized and even
abandoned projects. Finally, high maintenance (recurring) costs for hardware, software and
internet connectivity put a financial burden on the projects rendering them financially
non-sustainable.
In spite of the enormous challenges in the context of the development of especially the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the academic literature to date on ICT for Development is
relatively sparse (Walsham et al., 2007). Most of the literature is produced in the public domain
by development agencies. Furthermore, little attention is paid to general frameworks to
improve the success of ICT implementations in LDCs.
There are many reasons that ICT projects in LDCs fail (Heeks, 2003) and they have
been reported from the start (Moussa & Schware, 1992, World Bank, 1993). Failure may be
caused by selection of inappropriate hardware, software and/or design and implementation
approaches. This article starts from the premise that many ICT projects in LDCs fail to
properly take into account the local context in LDCs. Building on this premise we will develop
a theory for the design and implementation of ICT projects in LDCs that takes into account
local conditions. We develop this approach along the lines of existing theories in AT in other
fields of science and general theories in information systems design.
It is apparent that ICT projects cannot be adequately understood and addressed as
technical/rational initiatives (Avgerou, 2003) and therefore, like other technical solutions, the
design and implementation of ICT solutions must be carried out in relation to the culture
(Westrup et al., 2003), the environment, the organization, the available resources, the
economic and political circumstances, and the desired impact (Avgerou, 2003). As Avegrou
states (2003: 57-58) there is need for a situated approach where IT innovation is understood in
‘their’ complex context. We propagate an integration of the discipline 'Appropriate
Technology' that aims at devising 'suitable' technological solutions. Our theory identifies
principles to do so at three levels: hardware, software and ICT change management. The theory
is described in section 2 and 3. By means of real life mini cases in the ICT for Development
context in Africa, the guiding principles for Appropriate ICT are illustrated in section 4. In
section 5 we will conclude with an agenda for further research.
2. APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
In order to understand better how we can improve the effectiveness of design and
implementation of ICT projects in the LDCs we will explore the field of appropriate
technology (AT). Since the concepts of AT has not yet gained much ground in the area of ICT,
we will start our exploration with a short discussion of AT.
As a general definition we adopt the idea that AT is technology that is suitable for the
environmental, cultural and economic conditions in which the technology is intended to be
used. The opposite of AT is the 'one-size-fits-all' concept that builds on the premise that well
designed technology can be used under all circumstances – the universal model. The best
example of this line of thinking is the Swiss Army Knife. The Swiss Army Knife is designed
with the idea that it will help you out in whatever environmental, cultural and economic
condition you are in. Avgerou and Walsham (2000) characterize these two attitudes as
paralyzing anti-technology and techno-enthusiasm.
Darrow and Saxenian (1986) provide 10 criteria in the Source Book for Appropriate
Technology that we take as starting point. These criteria have been formulated to act as a basic
set of guidelines for a broad spectrum of several technologies in developing countries. ICT is
not considered explicitly by the authors. The following criteria are proposed in Darrow and
Saxenian (1986):
The guiding idea for these criteria is that technologies have a good chance to be
effective if they are appropriate to the needs, expectations and limitations of the surroundings
in which they will be applied. In other words, the selected solution should be in harmony with
local standards and values and build on existing skills and techniques. A new technology will
not be embedded in a sustainable manner into an organization or community if the dependence
on the developers of the solution is high and the available resources (financial as well as
human) for maintenance are expensive and scarcely available.
Development needs that are met through community education and development tend
to be sustainable. New technology needs to address the local community as the main
stakeholder. Only then we observe self-sustainability and expanding reservoirs of skills in the
communities (Tharakan, 2006).
Although the criteria proposed by Darrow and Saxenian (1986) will result in an
appropriate design of the technology, they fail to highlight the implementation process. Even
appropriate technology can be rejected by the potential end-users if the implementation process
does not address the needs, expectations and limitations of the community and/or when the
invoked changes are not guided in an appropriate manner. We will develop this aspect in more
detail in the next section where we concentrate on Appropriate ICT.
Understanding AT is an important element in the education of engineers. In order to
operate in a development context they are required to have a good understanding of general
development issues, philosophy and ethics, and AT in development (Tharakan, 2006). In the
education of computer and information systems engineers, this knowledge has received little
attention.
1For more details on the role of ICT in realizing the MDG, see: http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/ict/projects.nsf
/WebPages/AA097228395769ED85256DF0007A4065?OpenDocument/*/
1. Theories and models: The development of models and theories that explain the social and
organizational uses and impacts of ICT.
2. Methodologies: The development of methodologies that address the social impacts of the
design, implementation, maintenance and use of ICT.
3. Philosophical and ethical issues: The study of philosophical and ethical issues that arise in
the use of ICT in social and organizational contexts.
1. Culture: Societies, or groups in a society vary in their sets of shared attitudes, values, goals,
and practices. Culture deserves careful attention when ICTs are introduced in the
development context (Westrup et al., 2003). We consider culture a central variable.
2. Environment: Physical conditions (heat, cold, dust, humidity etc) need to establish an
important ICT solution design.
3. Organization: The structure of the organization (in the broadest sense of the word)
determines the implementation strategy of systems both in the developed as developing
world.
4. Economy: The current and future economic situation of a country, sector or organization
should serve as a determinant in the ICT investment decisions.
5. Political climate: Some governments are more restrictive in their ICT guidelines than
others. Openness is not always appreciated and some governments have ‘partnerships’ with
hardware and software suppliers.
The integrated and participatory approach that results in tools and processes
for establishing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that is
suitable for the cultural, environmental, organizational, economic and
political conditions in which it is intended to be used.
1. Definition: Determine the goals, scope and requirements of the ICT solution
2. Design: Resolution of technical issues, selection of architecture and standards
3. Construction: Implementation of the design, testing and documentation of the system.
4. Installation: Roll-out of the services offered by the systems to the end-users, training.
5. Operation/maintenance: problem solving, user support, and incremental improvement
through monitoring an evaluation focusing on the use of the services by the end-users.
In the Appropriate ICT Framework, the SDLC is merged with the principle of
Appropriate ICT and methods are proposed. Figure 1 shows the foundation of the A-ICT
Framework: the SDLC on the outer ring and the five criteria that should be considered to
design and implement appropriate ICT solutions on the inner ring. Culture is displayed in a
central role.
2We deliberately deal very briefly with the SDLC since there are many textbooks that deal with this aspect in
detail. For more information the reader is referred to Hoffer et al., 2006; Dennis et al., 2001; Laudon and
Laudon, 2005.
As mentioned above, Appropriate ICT encompasses two perspectives: the product and
process. In the framework this is expressed in three aspects: Hardware, Software and Change
Management. Hardware and software result in a product, an ICT artifact. Change management
establishes the process for the design, development and implementation of the ICT artifact. In
order to guide the development of an appropriate ICT solution the framework provides a range
of guiding questions. Table 1 lists the key questions that need to be answered to address the
issues relevant in the Appropriate ICT Framework. The questions in the table integrate the 10
rules for AT and the focus areas of Appropriate ICT: culture, environment, organization,
economy and politics. The questions are structured along the phases of the System
Development Life Cycle.
Several tools and methodologies are in use by professionals in the ICT for
Development arena. A systematic inventory of approaches still needs to be made. In Figure 2
the A-ICT model is supplemented with some of the tools that are currently in use or are
recommended. More tools can be included to assess or support cultural, environmental,
organizational, economical and political dimensions of the ICT project.
Operation / Is local capacity sufficient? Are software maintenance Is a support organization in place?
maintenan Are spare parts easily available? skills available? Is the support organization able to support all
ce stakeholders (e.g. Gender issues)
Figure 2: Some tools and methodologies supporting the design and implementation of
Appropriate ICT Solutions
3 The author would like to thank Arjan de Jager and Deem Vermeulen of the IICD for sharing their experiences.
5.1.1 Determine Appropriate ICT Requirements in the Definition Phase: ICT for Health in
Tanzania
In recognition of the fact that ICT can offer important advantages to the Health sector in
developing countries and the fact that large number of projects has been initiated over the past
years, the start of a new ICT for Health program in Tanzania was faced with a challenge. The
chances of unwanted duplication of initiatives were high and the need gaps for the sector
unclear. At the same time it was noticed that the local ICT skills were minimal, especially in
the sub-urban and rural areas. In order to address this challenge it was decided to start the
program with a health sector-wide initiation phase.
To determine the needs and expectations of the sector and to avoid duplication of
projects, a participatory idea generation process 4 was initiated. This participatory idea
generation process goes beyond that traditionally used consultation processes and is more
suitable to generate the requirements in the context of an Appropriate ICT Framework. It uses
the method of scenario development to allow participants to identify priority areas for the
development of their sector or organization. This avoids a technology focus. In a later stage
during the workshop the question is asked how ICT can be used for these priority areas. To
bring all participants to the same starting level, a reference report (situational analysis) is
produced on the current status of the sector prior to the workshop. As such the Round Table
Process is an example of a useful method during the initiation phase allowing participants to
answer the questions of this phase way. The workshop is just one part of the overall process and
gets a follow-up allowing the actors to develop and implement their own ICT projects.
During the workshop in Tanzania the stakeholders were not only requested to express
their needs and expectations of the program, they were also facilitated in the generation of
preliminary project and policy proposals that were shared with the all the stakeholders
involved. Through a process of feedback and support the stakeholders were able to generate
ideas that were new, in line with the needs of the sector and feasible in the context of the
available skills.
4The process was facilitated by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The
organization uses the term 'Round Table' to label a participatory idea generation process. For more details on
ideas behind this process, see: IICD, 2004.
Through this approach, the sector has been able to generate a coherent ICT program for
the Health sector of Tanzania. The program now includes the following interrelated project
areas:
• ICT Policy for the Health sector, supported by all the stakeholders in the sector;
• Capacity development through a continuous medical education program;
• Development of ICT capacity in both the health sector as well as the private sector to fill
the capacity;
• Development of ICT tools, based on Free and Open Source Software5 and Open Standards,
to support the hospital management;
• Information portal and low-costs Internet connectivity services and support for hospitals.
The participatory idea generation approach that was selected has been able to naturally
structure a Definition phase that takes into account the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders. Political, cultural and organizational issues were addressed in the process
through elaborate peer and reality checking of the preliminary project proposals that were
generated. Economical issues were less covered in the initiation phase, but financial feasibility
studies were conducted before the design phase of the projects. Environmental issues were
insufficiently covered in this phase for this program and were addressed in the Construction
phase.
Within the Appropriate ICT Framework the local needs are central in the design and
more innovative solutions are anticipated.
5
See Dravis, 2003; Reijswoud & Topi, 2004; Reijswoud & Jager, 2008; on the advantages of the use of Free and
Open Source Software in the developing world.
6
For an in-depth discussion of this case study see: Reijswoud and Mulo, 2007.
administration decides on a policy that states that access to information technology and Internet
is essential for their students and staff. Against this background the ICT Department is
requested to design an ICT infrastructure that is low-cost (both in terms of initial and recurrent
costs), easy to maintain but allows staff and students to access academic information and
equips students with good ICT skills.
With the requirements in mind the department of the university developed, in
collaboration with external expertise, a plan for an ICT infrastructure based on:
• Free and Open Source Software and Open Standards for server and desktops to keep costs
for software low and avoid future license costs;
• Re-use and upgrade of existing infrastructure through the implementation of a Linux
terminal server project (Martindale, 2002);
• Elaborate capacity development to train knowledgeable ICT support staff and
well-informed students and lecturing staff;
• Bandwidth management to provide maximum access to research information while
limiting non-academic information (pornography, music and film downloads, sports, chat
etc).
Staff development for the ICT department as well sensitization of users (students and
staff) proved key in the development of these plans. Participatory learning and awareness
creation slowly guided ICT staff and users towards the conceptualization of the new ICT
infrastructure plan.
The ICT infrastructure was successfully implemented over the period 2003 – 2005 and
serves as a point of reference for other universities in the East African region that operate under
similar conditions. The infrastructure has proven to be low-cost, and through the capacity
development program administrator skills were developed to maintain the new system. The
managed Internet connection provides the required information for staff and students while
keeping maximized performance against minimized operational costs.
The project is a good example of the Design and Construction phases of Appropriate
ICT since it has taken into account the specific local conditions of the university and the
context in which the ICT was to be implemented. The economic requirements were addressed
as well as the organizational aspects. The academic culture that was considered important was
covered in the design of the network.
efficient ways of working are the only solution to keep the Health services at an acceptable
level. The most prominent problems that were to be addressed by the project were:
1. The information collection using the lengthy HMIS forms were unreliable (incomplete
and inaccurate) due to the labor intensive information collection procedures: The
hard-copy forms had to be filled in manually demanding hospital managers to spend
hours to correct for mistakes while all the data of the 27 hospitals had to be retyped at
UCMB HQ etc.
2. Slow feedback by UCMB to the inaccurate information in hard-copy form provided by
the hospitals (Backlogs of three to six months were not uncommon).
3. Lack of human capacity (technical as well as managerial) in order to implement and use
a proper HMIS.
The proposed technical solution was simple and straightforward. At first problem 1 was
addressed: The hard-copy forms were replaced by standardized Spreadsheets (which were sent
to UCMB using normal mail). The organizational impact of this step was still small: The
manual data entry was now supported by ICT applications. However, careful training and
awareness creation for the hospital staff was needed to avoid the computer to be locked away
and to be used as tool emphasize hierarchical differences.
After the first step the communication links between the up-country hospitals and
UCMB HQ data were set-up to address problem 2 while problem 3 was addressed. The
percentage of hospitals submitting complete and accurate HMIS forms in time moved from
48% to 96% during project implementation. The UCMB HQ can now concentrate on the
analysis and feedback to hospital managers to support informed decision-making. The
feedback mechanism enables hospital managers to finalize their planning and budgeting
processes in a timely manner. The impact of these steps from an organizational perspective was
much bigger. Due to better information the health facility managers could develop clearer
guidelines. At the same time, the decision of traditional hierarchical leaders was challenged.
Administrators were now able to challenge the management decisions of the medical staff, in
some occasions resulting in doctors sabotaging the data collection process. Only through
education and training a schism between administration and clinical staff could be avoided.
The change management process took three years and a carefully planned step-by-step
approach where the following results were achieved:
1. From hard-copy forms which had to be filled in manually to standardized spread sheets
which could be filled in using a computer: Focus on quality of data.
2. From sending these Excel forms by normal mail to sending it by email (forms as
attachments): Focus on timeliness of data.
3. A system which made it possible to link and analyze the HMIS output with a cost-based
financial system allowing hospital managers to implement an activity based costing
model in their hospitals: Focus on the use of data at managerial level.
4. From sending Excel forms by email (as attachment) to filling in on-line forms to allow
UCMB and the 27 hospitals to generate quality information on trends, statistics etc.:
Focus on use of data a macro level.
5.4. Discussion
In the first study we observe a situation that a participatory and consultative process guides the
definition and design of the ICT for Health program. Through this process users and other
stakeholders were engaged in a learning and knowledge sharing experience. The outcome of
the process was driven by the needs and knowledge of the users as well as constraints emerging
from the context. The resulting ICT solutions were low-tech, but appropriate. Traditional
approaches could have resulted in state-of-the-art solutions in line with available technical
paradigms in developed countries but that lack ownership of the users and fail to find support in
the local ICT community.
The design of the new ICT infrastructure at Uganda Martyrs University in Uganda
shows a design based on the requirements of the organization and the, mainly financial,
limitations of the context. Where many ICT solutions in Africa are based on donated and
pirated software, the described solution fits the situation, is legal, low-cast and has built new
and sustainable capacity. By re-using written-off hardware, increased access to ICT for
students and staff was created at very limited costs. Unfortunately, designs like these are hardly
seen in Africa and appropriate designs are hardly promoted by donor organizations.
The implementation of the Health Management Information Systems in Uganda
addresses challenges that are common in project implementation in developing countries. No
understanding of ICT, superstition and impenetrable hierarchical relations constitute barriers to
implementation that are not accommodated in modern IT project management approaches.
Most of these approaches are founded in a rational understanding of the possible advantages of
ICT and are not geared to first-time users. Long and careful implementation processes are
required that often look inefficient from a developed world perspective.
6. CONCLUSION
There is little discussion that ICT can play an accelerating role in bridging the digital divide
between developed and developing countries. The biggest challenge at the moment is to
develop an ICT infrastructure, knowledge and skills that provide opportunities for sustainable
development. As we have discussed in this paper this requires a change in perspective. The ICT
for development community has to shift away from traditional one-size-fits-all solutions to
solutions that fit the context in which the technology is to be used. The hardware, software and
change management needs to be aligned with the local cultural, environmental, organizational,
economical and political conditions in order to realize effective and sustainable development.
The Appropriate ICT Framework as presented in this article provides a guiding model
to develop appropriate ICT solutions for LDCs. The model is based on existing theories in
Appropriate Technology, Social and Community Informatics and the System Development
Life Cycle. As was illustrated in the examples, an Appropriate ICT perspective promotes a
thinking process guiding ICT4D experts to reconsider the solutions that are being designed,
developed and implemented.
The high number of failures suggests that the complexity of ICT for Development
projects is often underestimated. We often observe that the ICT component in development
projects is being handled by general project managers that have limited understanding of the
possibilities of ICT and resort to the implementation of standard solutions that have proven
their effectiveness in the developed world. In the end, the recipients in the ICT projects remain
with hardware that breaks down because it is not designed for the harsh conditions, no
available skills to maintain the software or clients that are not using it since they do not see the
added value. The initial success and the euphoria disappear as soon as the donor retreats. Donor
agencies need to recognize that ICT projects needs qualified expertise and cannot be left to
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