The Roles of Intermediation and Knowledge Creation in Community Development in Rural Bangladesh: ICT as a Tool rather than a Goal in Access to Information
Farzana Akther, Marianne Georgsen · 2010
Recently, poverty has been redefined to cover not only economic and social deprivation, but also deprivation of information and lack of access to information. This paper addresses the potential of ICT in improving the access to information of both NGO workers and less privileged people who are the target group of NGO programmes. Based on ethnographic field study data, this paper describes opportunities and challenges in intermediation work in rural areas in Bangladesh. The paper presents an analysis of the intermediation work done by NGO workers, and it is discussed where ICT integration is needed and how ICT can support the ongoing community development work. Based on a theoretical framework which brings together intermediation, knowledge creation and social capital, this analysis investigates the role of intermediation for knowledge creation in the context of developing countries. More specifically, the analysis focuses on the information practices of field workers and their perception of ICT as a possible tool in their work. It is not proposed that ICT offers a solution for the complex problems facing rural marginalised groups and NGO field workers. In contrast, the paper offers the conclusion that community technology development and community capacity building can work in a mutually supportive way.