Persistent themes in ICT4D Research: priorities for inter- methodological exchange
Jonathan Donner, Kentaro Toyama · 2009
“Information and communication technologies for development” (ICT4D) is the name given to a range of activity which considers how electronic technologies can be used towards socio-economic development of developing communities worldwide. Typical technologies considered in ICT4D include PCs, the Internet, and mobile phones, and the domains of application are as broad as global development itself: public health, education, agriculture, microfinance, sanitation, political activism, and so on. As a field of research, the area is diverse, with the involvement of disciplines ranging from econometric analyses (what is the impact of Internet use on GDP?), to ethnography (how do users of mobile phones in poor communities differ from wealthy users?), to engineering (how to design PCs for use by multiple students simultaneously?), to experimental intervention (what is the effect of participatory video on agriculture extension?).