Informational Capabilities: The Missing Link for Understanding the Impact of ICT on Development
Björn-Sören Gigler · 2014
Develops an alternative evaluation framework of the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on human development, based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, a more pluralistic means of assessing development than simple economic development, which uses human capabilities, rather than measures of access or usage, as its principal evaluative space. At the core of introducing ICTs into rural communities stands the notion that ICTs can (1) enhance poor people’s individual and collective agencies, (2) strengthen existing individual and community assets, and (3) enhance people’s informational capabilities. Nevertheless, while under certain conditions ICTs can significantly enhance poor people’s human and social capabilities and thus have a positive impact on their well-being, no direct, causal relationship exists between ICTs and development. The impact of ICTs on the livelihoods of the poor depends on the dynamic and iterative process between people and technology within a specific political, economic, technical, and sociocultural (STEP) framework.