A Critical Evaluation of Past IDIA Research: Lessons Learnt for IDIA and ICT4D Researchers
Ishita Ghosh, Müge Haseki, Selina Linda Mudavanhu, Jean-Paul Van Belle · 2015
International Development Informatics Association (IDIA) was established specifically to provide a platform for information exchange between Global South-based ICT4D researchers with the hope of providing a more critical and context-aware strand of ICT4D research. This paper takes a critical look at the past four years of the IDIA published conference proceedings to see whether this objective has been achieved. We found that authors indeed hail mainly from the South, but with a dominance of South African-based authors, the dominant reference disciplines are computer science and information systems, few papers conceptualize development from a critical perspective but participatory research approaches are the norm rather than the exception. The main research application domains are education, health and public access, which address critical areas of social needs, but only a small portion of research looks at rural areas, arguably those most in need of development. Recommendations for both ICT4D researchers and future IDIA conferences are made.