Why a holistic e-development framework?

Abstract

A growing number of policy makers and development practitioners appreciate that the ICT revolution is opening up new sources of growth and offering new opportunities to solve long-standing development problems as well as transforming industries and services so fundamentally that it is changing the competitive advantages of countries. ICT is driving a technological revolution that is sweeping entire economies and transforming institutions, learning processes, and innovation systems. Yet, current research, education and development assistance practice have primarily focused on separate elements of this transformation. Much of the documented failures of ICT applications in e-government, e-business, e-education or rural development are traced to fragmented approaches that missed key enablers or operated within the current silos of the ICT paradigm. Also, several past contributions to Forum have lamented the lack of an integrated view of ICT4D research as a part of the larger puzzle of development (for example, Raiti, 2006). Others (Wilson, 2005) suggested ways scholars may enhance dialogue with thoughtful practitioners in ICT4D by framing ICT issues in broader contexts, and by understanding the dynamics of ICT as a process. In response, I would like to advance the framework of e-development as a holistic approach to leveraging ICT for development (ICT4D)—by pursuing mutually reinforcing ICT-enabled initiatives at the national or regional level. It is about creating an information society or knowledge economy “ecosystem”—an integrated approach that deanes a vision, coordinates the work of stakeholders, and maps the connections to shape the relationships among diverse players. Accordingly, ICT4D is deaned most holistically in order to facilitate a way of systematically thinking about ICT as an enabler of development, of strategically managing integrated ICT4D programs, of tapping synergies among interdependent elements of ICT, and of communicating to a broad community of practice.