ICT and Development Academic Year: 2014-15, Hilary Term Day and Time: Weeks 1-9, Day and time to be determined Location: TBC Course Provider Dr Mark Graham, Oxford Internet Institute, mark.graham@oii.ox.ac.uk Background This course will introduce students to the debates and practices surrounding the uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with a focus on the Global South. It will draw on resources from Anthropology, Development Studies, Economics, Geography, and History in order to examine the theoretical and conceptual frameworks that underpin development - as a practice, as a subject of research, and as a discourse. The course will also draw heavily on case-studies in order to ground theory in practice and will introduce students to a range of projects that have employed ICTs as a solution to problems in Africa, Asia and the Americas. ICTs have the power to fundamentally transform the economic, social and political relationships in poorer parts of our planet. However, potentials often do not translate into realities, and it is important to be aware of not only the promises, but also the perils of the transformative nature of communication technologies. As such, this course will provide an opportunity to reflect on local appropriateness, social inclusion and the range of arguments for and against any ICT for development project in a variety of contexts. Course Objectives This course will expose students to some of the most innovative ICTD solutions to economic, social and political challenges in the Global South. Students will be familiarised with a variety of theoretical movements in development studies. Through detailed case studies in weeks 6-8, students will be exposed to a wide range of methods that are employed to study ICTD projects. Ultimately, students will also be encouraged to critically examine the notion of development, how it can be achieved, and whose needs it meets best. Learning Outcomes Upon course completion students will:

• Have a familiarity with key debates in ICTD • Have a sophisticated understanding of the potential for the internet and other ICTs to

alter the practice of development in the Global South. • Be able to formulate well-grounded research questions on ICTD topics. • Be able to link development theory and ICTD practice.

Teaching Arrangements There will be eight weekly two hour classes which will cover theory and case-studies. The classes will meet in weeks 1-4 and 6-9 of Hilary term and consist of lectures and discussion. Eight topics will be covered: (1) Uneven development and the origins of ICTD; (2) Development theory; (3) Critiques of ICTD; (4) Development in the Network Society; (5) Social inclusion; (6) Appropriate technology; (7) ICTs and rural economic development; and (8) Open development and peer-production. Note Students should note that over the course of the year, small changes may be made to the content, dates or teaching arrangements set out in this reading list, at the course provider's discretion. These changes will be communicated to students directly and will be noted on the internal course information website. Summative Assessment Students will be assessed through a final essay that is no longer than 5000 words which must be submitted to the Examinations School by 12 noon of Monday of Week 1 of Trinity term. The essay will cover one of the course topics, and students will choose a topic in consultation with the course tutor in advance. The essay should be clearly related to the topics of the course. Formative Assignment Each student will be required to give one ten minute presentation on a specific aspect of the session topic or to review the argument of one of the books under the additional readings for each session topic. Details of these presentations will be agreed in Week 2. Students will also be required to write one short (advised length: 1500-3000 words) essay on any of the 8 topics covered. This essay will provide a means for students to obtain feedback on the progress they have achieved. Submission of Summative Assignments All coursework should be submitted in person to the Examinations School by the stated deadline. All coursework should be put in an envelope and must be addressed to ‘The Chairman of Examiners for the MSc in Social Science of the Internet C/o The Clerk of Examination Schools, High Street. Students should also ensure they add the OII coversheet at the top of the coursework and that two copies of the coursework are submitted. Please note that all work must be single sided. An electronic copy will also need to be submitted to the department. Please note that all coursework will be marked anonymously and therefore only your candidate number is required on the coversheet. Please note that work submitted after the deadline will be processed in the standard manner and, in addition, the late submission will be reported to the Proctors' Office. If a student is concerned that they will not meet the deadline they must contact their college office or examinations school for advice. For further information on submission of assessments to the examinations school please refer to http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/schools/oxonly/submissions/index.shtml. For details on the regulations for late and non-submissions please refer to the Proctors website at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/info/pam/section9.shtml. Any student failing this assessment will need to follow the rules set out in the OII Examining Conventions regarding re-submitting failed work.

Key Readings A reading list is given below for each class. Those items marked with an asterisk (*) are essential reading and MUST be read by all students in preparation for the class. Items which are not marked with an asterisk are recommended readings. Week 1: Uneven Development and the Origins of ICTD What is development? In this topic we will closely reflect on the variety of ways in which development can be understood and trace the history of ICTD. While traditionally a variety of economic measurements have been used, notions of ‘developed’ and ‘underdeveloped’ places can also incorporate a range of environmental, social, and political elements. We will additionally engage with the objectives of ICTD. Development can be seen as a desire to bring about positive economic, social and political change in less privileged parts of the world or, alternatively, an external implementation of new forms of power-relationships. Finally, we will reflect on the two forms of unevenness that drive ICT projects: (1) unevenness in ‘development’; and (2) digital divides. Burrell, Jenna Toyama, Kentaro

“What Constitutes Good ICTD Research?” 2009. Information Technologies & International Development, 5(3): 82-94.

Castells, Manuel Held, D. and McGrew, A. (Eds). 2003. The Global Transformations Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.

• Chapter 36: The Rise of the Fourth World, pp. 430-439

Crow, Ben Zlatunich, Nichole Fulfrost, Brian

“Mapping Global Inequalities: Beyond Income Inequality to Multi-Dimensional Inequalities.” 2009. Journal of International Development, 21: 1051-1065.

Heeks, Richard “i-Development not e-Development: Special Issue on ICTs and Development.” 2002. Journal of International Development, 14(1): 1-11.

Heeks, Richard “The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto: Where Next for ICTs and International Development?” 2009. Manchester: Centre for Development Informatics, Working Paper No. 42 (online resource).

Ocampo, José A. Vos, Rob

Uneven Economic Development. 2008. London: Zed Books.

Williams, Glyn Meth, Paula Willis, Katie

Geographies of Developing Areas. 2009. London: Routledge.

Willis, Katie Theories and Practices of Development. 2005. London: Routledge.

World Bank Atlas of Global Development. 2007. Washington, DC: World Bank Week 2: Development Theory It is important to become familiar with the variety of development theories that frame ICTD projects and plans. This topic will therefore offer a close look at some of the major movements in development. Dependency, modernisation, structuralism, socialism, neo-Marxism and neoliberalism will all be discussed within the context of international development.

* Sachs, Jeffrey D. Mellinger, Andrew D. Gallup, John L.

Chari, S. & Corbridge, S. (Eds). The Development Reader. 2008. Oxford: Routledge.

• The Geography of Poverty and Wealth * Smith, Adam Chari, S. & Corbridge, S. (Eds). The Development Reader. 2008. Oxford:

Routledge. • Of the Advantages...

* Rostow, Walt W. The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto. 1960.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Chapter 2: The Five Stages of Growth--A Summary, pp. 4-16

(http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ipe/rostow.htm)

* Frank, Andre G “The Development of Underdevelopment.” 1966. The Monthly Review, 18(4): 17-31

* Norberg, Johan T. Roberts, J. T. and Hite, A. B. (Eds). 2008. The Globalization and Development Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.

• Chapter 16: Defence of Global Capitalism, pp. 263-276

* Wolf, Martin Chari, S. & Corbridge, S. (Eds). 2008. The Development Reader. Oxford: Routledge.

• The Market Crosses Borders, pp. 401-408

* Peet, Richard Hartwick, Elaine

Theories of Development. 2009. New York: Guilford Press. • Chapter 3: From Kenyesian Economics to Neoliberalism, pp. 53-102

Pralahad, C. K Hammond, Allen

“Serving the World’s Poor, Profitably.” 2002. Harvard Business Review, 80(9): 48-57.

Frank, Andre G. “The Development of Underdevelopment.” 1966. The Monthly Review 18(4):17-31.

Wallerstein, Immanuel “The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis.” 1974. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16(4): 387-415.

Week 3: Critiques of ICTD In recent years powerful critiques have been raised against mainstream development theory and practice. It is thus important to be aware of these alternate approaches. This topic will review the most important feminist, postcolonialist, and poststructuralist critiques. Students will be encouraged to reflect on issues of power, social inclusion and local appropriateness as they relate to a range of ICTD projects. * Mitchell, Tim “America’s Egypt: Discourse of the Development Industry.” 1991. Middle

East Report, 169: 18-34+36.

* Ya’u, Yunusa Z. “The New Imperialism & Africa in the Global Electronic Village.” 2004. Review of African Political Economy, 31(99): 11–29.

* Cline-Cole, Reginald

Powell, Mike “ICTs, 'Virtual Colonisation' & Political Economy.” 2004. Review of African Political Economy, 31(99): 5-9.

* Schech, Susanne “Wired for Change: The Links Between ICTs and Development Discourses.” 2002. Journal of International Development, 14(1): 13-23.

* Escobar, Arturo Chari, S. and Corbridge, S. (Eds). The Development Reader. 2008. Oxford: Routledge.

• The Problematization of Poverty, pp. 131-140

* Ferguson, James Chari, S. and Corbridge, S. (Eds). The Development Reader. 2008. Oxford: Routledge.

• The Anti-Politics Machine, pp. 322-332

* Peet, Richard Hartwick, Elaine

Theories of Development. 2009. New York: Guilford Press. • Chapter 6: Poststructuralism, Postcolonialism, and

Postdevelopment, pp. 197-239 Escobar, Arturo Encountering Development. 1995. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University

Press.

Ishemo, Shubi L. Culture & Historical Knowledge in Africa: A Cabralian Approach. 2004. Review of African Political Economy, 31(99): 65-82.

Mercer, Claire Engineering Civil Society: ICT in Tanzania. 2004. Review of African Political Economy, 31(99): 49-64.

Willis, Katie Theories and Practices of Development. 2005. London: Routledge

Week 4: Development in the Network Society Information technologies are often promoted as an essential development strategy in both rich and poor countries due to their ability to alter economic connections and shape economic space. This topic will allow us to take a close look at the potentials for economic change in the globalised economy by focusing on digital divides, value chain disintermediation and e-commerce within the context of ICTD. The session will examine some of the dynamics of digitally-driven production as well as the opportunities and tensions that arise from non-proximate interactions in order to allow us to carefully consider the various ways in which the internet can influence the global positionalities of economic actors. Examples from both the Global North and South will be used in this session. * Massey, Doreen

Bird, B. et al. (Eds). Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. 1993. London: Routledge.

• Chapter 4: Power-geometry and a progressive sense of place, pp. 60–70

* Malecki, Edward J. Moriset, Bruno

The Digital Economy. 2008. Oxford: Routledge. • Chapter 8: The paradox of a “double-edged geography”, pp. 174-

198

* Dicken, Peter Global Shift (6th Edition). 2011. New York: Guildford Press. • Chapter 3: Tangled Webs, pp. 51-74 • Chapter 4: Technological Change, pp. 75-108

• Chapter 14: ‘Capturing Value’ within Global Production Networks, pp. 429-453

• Chapter 16(part of): Winning and Losing, pp. 429-453, 492-521 * Best, Michael L. Kenny, Charles

Unwin, T. (Ed). Information and Communication Technology for Development. 2009. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Chapter 6: ICTs, Enterprise and Development, pp. 177-201

* Heeks, Richard “Using Competitive Advantage Theory to Analyze IT Sectors in Developing Countries: A Software Industry Case Analysis.” 2007. Information Technologies and International Development, 3(3): 5-34.

Castells, Manuel The Rise of the Network Society (2nd Edition). 2010. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Gereffi, Gary “Shifting Governance Structures in Global Commodity Chains, With Special Reference to the Internet.” 2001. American Behavioral Scientist, 44(10): 1616-1637.

Gereffi,Gary Humphrey, John Kaplinsky, Raphael Sturgeon, Tim

“Globalisation, Value Chains and Development.” 2001. IDS Bulletin, 32(3): 1-14.

Graham, Mark “Warped Geographies of Development: The Internet and Theories of Economic Development.” 2008. Geography Compass, 2(3): 771-789.

Keniston, Kenneth

Keniston, K. and Kumar, Deepak. IT Experience in India: Bridging the Digital Divide. 2004. London: Sage.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: The Four Digital Divides, pp. 11-36

Molla, Alemayehu Heeks, Richard

“Exploring E-Commerce Benefits for Businesses in a Developing Country.” 2007. The Information Society, 23(2): 95-108.

Porter, Michael E. “Strategy and the Internet.” 2001. Harvard Business Review, March: 63-78. Warschauer, Mark “Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide.” 2002. First Monday, 7(1). Week 5: BREAK Week 6: Social Inclusion There are strong links between measures of development and socially inclusive education, health and gender policies. Many of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals revolve around these core issues. Technical solutions are frequently proposed to pressing education, health and gender issues, and the goal of this session will be to focus on a variety of related ICTD projects and the ways in which they can be studied. Examples will include the One Laptop Per Child Project, an Internet-based health clinic in Cambodia and E-learning tools in China. A guest speaker from one of these projects will be invited to provide further detail and answer questions. Particular attention will also be paid to methodological tools that can be employed by researchers in this field. * Unwin, Tim Information and Communication Technology for Development. 2009.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Chapter 3: Information and Communication in Development

Practices, pp. 39-75 • Chapter 4: The Technologies, pp. 76-124

* Liang, Lawrence “Access Beyond Developmentalism: Technology and the Intellectual Life of

the Poor.” 2010. Information Technologies and International Development, 6(SE): 65-67.

* Spence, Nancy “Gender, ICTs, Human Development, and Prosperity.” 2010. Information Technologies and International Development, 6(SE): 69-73.

* David, Susan S. “Women Weavers Online: Rural Moroccan Women on the Internet.” 2004. Gender, Technology and Development, 8(1): 53-75.

• Also be prepared to talk about at least one of the readings below in class (or feel free to

suggest – or have me suggest - an alternative) Buskens, Ineke Webb, Anne

African Women and ICTs. 2009. London: Zed.

Constantinides, Panos Barrett, Michael

“Negotiating ICT Development and Use: The case of a telemedicine system in the healthcare region of Crete.” 2006. Information and Organization, 16(1): 27-55.

Donner, Jonathan “Innovative approaches to public health information systems in developing countries: An example from Rwanda.” 2004. Presented at ‘Mobile Technology and Health: Benefits and Risks’. Hosted by the Department of Economics, Society, and Geography at the University of Udine, Udine, Italy.

Hersh, William R. et al. “Diagnosis, Access and Outcomes: update of a systematic review of telemedicine services.” 2006. J Telemed Telecare, 12(suppl_2): 3-31.

Medhi, Indrani Sagar, Amam Toyama, Kentaro

“Text-Free User Interfaces for Illiterate and Semiliterate Users.” 2007. Information Technologies and International Development, 4(1): 37-50.

Pal, Joyojeet et al. “The Case of the Occasionally Cheap Computer: Low-cost Devices and Classrooms in the Developing Regions.” 2009. Information Technologies & International Development, 5(1): 49-64.

Pye, David Using ICT to increase the effectiveness of community-based, non-formal education for rural people in sub-Saharan Africa: The CERP Project Final Report. 2003. London: DFID Education Pape.

Stephen, Anita Communication Technologies and Women’s Empowerment. 2006. New Delhi: Rajat

Week 7: Appropriate Technology in the Global South Approximately sixty percent of people globally have access to a mobile phone, compared to only twenty-five percent that have access to the internet. It is therefore understandable that many implementations of ICTD have moved towards the mobile devices as a platform. This session will look

at some of the most effective and innovative uses of mobile devices as development tools within a broader discussion of appropriate and contextual technologies. * Burrell, Jenna “Evaluating Shared Access: social equality and the circulation of mobile

phones in rural Uganda.” 2010. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15(2): 230-250.

* Donner, Jonathan “Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature.” 2008. The Information Society, 24(3): 140-159.

* Donner, Jonathan “The Use of Mobile Phones by Microentrepreneurs in Kigali, Rwanda: Changes to Social and Business Networks.” 2006. Information Technologies and International Development, 3(2): 3-19.

* Gurumurthy, Anita “From Social Enterprises to Mobiles—Seeking a Peg to Hang a Premeditated ICTD Theory.” 2010. Information Technologies and International Development, 6(SE): 57-63.

* Zuckerman, Ethan “Decentralizing the Mobile Phone: A Second ICT4D Revolution?” 2010. Information Technologies and International Development, 6(SE): 99-103.

Sen, Amartya “The Mobile and the World.” 2010. Information Technologies and International Development, 6(SE): 1-3.

Blumenstock, Joshua Eagle, Nathan

“Mobile Divides: Gender, Socioeconomic Status, and Mobile Phone Use in Rwanda.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development,

• Available at: http://jblumenstock.com/papers/jblumenstock_ictd2010.pdf

Diga, Kathleen “Mobile Cell Phones and Poverty Reduction: Technology Spending Patterns and Poverty Level Change among Households in Uganda.” 2007. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.

Sood, Aditya D. The Mobile Development Report. 2006. Bangalore: Centre for Knowledge

Veeraraghavan, Rajesh Yasodhar, Naga Toyama, Kenaro

“Warana Unwired: Replacing PCs with Mobile Phones in a Rural Sugarcane Cooperative.” 2009. Information Technologies & International Development, 5(1): 81-95.

de Angoitia, Regina Ramirez, Fernando

“Strategic Use of Mobile Telephony at the Bottom of the Pyramid: The Case of Mexico.” Information Technologies & International Development, 5(3): 35-53.

Donner, Jonathan Tellez, Camilo A.

“Mobile banking and economic development: Linking adoption, impact, and use.” 2008. Asian Journal of Communication, 18(4): 318-332.

Futch, Michael MacIntosh, Craig

“Tracking the Introduction of the Village Phone Product in Rwanda.” 2009. Information Technologies & International Development, 5(3): 54-81.

Jensen, Robert “The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector.” 2007. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3): 879-924.

Week 8: ICTs and Rural Economic Development It is often argued that distance, a lack of access to markets and an absence of economic transparency are fundamental barriers to development. This session will examine some of the ways in which ICTs can alter informal social and local information systems. Particular focus will be placed on the idea of the village telecentre (or rural kiosk), which has become a huge priority for a spectrum of development organisations and NGOs in the Global South. Dr Adel el Zaim, Head of IDRC ICT programs in Middle East and North Africa, will be a guest speaker to talk about rural ICTD projects in the Middle East. * Best, Michael L. Kenny, Charles

Unwin, T. (Ed). Information and Communication Technology for Development. 2009. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Chapter 6: ICTs, Enterprise and Development, pp. 177-201

* Boston Review “Can Technology End Poverty?” (all articles) • Available at: http://bostonreview.net/BR35.6/ndf_technology.php

* Carvin, Andy Surman, Mark

“From the Ground Up: The Evolution of the Telecentre Movement.” 2006. Ottawa: IDRC.

• Available at: http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/27550/1/122166.pdf

Day, Bob Greenwood, Peter

Unwin, T. (Ed). Information and Communication Technology for Development. 2009. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Chapter 10: Information and Communication Technologies for Rural Development, pp. 321-359

Bailur, Savita “Using Stakeholder Theory to Analyze Telecenter Projects.” 2007. Information Technologies and International Development, 3(3):61-80.

Duncombe, Richard Heeks, Richard

“Enterprise Across the Digital Divide: Information Systems and Rural Microenterprise in Botswana.” 2002. Journal of International Development, 14: 61-74.

Kumar, Richa “eChoupals: A Study on the Financial Sustainability of Village Internet Centers in Rural Madhya Pradesh.” 2004. Information Technologies & International Development, 2(1): 45-74.

Matthee, Karel et al. “Bringing connectivity to rural Zambia using a collaborative approach.” 2007/ IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2007). Bangalore, India, 15-16 December, pp 12.

Sachs, Jeffrey D. Mellinger, Andrew D. Gallup, John L.

“The Geography of Poverty and Wealth.” 2001. Scientific American, 284(3): 70-75.

Tschang, Ted Chuladul, Mathurot Le, Thuy T.

“Scaling-up information services for development: a framework of increasing returns for telecentres.” 2002. Journal of International Development, 14(1): 129-141.

Jensen, Robert “The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector.” 2007. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3): 879-924.

Week 9: Open Development and Peer Production How can the potentials of peer-production be harnessed within the contexts of development? This session will explore the ways in which openness (i.e. access, participation and collaboration) alter the possibilities for development. Two aspects of open development will be looked at: First, ICT-enabled open access as an organisational and structural model; Second, open participation in development as it effects the mobilisation of resources (both human and non-human) on a global and non-proximate scale for development. Dr Sean Gorman of Crisis Commons will be a guest speaker in the last segment of this session. * Crampton, Jeremy W.

Turow, J and Tsui, L. (Eds). 2008. The Hyperlinked Society: Questioning Connections in a Digital Age. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

• Will Peasants Map? Hyperlinks, Map Mashups and the Future of Information, pp. 206-226.

Available at: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=nmw;;idno=5680986.0001.001

* Bauwens, Michael “The Political Economy of Peer Production.” 2005. 100 Days of Theory: td026.

• Available at: http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499

* Graham, Mark Haarstad, Håvard

“Transparency and Development: Ethical Consumption Through Web 2.0 and the Internet of Things.” 2011. Information Technologies and International Development, 7(1): 1-18.

* Thompson, Mark “ICT and Development Studies: Towards Development 2.0.” 2008. Journal of International Development. 20(6): 821-835.

Benkler, Yochai The Wealth of Networks. 2007. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Gorman, Sean Graham, Mark Zook, Matthew

Volunteered Geographic Information and Disaster Relief: A Case Study of the Haitian Earthquake. 2010. World Medical and Health Policy. (in press)

Saif, Umar “A Peer-to-Peer Internet for the Developing World.” 2009. Information Technologies & International Development, 5(1): 31-47.

Smith, Matthew Elder, Laurent

“Open ICT Ecosystems Transforming the Developing World.” 2010. Information Technologies and the International Development. (in press)

Thompson, Mark ICT and Development Studies: Towards Development 2.0. 2007. Judge Business School (Cambridge) Working Papers Series.

Related Journals:

• African Journal of Information Systems • Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries • Gender, Technology and Development • Information Technologies and International Development • Information Technology for Development • International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication

Technology • Information Technology in Developing Countries • International Journal on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions

• International Journal of Technology Diffusion (IJTD) • Journal of Information Technology in Social Change • Progress in Development Studies • Southern African Journal of Information and Communication • Telektronikk • The Information Society Journal (TIS) • Third World Quarterly • World Development

Please note: Option papers will only run if selected by at least four students.