Information Systems in Developing Countries: Theory and Practice

The digital divide and the inequalities of the availability and deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) between developed and developing countries have long been a source of concern. Global institutions such as the United Nations, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Bank, as well as regional and national level agencies, have set up task forces to investigate how ICTs can be enacted most effectively in developing countries.

How this shared vision should be put into practice is a complex undertaking, but it is already taking place. In this volume, we go beyond the theoretical, the polemical and the philosophical to consider practical issues as they are encountered by stakeholders in the developing country context. 15 author teams explore key issues organized into four sections: (1) Theoretical Background and Culture; (2) Telecentres; (3) Applications; and (4) Key Concepts with Country Specific Studies. Examples of these applications are also described in chapters about Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Fiji, India and Thailand.

Readers of this book will be stimulated by descriptions of how information systems do make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries, differences that incorporate self-sustaining changes and are designed to ensure future prosperity.