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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:When is 'Techno-Talk' a Fatal Distraction? ICT in Contemporary Development
Author:Adésínà, Jìmí O.ISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:Africa Development: A Quarterly Journal of CODESRIA (ISSN 0850-3907)
Volume:31
Issue:3
Pages:120-153
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:information technology
development
Development and Technology
science and technology
Information technology--Economic aspects
Abbreviation:ICT=Information and Communication Technology
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483867
Abstract:The discussion on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a signifier of the alleged solution to Africa's development problems. The author argues, however, that while ICT offers tremendous potentials, it fails to address the multidimensional nature of Africa's development crisis and impediments that have developed in the last 25 years, and is in danger of reproducing elements of perverse growth identified in the first two decades of postcolonial development experience. Fundamental to rethinking Africa's development is connecting the dots: the relationship between development crisis and debt peonage, aid dependency, the retreat from the public (social) policy domain, and the dissonance between the regional development objectives and current trade regimes. Critical to sustainable ICT, specifically, and development broadly, is reinventing the public domain. The author uses the state of higher education on the continent to illustrate this. Sustainable development in the field of technology requires sustained support for higher education and research from public funding. Furthermore, rather than focus on a neomodernization-inspired idea of ICT, what is required is an endogenously-driven framework. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract, edited]
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