Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

世界経済・社会統計 = World development indicators

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.2307%2F3343168.pdf

Development as Freedom

Sustainable Development Goals

The Rise of the Creative Class

In Lee is a professor in the School of Computer Sciences at the College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University in the US. He is a two-time winner of the Research Excellence Award in the College of Business and Technology at WIU. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of E-Business Research. He has published his research in such journals as Communications of the ACM, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Production Research, Decision Support Systems, Computers and Operations Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Business Horizons, Knowledge and Process Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Management Decision, Computers and Education, International Small Business Journal, Computers in Human Behavior, Business Process Management Journal, Computers and Industrial Engineering and others. Prior to his academic career, he worked for a number of multinational corporations. He has also served as a consultant for various government agencies and private organizations. His current research interests include web technology development and management, investment strategies for computing technologies and mobile services. He received his PhD in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In Lee (Western Illinois University, USA)

E-Business Applications for Product Development and Competitive Growth: Emerging Technologies

The concept of development continues to evolve as information and communication technologies (ICTs) are applied in innovative ways to support the needs of people living with very limited resources. While it appears that the implementation of ICT infrastructures in underserved communities and in less developed countries (LDCs) may not always lead to the benefits expected in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, there appear to be benefits in using ICTs to support the human capabilities. In their call for a more “strategic developmental focus” Thompson and Walsham (2010) suggest that the conception, development, implementation, and use of ICT functions as an explicit vehicle for furthering developmental aims. By this they mean that ICTs in themselves cannot be seen as an end to development efforts, but more as enabling sets of social behaviors. At the same time development agencies appear to view ICTs as an end to their efforts to alleviate poverty, provide healthcare and better government services. Brown and Grant (2010) state that although the extent to which the benefits of ICTs can be realized remains to be seen, it is this perceived capacity to provide broad, far-reaching and even revolutionary, socio-economic change that has brought ICT to the center of the development discourse. They identify a duality between research in ICT for development and ICT in developing countries in which contributions to development from researching ICTs in developing contexts are not often forthcoming. They argue that both these streams of research are being carried out in parallel with little or no overlap with each other (Brown & Grant, 2010). One way of transcending the duality between ICT for development and ICT in developing countries research is to adopt a broader view of development. In his book, entitled Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen argues that the ability to earn a living in order to lead a life as a person values it is the main purpose of development. Development in terms of Sen’s (1999) argument may be seen as a way of conceptualizing the broader quality of life that people lead. The means of achieving the end to a better quality of life lies in the freedoms that people have in order to do so. In this regard, ICT’s appear to have provided people with the means by which they may take actions and make decisions that lead them towards a better quality of life. This is particularly important when assessing the effects of ICT use on those people with very limited resources and lack of opportunities to earn an income and thus lead a life that they value. The process of expanding the real freedoms in which people can take actions and decisions to lead better lives and the opportunities that they are able to take to improve their personal and social circumstances, constitute development. The process of providing these freedoms is the primary means to development and the end to development is the achievement of these freedoms as people improve their lives by avoiding starvation, gaining literacy and political participation. It appears that the role of ICTs in enabling the process of personal freedoms to take place is in the ways the technologies can be used by people to take actions and decisions that allow them to lead better lives. Well documented examples, including the first paper by Islam and Grönlund in this issue, are of poor farmers who use mobile phones to access needed information and

Information technology for development in expanding capabilities

In 2006, Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, for their pioneering work in fighting global poverty by providing financial services for the poor. Grameen Bank, started by Professor Yunus in 1976, is credited with pioneering microcredit banking when he gave a loan of $27 to 43 poor women. Since then, Grameen Bank has helped more than 8.3 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women (Grameen Foundation, 2013). The following year, Forbes magazine reported that there were about 12,000 micro-finance institutions in the world with some of the big banks, government and private foundations getting into the game (Swibel, 2007). When receiving his Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Yunus was asked by a reporter: “what is your secret to helping people out of poverty?” His answer to the question was simple and went along the lines of: “Development cannot be charity.” This question and its answer, raises other questions as to what made his efforts succeed when numerous organizations including governments, private institutions and development agencies with proven expertise in this area have tried over many decades and hardly had the successes that Grameen Bank has had in lifting the most impoverished communities. What was it about this private sector bank’s business model that enabled Grameen Bank to make money while enabling people to make better livelihoods, who would then pay back the loans with interest? This philosophy is elaborated in Professor Yunus’s book where he describes the role of charity as an impediment to development efforts. Yunus and Jolis (2003) suggest that charity is often seen as a means to avoid recognizing the problem and finding a solution for it. They state that because it perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor, charitable efforts and contributions can actually be harmful to development efforts. It follows then, that by taking away from individuals the power to determine their own lives, charitable donations increase the dependency their recipients have on the hand-outs. In other words, Professor Yunus’s secret is to run a profitable business by enabling his customers to succeed in their own businesses. Grameen Bank’s customers come from different industries, trades and backgrounds. For example, a customer could be a tailor who needs a new sewing machine to be able to meet increased demand, a farmer who would like to purchase some more chickens to be able to sell more eggs and/or a food stall owner who needs a new stove. These small loans give the small business owners the means to take opportunities that could improve or expand their businesses and hence their livelihoods. “People centered” and “bottom-up” development efforts spurred by some development institutions over the years have attempted to empower farmers and micro-businesses. By giving them access to the Internet through telecenters and mobile cellphones, people would be able to lead better lives. In principle, this makes sense. However, these technologies can only be helpful to people who are able to use them in ways that can benefit them. For example, illiterate

Networks of change, shifting power from institutions to people: how are innovations in the use of information and communication technology transforming development?

The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has opened up new opportunities for micro-enterprises to improve their businesses. However the challenges to using ICTs are impeding these businesses from growing into the drivers for development that they can be. This suggests that a potentially important driver of development needs to be supported. This paper investigates the adoption of ICTs in eight micro-enterprises in an underserved community of Omaha, Nebraska. Following an action research study, this research provides insight into the key challenges and opportunities facing micro-enterprises in their use of ICTs to create value for their businesses. Its contribution is in the methodology for implementing ICTs in micro-enterprises.

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An Information Technology Therapy Approach to Micro-enterprise Adoption of ICTs

When news broke on 23rd July 2014, that a case of the deadly virus Ebola had been confirmed in Lagos, home to about 21 million people and a major transportation hub, the World held its breath. If n...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02681102.2015.1121585

Sajda Qureshi

Papers

E-Business Applications for Product Development and Competitive Growth: Emerging Technologies

Information technology for development in expanding capabilities

Networks of change, shifting power from institutions to people: how are innovations in the use of information and communication technology transforming development?

An Information Technology Therapy Approach to Micro-enterprise Adoption of ICTs

Creating a Better World with Information and Communication Technologies: Health Equity