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The Stages of Technology |
"It has been recently suggested that new technologies, from steam and the railways to
electricity and steel, have gone through two broad stages. The first has been called the 'installation period' which is one of exploration, experimentation and exuberance about the potential of the new technology. The second stage has been called the 'deployment period'.
The emphasis in this period is on bedding down the new technology into everyday processes: 'the emphasis is no longer
on the raw technology but on how to make it easy to use, reliable and secure'.
The initial focus in relation to ICT for development has been largely on the technology itself,
demonstrating what variations might work in what types of settings. The second stage will focus on
the application of the technology to addressing more directly the development outcomes that need to be addressed.
The shift is from the technology itself to how it is applied. However, this shift is not an automatic one.
It requires a good deal of attention to devising new, appropriate, institutional arrangements."
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