Risks:
Information:
formal, quantitative information stored outside
the human mind is valuedless
in developing countries;
Technology:
the technological infrastructure (telecommunications, networks,electricity) is more limited and/or
older in developing countries;
Processes:
work processes are more contingent in developing countries because of the more politicised
and inconstant environment;
Objectives, values and motivations:
developing countries are reportedly more likely to have
cultures that value kin loyalty, authority, holism, secrecy, and risk aversion;
Staffing and skills:
developing countries have a more limited local skills base in a wide range of ICT related skills.
Management and structures:
developing country organisations are [often] more hierarchical and more centralised.
Other resources:
developing countries have less money. In addition, the cost of ICTs is higher than in
industrialised countries whereas the cost of labour is less.
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New Technologies
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"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 crucial time in this cycle is the turning point from the pilot stage to the diffusion of the new
technology into all aspects of the production process including service delivery.
The turning point requires major institutional change in terms of not only the regulatory framework, for example.
It is also requires change in the way that existing institutions involved in the production of goods or delivery
of services go about their business.
The skills required are less the technical ones associated with fine tuning a new technology and more
those which are to do with implementation through coordination and collaboration.
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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