Towards Empowered Design

Introduction This paper examines the way in which one can best design digital technology for the developing world. We start out by examining technology-driven design, such as is used in developed ‘western’ economies, where new technologies are created at an ever increasing pace. From there we look at sustainable design, wherein we work with the existing infrastructure and create solutions for that infrastructure without having to introduce new technology. Finally, we examine what we term ‘empowered design’ whereby technology is created that can be modified and adapted by the end user. It is this final paradigm that we see as being the solution for the creation of appropriate ICTs in developing countries.