How Can Information and Communication Technology Bring about Development? An Information Architecture for Guiding Interventions in Developing Regions

While a great deal is known about how Information and Communication Technologies are used in developing and underserved communities, there are still gaps as to how ICTs may enable development outcomes to be achieved. It appears that the majority of businesses in developing regions are micro-enterprises which employ between 1-5 people and face challenges of limited resources. This research investigates what is known about how ICTs bring about development and uses these insights to develop an information architecture adapted from the Zachman Framework that integrates the different perspectives. In this research, the key stakeholders are the micro-entrepreneurs who adopt technology to support their businesses and livelihoods. We selected this type of business because the majority of businesses in developing regions are micro-enterprises and their ability to survive greatly increases when they learn to adopt ICTs. However, the challenges are many and their ability to adopt technology depends upon the social, human and economic conditions in which they find themselves. The information architecture proposed in this research considers these challenges and enables appropriate ICTs interventions to be applied. The contribution of this paper is in an information architecture through which development strategies may be implemented.