Towards a Conceptual Framework for Social Wellbeing through Inclusive Frugal ICT innovation in Postcolonial Collectivist contexts

Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) researchers regard ICT innovation as critical to the social wellbeing of the marginalized in developing countries. However, an understanding of how various political, economic and socio-cultural contexts enable or constrain the influence of inclusive frugal ICT innovation on the marginalized in developing countries remains inadequate. Inclusive frugal ICT innovation refers to increasingly popular approach of creating goods and services using ICTs under constraints specifically to enhance the wellbeing of marginalized millions in developing countries. While Sen’s capability approach (SCA) is widely praised for its human centric view of wellbeing, it has been criticized for being individualistic as well as over-optimistic about human wellbeing in the context of disempowering sociopolitical contexts. This research proposes a conceptual framework that provides a holistic perspective of collective social wellbeing based on the pan-African concept of Ubuntu (shared interdependence). This framework makes use of the philosophical perspective of critical social research to better explain the interrelationship between inclusive ICT innovation aimed at empowering the marginalized through inclusion and the context and social wellbeing, particularly the pervasive postcolonial context.