Explorations in ICT4D Research and Practice: Examples from Nigeria and Pakistan

This thesis explores the field and practice of Information and Communications Technologies for Development. ICT4D is a field of research at the intersection of technology studies and development studies, a policy area for countries, and a practice of using ICTs or digital technologies to effect socioeconomic change at a country-wide level or at the level of poor and marginalized communities. Two ICT4D initiatives or projects in Nigeria and Pakistan each are examined. Through the case studies and the subsequent discussion and analysis, this thesis aims to provide a brief but incisive exploration of the research and practice of ICT4D. This thesis invites further research assessing ICT4D initiatives in developing countries – examining their successes, limits, and ideological bases – as well as calls for an ever-increasing focus on the poor and marginalized in the planning, implementation, and assessment of ICT4D initiatives in all countries whether they are developed, developing, or all that exists in between.