An Extended Framework to Investigate ICT Impact on Development at the Micro (Community) Level

It has been argued that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can lead to development in developing countries. With this in mind, developing countries have been rushing to implement ambitious ICT projects in rural areas through the direct-indirect supervision of institutions such as, the World Bank, United Nations (UN) and other donor/local agencies. The main focus of the interventions has been the implementation the ICT project, rather than understanding their impacts at the recipient level. This lack of understanding has led to many failures of ICT projects reported in the literature. We argue there is a need to understand impacts of ICT projects in their local context considering the participants’ perspectives at the micro (community) level. Hence, this paper reports on the development and refinement of an extended framework to investigate ICT impact on development in three village areas in the developing country, Bangladesh. Through an interpretive study we argue that previous studies fail to encapsulate many socio-economic aspects of ICT impact, such as mobility restrictions, attitudes towards women and religious influences, especially at the community level. Our extended framework demonstrates that ICT projects can lead to development, but only when such social constraints are addressed.