Local governments seek to create public value (PV). However, the increasing demand for public services due to the dynamism and complexity of cities has given rise to socio-technical problems, which have led to a re-evaluation of the application of technology to improve government efficiency (technology-based efficiency or Ef-GovT) and digital inclusion (e-INCL). This research aims to contribute to prior literature on public management by analysing how capabilities (capability-based theory [CT]), resources (resource-based theory [RBT]), and the technological context of the main urban actors—citizens and cities—impact Ef-GovT and e-INCL in smart cities (SCs). In a study involving a sample of 264 SCs, different patterns (isomorphism) influencing Ef-GovT and e-INCL were identified, and the roles of RBTs, CTs, and contextual influences were validated. This research offers valuable practical implications for local governments by providing a model—MTP-R2CT (Technological Profile Model of People and Cities, which considers their Resource, Capacities, and Technological Context)—that facilitates ongoing evaluation of the efficacy of public policies about Ef-GovT and e-INCL and, ultimately, the generation of PV.
The development of information and communication technology (ICT) has significantly transformed various aspects of our daily lives, including health. This study aims to investigate the impact of ICT on self-assessed health (SAH) and explore the mechanisms through which this relationship operates. Based on data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) collected between 2004 and 2015, we employ ordinary least squares regression, an ordered probit model, and a structural equation model to examine the impact of ICT on SAH. The results show that ICT has a significant positive effect on SAH, particularly among high-income, rural, and younger to middle-aged individuals. On average, an additional one-percentage-point increase in ICT diffusion is associated with a 0.236-point improvement in SAH. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis reveals that approximately 17.50% of ICT’s impact on SAH can be attributed to improvements in physical activity (13.3%) and nutrition (4.2%). Additionally, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that approximately 0.78–2.09 million Chinese individuals would benefit from greater access to ICT in terms of health. This study highlights the critical role of ICT in improving health outcomes, provides feasible policy recommendations for leveraging ICT for development (ICT4D), and contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) in emerging economies during the digital era.
This study explores how financial literacy and social networks reinforce the impact of financial technology, particularly mobile money, as a driver of financial inclusion and development. It also investigates how social networks, understood as interdependence among individuals, shape financial literacy and influence customer behaviors such as perceived value, customer engagement, and continuance intention, ultimately contributing to financial inclusion in terms of access, quality, usage, and welfare. Drawing on social network theory and prior research on financial literacy, financial inclusion, and technology post-adoption, the paper develops a conceptual research model and tests it using partial least squares structural equation modeling based on data from 481 mobile money users. The findings indicate that subjective financial knowledge and financial capability influence perceived value and that financial capability and perceived value, in turn, impact customer engagement and continuance intention. Customer engagement and continuance intention are the main predictors of financial inclusion, while interdependence is the most prominent predictor of financial literacy. This study offers an innovative perspective by adopting a context-specific theoretical approach in the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D). We make a significant contribution to the literature by demonstrating how the combination of technological, educational, and social factors amplifies the benefits of mobile money from an ICT4D perspective, thereby extending its reach and impact.
In rural areas, where restoring public network infrastructure can take time, an alternative communication channel can be particularly valuable. This paper explores the potential of repurposing long-range wide-area network gateways as multi-hop network nodes to create a digital emergency communication system. Farmers, who are increasingly adopting low-power wide-area networks and are geographically spread, are identified as key stakeholders for such a system. Using OpenStreetMap data on farm locations, we found that connecting farm communities through LoRa communication is theoretically possible in many areas. Simulations using delay-tolerant network routing protocols confirm the feasibility of this approach under various scenarios. A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates that small messages can be transmitted successfully using real hardware, validating the concept of a decentralized communication infrastructure based on existing equipment. Additionally, we conducted experiments to measure energy consumption, bandwidth usage, and latency in actual hardware setups. This work contributes to various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting resilient communication infrastructure in underserved areas (SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure); strengthening rural communities that are often the last to recover after emergencies (SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities); and ultimately helping safeguard food systems through improved agricultural coordination and communication (SDG 2: Zero Hunger).
This paper introduces the concept of ID support to account for the promises and risks of international mechanisms and interventions that contribute to the rapid expansion of digital ID systems in the Global South. It uses Nepal as a case because this country received two grants from a multilateral donor to plan and implement this system and received services from a French multinational tech company to prepare the technological infrastructure. Analyzing the interviews, official documents, and news media content, it elaborates that ID support manifests in three forms: technical support (knowledge), financial support (finance), and technological support (technology). It conceptualizes ID support by drawing upon digital capitalism, a concept related to the political economy of digital technologies, and from projectification, a concept from organization studies. The paper defines ID support as the dynamic conditions created at the intersection of digital capitalism, in the form of the power and politics of foreign aid and capital accumulation by multinational tech companies, and projectification, as the need to implement IDs as development projects funded by international donors in the Global South. The study emphasizes that the fields of ICT4D and ID4D need to foreground support as one of the key components for inquiry.
This paper presents a reference architecture for smart rural communities, covering multiple domains and abstraction layers. The reference architecture uses an enterprise architecture approach and is developed by following a design research cycle, where a systematic literature review and a focus group discussion are embedded as part of its design and validation phases. The systematic literature review extracts key architectural components, while the focus group discussion validates the architecture's relevance to a real-world setting and identifies gaps. Subsequently, the applicability of the reference architecture is demonstrated in a real-world context, specifically in the development of smart rural communities in West Java, Indonesia. This paper fills the gap in the current literature, which lacks a reference that systematically links strategic and technical contexts across multiple domains of smart rural development. The reference architecture serves as a guideline for establishing smart rural communities efficiently and effectively, thereby enhancing the overall quality of life for rural citizens.
Technology influences development in numerous ways, including through education and training. It is both a didactic tool and a defining feature of students’ personal growth and social experiences. The ability of students to develop personal digital caTechnology influences development in numerous ways, including through education and training. It is both a didactic tool and a defining feature of students’ personal growth and social experiences. The ability of students to develop personal digital capital (an extension of Bourdieu’s multidimensional concept of capital) is a major determinant of their educational and career success and, by extension, national economic development. This study examines the influence of sociodemographic factors – age, gender, degree type, income, and parental education – on the personal development of digital capital among university students. Applying a structural equation model with data from an Iran-based survey (n = 421), the study finds that disparities in digital capital are explained by gender, income, and other sociodemographic factors. The finding that digital access supersedes digital competence in explaining inequalities in digital capital highlights pathways for targeted policy intervention.pital (an extension of Bourdieu’s multi-dimensional concept of capital) is a major determinant of their educational and career success and, by extension, national economic development. This study examines the influence of socio-demographic factors – age, gender, degree type, income, and parental education – on the personal development of digital capital among university students. Applying a structural equation model with data from an Iran-based survey (n = 421), the study finds that disparities in digital capital are explained by gender, income, and other socio-demographic factors. The finding that digital access supersedes digital competence in explaining inequalities in digital capital highlights pathways for targeted policy intervention.
In the pursuit of sustainable agricultural development, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers has become a central goal. In China, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers by farmers is largely driven by information asymmetries and cognitive biases. The digital economy, with its facilitation of the dissemination of information and technological support, is increasingly regarded as a key tool for promoting agricultural green development. This study uses an endogenous switching regression model and a spatial econometric model to rigorously evaluate the impact of farmers' digital economy participation on their chemical fertilizer usage. Our results show that farmers' engagement in the digital economy significantly contributes to chemical fertilizer usage reduction, mediated through three primary channels: adopting advanced fertilization techniques, heightening environmental awareness, and enhancing fertilizer management through social supervision. Moreover, our analysis reveals notable spatial spillover effects of farmers' digital economy participation at both village and township levels.
I0T for Development (I0T4D) research faces a world in which technologies imagined for "development" are being plied into degenerative outcomes. This generates the responsibility to scientifically engage data injustice, as well as routes through which unfair outcomes are produced and can possibly be reversed. This Editorial discusses ways for doing so, based on current ICT4D research and papers published in Issue 32(1).
With the rapid advancement of digitization, the digital divide among older adults has intensified, underscoring the urgent need to address this gap within older adult healthcare. Using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey, this study investigates the impact of the digital divide on health disparities in this population. The findings demonstrate that the digital divide exacerbates both mental and physical health disparities, particularly among those with chronic conditions and individuals under 75 years old. Urban residence mitigates these adverse effects. Furthermore, the digital divide widens disparities in access to health information and the ability to use it effectively, thereby increasing physical and mental health disparities. It also constrains social participation and intensifies relative deprivation in physical and mental well-being. This study provides theoretical explanations for the link between the digital divide and health disparities, and it offers practical strategies to prevent the digital divide from worsening health disparities among older adults amid dual trends of digitization and population aging.
Biometric data, including unique identifiers such as fingerprints, iris scans, and facial images, have assumed a crucial role in international aid operations. Humanitarian organizations emphasize the potential of biometrics to prevent fraud, enhance identity management, and streamline aid delivery, while critical scholarship raises concerns about privacy violations and exclusionary outcomes. Yet empirical studies examining the impacts of biometric systems in humanitarian field practice remain limited. This paper addresses that gap by analyzing the use of biometrics in Lebanon, the country hosting the world's highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer. Drawing on document analysis and 12 in-person interviews with humanitarian experts and human rights advocates, the paper explores how biometric systems shape outcomes, decision-making processes, and the distribution of risks and benefits across different actors. It does so by applying a data justice framework that distinguishes between instrumental, procedural, and distributive dimensions of justice. Findings indicate that while biometric systems offer operational advantages for humanitarian organizations, they also generate substantial challenges for refugees, including privacy breaches, misidentification, and exclusion. The paper calls for more critical and context-sensitive evaluations of biometric technologies, assessing not only their technical performance but also the sociotechnical and power dynamics through which they operate.
The EU AI Act represents one of the most ambitious regulatory frameworks to date, entailing policy regarding innovation, competitiveness, and the protection of fundamental rights. However, regulatory discourse surrounding AI is neither politically nor ideologically neutral. Through the employment of critical discourse analysis, this study explicates the discursive construction of "risk objects" within the EU AI Act, focusing on the dilemmatic rhetorical constructions regarding AI governance, human rights, and migration management. The analysis highlights that while the Act positions AI misuse as a primary threat to fundamental rights, it simultaneously frames migrants and refugees as high-risk subjects, legitimising AI applications within border control and migration governance and reproducing a discursive ideological dilemma. As a result, the Act employs securitisation rhetoric within rights-based governance frameworks, authorising algorithmic interventions that disproportionately target marginalised populations. The findings contribute to critical debates on AI governance by highlighting how risk-based regulatory frameworks function as instruments of power, reproducing existing sociopolitical asymmetries under the guise of harm prevention and ethical oversight within digital governance.
Data use challenges in Malawi's Health Management Information Systems are presented. The qualitative analysis of the influences of institutional factors on data use in health management decisions reveals the inadequacy of the Ministry of Health's (MoH) regulations. This gap, coupled with influences of partner organisations' demands and practices, leads to a proliferation of diverse data policies, norms, and practices. The resulting lack of standardisation poses significant challenges in integrated data use across the health sector. Arguably, the MoH must enforce a robust regulatory framework to ensure the legitimacy of all health sector organisations with respect to existing policies. Furthermore, by strategically leveraging professional networks and fostering collaborative norms with local and global partners, the MoH can establish an environment for emulating best data use. This research provides empirically grounded insights into the institutional factors shaping the use of health management information systems data, thereby contributing to the Information and Communication Technology for Development literature.
Digital transformation is a buzz term in the development sector, but we have heard little or nothing as yet from individual stakeholders. This paper provides an original contribution by presenting results from a survey and workshop held with a range of digital development stakeholders drawn from the government, NGOs, the private sector, international development agencies, and research organisations. Guided by debates and issues within existing literature, the survey asked about stakeholder understandings, views, and future research priorities regarding digital transformation for development (DX4D). It found mainly incremental interpretations of transformation when respondents were asked about DX4D definitions, examples, and challenges. That worldview is clearly out of sync with metamorphic meanings of transformation. Yet, when pushed, stakeholders could differentiate transformative from incremental applications of digital technologies in development, and we found some evidence of pressure to apply the label of transformation to non-transformational initiatives. At the same time, there was clear interest in more DX4D-related evidence and guidance, with a research agenda that includes best-practice guidelines, measurement of impact, and investigation of political economy.
This research aims to determine how countries can currently improve their level of digital inclusion. The research considers that digital inclusion has several dimensions; therefore, digital inclusion is measured through a set of indicators and a composite variable. The empirical analysis uses a panel regression approach, covering a six-year period and including data from 136 countries. The findings show that three variables have a positive impact on the overall level of digital inclusion: a country's wealth, its level of innovation, and one of the cultural dimensions, long-term orientation. When the components of digital inclusion are analyzed, some variables have a positive influence on certain components and a negative influence on others, resulting in a neutral aggregate impact. The main practical implication is that digital inclusion should be analyzed according to its components, and each nation should focus on the factors that hinder digital inclusion.
This paper examines how rural communities in the United States are made and make themselves legible to opportunities in the high-tech economy. Drawing on the concept of economic legibility, I develop a case study based on 2 years of ethnographic research on the high-tech economy in a remote region of the rural Midwest. Through ethnographic evidence, this paper argues that legibility does not reside within a passive set of assets but is actively formed in an ongoing relational process developed by internal and external actors across multiple scales. Rural communities cultivate legibility both through utilizing existing assets (e.g., digital infrastructure, higher education partnerships, and local leadership) and through working towards developing needed assets (e.g., entrepreneurial culture, tech workforce, investment capital) to become viable participants in the high-tech economy. By examining how legibility can be understood as co-constituted rather than imposed from outside, this paper challenges traditional power dynamics in development frameworks and offers implications for how information and communication technology for development research can better examine the relationship between rural communities and high-tech economic opportunities. The findings provide a nuanced understanding of how rural places negotiate their participation in contemporary economic development, balancing regional identity preservation with technological transformation while maintaining agency in determining which aspects of the high-tech economy best serve their development goals.
The narrative about India's successful transformation of public welfare governance via the biometrics-linked digital identifier Aadhaar and associated digital public infrastructure (DPI) dominates mainstream policy discourse. This is despite local administrators continuing to encounter systemic inefficiencies and citizens facing inconvenience and exclusion. Challenging the dominant narrative, this paper evaluates the digital innovations for public welfare through the lived experiences of citizens and local administrators. It draws on a multi-sited ethnographic study of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana-a maternity cash entitlement-conducted in one of India's most impoverished states, Jharkhand. It proposes the idea of 'digitalwashing', a concept coined to describe the tendency to equate using digital tools with transformative digital governance. The article argues that this phenomenon is characterised by technological determinism and inequity. Consequently, it is especially rampant in public welfare programmes targeting the poor and vulnerable. The article concludes that digitalwashing via DPI is allowing a dangerous situation to persist in which the vulnerability of citizens and governance challenges that need confronting are systematically deprioritised.
This paper interprets an information and communication technology (ICT) for development (ICT4D) model that combines technological dimensions of ICTs with a focus on culturally rooted indigenous knowledge systems, aiming to bridge the knowledge gap in the rural Global South. Based on empirical evidence from Taobao villages in rural China, this paper further develops the concept of the "knowledge leveler" proposed by Tichenor et al. (1970). "Knowledge leveler" comprises indigenous knowledge, external resources, and a balancing system. The components of indigenous knowledge, including practical skills (mendao, (sic)(sic)), acquaintance relationships (renqing, (sic)(sic))), local beliefs (fengshui, (sic)(sic)), and cultural landscape (wenmai, (sic)(sic)), serve as the axis that keeps indigenous communities unique. The external resources embedded through ICTs act as wheels for development. The interactions and negotiations among actors, including the central government, platform companies, grassroots governments, local industries, and rural e-retailers, sustain the relative stability of the balancing system. For indigenous people in the rural Global South, the "knowledge leveler" facilitates the reclamation of land's economic significance through revitalizing indigenous knowledge, thus transforming once-marginalized homelands into sustainable anchors of livelihood. This paper further discusses the implications for ICT4D research, practice, and policy.
This study examines the role of user support services in improving transparency in government subsidy management systems, focusing on Korea’s e-Naradoum platform. Research on public management information systems within information systems success frameworks has largely focused on how system, information, and service quality influence organizational performance through user satisfaction. This study highlights the direct impact, instead of the mediated effects, of user support services, such as training and call centers, on perceived transparency in public finance. Structural equation analysis of survey data from e-Naradoum users reveals that system and information quality enhance transparency perception indirectly via user satisfaction, while user support services promote transparency directly, independent of satisfaction levels. The findings suggest that user assistance programs improve transparency by helping users navigate complex administrative processes and identify mechanisms to combat corruption, particularly in mandatory-use contexts. A comparative analysis further indicates that private-sector users who are less familiar with public administration procedures benefit more from user training and information quality than public officials. These results underscore the need to incorporate well-targeted user support services into the design of digital public finance systems, as investments in training and technical assistance can enhance regulatory compliance and public trust.
Information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed financial access, enabling fintech to deliver efficient services, notably to previously excluded women. Using a provincial panel dataset from China spanning 11 years (2010-2021), we employ econometric techniques, including fixed-effect models and two-step generalized method of moments, to address potential endogeneity and heteroskedasticity concerns. Drawing on the information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) theoretical framework, this research introduces financial inclusion as a mediating variable, offering novel insights into how ICT-enabled financial innovations influence gender-based economic disparities. The findings indicate that financial technology reduces gender income inequality, with this effect partially mediated by enhanced financial inclusion. However, the impact of fintech adoption varies across economic regions, with more pronounced effects in less developed areas. This study advances our understanding of fintech's role in bridging gender-based economic divides and offers empirical evidence to inform targeted policies and interventions. The results are particularly relevant for policymakers, fintech companies, and educators seeking to promote gender equality and financial inclusion. This study contributes to ongoing efforts to create a more equitable and inclusive society in which women have equal access to financial resources and opportunities, thereby fostering economic growth and social well-being.
