The aim of participatory development (PD) in the
context of using Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) for development (ICT4D)
is to empower underprivileged communities and disadvantaged segments of the
stakeholders. The literature on ICT4D is replete with empirical evidence showing
ICT interventions often fail because they are initiated from without, with no
involvement from the affected (Heeks, 2002). Clearly, the principles
and concepts of PD are relevant to ICT4D. However, we should not consider PD a
panacea but must understand the caveats and processes by which PD happens. Questions
we must ask ourselves include the following: What are the various challenges in
PD; who are the relevant stakeholders; why and how do actors enroll in the
project; and how do we create sustainable ICT4D projects through PD? To
understand these research questions, we present a case analysis of a project in
Nepal called the Nepal Wireless Networking Project (NWNP). Drawing on our
findings and the specific initiatives that they enabled–telemedicine, education
and jobs–we propose that the key participants in the NWNP were activist actors
and the affected and that activists drew upon existing social capital to enroll
the affected through a process explained by Actor Network Theory (ANT). In the process,
they built other forms of social capital, which in turn extended the benefits
of PD to several mountain villages.
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