Thinyane, M: Context-Sensitive Technology for Development

The full effectiveness of Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) projects can be realized when the implemented solutions are integrated into the life systems of communities and when the communities themselves appropriate the technology to their specific environment and context. For this to occur, the developed ICT solutions should provide the flexibility for contextualization. This perspective enables the activation of communities to participate in the global knowledge economy, and also allows for the realization of ICT services that are relevant to the communities. This book first explores the state of the art with regard to service deployment in ICTD contexts, and then discusses a new architectural framework for knowledge-based systems that are characterized by context sensitivity and heterogeneity of the deployment environment. This work is practically embedded within an ICTD intervention in a small deep-rural community in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. This work provides a framework for ICT services deployment and a community-centric perspective to ICTD, which should be of value to practitioners within the ICTD domain.