Investigating Perception of the Role of ICT towards the Quality of Life of People in Rural Communities in Uganda (original) (raw)
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It is generally agreed that Information and communication Technologies (ICT) have a lot to contribute to Quality of Life (QoL). Efforts aimed at increasing access most especially in rural communities in developing countries however, reveal a non-uniform unsatisfactory pattern in as far as the ICT contribution to QoL is concerned. With an overall aim of identifying strategies to maximize this contribution, this paper explores the concepts and thinking around the impact of ICT on QoL. It identifies vital factors that ensure effective utilization and acceptance of ICT. We propose that a people-centered approach focusing on creating opportunities would go a long way in facilitating utilization, thus maximizing ICT benefits for the rural poor.
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Under what conditions can new technologies enhance the well-being of poor communities? The study designs an alternative evaluation framework (AEF) that applies Amartya Sen s capability approach to the study of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in order to place people s well-being, rather than technology, at the center of the study. The AEF develops an impact chain that examines the mechanisms by which access to, and meaningful use of, ICTs can enhance people s informational capabilities and improve people s human and social capabilities. This approach thus uses people s individual and collective capabilities, rather than measures of access or use, as its principal evaluative space. Based on empirical evidence from indigenous communities use of new technologies in rural Bolivia, the study concludes that enhancing poor people s informational capabilities is the most critical factor determining the impact of ICTs on their well-being. Improved informational capabilitie...
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This study set out to understand and assess internet and mobile phone uses among the urban poor in Kawempe division in Kampala district, Uganda. As the internet and mobile phones are rapidly diffusing through communities with more people having access to them, it is important to understand what people are actually doing with their access. There has been so much optimism and scepticism among scholars around the potential of ICTs in facilitating both economic and social development. This study thus seeks to build on the knowledge of how ordinary internet and mobile phone usage may influence social and economic development. Having an understanding of internet and mobile phone usage
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