Urban entrepreneurs, ICTs, and emerging theories: a new direction for development communication1

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, May 22–26, 2008.

Abstract

The case is presented for reorienting the current paradigm of development communication to place greater reliance on new theoretical perspectives about the network society and to bring those theories to bear on studies of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially mobile phones, in the relatively under-examined research setting of urban entrepreneurial activity. Support for this argument is made by reviewing the current and near-future state of information and communication technologies and services, by examining the implications for development of increased urbanization in the global South, and by considering promising new scholarly theorizing relevant to ICTs for economic development. Research questions are offered regarding the use and impact of ICTs in urban micro- and small enterprises.

Keywords:

• micro-enterprises
• communication technologies
• mobile telephones
• Internet cafes
• personal computers
• developing nations
• ICTs
• economic development

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, May 22–26, 2008.

2. There are no generally agreed upon definitions of the terms ‘micro-enterprise’ or ‘small enterprise’ and unfortunately that makes it is difficult to aggregate findings about MSEs and ICTs across studies. All definitions do however locate micro-enterprises in the ‘informal sector’ of developing economies (R. Srivastava, 2005; Vaidyanathan, 2004). In operational terms, micro-enterprises are most often defined by their number of workers (National Sample Survey Organization, 2000; Raveendran, 2006). Some research caps that number at five or fewer workers (Donner, 2007a, b) and some sets the limit at 10 employees (Duncombe & Heeks, 2002; Jagun, Heeks, & Whalley, 2007). Other studies have created analytical categories that conflate micro- and small enterprises (Esselaar, Stork, Ndiwalana, & Deen-Swarray, 2007).

3. While enthusiasm for ICTs in development is widespread among international organizations, ICT4D is not without its critics in the academic community. See, for example, Cisler, 2005; Leye, 2007; Mansell, 2006.