ICT for Rural Community Development: Implementing the Communicative Ecology Framework in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

This research is part of a larger research project which explored how information and communication technologies (ICTs) may contribute to sustainable development of rural communities' development in Nigeria. One of the major reasons for the failure of ICT for development initiatives in Africa is their “fit” with the socio-cultural context in which they are implemented. The communicative ecology framework is used to explore ICT use and interaction in the wider context of people's lives. The research findings demonstrate the truism that technology does not have an independent determinative existence. Using an exploration of the complex and dynamic links, both real and potential, between ICTs and community development in Nigeria's diverse and troubled Niger Delta region, the paper makes a strong case for: the social embeddedness of ICTs in developing world contexts and the empowerment of local populations in defining the parameters of such a “fit.” The paper concludes with an integrated media framework on how ICTs may be successfully deployed to support the development of marginalized communities in Africa.

Keywords:

• communicative ecology
• community development
• rural communities
• information and communication technology
• Nigeria
• Africa

Notes on contributor

Dr Uduak Okon is a member of the ICT4D Collective, University of London since 2007 where she has taught the course unit on Information Communication Technology for development in the Department of Geography. The Collective is the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, and a Research Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has a Ph.D. in Development Geography from the University of London and an M.Sc. in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems from London School of Economics, University of London. Her research specialization includes Development in Africa, information and communication technologies for Development, Sustainable communities, and New media and African Diaspora communities.