Fernanda Scur

M.Sc  (Lübeck, Germany 2005)

Deconstructing ICT4D Projects: Towards a framework for sustainable interaction
Supervisor: Prof. Tim Unwin
Advisor: Jay Mistry

Email: f.scur@rhul.ac.uk
Personal website: http://www.purnima.com.br

With the emergence (and increasing convergence) of digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), our grid of interactions (e.g. human/human, human/technology, human/culture and human/nature) is becoming diversely, dynamically, not to mention uncontrollably complex in a way never seen before. As science fiction writer Bruce Sterling puts it, there is no escape from these interactions - the question is how they come into form and how can we influence them or at least be aware of them to help forward the fundamental structural changes our current social system needs to undergo.

If we take a look at state-of-the-art ICT interaction design research we are still far from understanding the implications of the changes our world is undergoing. To my work, it is especially important to note that when it comes to ICT4D projects, those aspects are usually not taken into consideration. Many agree development project mainstream methodologies are reductionist and standardizing, ignoring the plurality and complexity of the communities those projects are implemented on, not to mention several other systems connected with and influencing one another, such as technology itself and its high-speed development pace; institutions and donors own structures and interests; development history itself; globalization and the like. Indeed, impact and evaluation assessments, one of the most discussed problems of development projects, emphasizes that the whole process is in need of a serious revision.  If ICTs are to be used to help reduce poverty, it should be within a framework that encompasses all networks involved in such processes, that takes into consideration how complex and unpredictable the interactions among them are and at the same time, integrates sustainability and ongoing critical assessment approaches .

My work intends to map the diverse contexts of ICT4D projects and examine how they are interlinked with each other, through an understanding of post-modern society, systems theory, development studies, the role of ICTs in this context, as well as impact assessment and sustainability issues. The goal is to build a framework that encompasses the all of the above. Part of the  discussion will also be the role of creativity and meaning in social networks and the pursuing of a holistic vision aiming the balance among different types of established social networks that are related to each other in this process.