Christopher Banda

Wallace Chigona
email: wallace.chigona@uct.ac.za

The Impact of Stakeholder Management on the Sense of Ownership in Telecenter Projects: the Case of Malawi

Keywords: telecenter, Stakeholder Analysis, sense of ownership, rural community, Malawi

Telecenters are meant to provide public access to information and communication technology (ICT) services to contribute to the development of the masses. The government of Malawi is implementing a telecenter project to provide ICT services to rural areas. However, most of the telecenters are not meeting the expected goals. The aim of this study was to explore how telecenter projects in rural areas are conceptualised and implemented. The study sought to understand who was involved in the project and how that influenced the sense of ownership of the telecenters. The research used the Stakeholder Theory as a theoretical framework. It was found that the telecenters faced challenges in the management of stakeholders. Although the projects identified stakeholders at the initiation of the project, they failed to keep the stakeholders engaged in the later phases of the project. This led to a low sense of ownership. Due to these occurrences, the telecenter projects have worked in isolation of the key stakeholders.

Introduction

Despite the opportunities which Information Communication Technology (ICT) bring to communities, diffusion of ICTs in rural areas remains slow (ITU, 2010). Different governments and organisations are using different approaches to connect rural villages and communities. One such approach is the establishments of telecenters. It is hoped that telecenters may improve the livelihood of the rural communities.

The government of Malawi is implementing the ICT for Sustainable Rural Development Project (ISRDP) which seeks to provide ICT services to the rural areas. By 2012, the government, through the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), had established about 50 telecenters across the country (MACRA, 2012). The performance of these telecenters has been poor and has not met expected goals. The telecenters are performing poorly due to various factors such as lack of awareness, location, staff competence and the model.

Telecenters continue to face challenges of sustainability. One of the factors which affects sustainability of telecenters is lack of meaningful stakeholder engagement and relationship in formulating and running such projects [START_REF] Bailur | Using stakeholder theory to analyze telecenter projects[END_REF][START_REF] Perrini | Sustainability and stakeholder management: the need for new corporate performance evaluation and reporting systems[END_REF]. There is, therefore, a need to explore factors which affect stakeholder engagement in telecenter projects. Many studies stress the need for participation of the local community to foster activities such as assessment of information needs, planning and operations [START_REF] Bailur | Using stakeholder theory to analyze telecenter projects[END_REF][START_REF] Roman | Themes and issues in telecentre sustainability[END_REF].

Using a case study approach, we explored how stakeholder management was conducted in a telecenter project in Malawi and how that affected the sense of ownership of the project. The study collected data through semi-structured interviews from various stakeholders, focus groups, documents analysis and observation. The results of the study would provide useful guidance both to telecenters project managers and ICT policymakers on ways to improve the sustainability of telecenters.

Study Setting: Malawi

Malawi is a small country with a population of about 14.84 million. About 84.7% of the population live in the rural areas (NSO, 2008). Malawi is divided into 29 local government administrative districts; a District Commissioner heads each local District Assembly. The district is divided into traditional chieftainships called Traditional Authorities, which are further divided into villages. The district development planning system for the government of Malawi provides guidelines on how the projects can be implemented in the districts. The guidelines emphasise the approach to be districtfocused, people-centred, bottom-up and participatory by local people [START_REF] Chiweza | A Review of the Malawi Decentralisation Process: Lessons from Selected Districts, Zomba: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development-Malawi[END_REF]. The guidelines specify committees at village, Traditional Authority and District level, through which development projects should be coordinated. The government of Malawi through MACRA implemented ICT infrastructure development through the establishment of telecenters in several rural areas. The projects were implemented under government funding in partnership with development partners such as the World Bank and the International Telecommunication Union (MACRA, 2011). The government adopted different models for implementing telecenter projects, (MACRA, 2011). Of interest to this study is the ISRDP model. ISRDP sought to provide ICT services to rural and underserved areas through the establishment of Multipurpose Community telecenters. The project had the mandate to support the government's efforts to reduce poverty and isolation of the rural communities, making accessible ICT-enabled services through scalable and cost-effective communication infrastructures.

3

Theoretical Framework: Stakeholder Management Theory

Definition of stakeholder

A stakeholder in an organisation is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organisation's objectives [START_REF] Freeman | Strategic Management: A stakeholder Approach[END_REF]. Stakeholders are vital to the survival and success of an organisation [START_REF] Freeman | Stakeholder Theory and ? The Corporate Objective Revisited?[END_REF]. Stakeholders can be primary or secondary [START_REF] Carrol | Business & Society, Ethics and stakeholder management[END_REF]. Primary stakeholders have a direct stake or interest in the organisation and its success. Secondary stakeholders have a public or special interest stake in the organisation.

Stakeholder Theory -overview

The Stakeholder Theory is intended both to explain and to guide the structure and operation of an organisation [START_REF] Donaldson | The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications[END_REF]. It views an organisation as an entity through which numerous and diverse participants accomplish multiple, and not always entirely congruent, purposes. The theory takes into consideration the interests of all legitimate stakeholders [START_REF] Freeman | Strategic Management: A stakeholder Approach[END_REF][START_REF] Fontaine | The Stakeholder Theory[END_REF]. The purpose of stakeholder management is to create methods to manage the different groups and relationships that result in a strategic action [START_REF] Fontaine | The Stakeholder Theory[END_REF].

The research adopted the framework from [START_REF] Bailur | Using stakeholder theory to analyze telecenter projects[END_REF] which has three stages: 1. Stakeholder Identification, Stakeholder Behaviour Explanation and Coalition Analysis 2. Stakeholder Management and 3. Concessions/Bargains.

Stakeholder analysis is a process of determining whose interests should be taken into account when developing and/or implementing a policy or project [START_REF] Schmeer | Guidelines for conducting a stakeholder analysis[END_REF]. Stakeholder analysis helps to identify the key actors, their knowledge, behaviour, interests, positions, alliances and importance related to the project, while allowing policymakers and managers to interact more effectively with key stakeholders and increase support for a given policy or project [START_REF] Schmeer | Guidelines for conducting a stakeholder analysis[END_REF].

The main objective of stakeholder management is to ensure that the primary stakeholders achieve their objectives and that other stakeholders are dealt with ethically and are also relatively satisfied (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2012). Stakeholder management for an organisation must address five major questions which are (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2012): (a) Who are the stakeholders? (b) What are the stakeholders' stakes? (c) What opportunities and challenges do the stakeholders present? (d) What economic, legal, ethical and charitable responsibilities does the organisation have to the stakeholders? (e) What strategies or actions should be taken to best manage stakeholder challenges and opportunities?

Concessions and bargains are important aspects for developing projects, as they define how different stakeholders reach agreement and get assurance that threats or risks from complaints or lawsuits arising from unsound and unethical business practices have been minimised, if not totally eliminated [START_REF] Freeman | Strategic Management: A stakeholder Approach[END_REF].

Methodology

The research was a qualitative cross-sectional exploratory study. We adopted a case study approach for the study. The cases in the study were the telecenters and the communities where the telecenters are located. We targeted the key stakeholders within the 5km catchment area for the telecenters; these included traditional leaders, surrounding communities, community-based organisations, Local Management Committee (LMC), telecenter staff and schools. We also targeted implementers such as MACRA and district councils.

The study targeted two telecenters. We sought telecenters which had been operating for at least two years, since these would have had enough data: these were Vikwa Telecenter in Kasungu and Khudze Telecenter in Mwanza. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to identify stakeholders who were involved in the projects, including officials from MACRA, district councils, traditional leaders, telecenter staff, LMC and the surrounding community of the 5km catchment area.. These included community-based organisations, users of the telecenters, community extension workers and farmers. At Khudze, all the traditional leaders within the impact area of the telecenter were involved. Representation from the following community-based organisations were involved: Area Development Committee (ADC), Village Development Committee (VDC), dairy farmers, fruit farmers, teachers, students, wine groups and business people. The study involved MACRA as the regulator of the telecommunication sector in Malawi and also the implementer and financer of the project. Two MACRA members of staff who were involved in the initial setup of the project and one participant who was involved in the initial stage but had left for another institution, were interviewed. The sample also included (i) District Council -the highest policymaking body at the district level, responsible for promoting infrastructure and economy development in the local government; and (ii) Directors of Development Planning: one from Mwanza and one from Kasungu.

The main data collection tools for the study were semi-structured interviews and focus groups. These were supplemented by direct observations and document analysis. The focus groups provided an opportunity for participants to report their individual experiences, and also respond to the experiences of other group members. The data from LMC, village heads and students was collected through focus groups. The interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. Direct observation was mainly on telecenter activities and the community behaviour towards the telecenter. Secondary data was obtained from various sources such as reports on telecenters. The study used thematic analysis with the use of Weft QDA, a free and open-source software for the analysis of textual data.

Case Study Description

Vikwa Telecenter is located in Kasungu, 22KM from Kasungu Town. It is surrounded by trading centres and schools including the elite Kamuzu Academy High School. Khudze telecenter is located about 5km from Mwanza town. Both telecenters were officially opened in 2010 (MACRA 2012). The telecenters are located in rural villages and are in the midst of the villages. The telecenters are housed in a building which cost MACRA over MK70 million. The telecenters were managed by a ten-member Local Management Committee (LMC) which included two ex-official members from MACRA and District Council, and the telecenter staff (MACRA 2006). The committee acted as Board of Directors of the telecenter. The operational issues of the telecenter were managed by the telecenter staff; the staff was paid by MACRA. The committees were set up in 2007 and the staff was recruited in 2010, prior to the launch of the telecenters. LMC was tasked with the responsibilities of getting the telecenter operational, ensuring that the centers were used effectively and served as the link between the telecenters and MACRA (MACRA, 2011) The telecenters were supposed to operate for one year under MACRA sponsorship and, thereafter, to start operating and sustaining themselves (MACRA, 2011). At the time of the study, both telecenters had operated close to three years and were still fully sponsored by MACRA.

The telecenters offered basic ICT services at a fee. Each telecenter charged, depending on the market value of the service offered within the community. The aim of charging for services was for the telecenters to sustain themselves. Each telecenter had a bank account into which they deposited its revenue. The funds were kept for future use when the telecenters would be weaned off to sustain themselves. However, some funds were used at the telecenters when necessary. The committee and staff were also encouraged to use the funds to venture into other services which were needed at the telecenters.

Findings

Telecenter stakeholders identification

The stakeholders in this study were categorised at two levels: national and community. Records from MACRA show that 12 categories of stakeholders were identified at national level (MACRA, 2006). At national level, stakeholders for the two telecenters were identified through brainstorming by MACRA, based on the national roles they played in the country that could relate to the project. Stakeholders at the community level were identified through various approaches such as through (i) the results of the preliminary research, (ii) a bidding process, election and recruitment, and (iii) based on the services or roles which they would provide to the project. The members of the LMC were chosen through election from the surrounding communities. Traditional leaders from within telecenter catchment areas were asked to identify representatives who could be members of the LMC. The major criteria for selection were representation from villages and from different backgrounds such as churches, retired personnel and farmers.

The telecenter staff was identified through a formal recruitment process. The village headmen posted vacancy advertisements within their areas. The recruitment was done by the LMC with the help of MACRA. Some respondents were dissatisfied with the way the recruitment was managed, mainly when filling posts that subsequently fell vacant. Traditional leaders felt that the process was not transparent as the community was not informed of the vacancies. LMC recruited additional staff members without informing the community and the existing staff.

The committees which are responsible to monitor developmental projects at the district and traditional authority village levels were not included as part of the stakeholders for both telecenters.

6.2

Behaviour Towards the telecenter Some stakeholders believed that the telecenters were brought to the community by the government through MACRA and the community had not requested the project. Others were ignorant of who had requested them, while some thought the project had been requested by the community through the District Council. Nevertheless, the community accepted the project after MACRA had explained it to traditional leaders and the community. However, the community did not understand the concept and the services which could be offered.

The community felt the major benefit of the projects to the community were some non-ICT related services which came with the telecenter. These included electricity which had enabled the instalment of the maize mill in the community, charging of phones, a venue for social activities such as parties and meetings for various institutions, and water for the surrounding villages.

We used to struggle to go to the maize mill, … now it is closer because of the electricity. Most people are connected to electricity and most of the functions that happen in this area are done there … such as weddings, engagements, . . . meetings. (Traditional leader, Khudze)

Respondents at Vikwa telecenter felt the most important benefit were the ICT services; although the telecenter was also used for other non-ICT related services. This could be due to levels of development at the time the telecenter was implemented. Due to the proximity of an established elite school, Kamuzu Academy; electricity was already available in the area. Furthermore, it was near a trading centre which provided basic needs to the community. The telecenter was used to access internet to do some online transactions by the communities.

The community from both telecenters expected the projects to provide more services, such as training the youth from the catchment area on computer use, at no charge. They also wanted additional services such as TV, tuckshop, and more books with relevant content. They also wished for involvement of other stakeholders such as ADC, VDC and chiefs. At both telecenters, some villagers were scared to use the facilities and felt the building and services offered were not for their level. This was strong at Khudze telecenter where some villagers were even scared of entering the building since it looked too "high class" for them. At Vikwa, despite the feared to enter a computer room, villagers could enter the building to buy groceries:

There are some who have never dared entering the offices; others consider the building to be too good for their levels by looking at aspects of dressing. They fear the computer, the furniture and look of the building. (Staff at Khudze) Some stakeholders at Khudze telecenter felt the project was not owned by the community but, rather, by MACRA and the LMC. The community felt that the telecenters did not involve the community, but only those who were directly involved and had direct benefit such as staff, LMC and MACRA. They felt it was the business of MACRA and they did not see the benefit of the telecenters in terms of the revenue generated there. They felt the telecenter revenue would be used for constructing other developmental projects within the community.

That thing is a MACRA business, all workers at the centre are doing business on behalf of MACRA and not for the community. MACRA just wanted to be given free land for construction by the chief here for their business. If you ask anyone in the village here, you will be told that they are not aware how much is realised from that place and we are not updated on anything. (Traditional leader, Khudze Despite good relationships at Vikwa telecenter, traditional leaders had similar opinions to traditional leaders as at Khudze telecenter on the use of the funds from the telecenter. The traditional leaders wanted the funds from the telecenter to be used for other projects within the community. The LMC, on the other hand, felt chiefs were not allowed to know financial issues, as guided by MACRA.

There was a strong relationship among LMC, traditional leaders and telecenter staff at Vikwa telecenter. This started during the site identification, construction and operation, as traditional leaders were continuously engaged in providing guidance when there were problems.

. . . I make sure that when there are problems we should solve them together and also I do have time to go there and see how other things are done. (Traditional leader, Vikwa)

The stakeholders at Khudze felt there was a proper approach to consultation during the initial stages of the project. However, as time went by, the key stakeholders such as chiefs were left out of the project. Some felt that the LMC had overstayed their welcome; the committees had been elected in 2007. Some of the stakeholders expressed the need for change and to incorporate new members into the committee. They felt that since the committee had stayed too long and they were prone to make mistakes and nobody would criticise them.

Behaviour Towards telecenter sustainability

There were leadership challenges at both telecenters. Some stakeholders felt that extension workers (e.g. Agricultural, Health) should be incorporate into the committee, so that they could provide knowledge on how to apply ICT in their sectors. Others misused the powers which they had in the community to the disadvantage of the telecenter. The committees for both telecenters lacked knowledge since they had not been adequately trained. Some of the committee members resisted change and hindered the normal operations of telecenter. This caused conflict, misunderstandings between staff and the community.

There could have been a committee comprising people working in government and NGOs, to develop a plan on how they can manage the telecenter, but those running lacks knowledge of how an institution like

that one is supposed to operate as most dropped school and cannot run that complicated modern facility. (Interviewee, Khudze)

The challenges are that the telecenter committee comprises majority members who are related. . . . it is difficult to hold meetings because members already discuss the issues outside (Interviewee, Vikwa)

Stakeholder interaction

During the formation stage of the telecenter project, some stakeholders such as the District Council felt that they were side-lined. They felt that they were supposed to be involved in all stages of the project and, even after the handover of project to the community, the council felt that it could provide necessary advice to the community. District Council is mandated to monitor projects and provide leadership in the district; members were also ex-official members in the LMC. However, there was limited interaction with the telecenter for both projects. Furthermore, although traditional leaders were consulted during the initial phase of the project, they were not updated on the activities of the telecenter and they felt sidelined about the operation of the telecentre.

There is no link between us as community leaders and MACRA . . . the project doesn't seem like the one we wanted and was explained to us initially. What if we turn it into something else like hospital so that we can claim ownership so that we don't say it belongs to MACRA? (Traditional leader at Khudze)

I could have loved if reports were being submitted. Everything that is happening, whether good or bad, we should not only be meeting when there are problems, but I should be following each and every step so that we should see how to progress. (Traditional leader at Vikwa) At both telecenters, the staff and the LMC met once a month to report on progress; they then reported to MACRA at the beginning of each month. Although, previously, Khudze telecenter staff used to attend District Executive Committee meetings with the District Council and consequently update the council on the Telecenter, after the first telecenter manager left, the staff never again attended the meetings. On the other hand, members of staff from Vikwa telecenter never attended any District Executive Committee meetings at all. There were no documented clear roles for Khudze telecenter as LMC and staff did not have job descriptions. In contrast, at Vikwa telecenter, there were clearly documented roles for both staff and LMC.

Since telecenter was opened, we don't have job descriptions and even the LMC don't have as we just saw draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) documented which was presented by MACRA but it was no signed until now. (Staff member Khudze)

The MOU was signed with Telecenter and Assembly which has job descriptions for LMC while staff have job description and everyone knows what to do. (Staff member, Vikwa)

The major interaction among stakeholders was between the telecenter staff and MACRA, where they exchanged reports and other operational issues at the telecenter. There were no clearly documented reporting lines; there were no operational guidelines or any policy given to the staff or the LMC at the telecenter.

Stakeholder management

At the formation phase of the project, the District Council and traditional leaders were briefed on the results of the research which had been conducted and the sites which had been selected for the telecenter. At the district level, the consultation was mainly a courtesy call to the District Assembly to introduce the project through the District Commissioner by MACRA. The aim of meeting with the council was to inform, consult, create partnership and identify the area in which the telecenter could be built. MACRA also met traditional leaders to brief them of the telecenter projects. The meetings were to explain the aim and objectives of the project and what the local authorities were supposed to do on the project. We found no formal documents such as policies or concept papers about the project presented to the District Council and there were no consultations with the District Executive Committee.

During the planning phase, a comprehensive market research was conducted at community level to identify the main components of the marketing mix and to estimate the social relevance of the telecenter to the community (MACRA, 2006). The stakeholders identified the locations of the telecenter and its management model. The community chose the community-managed model rather than the privatelymanaged model (MACRA, 2006). Further meetings were carried out with the local authorities and the open communities to validate the research findings (MACRA, 2006).

During the execution phase, telecenter staff was recruited and the community was tasked to mould bricks for the construction of the telecenter. At Vikwa telecenter, the community moulded all the bricks for the telecenter. The process was coordinated by the LMC and the traditional leaders. In contrast, the community at Khudze telecenter did not complete the task. The community only managed to mould a few bricks; unfortunately the bricks were destroyed by the rain. The contractor had to buy all the bricks for the telecenter. Besides providing the piece of land, the community did not participate in other activities.

Concessions/Bargains

During the implementation of the telecenters project, there were conflict at both telecenters which were between staff and committee, between community and management and, finally, between management and political interference. At both telecenters there were different conflicts between staff and LMC. Some of the conflicts were over finance, superiority and power.

There was a recurring problem of transparency at the Khudze on management of funds. Initially, the telecenter manager was the only signatory to the bank account and there was misunderstanding between LMC and the manager. This led to mismanagement of funds and it was alleged that the telecenter manager had swindled the money. The police investigated the matter; it was taken to a court of law and the telecenter manager was eventually dismissed. Three members of LMC became signatories to the bank account. This, however, did not address the concerns over transparency of the funds. The staff complained that they generated the revenue but were not aware of how much was in the bank account.

At Vikwa, since the opening of the telecenter, the telecenter manager and two LMC members had been signatory to the bank account and things were working well. However, there were challenges in monitoring of revenue. It is evident that there is a general challenge in management of funds in rural developmental projects.

One of the problems faced at both telecenters was the relationship between staff and the LMC. The staff felt that the LMC had more power; the staff worked with fear and embarrassment due to the behaviour of members of the LMC. They felt the committee made decisions on recruitment without consulting the staff; in one instance, they even exceeded the number of positions available at the telecenter.

The way they speak to us, because they know our salaries, they even announce them at drinking joints. Right now everybody's salary is known in the villages. (Telecenter staff member) Another major problem was the remuneration for staff. The salaries had not been revised for four years (since the opening of the telecenter in 2010). Since the project belonged to government, the staff perceived themselves as civil servants and expected their salaries increment to be aligned with the annual increment for civil servants. Due to salary problems, some staff quit the job for other better-paying jobs.

Conflicts between the community and the telecenter management mainly revolved around water and land issues. Each telecenter had a water supply; the water was utilised at the telecenter. The villages around the telecenters had no safe water. The community felt they owned the telecenter since they had contributed through the moulding of bricks and other activities; therefore, they expected to utilise the safe water at the telecenter. All the requests from the villagers and schools to utilise the safe water were turned down by MACRA through LMC. This brought dissatisfaction from the community.

Both telecenters experienced problems with the land. The land was initially donated to the project; however, there was lack of clarity and proper guidelines on land. At one of the telecenters, the person who had given free land later changed his mind as there was supposed to be some payment for the land. At another telecenter, the former owner of the land believed he could still come to do things like cutting some bamboos without authorisation from the chiefs. The land issues were resolved after consulting other stakeholders such as chiefs and also after obtaining information from other telecenters.

Discussion and Conclusions

The community sense of ownership at the telecenters was low. The traditional leaders, the LMC and the staff felt that the project was owned by MACRA and not the community. After two years of operations, the decision-making was still in the power of MACRA. The community at Khudze was involved only in the site identification and possible selection of committee, while other issues such as bricks and other building material were sourced by the contractors. The implementation of the telecenters project was monitored by MACRA through the committee and no updates were communicated to local leaders. This meant that the communities were not empowered to fully participate in the running of the telecenter project, which led to over-reliance on MACRA this led to LMC, staff and traditional leaders working in isolation, with no recognition of political culture in the areas. There was no coordination among LMC, staff and traditional leaders on any issues, as things were reported directly to MACRA.

Local leaders at Vikwa had a high sense of ownership of the telecenter and played a role at the telecenters, especially when there were problems which needed their intervention. There was coordination among staff, LMC and traditional leaders. However, there was no link with District Council. During the construction of the building, the communities, through the local leaders, moulded bricks for the telecenter which showed their participation and responsibility. Consequently, in comparison to Khudze, there were more services which were demanded by the community.

Communities at both telecenters expected that the telecenter would benefit the community. They expected that the funds from the telecenter could be used to construct a school block or a borehole so that those who did not use the telecenter could indirectly benefit. However, these expectations were not met, since MACRA advised the telecenters management against doing that. The foregoing suggests that MACRA should limit its roles in the management of telecenters and empower the local community to own the telecenters. The stakeholder participation needs to start from the beginning of any project, while external actors,who traditionally lead design and formulation phases, need to limit their direct roles and responsibilities and, as far as possible, encourage local stakeholders to participate and take the lead [START_REF] Ballantyne | Ownership and Partnership: Keys to Sustaining ICT-enabled Development Activities, IICD Research Brief[END_REF]. MACRA's continued involvement in decision-making led to dissatisfaction of the communities. Some local people were afraid of using the telecenters due to the 'class' of the building and furniture in the telecenters. Most locals were afraid to use, or even to touch, a computer. The building and the furniture was perceived to be of a high standard; even the District Councils wanted the structures to be in the town so they could change the face of the towns instead of putting the structures in the villages. This suggests that there were no consultations with the community on what type of the building could be constructed in terms of the standard and the furniture to put in place. [START_REF] Colle | The telecenter Environment in 2002[END_REF] suggest research as a tool for finding out the needs of the community, their participation and a systematic, persistent effort toward community awareness about telecenters and ICT.


Petter Nielsen
email: pnielsen@ifi.uio.no

Digital Innovation: A Research Agenda for Information Systems Research in Developing Countries

Keywords: Digital innovation, information systems, development, research agenda

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

There is significant interest in and a growing body of literature on digital innovation in information systems research [see e.g. 1]. Digital innovation is about the breaking up of vertical industry silos and the creation of networks where different actors come together and innovate by combining and recombining their digital technology components. With technologies such as platforms, new venues for innovation are opened up and participation in innovation potentially attracts a broader audience. Digital innovation is by many argued as a deep change in ways in which innovation is organized, influencing industrial structures and competitive landscapes. Digital innovation is also self-referential in the sense that it requires the use of digital technologies [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF]. The widespread diffusion of digital innovations has created a virtuous circle that furthers the development and accessibility of digital devices, networks, services and contents [START_REF] Hanseth | Design theory for dynamic complexity in information infrastructures: the case of building Internet[END_REF][START_REF] Benkler | The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom[END_REF]. While there is a significant debate in research on the impacts of digital technologies and digital innovation, these discussions have still to reach the information systems literature engaged with developing countries and development. Instead of exploring the potential and impacts of digital innovation, research seems to be stuck in a perspective on developing countries as passive, and often reluctant, receivers of inno-vations and new ICTs. The aim of this paper is to support a shift in this respect and bring digital innovation on the agenda of information systems research in developing countries.

While the potential of ICTs for developing countries and development is well established, the question of how to make ICTs relevant is still under scrutiny. Research has approached this how question from different angles. For example, by exemplifying a range of different ICT failures, Avgerou and Walsham [START_REF] Avgerou | Information Technology in Context: Implementing Systems in the Developing World[END_REF] focus on the importance of taking into account the contexts in which ICTs are implemented and used. These context discussions include a broad array of influential factors such as for example information infrastructures [START_REF] Aanestad | Information Infrastructures and Public Goods: Analytical and Practical Implications for SDI[END_REF], institutions [START_REF] Aanestad | Information Infrastructures and Public Goods: Analytical and Practical Implications for SDI[END_REF] and local practices [START_REF] Heeks | Information Systems and Developing Countries: Failure, Success, and Local Improvisations[END_REF]. Other researchers have focused more particularly on understanding the processes of introducing, implementing and maintaining relevant ICTs in developing countries, related to integration [START_REF] Sahay | Configurable Politics and Asymmetric Integration: Health e-Infrastructures in India[END_REF], scaling [START_REF] Sahay | Scaling of Health Information Systems in India: Challenges and Approaches[END_REF] and sustainability [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action: Sustainable Health Information Systems across Developing Countries[END_REF]. These discussions are based on the 'classical' North-South digital divide [START_REF] Boas | Will the Digital Revolution Revolutionize Development? Drawing Together the Debate[END_REF][START_REF] Dijk | The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon[END_REF] where the prime challenge to be addressed is bridging the design-actuality gaps between the developed countries where the ICTs are designed and the actuality of the periphery where they are used (developing countries).

Reviewing the literature on ICTs in developing countries, Walsham and Sahay [START_REF] Walsham | Research on Information Systems in Developing Countries: Current Landscape and Future Prospects[END_REF] identified four broad categories of information systems topics addressed. These include cross-cultural working, local adaptation of global technologies, particular marginalized groups, and the meaning of development in itself. These topics are still relevant, and of particular interest here, the definition and nature of development and how it relates to innovation has remained as an important concern. For example, Qureshi [START_REF] Qureshi | Networks of change, shifting power from institutions to people: how are innovations in the use of information and communication technology transforming development[END_REF] discusses how innovations in the use of ICTs can transform development by enabling people to use ICTs in ways that benefits them and help them to establish the power to determine their own life. Along the same line of argument, Foster and Heeks [START_REF] Foster | Conceptualising Inclusive Innovation: Modifying Systems of Innovation Frameworks to Understand Diffusion of New Technology to Low-Income Consumers[END_REF] argue for inclusive innovation as a means to make innovation relevant for low income groups, defined as addressing problems relevant for the poor; involving the poor in the development; enabling the poor to adopt the innovations; and focus on innovations improving the livelihoods of the poor. But innovation is not limited to the relevance of, the access to and the ability to use ICTs effectively as discussed by for example Walsham and Sahay [START_REF] Walsham | Research on Information Systems in Developing Countries: Current Landscape and Future Prospects[END_REF]. In this paper I argue that innovation is also about how individuals and organizations in developing countries are involved in and ultimately take a lead in innovation as a process.

The method adopted in this paper was as follows. I first made a literature review on digital technologies in developing countries, focusing on the main information systems journals and conferences concerned with ICT4D. It quickly became apparent that while 'electronic', 'online' and 'digital technologies' are popular terms, discussions related to how digital technologies and digital innovation represents something new and different for developing countries are more or less absent. Based on this, the review strategy was changed to also include more general ICT related innovation for development. This review was contextualized in the broader information systems discourse on digital innovation. Finally, this was used as a basis to develop new research directions to bring digital innovation to the research agenda for information systems in developing countries.

Digital innovation remains as more or less a void in information systems research on ICTs in developing countries. My aim and hope is that pointing out this gap and suggesting research directions will encourage future studies addressing this topic and stimulate research on how to approach digital innovation in developing countries and if possible how to make it relevant for development.

In the next section, digital innovation is introduced. In the following section a review is done of existing research on ICTs and digital innovation in developing countries. This is followed by a section outlining a research agenda for information systems in developing countries including digital innovation. The concluding section five summarizes the paper and discusses future research.

Digital Innovation

Digital innovation is on the agenda in information systems research [see e.g. [START_REF] Yoo | Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World[END_REF][START_REF] Lyytinen | Digital production innovation within four classes of innovation networks[END_REF][START_REF] Nambisan | Digital Innovation Management: Reinventing Innovation Management Research in a Digital World[END_REF]. In their research commentary, Yoo et al. [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF] put forward that digital technologies and their modular architectures will have profound implications on how firms organize innovation. They describe digital technologies as different from analogue technologies on three levels: they are reprogrammable, enabling them to perform a variety of different tasks; data is homogenized enabling the same digital device the ability to store, transmit, process and display a variety of different digital contents and content becomes separated from the media; and finally digital innovation requires digital technologies creating a drive towards further digital innovation. These changes in technology are drivers towards radical changes in the way innovation unfolds [START_REF] Lyytinen | Digital production innovation within four classes of innovation networks[END_REF].

The rapid drop in the cost of digital technologies including PC's and smartphones combined with the explosive diffusion of Internet have radically lowered the barriers of access to the digital tools for digital innovation: "Digital technology, therefore, has democratized innovation and almost anyone can now participate." [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF]. Digital innovations are based on layered architectures comprised of core components, complementary components and interfaces between these components. With digital innovation, there is a separation between devices and services and networks and contents. While the core components are stable and with low variability, the complementary products are rapidly changing [START_REF] Baldwin | The Architecture of Platforms: A Unified View[END_REF]. This layered and modular architecture enables innovation distributed among different and different kinds of actors. Yoo et al. [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF] characterizes these architectures as doubly distributed, in terms of how they offer opportunities in combining a variety of resources on different levels as well as the control over and the knowledge about the different components being distributed among actors. Digital innovation activities require the ability to mobilize other actors to release the potential of platforms, to combine and recombine components, rapidly respond to changes in constellations of components and attribute new meanings and usages to existing technologies [START_REF] Lane | Complexity and Innovation Dynamics[END_REF]. Technical attributes of platforms play key roles in concert with human relationships in shaping the socio-technical generativity of digital technologies [START_REF] Msiska | Innovation in the Fringes of Software Ecosystems: The role of Socio-Technical Generativity[END_REF]. Examples of digital innovations range from open source software projects, Google's shared platform and new mobile services.

Digital innovation is about the breaking up of silo systems and creation of networks where different actors comes together and interlink complementary digital components. While user involvement in innovation is not something new [START_REF] Hippel | Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts[END_REF], the pervasiveness and accessibility of digital technologies are. Even if the user is offered a more significant role and have the potential to make their own modifications of technologies, user driven innovation is based on a user -innovator relationship. Digital innovation is a deeper change in the ways in which firms organize innovation, influencing industrial structures and competitive landscapes. Old vertically integrated industries and models are broken down and new complex technical, organizational and social networks are emerging based on heterogeneous actors with control over and knowledge about different components. Instead of being based on a user -innovator relationship, digital innovation offers multiple venues for multiple different actors to participate in innovation. It opens up for different actors to take new roles, but participation will also require new knowledge, competencies and social relationships. The opportunities digital innovation offers and what it takes for individuals and organizations from developing countries to participate is by large unknown and yet to be explored.

A review of research on ICTs and Innovation in Developing Countries

Innovation for developing countries

There is a common concern that the context of developing countries poses certain challenges to ICTs and requires different technologies and implementation approaches. For example, resource constraints in terms of weak ICT infrastructure and electricity outages will inevitably result in expensive and fluctuation Internet connections. This mandates solutions using as little bandwidth as possible and providing offline capabilities [e.g. 23]. Discussing the design of hospital systems for resource constrained context, Sahay & Walsham [START_REF] Sahay | Information Technology, Innovation and Human Development: Hospital Information Systems in an Indian State[END_REF] describe technical innovation as intrinsically related to social and institutional innovation, and argue that ICT based innovation in developing countries requires these different types of innovation to happen at the same time. They introduce the concept of frugal innovation to ICT4D research by arguing that innovation in resource constrained context must achieve doing more with less. In their concrete case, frugal innovation included amongst other factors saving money based on using open source software, reaching out to rural populations and reducing external dependencies. The focus on the particularities of the context in developing countries also includes research on the broader social context. For example, Khalid et al. [START_REF] Khalid | Designing a Mobile Partograph for Real-Time Decision Support for Safer Deliveries in India[END_REF] discuss and suggest a particular design of a partograph for real-time clinical decisions in India based on addressing key cultural barriers. These barriers include; the human capacity to absorb the complexities of a graphical format; the capacity of the health providers to give training to their staff; insufficient resources to assure accountability and usage in decision making; and linking the solution to the wider health system.

There is also a body of research on ICTs in developing countries that does not focus on the design of technology for a particular context, but the processes in which innovations are introduced and used. This is for example related to discussions on digital divides between the developed and developing countries and how marginalized groups and regions can achieve access to the 'network society' [START_REF] Mosse | The role of communication practices in the strengthening of counter networks: Case experiences from the health care sector of Mozambique[END_REF]. While research on digital divides have focused on who have access to technology (first order effects), there are also arguments for focusing on second order effects in terms of the ability for those who have access to use the technology in a meaningful way [START_REF] Riggins | The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions[END_REF]. Dijk and Hacker [START_REF] Dijk | The Digital Divide as a Complex and Dynamic Phenomenon[END_REF] argue that while the lack of access to hardware that existed in the 1980s and 1990s in developing countries is less a challenge today, the lack of access to skills required for meaningful use is different and likely to increase. In a similar fashion, Kibere [START_REF] Kibere | The Paradox of Mobility in the Kenyan ICT Ecosystem: An Ethnographic Case of How the Youth in Kibera Slum Use and Appropriate the Mobile Phone and the Mobile Internet[END_REF] in her study of the use and appropriation of mobile phones in the Kiberia slum in Kenya problematizes how social, cultural and political structures influences the processes of technology adoption, diffusion and use. More broadly, Diga and May [START_REF] Diga | The ICT Ecosystem: The Application, Usefulness, and Future of an Evolving Concept[END_REF] in their introduction to a special issue on ICT Ecosystems in the Information Technology for Development Journal, discuss how ICT usage is always framed in a context where for example socio-economic and political forces are at play. In sum, this body of literature focuses on different facets of the context in developing countries, and contributes by suggesting how technologies and implementation processes can be designed accordingly.

The digital divide is recognized as not only the lack of access to ICTs but also the social and institutional context shaping access and the capacity of people to use ICTs [START_REF] Madon | Digital Inclusion Projects in Developing Countries: Processes of Institutionalization[END_REF]. There is a stream of research on innovation and ICT4D, motivated by the challenges emerging when ICTs designed and developed for and by the developed countries are implemented in developing countries. Addressing technology production in general, Suchman [START_REF] Suchman | Located accountabilities in technology production[END_REF] pointed out the different social worlds of users and developers, and the challenges emerging when technologies are crossing these boundaries. To address these challenges, she calls for developers to cross over to where technology is used. Heeks [START_REF] Heeks | Information Systems and Developing Countries: Failure, Success, and Local Improvisations[END_REF] have made a similar argument particularly for ICT4D research with his discussion of design-actuality gaps. Heeks describe these gaps, between the designers' approach to design and the local actuality of the users, along dimensions of; information; technology; processes; objectives and values; staffing and skills; management systems and structures; and other resources. Heeks argues for designing applications that comes with fewer assumptions related to these different dimensions. Instead, they should be enabling and put as little as possible constraints on local improvisations. There is, at the same time, the need to balance between the room for improvisation and what the design requires of local implementation capacity on the ground.

Innovation by Developing Countries

Bridging design-actuality gaps and drawing the balance between initial design and room for improvisation assumes a situation where developed countries are producers of innovations and developing countries form the implementation and use context. This perspective is reflected in for example the work of Nicholson and Sahay [START_REF] Nicholson | Some political and cultural issues in the globalisation of software development: case experience from Britain and India[END_REF],

discussing how political and cultural issues challenges the management of software development projects across developed and developing countries. While Nicholson and Sahay focus on outsourcing as motivated by manpower shortages and needs to cut costs by companies in developed countries, outsourcing can also have a development aim. Discussing impact sourcing, Nicholson et al. [START_REF] Nicholson | Evaluating Impact Sourcing: A Capabilities Perspective From a Case Study in Pakistan[END_REF] describe how outsourcing can target the poorest people with a particular aim of poverty alleviation. The role of developing countries in impact sourcing is at the same time limited to data entry and digitization of documents.

There are attempts to explore and discuss developing countries as having a more active role in innovation. George et al. [START_REF] George | Innovation for Inclusive Growth: Towards a Theoretical Framework and a Research Agenda[END_REF] define inclusive innovation as "innovation that benefits the disenfranchised" (p. 661). Inclusive innovation entails making the poor not only customers and employees, but also owners, suppliers and community members in innovation. Heeks [START_REF] Heeks | ICT4D 2.0: The Next Phase of Applying ICT for International Development[END_REF] also seeks to expand existing innovation models by distinguishing between pro-poor, para-poor and per-poor innovation. Where propoor is innovation for the poor by the non-poor and para-poor is innovation by the non-poor alongside the poor, per-poor innovation is by poor communities themselves. This promising body of literature on per-poor innovation in developing countries is at the same time limited and not particularly addressing digital technologies.

To summarize this literature review, we can see that the research on ICTs and innovation in developing countries primarily focuses on the challenges emerging when innovation is driven by developed countries. There are a few initiatives to explore how developing countries can take a more active role in these innovation processes, but these are limited and not addressing digital technologies in particular.

A Digital Innovation Research Agenda for Information Systems in Developing Countries

In 2008, Thompson [START_REF] Thompson | ICT and development studies: towards development 2.0[END_REF] introduced Web 2.0 to information systems research in developing countries and discussed its implications for development in terms of openness, collaborative logic and how it supports networked social behavior. He described Web 2.0 as reflecting a different social life, comprised of diversity, collaboration and multiple truths, enabled by technology. When Walsham and Sahay [START_REF] Walsham | Research on Information Systems in Developing Countries: Current Landscape and Future Prospects[END_REF] suggested an agenda for research on information systems in developing countries, they also emphasized the role of technology and the need of detailed studies of particular technologies. These calls to study particular technologies in the developing country contexts; a global call to study digital innovation through theorizing and empirical research [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF]; and the identified gap in research on digital innovation in this paper have shaped the first two research directions suggested below in this section. Linked to the two first, the third research direction suggested concerns how digital innovation can improve the livelihoods and the quality of life for individuals in developing countries. Inspired by Amartya Sen in the way he define development as human capabilities and the freedoms of individuals to participate in the activities they want [START_REF] Sen | Development as freedom[END_REF], the third direction is based on appreciating the opportunity for individuals to participate in digital innovation as a freedom.

Empirical Research on Digital Innovation by Developing Countries

The implications of and what roles organizations and individuals from developing countries will take in digital innovation are unknowns. The scant, but growing body of empirical research on digital innovation involving developing countries have included studies of open source software projects and the participation of developing countries in software generification processes [START_REF] Gizaw | Open Generification. Information Systems Journal[END_REF] and crowdsourcing platforms emerging from developing countries [START_REF] Marsden | Stigmergic self-organization and the improvisation of Ushahidi[END_REF]. While unveiling new opportunities for developing countries, these studies also reveal the persistence of old and the emergence of new barriers and divides.

The very nature of digital technologies leaves a potential for developing countries participating in digital innovation. We should also appreciate participation in innovation as a potential venue to bridge design-actuality gaps. At the same time, while ICTs now are available and affordable for large populations in developing countries, the argument that digital technology: "… has democratized innovation and almost anyone can now participate …" [START_REF] Yoo | The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[END_REF] paints a too simple and rather naïve picture of the context in developing countries. Such an argument can only be based on the assumption that digital innovation is open for all and incentives, knowledge and human capacity are equally distributed on a global scale.

There is a need for more empirical research in this area. Will digital innovation be a democratization of innovation where innovation will be by developing countries, will developing countries only be users of digital platforms, or will digital innovation become the source of yet another digital divide? These questions could be approached by for example case studies in various domains on how platforms for digital innovation is shaped, influenced and developed by developing countries, how developing countries is taking part in innovation on top of platforms or more broadly on the role of developing countries in networks and ecosystems generating digital innovations. While these studies should focus and appreciate how organizations and individuals from developing countries can take active roles in digital innovation and how this can promote development, they should also critically scrutinize the real impact of digital innovation in this context.

Theorizing Digital Innovation by Developing Countries

Digital divides can be explained by economic, socio-cultural and infrastructural factors [START_REF] Skaletsky | The Changing -and Unchanging -Face of the Digital Divide: an Application of Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps[END_REF]. Infrastructural factors includes ICT penetration, Internet penetration and digital wireless penetration [START_REF] Riggins | The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions[END_REF]. But access to ICTs does not equate effective use and participation in digital innovation. Further, digital technologies should be taken seriously and properly theorized as any other technology [START_REF] Orlikowski | Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the "IT[END_REF]. Research should find inspiration from existing theorizations not particularly focusing on the developing country context. For example, Ghazawneh and Henfridsson [START_REF] Ghazawneh | Balancing platform control and external contribution in third-party development: the boundary resources model[END_REF] argue that digital technologies are not only about platforms, their owners, applications and developers, and conceptualize boundary resources as a necessity to keep these different dimensions together. These resources, including for example software tools and regulations, are also tools that afford certain actors control over others. Another example is Dittrich [START_REF] Dittrich | Software Engineering Beyond the Project -Sustaining Software Ecosystems[END_REF] and her discussion of platforms as "half products", and how they have to be configured, customized and extended to fit a specific context. Other examples include the discussion of Diga and May [START_REF] Diga | The ICT Ecosystem: The Application, Usefulness, and Future of an Evolving Concept[END_REF] on how ecosystems can both facilitate and hinder the participation of certain communities in digital innovation, the discussion of different types of digital innovation networks by Lyytinen et al. [START_REF] Lyytinen | Digital production innovation within four classes of innovation networks[END_REF] and the conceptualization of socio-technical generativity and role of human capacities in digital innovation in developing countries by Msiska and Nielsen [START_REF] Msiska | Innovation in the Fringes of Software Ecosystems: The role of Socio-Technical Generativity[END_REF].

To understand who stands to gain from digital innovation related to the developing country context, we need to further theorize digital technologies and the processes of digital innovation in the developing country context, including dimensions such as; boundary resources in terms of e.g. intermediaries; platform technologies and human capacity needs for implementation and use; and inclusion/exclusion and the openness of ecosystems.

Participation in Digital Innovation as Freedom

The question "… will the digital revolution revolutionize development?" [START_REF] Boas | Will the Digital Revolution Revolutionize Development? Drawing Together the Debate[END_REF] is not entirely new, but it remains by large unanswered. What should be a concern is that so little current research is engaged in answering this question. If we continue along this path, we will remain with only a weak understanding of what digital innovation is, the opportunities it may bring, the challenges it may pose and the actual and potential impacts on developing countries and development. I find it striking that the contribution from developing countries in digital innovation still is discussed as a simple source of 'insights' to developed countries engaged in digital innovation [START_REF] Barrett | Service Innovation in the Digital Age: Key Contributions and Future Directions[END_REF]. This is about the impact of digital innovation on development, but also about the impact of human development on digital innovation. It is also about bridging the often disconnected discussions on understanding ICTs for development and studies focusing on understanding ICTs in developing countries [START_REF] Brown | Highlighting the Duality of the ICT and Development Research Agenda[END_REF]. Sahay and Walsham discuss whether ICT-based innovation contributes to human development, using the capability approach of Sen by describing ICT as having the potential to offer increased freedoms [START_REF] Sahay | Information Technology, Innovation and Human Development: Hospital Information Systems in an Indian State[END_REF]. Their discussion is focused on how access to innovation and particular kinds of innovation can enable a growing range of freedoms including political rights and economic choices and protection in developing countries. But at the same time, the focus of their research agenda is on how to best introduce and use innovations in developing countries which are developed elsewhere (the developed world). There is a need to push information systems research further by also include research on how developing countries can be enabled to participate and take relevant roles in digital innovation.

Conclusion

My goal in this paper is to support a shift in research on information systems in developing countries by bringing digital innovation on the agenda. Based on reviewing the existing literature and identifying a gap in research on digital innovation and developing countries, I have suggested and discussed three new directions for research; empirical research on digital innovation by developing countries; theorizing digital innovation by developing countries; and participation in digital innovation as freedom. My hope is that this discussion and the directions can act as an inspiration and guidance for further research. While research on information systems in developing countries has matured both methodologically and theoretically, there is still a need to focus on the relationship between ICTs and development [START_REF] Walsham | Research on Information Systems in Developing Countries: Current Landscape and Future Prospects[END_REF]. This paper argues for a stronger focus on digital technologies and the particular relationship between digital innovation and development. With this agenda, I believe that information systems research can make an important contribution by exploring the opportunities and challenges of digital innovation in developing countries and avoid digital innovation becoming the source of yet another digital divide.

  To do this, we need to understand what relevant roles can be; how participation in digital innovation by individuals and organizations from developing countries can contribute to development; what are the additional barriers for participation; and what extra support is needed in developing country contexts. This is partly about exploring digital innovation and how it can open up for the engagement of a wider audience from developing countries. It is also about exploring the relevance of digital innovation for the development agenda and understanding how participation in digital innovation relates to the freedoms of indi-viduals. Building a deeper understanding of digital innovation as development should inspire and influence information systems research on digital innovation as well as ICT4D research in general.


Ronel Smith
email: rsmith2@csir.co.za

Marita Turpin
email: marita.turpin@up.ac.za

Design Science Research and Activity Theory in ICT4D: Developing a socially relevant ICT platform for elderly women in remote rural South Africa

Keywords: Design Science Research, Activity Theory, ICT4D, South Africa, rural women, empowerment

ICT4D projects in rural communities face many challenges to successful execution. These include the development of an ICT artifact which is suited to the needs of a specific community, as well as a complex socio-cultural context which can have unexpected impacts on an ICT4D project. In Mafarafara, a remote rural community in South Africa's Limpopo province, researchers who were using a Design Science Research framework to guide the development of an ICT platform recognized the importance and potential impact of unvoiced social and political issues. Managing these dynamics are important for not only a better understanding of the community, but also for the success and sustainability of the project. Activity theory is used to complement the DSRM to make these social aspects visible, thus contributing to the success of the project. Two examples of the socio-political dynamics are described using the activity theory concepts of tension and hierarchical activity.

Introduction

Despite wide-spread acceptance that ICT4D is a socio-technical discipline, theories focusing on the acceptance and resistance of technology, and understanding technology adoption, still predominate ICT4D research [START_REF] Zheng | ICT4D, Overview of Theories In[END_REF][START_REF] Andersson | What Are We Doing? -Theories Used in ICT4D Research[END_REF]. In a comprehensive classification of the theories used in ICT4D, Andersson and Hatakka [START_REF] Andersson | What Are We Doing? -Theories Used in ICT4D Research[END_REF] highlight that very few ICT4D researchers apply theories from outside the domain. In response, Andersson and Hatakka [START_REF] Andersson | What Are We Doing? -Theories Used in ICT4D Research[END_REF], and Karanasios [START_REF] Karanasios | Framing ICT4D Research Using Activity Theory: A Match between the ICT4D Field and Theory?[END_REF] argue that ICT4D researchers should use theories which allow the focus to be placed on the social context, poverty reduction, and development. More use should be made of theories from other domains such as gender studies and education [START_REF] Andersson | What Are We Doing? -Theories Used in ICT4D Research[END_REF]. This would allow for an investigation of the relationship between technology, human activity, and development, aspects that are particularly relevant for this research project, which is aimed at providing elderly women in a remote rural community in South Africa's Limpopo province with access to an ICT platform designed to meet their stated needs.

Within a case study context, this paper presents the theoretical framework which underpins a research project. It discusses how, the social and political dynamics of a remote rural community can be made visible and taken into account by applying activity theory within a design science research framework.

The Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) formulated by Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberger & Chatterjee [START_REF] Peffers | A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research[END_REF] provides the overall framework for the research project. Activity theory is simultaneously applied during each phase of the DSRM. Activity theory is used to make visible the relationships between the women, the ICT platform and the researchers, and to describe the social and political dynamics in the community. Activity theory is hence used to complement the DSRM by surfacing and emphasizing social aspects that are important, not only for better understanding of the community but also for the success and sustainability of the project. This study contributes to the theoretical body of knowledge in ICT4D by demonstrating how the combination of Design Science Research (DSR) and activity theory can lead to a more appropriate practice theory for ICT4D.

The theoretical framework of the study is the main focus of the paper. It proceeds with a discussion of DSR in the ICT4D domain, followed by a presentation of the case study. The role of activity theory in this research project and ICT4D is then explored. Finally, the paper discusses the theoretical framework that incorporates activity theory in the Design Science Research Methodology.

2

Design science research in ICT4D

Overview of design science research

DSR is a creative problem solving methodology that focuses on creation and innovation with the purpose of changing "existing situations into preferred ones" [START_REF] Simon | The Sciences of the Artificial[END_REF][START_REF] Venable | A Framework for Design Science Research Activities[END_REF][START_REF] Herselman | Designing and Implementing an Information Technology for Rural[END_REF]. DSR therefore creates a new reality, rather than attempting an explanation of the existing reality [START_REF] Simon | The Sciences of the Artificial[END_REF] [START_REF] Herselman | Designing and Implementing an Information Technology for Rural[END_REF]. Through its focus on problem solving, DSR aims to "produce and apply knowledge of tasks or situations in order to create" new, innovative and effective artifacts, rather than the creation of general theoretical knowledge [START_REF] March | Design and Natural Science Research on Information Technology[END_REF]. The production of innovative new knowledge to solve a specific problem differentiates DSR from routine design [START_REF] Vaishnavi | Design Science Research in Information Systems[END_REF]. DSR researchers value relevance, making a visible impact, creative problem solving, and efficient ways to accomplish the desired end result. Key criteria for the assessment of a DSR project pertains to questions of pragmatic validity (does the artifact produce the intended result and is it effective: does it work as it is supposed to) and practical relevance (does the artifact make a valuable contribution to solving a significant real-life problem) [START_REF] Van Aken | Conducting and Publishing Design Science Research[END_REF].

Various DSR frameworks have been developed since Simon published The Sciences of the Artificial in 1996. Concepts central to these frameworks focus on problem identification, the design and build of a prototype solution, evaluation and testing of the solution, and analysis and reflection. DSR produces both tangible and intangible artifacts which includes constructs, models, methods, instantiations, and better theories [START_REF] Peffers | A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research[END_REF] [START_REF] March | Design and Natural Science Research on Information Technology[END_REF][START_REF] Vaishnavi | Design Science Research in Information Systems[END_REF].

Changes in the Information Systems (IS) domain over the past two decades have led to DSR becoming an established research methodology in IS. Various authors including Drechsler and Hevner [START_REF] Drechsler | A Four-Cycle Model of IS Design Science Research: Capturing the Dynamic Nature of IS Artifact Design[END_REF], Goldkuhl and Lind [START_REF] Goldkuhl | A Multi-Grounded Design Research Process[END_REF], and Iivari [START_REF] Iivari | Twelve Theses on Design Science Research in Information Systems[END_REF] argue that DSR is appropriate for the IS domain because it addresses the centrality of the IT artefact in IS, lends increased legitimacy to the discipline's creative aspects, and increases the relevance of IS research.

Design science research in ICT4D

The application of DSR in ICT4D is a more recent, but evolving phenomenon. The synergies between ICT4D and DSR are discussed below.

ICT4D has been described as a "complex socio-technical activity in which the social and the technical negotiate and evolve together", to address "ill-structured and wicked problems" [START_REF] Dodson | Considering Failure: Eight Years of ITID Research[END_REF]. Wicked problems result from, amongst others, ill-defined environmental contexts, complex relationships, and a reliance on teamwork to deliver relevant and effective solutions [START_REF] Hevner | Design Research in Information Systems[END_REF]. As argued by Rittel and Webber [START_REF] Rittel | Planning Problems Are Wicked Problems[END_REF], DSR is particularly suited to managing wicked problems.

Although firmly rooted in engineering, DSR is applicable in the ICT4D domain because it focuses on phenomena which result from the interaction of a social system (the elderly women) and a technical system (the ICT platform) [START_REF] Drechsler | A Four-Cycle Model of IS Design Science Research: Capturing the Dynamic Nature of IS Artifact Design[END_REF] [START_REF] Iivari | A Paradigmatic Analysis of Information Systems as a Design Science[END_REF]. Drechsler and Hevner [START_REF] Drechsler | A Four-Cycle Model of IS Design Science Research: Capturing the Dynamic Nature of IS Artifact Design[END_REF] recently proposed the addition of the fourth "change and impact" cycle to Hevner's Three-cycle view of DSR to allow the latter to better deal with the dynamic contexts in which DSR projects are conducted, as well as the impact of the introduction of an artifact within a context.

Pragmatic validity and utility is key in DSR [START_REF] Van Aken | Conducting and Publishing Design Science Research[END_REF]. Towards achieving these aims, DSR allows for the identification of a specific problem that is important to the community in which a development project is being executed; and for the development of a relevant, innovative solution. Validity and utility of the ICT4D intervention can address failure as a result of irrelevant solutions which are enforced from outside. Dearden, Light, Kanagwa & Rai [START_REF] Dearden | Technical ICT Research for Development? Getting from Research to Practice[END_REF] define the term "Technical ICTD", and call for innovation and adaptation of technologies to ensure that technical ICT research makes a positive contribution to development. In this context, and with ICT4D being a practical discipline, DSR is a suitable research methodology in the ICT4D domain [START_REF] Iivari | A Paradigmatic Analysis of Information Systems as a Design Science[END_REF].

Case study

The aim of the research project was threefold: (1) with the women as co-creators, design an ICT platform adapted to suit the specific requirements of elderly rural women with respect to physical design, content and applications; (2) develop a framework aimed at improving the adoption of an ICT platform which can empower elderly women in a rural community in South Africa; and (3) gain an improved understanding of the role that ICTs can play in rural development.

The research project was operationalized through a DSR process consisting of three phases. The various aspects of the project were investigated through the use of case study research. As depicted in Fig. 2, the study followed an iterative process of designing, developing, testing and evaluating an ICT platform in a rural community with the active participation of the elderly women. To date, the three phases of the DSR process indicated in Fig. 2 have been completed while the analysis of data that were collected as part of the case study is ongoing.

The situation of elderly rural women in South Africa

Elderly rural women form the most deprived population group in South Africa [START_REF]ANC Women's League: Women and Poverty -Discussion Document[END_REF][START_REF]Statistics South Africa: Social Profile of Vulnerable Groups 2002-2012[END_REF]. Apartheid, enduring patriarchal prejudice, discriminatory customary laws, and a dearth of initiatives aimed at their empowerment have conspired to leave these women in a dire situation [START_REF]ANC Women's League: Women and Poverty -Discussion Document[END_REF] [START_REF] Ozoemena | Poverty Alleviation Strategies in South Africa: Creating Dignified Living for Women through Social Justice and Development[END_REF]. They are marginalized, mostly illiterate, isolated in their communities, and have extremely limited access to resources [START_REF]Statistics South Africa: Social Profile of Vulnerable Groups 2002-2012[END_REF] [START_REF]ILO: Global Employment Trends 2012[END_REF]. Despite the mentioned disadvantages that elderly rural women face, and as a result of men working away from their communities, the women frequently care for a multigenerational household, with their R1,520 (just over $100) monthly old age grant as the only household income [START_REF]Statistics South Africa: Social Profile of Vulnerable Groups 2002-2012[END_REF].

Empowering and improving the economic condition of rural women has been shown to have a positive multiplier effect which results in improved nutrition and health, as well as access to education for their family members [START_REF] Ozoemena | Poverty Alleviation Strategies in South Africa: Creating Dignified Living for Women through Social Justice and Development[END_REF] [23]. The prevailing majority opinion is that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have an important role to play as vehicle through which rural women in particular can empower themselves economically and socially [START_REF] Buskens | Agency and Reflexivity in ICT4D Research: Questioning Women's Options, Poverty, and Human Development[END_REF].

Mafarafara

The research project was conducted in Mafarafara, a small very remote rural community in the Greater Tubatse local municipality in South Africa's Limpopo province. The community is surrounded by mountains, and can only be reached by a 4x4 vehicle due to the poor condition of the access road that passes through the Tubatse river. The community is completely isolated when the river is in flood. There is limited and unreliable cell phone coverage. According to Mma C (Mma is a respectful form of address for elderly women), the project champion, there are 280 households with a population ranging between 1700 and 2000 people in Mafarafara [START_REF] Mma | Personal discussion RE: Demographics of Mafarafara[END_REF]. The majority of families in Mafarafara survive on government grants and subsistence agriculture. The lack of infrastructure development has a severely negative impact on the community's quality of life in general, and on the elderly women in particular. Although there are connections for running water, water is not available because the main water pump was stolen. Pre-paid electricity was installed in a section of the community in October 2013. However, many houses have electricity sockets installed without access to electricity, and many inhabitants cannot afford to pay for electricity. Mafarafara still resides under the tribal chieftaincy tradition. To this end, the site visits were conducted by Sepedi (local language) speaking researchers. All focus group sessions and one-on-one interviews were conducted in Sepedi. The project lead (one of the authors) is English speaking, necessitating the transcription and translation of the Sepedi audio and video recordings to English before the data could be processed. Although debriefs were conducted after each site visit, an in-depth analysis of the transcriptions revealed complex social and political dynamics in the community-between the elderly women themselves, and between the women and the research team-the extent of which was not evident during the debriefing sessions. These dynamics, as well as the agency of the women, directly impact on the success of this project, and must be made visible and taken into account to ensure that the final artifact meets the DSR criteria for a successful project, namely validity and relevance. However, given its roots in engineering, DSR neglects the social aspects of the complex environments in which ICT4D initiatives are executed.

The need to make sense of these human dynamics in an ICT4D project leads Karanasios [START_REF] Karanasios | Framing ICT4D Research Using Activity Theory: A Match between the ICT4D Field and Theory?[END_REF] and Hashim and Jones [START_REF] Hashim | Activity Theory: A Framework for Qualitative Analysis[END_REF], amongst others, to argue for the suitability of activity theory in ICT4D because it provides the researcher with "a well-developed model of the dynamics of human activity" in developmental contexts [START_REF] Karanasios | Framing ICT4D Research Using Activity Theory: A Match between the ICT4D Field and Theory?[END_REF].

4.2

Activity theory

Activity theory, which is defined by Kaptelinin and Nardi [START_REF] Kaptelinin | Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design[END_REF] as a "general theoretical framework for the analysis of human and communal action in the world", can provide the structure for articulating and studying the social aspects highlighted above. Using Gregor [START_REF] Gregor | The Nature of Theory in Information Systems[END_REF], activity theory can be described as a theory for analysis, and for describing and studying design rather than as a theory for prediction.

In this research study, Engeström's [START_REF] Engeström | Innovative Learning in Work Teams: Analysing Cycles of Knowledge Creation in Practice[END_REF] third generation activity theory is applied in the Design & Development and Demonstration activities of the DSRM. The belief that the "human mind emerges, exists, and can only be understood within the context of meaningful, goal-oriented, and socially determined interaction between human beings and their material environment" is foundational in activity theory. This interaction (activity) is socially and culturally determined. By emphasizing socio-cultural factors, the interaction between human actors and their environments, and the concept of tool mediation, activity theory can provide a suitable foundation for the Design & Development and Demonstration activities of this research project [27] [30].

The concept of tool mediation allows for a specific focus on people's interaction with each other and with artifacts [START_REF] Kaptelinin | Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design[END_REF]. In the context of Mafarafara, activity theory therefore allows the researchers to explore the relationships between the women themselves, the women and the ICT platform, as well as the relationship between the women and the researchers.

Activity theory is well established in the ICT4D domain, where it serves to highlight and frame the importance of the social and development aspects of ICT implementation and use [3] [27]. Activity theory provides researchers with a tool to describe and gain an understanding of the cultural, inter-personal, and ethnographic dimensions involved with the introduction of an ICT artifact to a community [START_REF] Karanasios | Framing ICT4D Research Using Activity Theory: A Match between the ICT4D Field and Theory?[END_REF].

Karanasios [START_REF] Karanasios | Framing ICT4D Research Using Activity Theory: A Match between the ICT4D Field and Theory?[END_REF], highlighting that activity theory is not excessively prescriptive, states that it can easily draw on or be used with or within other theories to produce deeper knowledge than would otherwise be the case. Accordingly, in this study, activity theory is used to complement the DSRM by providing a means to describe and understand the social and political dimensions of the social context that became evident during the study.

Due to space limitations, which preclude an in-depth discussion of the project as a whole, two examples are given where the application of activity theory makes visible the social and political dynamics. The first example illustrates the activity theory notion of tensions between components and the second illustrates the structure of human activity.

Theoretical framework in this project

This section discusses the theoretical framework underpinning the research study, and provides a short overview of how it should be applied. The third iteration of phase 2 of the DSRM is then used to illustrate the application of the framework in the Mafarafara case study by means of example stories.

Design Science Research Methodology

The six activities of the DSRM [START_REF] Peffers | A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems Research[END_REF] in this project can be described as follows:

1. Identify the problem and motivate why it should be addressed: The problems that this research project seeks to address are the plight of elderly rural women and the low success rate of ICT4D initiatives. 4. Demonstrate: The created artifacts are demonstrated in the context of a case study. An iterative process is followed in Mafarafara. 5. Evaluate: Each iteration of the ICT artifact is evaluated by the elderly women participating in the research project. The final framework is evaluated by the women and by expert reviewers from the ICT4D and DSR domains. An internal review with members of the project team who conducted the site visits is further included. 6. Communicate: The results of this research project will be communicated through a PhD thesis, academic publications, project progress reports, and presentations to government departments.

Activity theory: making the social and political dynamics visible

Fig. 3 is a graphical representation of the components of activity theory in this research project that will be used to make the social and political dynamics in the community visible after introduction of the ICT platform. The purpose of the third site visit was to get feedback from the women about their experiences with the redesigned ICT platform. A number of the women stated that the CSIR should "reward" them for participating in the project. These comments highlight tensions between the tool of social dynamics that the women are utilizing to change their situation and the rules (ethics and good research practice) guiding the research process. Although the research team was not in a position to, for example, build a brick and mortar community centre for the women, they were able to ensure the women that their honest (even critical) feedback would not result in the project being cancelled and/or the ICT platform removed.

"Is there any other thing that CSIR is going to give us if we follow all the directions (sic) you gave us?"

"The CSIR should support us more because we have contributed our resources to this research. We've started our vegetable garden and have not been supported, and we have built our Centre (a mud room) and have not received any support to have a more concrete structure to secure the DD (Digital Doorway)." Leontiev, recognizing that an activity can happen on several layers simultaneously, formulated the hierarchical structure of human activity, depicting how a subject can interact with a number of objects at the same time [3] [27]. In this hierarchy, activities are seen as being comprised of actions, which in turn are comprised of operations. These correspond to the concepts of motive, goals and conditions. Motives, the top level goal, can be equated to human needs and represent the objective of the whole activity [START_REF] Kaptelinin | Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design[END_REF]. Goals are the objects at which human activities are directed. A move down the hierarchy crosses the border between conscious and automatic processes. Operations do not have their own goals but rather provide an adjustment of actions to current situations. During the third site visit, Mma C told the research team the following:

"At this moment even if we know how to open the DD…we will not touch the machine because we were not given permission to open and close that machine…even if I can go to the centre as early as eight o-clock I do not open the machine, instead I just clean and continue with sewing or marking my register of the elderly women…"

This, and similar statements, reflect the feedback regarding usage provided to the research team. After several interviews during this and subsequent site visits, it became clear that the women want a big "handing over" ceremony where CSIR management and representatives of government departments recognize them as "the owners" of the ICT platform, thereby conferring status on the women in front of the whole community. Fig. 5 shows the hierarchy of activities with expected outcomes that the women employed.

Conclusion

Designing a fit-for-purpose ICT solution, which takes into account the unique socio-cultural context of a specific community is central to the success of ICT4D initiatives. DSR's requirements that an ICT artifact should have both utility and relevance, makes it an appropriate research methodology to inform the co-creation of the ICT platform with the elderly women of Mafarafara. However, as discussed DSR is not best suited to take cognizance of, and incorporate socio-political dynamics into the design process. The understanding of the unvoiced needs of the women, and their use of social and political 'manoeuvring' to meet these needs, gained through the use of activity theory, contribute to the success of the research project by decreasing the likelihood of failure.

This study contributes to the theoretical body of knowledge in ICT4D by demonstrating how Design Science Research (DSR) can be supplemented by the use of activity theory to lead to a more appropriate practice theory for ICT4D.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Community centre where ICT platform is installed, and Mafarafara village

Fig. 2

 2 Fig. 2 describes the three phases of the DSRM, positions activity theory in the design & development, demonstrates activities of the three phases, and shows how the outputs of each phase are integrated towards the final artifacts.

Fig. 2 .

 2 Fig. 2. DSRM phases with activity theory applied in the design & development and demonstration activities (adapted from Peffers, et al. [4] and Herselman and Botha [7])

2 .

 2 Define objectives of the solution: The objective of the created artifacts are an improved success rate of ICT4D initiatives in rural areas; the design, development, testing and improvement of an ICT artifact for use by elderly rural women; and influencing government decision-making. 3. Design and develop: Design and develop various artifacts over three project phases, with three iterations in phase two. The learning from each iteration informs the following iteration towards finalization of the framework and ICT artifact.

Fig. 3 .Example 1 :

 31 Fig. 3. Activity theory components in this research study (adapted from Engeström [31])

Fig. 4 .

 4 Fig. 4. Example of tensions in activity system

Fig. 5 .

 5 Fig. 5. Hierarchy of activities by women to improve their circumstances (adapted from Karanasios [3])