In the recently held Copenhagen Conference on Africa 06 on the future cooperation between Denmark and the African continent, organised and conducted by the Danish government, the chair man of the African Union, Malian Alpha Oumar Konaré stated the following: ‘Africa need partners with a new attitude. Partners from all over the world, but partners who will follow the new rules: Respect the African development and adopt our priorities’. The reporter adds:’ Other than just developing the traditional sectors such as health and educational institutions Konaré is also looking for more respect from foreign donors countries – or partners as he consequently calls them [my italics]
This statement is important to adopt, when looking at development issues from a European country, where the logical assumption is that sending money to the so-called under developed countries is regarded as a means of solving the problems. In this economic cycle of donation, the roles of sender and receiver are maintained by the money flow of international donations, under the anticipated need for alleviating socio-economic conditions, giving the giver a privileged role, in terms of deciding what to support and how to obtain development goals.
Equally, the visions of information and communication technologies for development are articulating ICTs as machines that are to strengthen the position of development countries to improve their position in world economy for the equal prospect of socio-economic improvement. Where it can be agreed that development work should be increasingly more locally based, I will argue that the current articulations of ICT for development purposes are making this problematic.
An aspect I would like to emphasise is the methodological issues entailed in these logical constructions of giver and receiver when outlined as partnerships; in this context understood as a symmetrical relationship, between two partners, establishing an equal cooperation. This equality in cooperation could also be regarded as an emphasis of a change from an agenda defined by external entities towards a local level, particularly in terms of methodology employed for achieving development goals.
This requirement for the relocation of methodology is important to understand and take seriously in its practical consequences, particularly when it comes to the integration of ICTs. Information and communication technologies that are articulated as an imperative for Africa, with an argumentation finding its vocabulary in economic globalisation and high tech discourse can be argued to have risk for overlooking and overriding local perspectives and locally based issues; the seductive discourses on Cyber technologies (eReadyness, eDevelopment etc.) combined with global technical standards, rhetorically amplified by the imperative for becoming global members are inducing specific methods for use and integration, i.e. very diverse contexts and culturally different practices have to conform with a specific practice and standards established externally of the context of use. The implication of this is that asymmetrical partnerships are inevitably established advising top down practices.
Having conducted research in South Africa, I came across various instances where official governmental discourse outlined the imperative of information and communication technologies in particular rural settings indented to develop through the import of technology, however when interviewing those intended for ‘becoming developed’ there were indications that there was a limited understanding of why money were being spent on ICT as this one particular thing, rather than addressing more relevant local needs. I think that these are good examples of conflicts between local and externally defined practices and this stresses that there is the need for the shift in attitude towards developing countries and the subsequent need for relocating integration method, going from a unitary method externally defined by ICT discourse towards being pragmatically and locally based and implemented.
Furthermore I think that when it comes to the use of information and communication technologies for development it requires an ability to look beyond the very strong anticipations of the necessities of ICT, outlined by dominating traditional discourses of socio-economy and globalisation.
Thus, more concretely this shift in particular entails that the methodology of implementation needs to be designed in consultation with and respect of the local context, subsequently shaping the technology, and not the other way around. In this process it is highly important that European based practitioners and researchers connect, join, listen and learn from the particular settings at the African continent, rather than in a normative manner pre-establishing a standardised role and use of information and communication technologies; or to use the words of Konaré, ‘development’ has to take it start and end in African local issues, based on respect and understanding.
Source: Poulsen, U.: “Den dag Afrika rejser sig op†Kristeligt Dagblad, 11th of May 2006 (my translation)
