development

Focusing on the process of technological diffusion in participatory development, and studying it in practice, is fundamental to understanding how technology can improve development. Rogers identifies five elements in determining the rate of adoption of innovations: perceived attributes of innovations, type of innovation decision, communication channels, nature of the social system, and extent of the change agents’ promotion efforts (Rogers, 1998, p. 207). All of these elements interact, yet in the case of FEWSNet, the Famine Early Warning System Network (www.fews.net), the communication channels and the nature of the social system are inadequately assessed. Considering that FEWSNet has yet to meet its mandate for predicting the possibility of famine—and preventing it—the system would benefit from understanding the social context within which it operates and the communication channels it uses to effect change.
The main concern of this paper is how FEWSNet can serve development in a participatory mode and infuse its network with positive social network externalities. How can we use network effects theory—considering the factors of institutions, economy, technology, politics, and culture in Burkina Faso—to come to a holistic understanding of FEWSNet, using context-rich, participatory models?

The widespread deployment of Internet technologies is dramatically impacting the world’s information infrastructures thereby reducing the planet to a much smaller place. New worldwide connections are made that link individuals from diverse cultures, classes, and socioeconomic backgrounds. While online technologies offer unprecedented communications opportunities, escalating reliance on them is causing a new problem. Cultural segregation, historically a “have – have not” phenomenon, is exacerbated when some cultures have better access to the Internet. Some international development workers are focused on using the Internet as a way to “leapfrog” weaker countries into forward motion and are trying to establish methods for doing so. Development workers in the Cambodian villages of Rovieng are currently addressing this challenge. They feel that by employing the Internet, Rovieng’s economy will benefit from a virtual marketplace and subsequently transfer profits towards the people’s basic needs and physical infrastructure. However, can this be achieved without the fundamental needs of the community being addressed first?