ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces the idea of appropriate institutions: that is, institutions which enable the benefits of technology to be more widely spread among the less-advantaged groups in African countries. It describes how changing international institutions bear on the appropriateness of the technologies that are used in Africa. The book provides further insight into the relationships that have just been portrayed. It shows that the degree of imbalance thus created will tend to be most severe in the poorest developing countries, many of which are located in Africa. The book draws on the concept of social capital, which, according to some authors, forms part of institutionalist theory. It also provides a detailed comparison of sharing mechanisms across all the main types of information technology: namely, the Internet, mobile phones and computers.
