ABSTRACT
The role of information technology (IT) in socio-economic development, and human development, in developing countries has been emphasized in the literature (Odedra-Straub 1996; Waema 1996). In all societies technology (any technology) has always been subjected to change (Andah 1992) and information technology is considered to narrow the gap between industrialized countries and developing countries. Still, the introduced IT applications have not been successfully applied, for example in Africa, thus inadequately fulfilling the desired outcomes (OdedraStraub 1996, Avgerou and Land 1992). Appropriate and sustainable software packages and organizational information systems must therefore be developed locally, even if a foreign package can be used as a starting point for adaptation (cf. Heeks 1999). ‘All major IT projects must have local content and involvement for sustainability’ (a notion made in the Made-in-Nigeria software exhibition in Lagos 2001). In that sense, the question of IT introduction is not about the ‘transfer of technology’ alone, but adopting and applying the technology appropriately to the extent that its adoption produces the expected socio-economic effect.
