ABSTRACT
So far, the achievement of socio-economic benefits in developing countries from ongoing ICT innovation has been slow and precarious. In this chapter we caution against the technology deterministic tendency to derive expectations of transformative developmental effects of the ‘digital revolution’ on the basis of technological potential alone. We propose a theoretical approach that combines an understanding of three levels of change: the relationship of ICT artefacts or systems with the social actors that shape their functionality and their use, and have their capabilities shaped by them; the relationship of socio-technical units of innovation with the broader socio-technical structures within which they are embedded; and the relationship of ICT innovation with goals and processes of socio-economic development. We illustrate such theoretical framing with an analysis of the Unique Identification (Aadhaar) Project in India.
