2008/03/04 by Renee Kuriyan, Isha Ray, Kentaro Toyama · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Computer Science · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Innovation and Socioeconomic Development #ICT in Developing Communities #Microfinance and Financial Inclusion
paper · doi:10.1080/01972240701883948
openalex publication_date 2008/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The currently influential model for information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) is based on increasing the well-being of the poor through market-based solutions, and by using low-cost but advanced technologies. Using ethnographic methods, we chart out the contradictions that could arise when such a development-through-entrepreneurship model is implemented. We examine the Akshaya project, a franchise of computer-service kiosks in Kerala, India, which strives simultaneously for social development through access to computers and financial viability through cost recovery and entrepreneurship. We show that tensions within the state and among entrepreneurs and perceptions of public versus private among consumers make it challenging to meet the twin goals of commercial profitability and social development.