Title: Evaluating digital inclusion projects: a livelihood approach

Authors: Alemayehu Molla, Saheer Al-Jaghoub

Addresses: School of Business Information Technology, RMIT University, 239 Bourke Street, Level 17, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia. ' Department of Management Information Systems, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, P.O. Box 247, Amman 19328, Jordan

Abstract: The paper addresses how digital inclusion projects can be conceived, implemented and their development impact evaluated and identifies the structure and processes that affect their outcome and impact. This paper draws from the ensemble views of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and the livelihood framework and uses data collected from Jordan. The result demonstrates the utility of the livelihood approach in evaluating the development impact of digital inclusion projects. Through the analysis, processes and structures that are argued to be of relevance for the development impact of digital inclusion projects have been identified. These include alignment with the development paradigm; blending the digital with the social; embedding projects with existing community structure and resources; institutionalised commitment and governance and the continuous upgrading of functioning to generate revenue. Some theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: digital inclusion; digital divide; impact evaluation; livelihood framework; ICT; information technology; communications; Jordan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKL.2007.016835

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2007 Vol.3 No.6, pp.592 - 611

Published online: 24 Jan 2008 *

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