Framing ICT4D research using activity theory: a match between the ICT4D field and theory?

While there is mounting evidence on the positive national level economic benefits of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing countries, one area where knowledge could be improved is how ICT and information has led to a re-orientation and transformation of human activity. That is, changes in activities in terms of how they are conducted, the actors, actions and laws/norms and the labour that contributes to the activity and how ICT introduced in one activity impacts on other activities and the creation of new activities. This paper serves as an introduction to the use of activity theory in the context of Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) as a theory based framework to answer questions concerning how ICT have enabled changes at the “activity” level in developing countries. Four activity theoretic contributions are identified for framing the study of ICT4D. Despite the relatively unexplored use of activity theory in ICT4D research, it is argued that there are several appealing ways in which the field of ICT4D is compatible with its underlying critical and emancipatory commitments and that its use in ICT4D research may lead to richer insights.