DESPERATELY SEEKING SYSTEMS THINKING IN ICT4D

The ICT4D context is a complex, multi-faceted one that needs to take into account political, cultural, economic and infrastructural factors, which often prove to be more challenging to deal with than the technological aspects. This messy context may benefit from a systems approach: Systems thinking provides a holistic view and transdisciplinary methods to describe and analyse complex situations. But to what extent has ICT4D benefited from systems thinking in the past? This paper presents a literature survey of the use of systems thinking in ICT4D. Prominent ICT4D publication outlets have been searched for any reference to systems thinking. The papers identified in the search are discussed in terms of the problems they address and the systems methods used. The results of the survey indicate not only a lack of the use of systems concepts in ICT4D, but also a fragmentedness in the application of systems concepts. The paper tries to make sense of these findings and provides a few perspectives to help interpret them. It concludes with a challenge to systems thinkers to put more effort into disseminating their work to the ICT4D research audience.