| Development initiatives struggle to achieve sustainable impacts. Central to this objective is delivery of projects that relate to stakeholders' requirements in a meaningful way. Increasingly, information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become a familiar element in the promotion of international development. While still central to the mix, the provision of radio and telephone services are being eclipsed by Internet-based solutions. This thesis explores how advanced communications technologies are being deployed in rural regions of Madhya Pradesh, India. It highlights the critical importance of being able to "manage" the technology---particularly by villagers in the Pilot Project region. The process by which rural villagers negotiate technologies---and the social institutions represented therein---are explored through the theoretical frameworks provided by Anthony Giddens' structuration and the middle-theory contribution of Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory. |
