Paper short abstract:

‘Digital transformation’ is increasingly applied in the domain of government and requires critical investigation. We unpack the various dimensions of the ‘digital first’ logic underlying the digital transformation of government services to reveal the consequences for citizens and their development.

Paper long abstract:

Originating in the private sector, digital transformation has since been heralded by governments as an inevitable and desirable path for citizens to thrive in the digital age. However, digital transformation efforts are increasingly leading to government services being delivered as digital-only or ‘digital by default’, which is problematic because it risks excluding some members of society. When the ‘digital first’ logic underlying government digital transformation initiatives is applied to citizens’ interactions with government, it goes beyond a technological solution to constitute a national sociotechnical imaginary. Jasanoff (2015, p. 4) defines sociotechnical imaginaries as “institutionally stabilized and publicly performed visions of desirable futures” grounded in scientific and technological advances. By framing digital transformation as a sociotechnical imaginary, this study critically analyses the dominant discourse of digital transformation in the New Zealand public sector to unpack the flawed ‘digital first’ logic that has serious consequences for citizens. We develop a consequential framework that highlights three intertwined dimensions of the ‘digital first’ logic: (1) how casting digital as the technological solution to government services creates a deficit model of citizen attributes and behaviour in relation to digital technology; (2) the technological determinism inherent in attributing societal progress to digital transformations; and (3) the prioritising and positioning of individuals as consumers of services instead of citizens. We argue that the consequences of these intertwined dimensions curtail choices for the individual and, consequently, negatively affect human development, understood as enjoying the freedom to live their lives (Sen, 1999).

Paper short abstract:

This presentation reviews key literature perspectives about digital transformation for development, and outlines implications for future research, policy and practice on digital transformation in the global South.

Paper long abstract:

“Digital transformation” has become a buzz term in development circles in recent years, reflecting the growing presence of digital in processes and structures of development. But the term and its associated actions and interests have rarely been subject to critical analysis.

This presentation will review the origin and meanings of digital transformation, based on a review of academic and organisational literature addressing digital transformation in the global South. What development paradigms does digital transformation espouse, and what alternative visions might exist? What is and is not transformed by digital transformation, and with what impact: who wins and who loses from this latest development trend?

We consider some of the development policy and practice implications of current approaches to digital transformation, and future research directions.

Paper short abstract:

This paper uses critical theory to scrutinise the discourses, practices and conditions that shaped the construction of socio-economic problems in the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030) and interrogate the justification of solutions in the strategy.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse how socio-economic problems were presented in the Digital Transformation Strategy (DTS) for Africa (2020-2030) and interrogate the justification of solutions in the strategy. The study adopted a critical approach and applied Carol Bacchi’s what’s the problem presented to be? (WPR)(Bacchi, 2009), which draws concepts from Michel Foucault’s work on problematisation (Foucault, 1980; 1972). The study used secondary data which included copies of DTS for Africa and related documents. The study found that the DTS for Africa’s main objective was to harness digital technologies and innovation to transform and promote integration, generate inclusive economic growth, break the digital divide, eradicate poverty, and potentially achieve Africa’s socioeconomic development. The DTS’s solutions were framed around digital enabling environment and policy regulation, digital infrastructure, digital skills and human capacity, and digital innovation and entrepreneurship, as key drivers of digital transformation in Africa that could potentially realise the continent's socio-economic development. The study also noted that whilst the DTS solutions focused more on both the demand and supply sides of digital transformation, political, economic, security, cultural, and contextual issues that exist within and among African countries were downplayed. Thus, this study may inform policymakers, research practitioners, and other stakeholders on the critical importance of articulating the real needs of policy beneficiaries during digital transformation policy process at national, regional, continental and global levels

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the implications of digital transformation for environmental sustainability and social justice. It proposes principles such as regenerative design, circularity, sufficiency, system resilience, digital sovereignty, and social equity to guide digital transformation.

Paper long abstract:

While digital transformation is discussed in development-related policy circles, governments globally grapple with multiple key transition processes, including digitalisation and transitions to greater sustainability, including the mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss. In a recent report, a set of experts from different disciplines, the Digital for Sustainability (D4S) group, have published a report calling on governments globally to recognize the implications of the digitalisation for environmental sustainability and social justice:

https://digitalization-for-sustainability.com/digital-reset/

It argues that a “digital reset” is needed, fundamentally refocusing the purpose of digital technologies towards a deep sustainability transition. The report identifies key principles: technologies should be built according to regenerative designs and pursue systems innovations that advance circularity and sufficiency, improve economic resilience, and foster digital sovereignty and social equity. Drawing on sectors including agriculture, mobility, industrial production, energy, building and consumption, the report documents the negative and positive effects digitalisation has for sustainability, concluding that there is a risk of a net negative effect. The report calls for more effective governance of data infrastructure, better and more energy-conscious design of devices and infrastructures, and scrutiny of the environmentally unsustainable business models of key technology companies.

This paper, by the D4S co-author with the global justice portfolio in the group, introduces the report from a global justice perspective, and focuses on its implications for low- and lower-middle income countries. In doing so, it documents the role of different UN agencies currently discussing digitalisation and sustainability, examines their policies and discourses, and offers recommendations.

Paper short abstract:

The contributions of the study are twofold: first, it communicates digital transformation in metaphors, in a way that aligns with the social structure of micro businesses. Second, it proposes inclusive and tailored approach to strategy formulation, addressing the barriers faced by micro businesses.

Paper long abstract:

Micro businesses in developing countries are increasingly adopting digital technologies to improve their operations and competitiveness. However, the process of digital transformation is unstructured, lacking a clear strategy. In countries like Nigeria, micro businesses play a critical role in the economy, therefore it is important to consider a structured approach to support micro business digital transformation (mbDT) aspirations, to ensure that they can fully benefit from the advantages that technology can bring. This study proposed a strategy formulation approach for mbDT using the photo-elicitation technique and in-depth interviews. In this study, 18 micro business owners in Nigeria were interviewed using photographs to gather insights on their perspective of digital transformation. This approach helped researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by these businesses and to develop strategies that are tailored to their specific needs. The analysis of the pictures and interview data revealed the figurative meaning of digital transformation and what it represents. Key contributions of the study are twofold: first, it communicates digital transformation in metaphors, in a way that aligns with the social structure of micro businesses, taking into account language, experience, and level of literacy. Second, it proposed inclusive and tailored approach to strategy formulation, addressing the barriers faced by micro businesses. These contributions will help to foster a culture of innovation and experimentation among micro businesses in Nigeria, encouraging them to explore new digital technologies and business models, identify new opportunities and remain competitive in the ever-changing digital landscape.

Paper short abstract:

Many developing countries in Asia have put different national policies to support digital transformation in business and industry. This paper aims to review such policies in selected countries in Asia and investigate the effectiveness of national policies.

Paper long abstract:

Many countries in Asia have put in place various national policies to promote digital transformation of business and industries in their countries. However, existing literature is scant on how effective these policies are.

This paper aims to fill in this gap. It aims to investigate the effectiveness of policies and the monitoring mechanisms, if any, of policy effectiveness. Case studies, questionnaire survey and interview will be conducted in selected countries in Asia. It is envisaged that the sample for analysis includes not only the large or advanced economies such as China or Republic of Korea but also other developing countries in the region such as Thailand.

From a practical perspective, the key findings of this study will provide policy makers with importance reference to policy design, implementation and monitoring relating to digital transformation.

Paper short abstract:

We draw upon critiques of participatory development, and insights from the field of Human-Computer Interactions for Development (HCI4D), to critically interrogate conflicting values and politics in digital transformation for development and assess the extent to which this amounts to a new tyranny.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, we critically examine the implications of digital transformation in the context of humanitarian development and critical geography. Our analysis draws upon seminal critiques of participatory development and insights from the field of HCI4D. Despite the potential benefits of increased connectivity and agency through the incorporation of digital technology in development approaches, there are conflicting values involved in its innovation and implementation. These include disparities in funding, governance, and perspectives between private and NGO actors, as well as differences in disciplinary and practitioner values.

We argue that the current discourse surrounding digital transformation in development is similar to that surrounding participatory development in the 1990s, including the assumption that it can increase agency and empowerment for communities in the global South. However, as with participatory development, there are concerns that digital transformation may reinforce latent inequalities between those who design and fund interventions and those who are intended to benefit from them.

Despite the skills and capabilities of many actors in the global South to support digital transformation, most initiatives are driven by multinational corporations and computing departments, acting as gatekeepers for attention, investment, and evaluation. Our paper aims to delve into the causes and consequences of knowledge exchange and collaboration, highlighting the need for a more nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding digital transformation in development and vice versa.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses how welfare governance via digital technologies in India constrains ground-up social transformation by deepening divides and dependencies, as well as posing challenges to activism. Simultaneously, it sanctions digitally skilled intermediaries who are subject to little scrutiny.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on a year-long ethnographic study in four administrative blocks of rural Jharkhand, India, this paper interrogates how the Government of India’s singular focus on welfare governance via digital technologies influences ground-up social transformation. It argues that the incessant pressure to implement the digital innovations, namely Aadhaar-based biometric verification, online management systems, and digital-data driven monitoring, facilitates a deep conviction in and aspiration to be a part of technocratic solutions. This conviction influences the administration’s approach to problem solving at the lower levels. Consequently, welfare governance is treated as an apolitical information system in which siloed and short-sighted solutions – patches (Veeraraghavan, 2022) are considered sufficient. However, patching welfare governance ignores the complex local ecosystem, particularly factors that sustain corruption and leakage such as information asymmetries, as well as digital and other inequities. Simultaneously, it serves to deepen divides and dependencies. Activists are also confronted with the opaque and continuously changing digital processes, which are a challenge to keep up with. Alongside being confronted with this takniki jhamela or technological mess, they also face administrative angst because they are seen as disruptive. Instead, private entrepreneurs who are licensed to run digital service centres by the government, are permitted significant space but subjected to little scrutiny. This tendency is particularly noteworthy because it creates space for the emergence of an officially sanctioned intermediary in the form of the digitally skilled service centre operator.

Paper short abstract:

Scarce elaboration exists on the theoretical link between digital connectivity and achievement of the SDGs. Drawing on data from Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, we propose critical policy analysis as a route to building a conceptual lens to theorise such a link.

Paper long abstract:

Digital transformation is predicated on digital connectivity, withut which transformative outcomes for socio-economic development cannot be achieved. Digital connectivity has been showcased as the "hidden hero" supporting national economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, scarce elaboration exists on the link between digital connectivity and fundamental development objectives, especially those reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. In fact, despite the rapid expansion of digital connectivity and the fast adaptation that occurred to provide essential services, the aftershocks of the crisis continue to weigh on growth, particularly in emerging economies.

Against this backdrop, our work is guided by the question: what is the theoretical link between digital connectivity and achievement of the SDGs? We draw on critical policy analysis to theorise how digital connectivity policies conceive and represent achievement of fundamental development objectives, as theorised in the United Nations agenda. Analysing the digital connectivity policy of three countries - Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa - in relation to directives of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), we propose a sociotechnical conceptualisation centred on building organisational and institutional resilience for the promotion of sustainable growth and development. By doing so we contribute to the interdisciplinary discourse on the link between ICTs and the SDGs, illuminating a variable, digital connectivity, which is crucial for development-centred digital transformation to be achieved.

Paper short abstract:

Beyond organisational boundaries, a meta-organisational approach is needed to understand sustainable digital transformation (SDT). This research explores platforms and related digital stacks in an effort to understand their roles as capability enablers of SDT.

Paper long abstract:

Sustainable development and sustainability are three-dimensional concepts involving social, environmental, and economic factors, whose nexus to digital transformation (DT), and related constructs, is usually one-sided and connected to the organisational ability to achieve new capabilities and short-term resource efficiencies. This position neglects the long-term rebound effects that accrue from global value chains (GVC) complexities, since sustainability can hardly be achieved if its nexus to DT is constrained to the boundaries of the organisation. Hence, a meta-organisational approach to sustainable digital transformation (SDT) becomes necessary, starting with a deeper understanding of digital technologies as SDT facilitators. A coloured example of such an approach is platform developmentalism, whose basket of digital technologies (stacks) remodels enterprise participation in GVC, especially for entrepreneurs and small firms, suggesting a change of perspective in SDT: from the boundaries of the organisation to forms of organising digital capabilities. This research explores platforms and related digital stacks in an effort to understand their roles as capability enablers of SDT. Based on a documentary examination and semi-structured interviews to platform stakeholders, this proposal identifies key functions of such enablers (e.g., purpose, materiality, relationships, institutional effects, case studies, etc.), to develop a framework proposal that characterises SDT from the perspective of platform developmentalism, with implications on GVC, international trade, and new forms of institutional entrepreneurship.

Paper short abstract:

This paper critically examines the extent to which the arrival of platform technologies has transformed the lives of informal workers in Kampala’s huge moto-taxi industry, concluding that a process of ‘selective’ formalisation is reshaping rather than overcoming pre-existing forms of precarity.

Paper long abstract:

When ride-hailing platforms first arrived on Kampala’s moto-taxi scene in the mid-2010s, there were high hopes that order would finally be brought to bear over the city’s colossal workforce of boda boda riders. Having long been positioned as unruly resistors to state regulation, with the arrival of new platform technologies came the dual promise of profits alongside professionalisation – a smart corporate solution to an ingrained political problem. Drawing on mixed-methods research, this paper reflects critically on the extent to which the industry’s digital turn has transformed the terms and organisation of riders’ working lives. Though claiming to modernise and empower riders through the ‘emancipatory potential’ of digital connectivity and offering in many people’s eyes a pathway to formalisation of the workforce, Kampala’s ride-hailing platforms in fact appear highly selective in their handling of workers’ (in)formalities. Through an emphasis on new kinds of standardisation and legibility rather than serious engagement with deeper questions around labour rights, voice and protections, the platforms effectively enact a process of what might be thought of as ‘sub-’ or ‘selective’ formalisation, in which certain aspects of boda work come close to being formalised while wider forms of precarity remain untouched if not worsened. In examining these issues, this contribution hopes to: provide insights into how the ‘disruptive technology’ of apps is incorporated into everyday labour practices; engage critically with the notion / branding of digital ‘transformation’; and nuance the binary assumption that gig economies informalise work in the North whilst formalising it in the South.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how power transition occurs at each stage of the datafication process in social cash programmes and how it affects surveillance moving beyond the panopotic vision.

Paper long abstract:

The datafication of government social protection programmes has implications on power, giving rise to new power relationships that also affect the digital surveillance or dataveillance landscape in the digital welfare state. The process of datafication, enabled through biometric technologies and data analytics, is conceived as a two stage process of targeting and disbursing social cash to beneficiaries. This has disrupted power relations between the State, beneficiaries and stakeholders. However, in the current Information Systems (IS) literature, there is little understanding on how datafication of these processes is connected with the transformation of data, power and surveillance. In this study, we analyse how datafication accounts for the transition of power between different institutional actors within the case of a social protection programme in Pakistan, and over the years, how it has been adapted for emergency cash transfers in times of crises. We discuss why Foucault’s popular metaphor of the panopticon to study power and surveillance is no longer suitable, especially, in the context of digital surveillance. Hence, a post-panoptic model of ‘surveillance assemblages’ is proposed that highlights alternative concepts of ‘network power’ that emerges through the datafication processes when utilising different kinds of digital technologies. This paper adopts a multi-disciplinary approach and contributes theoretically to strands of the IS, surveillance and development literature in tracing the connections between datafication, power and dataveillance through a dataveillance lens that has not been applied by scholars in previous IS research.

Paper short abstract:

I explore the role of the engineer and tech developers in the development sector: how can emerging technologies underpin social agency? how are these technologies used and who gets to decide that? what is the role of end-users and development actors in the design process?

Paper long abstract:

While engineering has the potential to support the development sector, mainstream engineering thinking often perpetuates power imbalances and colonial practices that undermine development efforts (Eichhorn, 2020). One example can be seen in the opportunities and challenges that technological developments present to the sector. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) offer a wide range of applications that present radical solutions to better support development efforts. However, these emerging technologies also pose significant risks and sometimes cause harm by exposing people to increased danger and infringing their rights. Pitfalls in the application of solutions based on emerging technologies in development assistance are attributed to a lack of consideration and understanding of broader social implications when technology is being developed. This socio-technical gap has been central to the debate on engineering practice in development contexts throughout history. However, social implications remain an aspect that has been undervalued within emerging technology developments. There is an opportunity to improve development outcomes by supporting engineers and key actors in developing solutions based on emerging technologies for development. By exploring the value and role of local knowledge and having an in-depth understanding of the local social, cultural, political, and economic ethos, future technology developments can better support development assistance (Arshad-Ayaz, Ayaz and Mohamad, 2020). What does this support look like in practice? This presentation does not have the answer but rather contributes to the bigger conversation, providing an engineering perspective on the theme of digital transformation for development.