Paper short abstract:

This paper asks who benefits from ICTs in the Sustainable Development Goals, given their prominence in development efforts in Africa. It examines forms of power and control tied to two characteristics of ICTs in the SDGs: the production of more granular data, and passive methods of data collection.

Paper long abstract:

Digital information and communication technologies are becoming increasingly central in the design, implementation and evaluation of development efforts in Africa, and globally. New communication technologies are often heralded as new tools for realising 'voice' as a political capacity by overcoming cost, time and spatial barriers to communication and information access, despite challenges associated with inequality in their access, use and adaptation. Acknowledging the rising use of ICTs in development on the African continent, specifically within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this article interrogates how ICTs relate to multiple forms of power in development: both the collective power of voice, and the power to rule over others. It focuses on two key characteristics of ICTs that are put forward as beneficial to the SDGs' vision and implementation: the production of increasingly granular data, and passive data collection. It advocates a political framework for questioning ICTs and power in Africa in order to more fully capture the implications of digital data on power and empowerment, drawing on the work of Jodi Dean and Josef Ansorge. It argues that the SDGs' rhetoric and design emphasise the empowerment of individuals but fail to recognise underlying forms of control and power being realised through ICTs. While greater use of ICTs might appear inclusive and open, the extent to which this translates into the empowerment of individuals to live lives they value is questionable.