ICT4D research: reflections on history and future agenda

Research on the use of ICTs for international development, or ICT4D research, has a history going back some thirty years. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the ICT4D research field at this important juncture in time, when ICTs are increasingly pervasive and when many different disciplines are involved in researching the area. The paper first provides some reflections on the history of the field broken down into three phases from the mid-1980s to the present day. This is followed by a detailed discussion of future research agenda including topic selection, the role of theory, methodological issues and multi-disciplinarity, and research impact. ICT4D research started largely in the academic field of information systems but it is concluded that the future lies in a multi-disciplinary interaction between researchers, practitioners and policy makers