A human environmentalist approach to diffusion in ICT policies

Purpose – Through an evaluation of the information technology (IT) adoption and diffusion models and the free and/or open source policy of the South African Government, the underlying assumption is that the developmental divide between those with and those without access to technology is purely technical. This paper aims to illustrate that if Free and/or Open Source Software is to be used as a building block to bridge the “digital divide” a more social and environmental perspective, which embraces the philosophy behind the software, needs to complement the technical perspective. The human environmental model is presented as a useful alternative which, if embraced, can inform more holistic information and communication technology (ICT) policies.Design/methodology/approach – Through a review of diffusion of innovations models an alternative diffusion framework is described and applied to an interpretive open source case study in South Africa.Findings – Contemporary diffusion and innovation models are narrow...

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