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What Motivates ICT4D Champions?

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Book cover Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D (ICT4D 2019)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 551))

Abstract

The paper seeks to identify the factors that motivate a person who champions ICT4D initiatives. Given the important contributions of ICT4D champions to initiative success, better understanding of their motivations holds the potential to identify, develop and deploy such individuals more effectively, harnessing their potential positive contributions to ICT4D initiative success. A multiple case study strategy is used to explore the motivational factors of three successful ICT4D champions in the South African context. The Work Preference Inventory (WPI) of personal motivations was used to design in-depth interviews with the champions and semi-structured interviews with 29 other stakeholders. It found ICT4D champions are motivated by the need for personal actualization, business success and to address social concerns – origins of these motives could be traced to various internal and environmental stimuli. Practical implications drawn from the research are that profiling of stakeholder motivations in an ICT4D initiative is feasible and that organizations can use such information to create a conducive environment for grooming and empower new and existing champions to function more effectively. This first investigation of ICT4D champion motivations shows its importance and the potential thereof towards improving initiative success and emphasizes the need for further research of this nature.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Such profiling was used by the BAI for Mandisa’s initial recruitment.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Jaco Renken

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  1. Jaco Renken
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Correspondence to Jaco Renken .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Petter Nielsen

  2. University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Honest Christopher Kimaro

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Renken, J. (2019). What Motivates ICT4D Champions?. In: Nielsen, P., Kimaro, H.C. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D. ICT4D 2019. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 551. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18400-1_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18400-1_25

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-18399-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18400-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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