From Simulating Citizen – Government Interaction to Facilitating Service Delivery through ICT use: Experiences from the web-based collaboration and thinkLets project

Abstract

The first aim of this short paper is to demonstrate that despite the many constraints facing ICT4D researchers in developing countries, it is possible to conceptualise, design and execute an ICT use study that is well grounded in both theory and practice. This we do by presenting a high level description of the web-based collaboration and thinkLets research project. The main findings of this longitudinal study thus far is a mechanism or an approach that could be used to scale up the study using a repeatable and predictable process that has the potential to be transferred to participating communities and government departments to run on their own, following the principles of collaboration engineering. The second aim is to show that networks of audiences get created along research pathways which build research, development and innovation credibility that others seek to leverage in various areas of potential ICT use to facilitate service delivery in South Africa.