INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN KENYA: A DYNAMIC APPROACH

摘要

Though Africa may still be the least-computerized continent, information technology (IT) penetration is increasing rapidly. However, IT is an imported technology and it is not culturally neutral. This article has two aims: (a) to provide a framework to understand how IT and culture interact, and (b) to illustrate this interaction with examples from Kenyan case studies. Culture is used as a "diagnostic" instrument and focuses entirely on Kenya's national context. The framework analytically distinguishes three ways of interference: culture influences IT, culture is influenced by IT, and culture provides the conditions to interpret IT's utility. The simultaneous interplay between the three levels results in IT practice. Through the study of IT practice in three cases, aspects of Kenyan cultural context are revealed and analyzed according to the proposed reference frame.