@techreport{b015dbd9a0074d01b01348760a49c9c9,
title = "Conceptualising Information Culture in Developing Countries",
abstract = "To date, both strategies and perspectives for informatisation in many developing countries have tended to be very techno-centric. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise a more holistic framework for understanding the {"}information society{"} in development. This seeks to move not only beyond techno-centrism but also beyond the determinisms and other limitations of earlier informational and cultural responses. The framework is built around the idea of an {"}information culture{"} in developing countries, using Giddens' structuration theory as a point of departure. This is subjected to an exploratory application based around a single developing country – China – including a particular focus on its healthcare sector.The paper concludes that information culture can be conceived at multiple levels in terms of three interlinked dimensions – information literacy, information openness, and information norms. These provide the basis for a broader understanding of positioning vis-{\`a}-vis informatisation than earlier frameworks. Field data shows how actions can be seen to reproduce and reinforce a country's information culture. However, it also identifies broader tensions that affect many developing countries: marketisation/state-collectivism, globalism/nationalism, technology/manual, and other potential contradictions. These create a reflexive space for agency that helps to explain the dynamism and evolution of information culture.",
author = "R. Heeks and Y. Zheng",
year = "2008",
language = "English",
series = "IDPM Development Informatics Working Papers",
publisher = "Centre for Development Informatics",
number = "34",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "Centre for Development Informatics",
}