Information Technology for Development

Editor-in-chief: Dr Silvia Masiero, University of Oslo

Information Technology for Development, with an established record for publishing quality research and influencing practice, is the first journal to have explicitly addressed global information technology issues and opportunities. It publishes social and technical research on the effects of information technology (IT) on economic, social and human development.

Read the journal (Taylor & Francis site)

Information Technology for Development is the official journal of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Special Interest Group on Global Development and is published by the Commonwealth Secretariat in partnership with Taylor and Francis. The journal can be accessed online via the Taylor & Francis Online platform; while full access requires an institutional or individual subscription, many articles are available on an open-access basis (see full list here).

The journal’s objective is to provide a forum for policy-makers, practitioners and academics to discuss strategies and best practices, tools and techniques for ascertaining the effects of IT infrastructures in government, civil societies and the private sector, and theories and frameworks that explain the effects of IT on development. The concept of development relates to social, economic and human outcomes from the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) tools, technologies and infrastructures.

Information Technology for Development publishes theoretical, empirical, and critical research using qualitative and/or quantitative methods that offer contributions to social, economic and/or human development outcomes in the following topics:

development issues
management of sustainable organisations
health informatics for development
open development
electronic government
global information systems (GIS)
public policy for the IT industry.

The journal addresses how to achieve significant, measurable improvements in addressing the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals through ICT; strategies for sourcing goods and services; best practices for working in different countries; theories and frameworks that explain the effects of IT on development; and tools and techniques for ascertaining the effects of IT infrastructures in government, civil society and the private sector.

For more about the journal including how to submit your work, see its pages on Taylor & Francis Online.

Latest issue

Volume 29, issue 4: Digital transformation for development: A human capital key or system of oppression?

The 10 papers in this issue offer a broad snapshot of current thinking on ICT4D, with a focus on digital transformation for development and as a means of overcoming forces of oppression. Digital transformation goes beyond digitalisation to make radical changes to organisational models and social structures. However, such transformations are affected by contextual factors, particularly levels of human capital and digital infrastructure. Unless there is a transformation in human capabilities, access to ICTs and requisite skills and knowledge, digital transformation will merely exacerbate existing inequalities.

Calls for special issue papers

Special Issue: Indigenous knowledge and Information Technology for Sustainable Development

Special Issue: Emergency Management for Development

Information Technology for Development: Volume 29, issues 2–3

This double issue of ITD considers emerging issues arising from Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative Machine Learning (ML), and their implications for socio-economic development, human agency and systems of survival. Taken as a whole, it offers a formative agenda that enables researchers to support positive cycles of development that account for the systems of survival needed for equitable AI implementations.

Read publication

Information Technology for Development: Volume 29, issue 1

In this issue, an editorial by Annika Andersson and Mathias Hatakka offers a historic overview of the different development goals that the UN has offered, and discuss how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be used to realise, or undermine, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and sustainability more generally, through an analysis of the eight papers included in this issue.

Read publication