Abstract

The impact of digital technologies on individuals, organizations and society is well acknowledged in fostering global development. But despite the technological progress in these initiatives, projects intended to benefit marginalized, low income or excluded communities often do not achieve the entirety of their desired results over the long term. Through a literature review, we observe that the dominant idea of technology transfer is now considered inadequate to meet the current global calls for human development. We offer an alternate path for digital development research by reconceptualizing the movement of digital practices into a new context. This encapsulates the translation of an assemblage of routinized actions foregrounded around three foci of information systems (IS) – technological, informational and social artifacts allowing digital practices to be embedded in local contexts for long-term benefit. We illustrate the implications of this translational view through a re-interpretation of an ongoing case of continuing medical education.

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