Paper Type
Short
Paper Number
PACIS2025-1192
Description
The short-lived nature of development programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains a persistent challenge in global development research, underscoring the limitations of mainstream technology transfer approaches from Western settings to LMICs. This paper argues for the translation of artifacts in ways appropriate to local settings as an alternative that better supports the embedding of development efforts. Guided by the conceptualization of the Information System (IS) artifact, we examine the collective role of the translations of technology artifacts, social artifacts, and information artifacts in facilitating locally embedded arrangements. We conduct a case study of an ongoing digitally enabled healthcare development program to offer preliminary insights into how beneficiaries and practitioners translate artifacts in ways that are meaningful and relevant to local healthcare practices. Our findings demonstrate how the translations of an IS artifact foster resilient development programs and the advancement of long-term development goals.
Recommended Citation
Gunawardena, Dinushika; Thomas, Manoj A.; Pelletier, Jess; Li, Yan; and Hovorka, Dirk, "Enhancing Healthcare through Locally Driven Digitally Enabled Development Programs" (2025). PACIS 2025 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2025/isresilience/isresilience/1
Enhancing Healthcare through Locally Driven Digitally Enabled Development Programs
The short-lived nature of development programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains a persistent challenge in global development research, underscoring the limitations of mainstream technology transfer approaches from Western settings to LMICs. This paper argues for the translation of artifacts in ways appropriate to local settings as an alternative that better supports the embedding of development efforts. Guided by the conceptualization of the Information System (IS) artifact, we examine the collective role of the translations of technology artifacts, social artifacts, and information artifacts in facilitating locally embedded arrangements. We conduct a case study of an ongoing digitally enabled healthcare development program to offer preliminary insights into how beneficiaries and practitioners translate artifacts in ways that are meaningful and relevant to local healthcare practices. Our findings demonstrate how the translations of an IS artifact foster resilient development programs and the advancement of long-term development goals.
Comments
Sustainability