Methodological myopia: A survey of technology deployment issues in less developed countries

This paper briefly reviews the contribution of engineering methodology to a view of development which is highly questionable. These methodological difficulties are most especially seen in the information technology development arena where current paradigms continue to adhere to a myopic view of technology as it relates to its cultural context. A number of sources of AT and ICT cultural myopia are reviewed in the literature, but few authors have surveyed them in the context of engineering design and development. This paper provides a survey of the key areas in which engineering design and development method and practice are likely to encounter, or foster, problems. The paper proposes a research trajectory which addresses the myopia of current methodology and suggests fruitful directions in which such research might move.