Sharing mechanisms for IT in developing countries, social capital and quality of life

Sharing information technology (IT) is not much of an issue in the developed countries, since most of the individuals there derive their benefits from the technology via ownership. In the case of mobile phones, for example, inhabitants of these countries typically have at least one subscription. ¹ In developing countries, by contrast, lower average incomes mean that ownership is limited to a much smaller group of individuals. ² For the rest of the inhabitants of these countries, therefore, sharing of one kind or another may be one of the only means of gaining access to and benefitting from IT. So far, however, no-one has looked at ‘IT for development’ specifically from the standpoint of sharing, though there are already many forms of this type of behaviour. My task accordingly is to fill this rather yawning gap in the literature by providing an analytical classification and comparison of the different forms of sharing across the three main types of IT: namely, the Internet, computers and mobile phones. ³ For part of this task I use the concept of social capital, which according to many people will be increased by IT. According to Quan-Haase and Wellman (2004), for example, the Internet can be regarded as an additional means of communication to facilitate existing social relationships and to follow patterns of civic engagement.