When do scientists “adopt” the Internet? Dimensions of connectivity in developing areas

Abstract

We examine the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the knowledge production sectors of three developing areas. Using interviews with 918 scientists in one South Asian and two African locations, we address three fundamental questions: (1) To what degree has the research community in the developing world adopted the Internet? (2) How can the disparities in Internet adoption best be characterized? (3) To what extent is Internet use associated with research productivity? Our findings indicate that while the vast majority of scientists describe themselves as current email users, far fewer have ready access to the technology, use it in diverse ways, or have extensive experience. These results are consistent with the notion that Internet adoption should not be characterized as a single act on the part of users. The rapid development of the Internet and the cumulative skills required for its effective use are equally important, particularly its impact on productivity. These findings lead us to qualify crude generalizations about the diffusion of the Internet in developing areas.

Do highly cited researchers successfully use the social web?

“…Download data can also give evidence of the use of articles, not just by scholars but also by other readers, such as students and practitioners (Brody et al 2006;Neylon and Wu 2009;Watson 2009). More recently, there has been much interest in altmetrics, which are metrics derived from social web services, such as the number of registered Mendeley readers for a publication or the number of tweets countries (Ynalvez et al 2005); in developed countries overall scholars are taking advantage of this new platform to collect and spread research through the web, although they use it in different ways (Barjak 2006;Jamali and Nicholas 2010, Mas-Bleda et al in press;Rowlands et al 2011). There are also disciplinary differences in uptake.…”

International Training and the Digital Divide: Computer and Email Use in the Philippines

“…Instead, we argue that the Internet is an essential technology in knowledge production (Bijker 1995;Duque et al 2005;Rogers 1995;Ynalvez et al 2005) that could have differential impacts on research systems depending on local context and identities. For us, one possible consequence of Internet expansion is enhanced research communication and collaboration among peripheral scientists, although we are also concerned that collaboration at a distance may be difficult to sustain in the long run (Olson and Olson 2000), especially when there are questions about commitments to collaborative tasks among actors separated by great distances and located in different time zones.…”

What Happened to the Internet? Scientific Communities in Three Low-income Areas, 2000-2010

“…Three organizational sectors were included: universities, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations (NGOS).' AS the level of research conducted by NGOS was negligible and research systems tended to be concentrated in a central location, we selected university departments and research 304 s H RUM ET AL. institutes in the vicinity of three capitol cities: Nairobi (Kenya); Accra (Ghana); Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).^ During the first wave, reported in Ynalvez et al 2005, significant resource constraints required that we collect data in successive years beginning in 2000 in India (n=3O3), continuing in 2001 with Kenya (11=313)" and in 2002 in Ghana (n=27i). The second wave of data was gathered in all three countries in 2005, while the most recent survey was conducted in 2010 (Kerala n=263; Kenya n=342; Ghana n=3i6).…”

“…In the selection of reported variables, we replicate the original analysis of Ynalvez et al (2005) as closely as possible. Specific questions are discussed in the results section, but the pattern of items is as follows.…”