Exploring the Tension between Modernization and the Deployment of Information and Communication Technologies in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the XO Laptop

Abstract

Using the XO laptop as a case study, this project explores the tension, if any, between modernization and the diffusion of information and communication technologies in developing countries. Modernization, the diffusion of innovation, and Burniske's (2003) chain of doing serve as theoretical frameworks to examine new visions of development that One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) aims to introduce to impoverished people on a global scale, with poverty alleviation being their main goal. Employing a qualitative approach, namely document analysis and analysis of online discussions, this research concludes that modernization is still used in new visions of development.