Adaba, Godfried and Ayoung, D.A. (2017) The development of a mobile money service: an exploratory actor-network study. Information Technology for Development 23 (4), pp. 668-686. ISSN 0268-1102.
Abstract
Mobile money has received ample academic and practitioner attention as a means to improve access to financial services in developing countries. However, there is a paucity of empirical studies examining mobile money development from a socio-technical stance. Based on an exploratory cross-sectional field study conducted at three sites in the Upper East region of Ghana, this paper attempts to understand the dynamics of the development and diffusion of a mobile money service from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective. Data from semi-structured interviews with the principal stakeholders (supplemented by documentary evidence) were analyzed using grounded theory coding techniques and the emergent themes interpreted through the lens of the “moments of translation” (Callon, M. (1999). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. In M. Biagioli (Ed.), The science studies reader (pp. 67–83). London: Routledge) framework of ANT. The study found that a mobile network operator has built a nascent network of composite social and material stakeholders to offer mobile money services despite significant challenges. Although the actor-network is still evolving and mobile money has yet to reach critical mass, there is evidence of growing uptake. This paper highlights the value of ANT as a lens for exploring the diffusion of innovations in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Mobile money, actor-network theory (ANT), information and communication technology (ICT), developing countries, Ghana |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Jan 2018 09:43 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2023 12:42 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19590 |
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