As part of our readings and discussion for the IDEV4100: ICT4D course, one of the thought leaders in the field that we come across a few times is Richard Heeks. This post is a short round-up with some background info on Heeks, his bio, some of his writings, and where you can find more information on him and his ideas.
Readings from Class:
Richard Heeks is Professor of Development Informatics in the Institute for Development Policy and Management, part of the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester, UK. Following a period of work as a programmer for ICL, Richard studied for a BA/MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge, and then taught science in a rural school in Nigeria. He worked as a researcher at the Universities of Leicester and Loughborough, gaining an MPhil for his study of personal information systems. Richard then undertook an ESRC/SERC-sponsored PhD at the Open University on the Indian software industry. Following his doctorate, Richard joined the University of Manchester to teach, research and consult on “development informatics” – the relation between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and international development.
He has acted as an external degree examiner in the ICT4D field at universities in Europe, Africa and Asia; and as a research assessor for bodies such as the US National Science Foundation, ESRC, Nuffield and Leverhulme. Complementing this have been more than twenty advisory activities on ICT4D for bodies such as the UK Dept. for International Development, GTZ, IDRC and UNIDO. Richard is also ICT4D advisor for Zunia (Development Gateway) and for the British Council, and convenes the UK Development Studies Association’s specialist group on Information, Technology and Development.
Resources for More Information
Heeks ICT4D Bibliography (via ICTlogy)
Heeks author archive from the ICT4D blog. There is some really great stuff here, particularly on frameworks for conceptualizing ICT4D, the digital divide, and specific posts on eGov and ICTs for education. I highly recommend it!