The Value of Extended Networks: Information and Communication Technology Intervention in Rural Peru

Presented at the 9th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, this 17-page document discusses the case of an information and communication technology (ICT) intervention in a remote village located in the northern Peruvian Andes. Based on an analysis of the stories of two villagers, "the paper illustrates how the ICT intervention enabled a few people to gain or reinforce ascendancy in their village. The paper then discusses implications from the actual and potential consequences of ICT intervention in rural areas in developing countries."

Using the theory of the relationships among social capital (goodwill in social relations resulting in solidarity), human capital (an individual's skill and knowledge), and institutions (norms, habits, and rules that are socially accepted), the authors analyse an ICT intervention initiated by the Rural-Urban Information System Project (Sistema de Información Rural-Urbano - SIRU) in the village of Chanta Alta in the Cajamarca region, which aimed to provide information to local farmers, businessmen, and government agencies to build up capabilities for local development. The project connected "infocentros" by satellite communications to provide services including internet access, phone calls and messaging, computer training courses, and local broadcasting programmes.

The authors locate the methodology of this study on the "analytical borderlands, where cultural values and specific practices define the way of using computers." Their objective is to explain how social relations are affected in the presence of ICT. To do so the paper examines two personal accounts about using computers, those of Arturo (28), the infocentro manager, and Alejandro (33), a farmer, who raises cattle, runs a small dairy shop, and looks after other people’s livestock as part of his duties as a local livestock technician. Through codifying individual capacities - value of education, reading habits, and learning computers - and individual attitudes towards personal characteristics, community leadership, urban exposure, degree of initiative, and accepting modernity, the authors found "evidence that ICT is a useful vehicle the participants use for gaining [social] ascendancy." They indicate that, through knowledge of ICT, those individuals who already enjoy a prestigious position, both by their knowledge and by their attitudes towards the villagers when accessing information through computers, consciously or unconsciously, strengthen their guidance role in the community.

An example from this research is the story of how Alejandro took an area farm problem online and received advice from a Mexican veterinarian specialist, which solved a problem of the villagers' cows' udder sores. Alejandro's ability to interact with veterinarian specialists and translate the received information to local people exemplifies human capital becoming social capital in the knowledge exchange and trust being built in the reciprocity between Alejandro and villagers, and between him and his contact. In another example, Arturo receives produce market price information to be shared with the villagers. In doing so, he becomes a cognitive node in an extended network, working as an agent to extend external knowledge to the community. As a result, "[t]hey reinforce their ascendancy and observable position before the villagers through the information they get from computers. But they do not replace their face-to-face contacts at all; rather the contrary, they enjoy interacting personally with people. They are keen on transmitting the recently obtained information to their fellow countrymen and women."

The authors conclude that: "It seems that the technological intervention is unlikely to be adopted and exploited by the majority of rural inhabitants. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that some individuals,
generally the leaders, the more respected, and the more exposed to different environments, will be enabled to convey the acquired information and link their external contacts to their strong local network."