Leapfrogging has been suggested as a means of accelerating development by bypassing the “stages” implied by traditional modernisation theories of development by adoption “off the shelf” technologies…
The notion of “leapfrogging” as it has been formulated focuses on adoption of ICT’s as a quick way forward for developing countries. One of the problems with this is that there is a hint of a “build it and they will come” mentality. It ignores the reality that the development of ICTs in “developed” regions has introduced a wide range of ways of working and communicating and even affected the way we define concepts such as knowledge and information. I am reminded of a story I once heard: A university in an Eastern European country had received a grant from the EU Commission to purchase state-of-the-art computer equipment. When an observer from the Commission went to monitor the progress of the project for which the equipment was intended, officials of the university proudly showed the observer the equipment, still in boxes and entirely unused. They viewed this as protection of a significant investment while they figured out how they would actually use the equipment!
I recently discovered a dissertation available online that echoes some of my concerns.
