Endogenous innovation and digital inclusion: A Global African perspective

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dc.article.end-page29
dc.article.start-page1
dc.contributor.authorSoumonni, Ogundiran
dc.contributor.authorMonroe-White, Thema
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-19T10:36:16Z
dc.date.available2024-02-19T10:36:16Z
dc.date.issued2023-09
dc.departmentSouth African Institute of International Affairs
dc.description.abstractThis paper systematically reflects on the myriad ways in which Africans, understood as a global people who include their Diaspora, can more effectively draw on their own technological capabilities in order to achieve more inclusive and equitable digital outcomes. We begin with the observation that while ongoing scholarly and policy discourses on the global digital revolution optimistically highlight its opportunities for African societies, the imperative of the domestic contribution to these – endogenous innovation – is often buried among numerous other considerations. As such, our study delineates the diverse, though mutually reinforcing, ways in which endogenous technological innovation, ranging from research and development (R&D) to the novel deployment of existing technologies, is effectively employed by intentional actors in state, private sector and grassroots organisations. Digital governance in this perspective is then informed by constant attention to the interplay between these two dimensions (governance and technological innovation) with the ultimate aim of achieving universal and equitable digital access, particularly in less privileged Global African societies, and within a relatively short time horizon. Lastly, informed by historical path dependence, that is, philosophical, technical and experiential examples from the past, we develop a conceptual framework which we call endogenous digital innovation. This framework more explicitly highlights some of the critical pathways that could lead to desirable socio-technical futures in the African world.
dc.description.librarianMM2024
dc.description.sponsorshipHanns Seidel Stiftung
dc.facultyFaculty of Commerce, Law and Management
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37664
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.relation.ispartofseriesTayarisha Working Paper Series | No: 2023/001
dc.rights©2023 Tayarisha African Centre of Excellence in Digital Governance
dc.schoolWits School of Governance
dc.subjectAfrican Governance
dc.subjectDigital Age
dc.subjectDigital inclusion
dc.subjectEndogenous innovation
dc.subjectInnovation
dc.subject.otherSDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
dc.titleEndogenous innovation and digital inclusion: A Global African perspective
dc.typeWorking Paper
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