Digital elixir? The Aakash tablet as a social innovation in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D)
ISSN: 1750-8614
Article publication date: 22 October 2021
Issue publication date: 29 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The Aakash tablet was developed as a social innovation (SI) to transform India’s higher education sector. This paper aims to explain the failure of the Aakash tablet beyond the typical explanations of deficiencies in the device’s technical capabilities. This paper argues that an SI lens provides a stronger explanation for its failure than the standard analyses built primarily on the technological viability of the device.
Design/methodology/approach
The Aakash project ran from 2010 to 2015. During this period, a number of government and policy reports as well as mainstream media articles were published on the device. Since 2015, a number of academic articles have been published on the Aakash emphasizing its failure as a technological solution. The authors draw on these sources to frame an understanding of the Aakash’s failure informed by SI theory.
Findings
Through a complexity-informed analysis, the authors show that the failure of the Aakash stemmed from flawed assumptions and a failure of the initiative to engage with both the particular and constantly changing features of the broader landscape of needs and opportunities.
Originality/value
This study draws attention to failure as a legitimate aspect of the study of SI. In presenting a “counter-case” to the usual success stories, it shows that the SI lens can also explain why an SI does not take off. It thereby adds to the literature on SI and complexity theory through an exploration of the complex interactions among public policy goals, technological advancements and entrepreneurship.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Advancing the Study of Complexity in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Studies”, guest edited by Max French, Katharine McGowan, Mary Lee Rhodes and Sharon Zivkovic.
The authors would like to thank the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience for funding a Postdoctoral Fellowship through which this paper was written.
Citation
Abraham, J. and Geobey, S. (2022), "Digital elixir? The Aakash tablet as a social innovation in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D)", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 288-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-12-2020-0133
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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