Towards a Network Approach: Production Environments of Digital Innovation in the Global South and their Function in Social Transformation Processes

Abstract

This thesis deals with production environments of digital innovations in the Global South and their impact on social transformation processes. Production environments are understood as networks that ultimately influence the design of digital technologies and their role in socio-technical systems. Specifically, three innovation networks in Zambia, Ghana, and Uganda were studied. Here the focus is not on the digital products developed, but on the actors, institutions, and prevailing social structures that affect the generation of ideas, the design of technologies, and ultimately the implementation and design of sociotechnical systems.<br /> The work is based on two basic theoretical assumptions: first, on the abstraction of production environments as relational spaces that are analysed through a relational scale understanding. Second, on the Multi-level Perspective, which provides a framework to better understand transformation processes of socio-technical systems through the theoretical constructs of the Niche, the Regime and the Landscape. A particular focus here is on the Niche, where new socio-technological systems are tested and prepared for diffusion into the regime. The niche concept therefore serves as a conceptual link to the production environment.<br /> Methodologically, an interdisciplinary approach was chosen. In addition to classical social research (case studies, interviews, observations), approaches from computational social sciences were used to analyse influences in digital networks.<br /> The work is partly cumulative in nature and consists of three articles linked by a comprehensive cover. The first article focuses on coding networks in Zambia and analyses the cultural legitimacy actors construct for themselves within the niche or are assigned by external influences. The second article uses a dataset from Twitter to explain three innovation hubs in the Global South and their complex internal and external linkages. Influencing factors are examined and the positions of actors and institutions are highlighted. Finally, the third article addresses the difficulties of transferring MLP to the development context and highlights insights and potential areas of application for a closer integration of transformation research into the existing discourse of development research in the Global South.