Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Comment/debate › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Comment/debate › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital contact-tracing and pandemics
T2 - Institutional and technological preparedness in Africa
AU - Arakpogun, Emmanuel Ogiemwonyi
AU - Elsahn, Ziad
AU - Prime, Karla Simone
AU - Gerli, Paolo
AU - Olan, Femi
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020
PY - 2020/12/31
Y1 - 2020/12/31
N2 - Several countries in Africa have either deployed or considering using digital contact-tracing (DCT) as part of their Covid-19 containment strategy, amidst calls for the use of technology to improve the efficiency of traditional contact-tracing. We discuss some of the complexities entailed in using DCT in Africa. Adopting a socio-technical perspective, we argue that if DCT design and deployment are not well thought out, it can lead to unintended consequences, particularly in a continent like Africa with disproportionate levels of digital divides and other structural inequalities. We suggest that any adoption of DCT by African countries must take account of their compatibility with local resources, values, social structure, and domestic political factors. Accordingly, we propose a process of translation whereby DCT adaptation is made to accommodate the unique institutional and technological characteristics of African countries by leveraging local practices learned from previous pandemics like Ebola to develop a blended epidemiological approach to (digital) contact-tracing.
AB - Several countries in Africa have either deployed or considering using digital contact-tracing (DCT) as part of their Covid-19 containment strategy, amidst calls for the use of technology to improve the efficiency of traditional contact-tracing. We discuss some of the complexities entailed in using DCT in Africa. Adopting a socio-technical perspective, we argue that if DCT design and deployment are not well thought out, it can lead to unintended consequences, particularly in a continent like Africa with disproportionate levels of digital divides and other structural inequalities. We suggest that any adoption of DCT by African countries must take account of their compatibility with local resources, values, social structure, and domestic political factors. Accordingly, we propose a process of translation whereby DCT adaptation is made to accommodate the unique institutional and technological characteristics of African countries by leveraging local practices learned from previous pandemics like Ebola to develop a blended epidemiological approach to (digital) contact-tracing.
KW - Africa
KW - Contact-tracing
KW - Covid-19
KW - Institutions, Pandemic
KW - Socio-technical perspective
U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105105
DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105105
M3 - Comment/debate
AN - SCOPUS:85088937983
VL - 136
JO - World Development
JF - World Development
SN - 0305-750X
M1 - 105105
ER -