The Evolution of an ICT Platform-Enabled Ecosystem for Poverty Alleviation: The Case of eKutir

Author List: Jha, Srivardhini K.; Pinsonneault, Alain; Dubé, Laurette;
MIS Quarterly, 2016, Volume 40, Issue 2, Page 431-445.
This paper analyzes the pioneering work of eKutir, a social business in India that leverages an information and communication technology (ICT) platform to progressively build a self-sustaining ecosystem to address multiple facets of smallholder farmer poverty. The study reveals that eKutir's ecosystem has evolved through five distinct phases, each expanding the number and type of actors engaged and the breadth of ICT-supported services provided. The evolution displays a distinct pattern where the five elements of the ecosystem progressively evolve and reinforce one another to create a system that is economically sustainable, scalable, and can accelerate transformative change. The study has important implications for the design of emergent ICT platforms, which can enable an ecosystem-based approach to address complex problems.
Keywords: Poverty alleviation; evolution; collaboration; loosely coupled integration; ICT-enabled ecosystem; scalability; ICT platform; Development 2.0; societal transformation; convergent innovation; ICT for sustainability
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#98 0.305 platform platforms dynamics ecosystem greater generation open ecosystems evolution two-sided technologies investigate generations migration services implications interplay disruptive control markets
#158 0.294 capital social ict communication rural icts cognitive society information well-being relational india societal empirically create develop disadvantaged technologies explore china
#54 0.095 approach conditions organizational actions emergence dynamics traditional theoretical emergent consequences developments case suggest make organization point outcomes recent trajectory claims
#180 0.069 multiple elements process environments complex integrated interdependencies design different developing integration order approach dialogue framework capabilities settings building focus distinct
#137 0.064 phase study analysis business early large types phases support provided development practice effectively genres associated different sensemaking including form technologies