This book uses comparative case study methodology and extensive field work to examine and compare outcomes of four East African nations (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda) that implemented formal Information and Communications Technology policies in the 1990s. Based on extensive fieldwork, the book assesses the emergence of a new policy and technological arena from the turn of the millennium to the present. In addition to tracing the implementation and reception of these policies, Bowman considers to what extent the politics of infrastructure in four connected but distinct African nations have resulted in global participation and equitable distribution and access of infrastructure to all citizens, as well as the impact a recent history of war or peace have on the technological outcomes in these communities. The book provides us with invaluable new data on how policy and politics function in emerging democracies, and illuminates long-overlooked opportunities and conditions necessary for the distribution of new and potentially beneficial technologies in other developing countries. 

Warigia M. Bowman is Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable Energy and Natural Resources Law Program at the University of Tulsa, USA.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Information and Communication Technologies as a Tool for Development.- Chapter 2: The History of ICT in East Africa from 1950-1990.- Chapter 3: A Policy Paradox (Theoretical Framework).- Chapter 4: Constructing a Policy for an ICT led visionCentralization and Hierarchy in Rwanda.- Chapter 5: Technological Lessons from the Past: The Tanzanian Experience.- Chapter 6: Measuring the ICT Led Vision.- Chapter 7: Citizen Participation in ICT Policymaking.- Chapter 8: Cyber-Pessimism: Using ICT in Uganda for Surveillance and Control and Suppression.- Chapter 9: Conclusion and Recommendations.