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Usage of internet and mobile phones has promoted and sometimes hindered various aspects of development bringing radical changes to Kenyan households in the last couple of years. The rapid spread of mobile phones, mobile broadband and internet usage at the household level has increased the potential of these technologies leading to development outcomes. This paper aims to focus on these issues.

The paper is based on primary data collected through two surveys and is part of ongoing PhD work. A rigorous methodology was designed and used to conduct the research. Starting with the research problem that outlined the key areas for the study, research objectives were developed following a background review of the study. The paper establishes the development outcomes associated with the rapid spread and usage of the internet and mobile phones and explores if the wide usage expands or shrinks the capabilities of the households.

The analysis indicates that a high value is attached to the new technologies and in particular mobile phones. It also reveals that the new technologies enabled some capabilities and hindered others leading to diverse development outcomes. Use of internet and mobile phones led to positive and negative development outcomes in low income households in Kenya. Households' choices were based on their perceptions of the role that the new technologies played in enhancing their quality of life. Internet access and usage was limited and restricted to urban areas while mobile phone usage was distributed across the country. However, increased use of mobile internet is expected to change the situation. The paper notes that the social, economic and knowledge status of individuals, coupled with the choices they make, determines the development outcomes derived from use of these technologies.

The paper makes recommendations for further research on the effects of new technologies on quality of life.

The paper examines the extent to which usage of the internet and mobile phones enhances or hinders households' capability to achieve development in social, economic and knowledge dimensions.

The purpose of this paper is to assess effective integration of two emerging technologies, new emerging opportunities for them and their diffusion in China.

A multi‐perspective analysis and causal models were developed to assess the emerging technologies as a result of the integration. In addition, an initial system dynamics model is developed to explore their diffusion.

Based on multi‐perspective analysis and causal models in both global and national environments, problems such as security and reliability are identified. System dynamics modeling is used in this paper to assist such foresight process. Different scenarios are proposed by the modeling to offer possible solutions facilitating the development of voice and video over wireless area network (VVoWLAN) in China.

While, the purpose of system dynamics modeling is to demonstrate the application of the methodology, simplifying assumptions are made. To deliver an accurate foresight model, additional data and modeling details will be required. This will lead to future works as an improvement of the model.

A multi‐perspective analysis and causal models were developed to assess the emerging technologies as a result of the integration. These models can easily be used by decision makers evaluating such technologies. The framework suggests that the diffusion of such emerging technologies like VVoWLAN needs to be planned strategically in order to fully realize the value of the integration opportunities identified in the first step.

The paper provides a framework for assessing emerging technologies in China.

Factors influencing the use of mobile phone technologies for agricultural market information access remain a mixed debate, and there are contradictive views among studies. This study examined factors influencing the use of mobile phone technologies for agricultural marketing information access. The study is anchored on the technological acceptance model (TAM).

A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted with a sample size of 400 grape smallholder farmers. A structured questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to gather data. Descriptive, ordinal logistic regression and thematic approaches were used in data analysis.

The study confirmed grape smallholder farmers generally considered mobile phone technologies as an appropriate communication channel to stay informed about agricultural marketing information. It was found that reliable electricity supply, relevance, timeliness, perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of mobile phone technologies influenced the level of agricultural marketing information access.

This research is limited to a selected number of grape smallholder farmers in Dodoma, Tanzania, and leaves out those without mobile phones. Also, the study was cross-sectional in nature, so it may not be necessarily capable of consistently providing critical and consistent information about the same population over a series of times.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by integrating the use of mobile phone technologies to access marketing information in informing policy and decision-making processes to promote grape marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss implications of human-technology interaction in organizational change, especially where mobile phones are introduced to replace paper-based reporting.

The paper employs a case study approach, focusing on implementation of mobile technology for health (mHealth) solutions to support remote data communication, between health facilities and a district health office (DHO), in Malawi.

The findings suggest that mobile phones are relevant to parts of multi-stage tasks such as data reporting, which comprise compilation, transportation, and digitization of data, and delivery of feedback. Consequently, innovation due to the introduction of mobile phones, is found in their interaction with other artefacts (paper, desktop computers, etc.), and existing paper-centric and emerging work practices.

Although lessons from this study could be transported across contexts, practitioners, and researchers should pay particular attention to contextual differences.

In accounting for the mutual shaping between technology and context/work practices the paper demonstrates that mHealth innovation demands significant practical work.

mHealth research is often preoccupied with capabilities of mobile devices. First, the authors account for interaction between artefacts, existing, and emerging use contexts, and the use process, at multiple levels of organization. Through this, the authors argue for a need to seriously consider idiosyncrasies of artefacts and tasks at hand, as well as distributed affordances across artefacts, in mHealth implementations. Second, the authors argue that contrary to the general focus on mobile phones as tools for supporting people on the move, their relevance might actually be found in reducing people’s mobility.

This paper examines the value of mobile phones in ethnographic research, and seeks to demonstrate how this particular technology can support and enhance participant observation.

Reflecting in detail on one researcher's experience of incorporating this technological device into an ethnographic study, the paper considers how new observational tools can contribute to research beyond data generation.

The study suggests that the mobile phone can be an extension of the ethnographer and act as a powerful prosthetic, allowing the researcher to translate ethnographic principles into practice.

This paper reflects on the uses of a mobile phone in an ethnographic study of young men's consumer experiences. Thus, the discussion focuses on a research site where the mobile phone holds a ubiquitous position. However, there are now more than four billion mobile phones in circulation worldwide, so whilst acknowledging important differences in research sites, this research can be seen to have wide implications beyond the study of young consumers.

The paper argues that mobile phones allow researchers to record their observations, co‐create data and share experiences with their participants in ways that enhance the quality of ethnographic interpretations and understanding.

Little research attention has been paid to how emerging technologies support the more traditional participant observer, or how researchers actually embed them within their fieldwork. This paper addresses this gap and considers the wide‐ranging role that technology can have throughout this research process.

This paper aims to examine students’ perception, views and opinions about the usage of mobile phones in an educational setting in a higher education institution located in Jamaica. The results of these findings were used to gain insights and to assist education policymakers in adopting most suitable approaches to integrating mobile technology in learning.

A survey approach was used for this study. A total of 145 students participated in the study using structured questionnaire design containing 14 questions.

The results indicated an overall positive student perception toward cell phones usage as a learning tool and integrating cell phones into learning activities. Students were keen on its usage as a social connectivity and collaborative tool, which they can use for flexible and personalized learning activities.

Less research has been done in Caribbean and developing countries in analyzing student perception toward using cell phones for learning purposes. This research provides insights in developing policies to assist with the integration of mobile phone technology in learning and how institutions can respond to the advent of advancing mobile technology.