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local patents and the commercialization of inventions. Reportedly, the
database contains more than 1,300 innovations. The Kelabit group of
Sarawak is also recording their oral history in a database of stories told by
senior citizens, and are using computers to assemble genealogical records.
The study sought to encourage the creation and the preservation of
indigenous knowledge systems as cultural artefacts amongst rural women.
4.5.3 The success of leTs in rural development yields better
results when social, political and economic factors and varying
modes of communication are taken into account, and used in
implementation.
This third approach considers the follOWing main factors:
4.5.3.1 lCTs alone are insufficient for significant benefits to emerge
Harris (2004:35-36) observes that ICTs on their own cannot be expected to
result in any reasonable outcomes without a development strategy. The
voice of the poor is important in combating poverty and should be
incorporated in lCT approaches toward poverty alleviation. Addressing the
needs of the most marginalized, especially women and children, is vital.
The study sought to ascertain that the voice of marginalized rural women
and their needs are important if development is to be achieved in rural
areas.
4.5.3.2 lCTs will not transform bad development into good development,
but they can make good development better
ICTs act as an amplifier of underlying processes. What makes development
work well will be made to work better using ICTs. Harris (2004: 35) argues
that even when such infrastructure is in place, difficulties arise when ICTs
are too costly to use, too far to access and poorly maintained. In Kenya for
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