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We argue for the importance of understanding the human infrastructure in ICTD projects. We do this through two field studies in low-income communities of Bangalore, India---on technology usage in urban slums and mobile media sharing on a wider scale. We offer ICTD researchers and practitioners an analytical lens to understand the shared social norms and practices, flows of information and materials, and creative processes that underlie existing information and communication access. We then provide a discussion of the systemic processes (usage, maintenance, and diffusion) and properties that constitute a human infrastructure. We end with opportunistic areas for ICT4D and human infrastructures. Through such a lens, we offer ICTD designers and researchers ways of understanding use and everyday practice to respond to developmental challenges through technologies.
Sambasivan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.