Blake, Edwin H.Tucker, William David2013-07-222013-07-222006Blake, E. H., & Tucker, W. D. (2006). Socially aware software engineering for the developing world. In P. Cunningham & M. Cunningham (eds.), Information Society Technologies - Africa (IST-Africa). Pretoria, South Africa: IIMC International Information Management Corporation1-905824-01-7http://hdl.handle.net/10566/662While the social effects of Information Technology (IT) have received much attention there is very little work on targeted methodologies to develop IT applications and content in a developing world environment. This paper describes a methodology called Socially Aware Software Engineering we are busy formulating based on firsthand experience building Information and Communication Technology solutions. Our method is based on a classical user-centred approach from Human Computer Interaction combined with aspects of Participatory Design and cyclical software engineering practises. These approaches are wrapped into an iterative Action Research paradigm in order to directly include the community-based users of our systems. We outline three cases studies based on our evolving method. The paper concludes with suggestions on changing the nature of tertiary curricula in developing countries in a way that integrates this socially aware software engineering methodology.en© International Information Management Corporation. This file may be freely used for educational purposes, as long as it is not altered in any way. Acknowledgement of the authors and the source is required.Action researchComputer ScienceDeveloping worldFree and open source softwareHuman-Computer Interaction (HCI)Participatory designSoftware engineeringConference Proceedings