Start with the system that already exists
The Plug-In Principle is an approach to ICT for Development that begins before a technical intervention is chosen. Every community already has ways of producing knowledge, sharing information, organising work and deciding what is trusted. A useful technology needs to understand and fit those systems.
Four connected considerations
What people know, create and need.
Languages, media, relationships and trust.
Devices, networks, power and maintenance capacity.
A system adapted and assessed with its users.
These are not fixed steps. Participatory work moves between them as the research team and community learn together. A prototype can reveal a mistaken assumption. A familiar medium, such as radio or a voice call, may provide a better connection point than a new screen-based service.
How it appears in the research
Mr. Meteo used local-language voice calls to make climate information reachable to farmers. RadioNet and Tibaŋsim connected voice content with GSM and FM radio. TIBaLLi investigated AI-supported Internet access while treating Dagbani language resources, participation and context as core design requirements.
The principle developed within a wider body of participatory and ICT4D research. My work develops and applies it without claiming that the underlying traditions of community participation originated with one researcher.