Assessing technological neocolonialism: Experiences of early-stage tech en-trepreneurs in Bangladesh

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School of Business | Master's thesis
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2025-07-30

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Mcode

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Master's programme in People Management and Organizational Development

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en

Pages

78

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Abstract

This thesis examines how early-stage tech entrepreneurs in Bangladesh experience and navigate the structural and symbolic asymmetries associated with technological neocolonialism in the global digital landscape. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight startup founders and a theory-informed thematic analysis, the study explores how reliance on foreign digital infrastructures, limited data sovereignty, infrastructural gaps, and externally imposed regulations shape entrepreneurial choices and constraints. The analysis identifies seven interrelated themes: platform dependency, infra-structural gaps, data control beyond borders, regulatory voids, cultural and linguistic exclusion, localized innovation strategies, and navigating fragmented support ecosystems. These are interpreted through a typology of technological neocolonialism, using the dual lenses of epistemic and ontological domination. Together, they reveal how digital infrastructures and global knowledge systems reinforce inequality and sideline locally rooted innovation. In response, many entrepreneurs turn to context-sensitive strategies. They develop culturally grounded technologies, adopt open-source tools, and rely on peer networks. These practices reflect efforts not just to adapt but also to assert greater digital self-determination within a system they do not control. By combining postcolonial theory with grounded empirical insights, this research contributes to current debates on digital inequality, platform governance, and innovation ecosystems in digitally dependent contexts. It emphasizes the need for more inclusive and locally relevant approaches to digital development, ones that value diverse knowledge systems and lived realities.

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Ahola-Launonen, Johanna

Keywords

technological neocolonialism, postcolonial innovation, early-stage entrepreneurship, platform dependency, digital sovereignty, epistemic and ontological domination

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202508146076

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ