“E-Commerce Institutionalization is not for us”: SMEs perception of E-Commerce in Tanzania

E-Commerce in least developing countries (LDCs) is believed to be non-existent because few businesses, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who are usually the vanguard of the LDCs economy, have adopted E-Commerce and even those that have, none have institutionalized the technology. Using structuration theory as a lens, this study attempts to provide an explanation as to what E-Commerce means to SMEs with the purpose of unraveling the underlying cause for the lack of E-Commerce institutionalization in LDC - Tanzania. Results indicate that SMEs use their social context to create symbolic interpretive schemes that facilitate their shared understanding of E-Commerce. This understanding was significantly influenced by social structures and resulted into new practices of doing business. They view E-Commerce as merely having a static web presence and the significant use of the mobile device. That is, E-Commerce did not necessary translate to the buying and selling of products online using their website. Websites were purely used for information purposes. They were unimpressed by the perceived benefits of institutionalizing E-Commerce because in their view, their new practices of using mobile communication and mobile payment systems mitigated against the need for institutionalization. This hybrid view of e-commerce being a mix of static website and mobile payment transactional capability is a unique perspective, which arises out of the LDC context

Difusión del uso de Internet en España ¿Existe una brecha digital entre Comunidades Autónomas?

Este trabajo aborda el análisis de la brecha digital existente entre comunidades autónomas españolas mediante el estudio de las principales características del proceso de difusión del uso de Internet en ellas. Concretamente analiza si los rasgos particulares de este proceso de difusión dependen de las características socioeconómicas de cada región, la calidad de sus infraestructuras y/o el nivel de formación de sus habitantes. Los resultados obtenidos permiten extraer conclusiones de gran interés si se desea influir sobre la trayectoria del proceso analizado, con el fin de evitar que algunas regiones queden fuera de la red de zonas y actividades que generan valor en el sistema.This work investigates the digital gap among Spanish regions by studying the most important characteristics of the internet diffusion process within each one of them. In particular, we analyze if the process specific features depend on regional socio-economic characteristics, infrastructures quality and/or people instruction level. The obtained results allow to draw very useful conclusions for influencing on the path of the diffusion process, with the purpose of preventing some regions from remaining outside of the value-generating zones and/or activities network.Administración y Dirección de EmpresasCiencias de la Comunicació

Global Diffusion of the Internet XII: The Internet Growth in Africa: Some Empirical Results

This study identifies the significant factors affecting Internet growth levels at an early stage of growth in African nations. The average growth levels of Internet users for 1995 and 2003 are calculated and the associations between Internet growth level and several types of factors such as econ¬omic, educational, institutional, infrastructural, innovation-related, and environmental factors are examined. Human development, higher education, technology availability, and computer growth levels explain more than 84 percent of the variance in African Internet growth levels. When compared to non-African nations, Africa lacks the influence of institutional variables. Compared with a set of economically similar developing nations (bas¬ed on similar GDP per capita and income inequality levels), Africa has different Internet growth levels, even though the number of Internet hosts per 1,000 and delays in starting Internet diffusion are similar. These differences are probably due to lack of education, human development, infrastructural and environmental variables

An African Pioneer Comes of Age: Evolution of Information and Communication Technologies in Uganda

Abstract The Internet story in Uganda dates back to April 1993 with associations to a Fidonet node at Makerere University, the largest institution of higher education in the country. E-mail services in private companies became accessible in August 1994, making Uganda one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to gain full Internet connection. This paper presents an overview of developments in the Internet sector since then. The Global diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework is used to assess the country's Internet diffusion. The framework provides an overview of the state of the Internet while identifying specific ways in which the Internet has been used in the war-torn northern region of Uganda. A case study of the efforts of two nongovernmental organizations to provide Internet connectivity in Internally Displaced Persons camps demonstrates the point that the Internet can serve as a useful tool for giving a "voice" to people in war zones in a process that can potentially reduce internal conflicts

Hinter der virtuellen Mauer: die VR China und das Internet

'Die Zahl der Internetbenutzer in der Volksrepublik China ist den beiden Jahren 1998 und 1999 sprunghaft angestiegen. Die chinesische Regierung ist sich darüber im klaren, daß das Land nicht auf den Einsatz moderner Kommunikationstechnologien und des Internet verzichten kann, will es nicht den Anschluß an globale Entwicklungstrends versäumen. Jedoch bringen die neuen technischen Möglichkeiten aus Sicht der chinesischen Führung auch Risiken für das Machtmonopol der Partei und die gesellschaftliche Stabilität mit sich. Daraus ergibt sich eine zwiespältige Haltung gegenüber dem Internet: Zwar ließ der Staat erhebliche Mittel in den Aufbau der notwendigen Infrastruktur fließen, gleichzeitig aber wurde versucht, den Informationsaustausch über das Internet zu kontrollieren und zu reglementieren. Der vorliegende Bericht vermittelt einen Überblick über Entwicklung, Rahmenbedingungen und Nutzung des Internet in China sowie über rechtliche Aspekte und Kontrollbemühungen.' (Textauszug)'The number of Internet users in the People's Republic of China has skyrocketed over the last two years. The Chinese leadership is well aware that a modernising China cannot afford to ignore the new forms of communication, but at the same time the Internet is perceived as a threat to political stability and to the party¿s monopoly of power. As a consequence, the Chinese authorities have, an the one hand, invested considerable financial means into the construction of the necessary infrastructure and tried to encourage and support deployment of the Internet. On the other hand, however, they attempt to control the exchange of information conducted through it. The report gives an overview over development, environment and use of the Internet in China as well as legal aspects and efforts of control.' (extract

Tacit Web: Entrepreneurial Discovery, Institutional Complexity and Internet Diffusion

This dissertation investigates how institutional frameworks and entrepreneurial discovery processes condition internet diffusion. While internet and internet-based technologies have received considerable scholarly attention, the dissertation emphasizes tacit elements in understanding internet diffusion. In order to do so, it incorporates perspectives on insttitutional complexity stemming from interactions of formal and informal institutions and different institutional logics. Empiral part consists both macro level comparisons of Estonia and Slovenia as well as micro level analysis of internet diffusion processes within Estonia. Estonia and Slovenia are selected for comparison because of considerable variance in insitutional frameworks. At the same time, both countries are relatively small and members of the European Union. This allows to focus on specific institutional configurations and path-dependencies in constraining and enabling the diffusion of internet. I find that internet is diffused more extensively and intensively in Estonia. Different socio-economic groups use more sophisticated online services in Estonia than in Slovenia. Once specific institutional configurations in general and in the telecom sector in particular are considered then it emerges that insitutional frameworks in Estonia have been more facilitative of entrepreneurial discovery processes over time. As a result, supply and demand for innovative online services in Estonia is greater than in Slovenia. After comparative perspective on two countries, the dissertation proceeds to analyze specific cases of online initiatives in Estonia such as internet banking and internet voting. Examination of outcomes shows how some of these initiatives have been successful and created reasons for adoption and use of internet on the individual level leading to a greater diffusion on macro level. My analysis demonstrates that positive outcomes have often been unintended result of experimentation through the process of entrepreneurial discovery within the context of institutions and path-dependencies. Evidence for this finding is bolstered by study of heterogeneous cases of various ICT initiatives. By emphazing institutional complexity and policy heterogeneity, the dissertation illuminates and explains the tacit nature of internet diffusion in a specific context of Estonia. This implies that Estonia has followed a unique developmental trajectory which cannot be generalized and transferred to other countries

Information and communication technology in Cuba : the case of the Joven Club de Computación y Electrónica

v, 70 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-70).Appendices in Spanish.In 1987, Cuba initiated the Joven Club de Computación y Electrónica (JCCE) programme, a nation-wide installation of staff and computer equipment that grew to encompass all 169 Cuban municipalities with community centres for computer-related training. Despite the severe economic upheaval that followed the 1989-1991 disappearance of Cuba's major trade ties with the U.S.S.R., the JCCE project endured. As the economy gradually recovered with the rapid growth of tourism and foreign investment, so, too, did investment in the JCCE. In 2000, the organization had 172 community centres. In less than four years, that number would nearly double. Approximately one-thousand centres are planned to be in operation within the next two years (2004-2006). Cuba's foray into this field is intended to "informaticize" its society, enabling Cubans to partake in the global "knowledge economy" through the participation of workers in joint-venture operations and through the creation and export of software and other technology. Similar ICT efforts on a smaller scale and with varying barriers to access not present in the Cuban example have been established by her Latin American neighbours, but only Cuba has the mass level of literacy and education to make that access relevant. This paper examines the development of the JCCE initiative, identifies the context in which it is being carried out and explores the Cuban experience as a sustainable model for mass ICT development