2,811 research outputs found
E-democracy and Socio-economic Development
In its ideal, an e-society is a society where technology is fully accepted by the public in all aspects of daily life. Though this ideal may still be some time away, many aspects of the e-society are already in common use or are starting to become widely implemented. This includes e-government, e-democracy, e-information, e-service, e-participation, etc., which have the potential to greatly impact socioeconomic development. In this paper we explore how these innovative e-technologies may transform society in both developed and emerging economies and be used to avert social exclusion from democratic decision-making. Based on literature review, we define several commonly used e-concepts and illustrate their relevance to socio-economic development with practical application examples around the world. We conclude our paper by pointing to several promising research opportunities
The Role of Open Source in New Business Formation: Innovations for Development
Innovative uses of ICTs can bring about development. The open source software movement offers new opportunities for innovation. In particular, the use of such platforms can enable entrepreneurs in low resource environments to access and use needed software to support their new businesses. This paper investigates the role of open source software for development. This research shows that participation in open source communities is significantly correlated with new business formation. Through an analysis of datasets from the World Bank and GitHub, the largest open source platform, this paper finds a relationship between open source participation, new business formation and their effects on development, through unemployment rates. There is a strong, positive correlation between new business registrations and active GitHub users, which was statistically significant. The implications for development are in the effect of a positive relationship in job creation based on business formation and open source participation
Facing the Challenges of e-Government in Indonesia: Demographic Inequalities
Abstract: Â E-government readiness in Indonesia showed no improvement from year to year, indicating that the implementation of e-government is encountering serious problems. Despite the lack of empirical evidence, it is stated that one of them is digital inequalities or also known by the term of the digital divide. This research paper aims to investigate the impact of demographic disparities, represented by gender, age, and place of residence, on e-government use in Indonesia. In doing so, a structural equation model was proposed based on literature review and examined through survey research. Data were collected from a survey of 237 e-government users in Indonesia. The study took place in Sleman and Tulungagung regencies. The PLS (Partial Least Square) method was applied by using SmartPLS to estimate the research model. Smith-Satterwait test was employed to examine the moderating effect. The results show that digital inequalities, particularly age and place of residence, are significant problems in Indonesia, which should be resolved to improve the usage of e-government. The research is vital for scholars to give empirical evidence of digital inequalities and its impact on e-government use, especially in Indonesia. For the local governments, this research may contribute to policy-making in improving the e-government readiness.Abstrak: Kesiapan e-government di Indonesia tidak menunjukkan peningkatan dari tahun ke tahun, menunjukkan bahwa implementasi e-government menghadapi masalah serius. Meskipun kurangnya bukti empiris, itu menunjukkan bahwa salah satunya adalah ketidaksetaraan digital atau juga dikenal dengan istilah kesenjangan digital. Makalah penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki dampak ketidaksetaraan demografis, diwakili oleh jenis kelamin, usia dan tempat tinggal, pada penggunaan e-government di Indonesia. Dengan demikian, model persamaan struktural diusulkan berdasarkan tinjauan pustaka dan diperiksa melalui penelitian survei. Data dikumpulkan dari survei terhadap 237 pengguna e-government di Indonesia. Penelitian berlangsung di kabupaten Sleman dan Tulungagung. Metode PLS (Partial Least Square) diterapkan dengan menggunakan SmartPLS untuk memperkirakan model penelitian. Tes Smith-Satterwait digunakan untuk menguji efek moderasi. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa kesenjangan digital, khususnya usia dan tempat tinggal, adalah masalah yang signifikan di Indonesia, yang harus diselesaikan untuk meningkatkan penggunaan e-government. Penelitian ini penting bagi para sarjana untuk memberikan bukti empiris ketidaksetaraan digital dan dampaknya pada penggunaan e-government, khususnya di Indonesia. Untuk pemerintah daerah, penelitian ini dapat berkontribusi pada pembuatan kebijakan dalam meningkatkan kesiapan e-government
Rethinking the Digital Divide
In discussing and planning interventions around the âdigital divideâ people tend to think in terms of the binary oppositions of âdigital-havesâ and âdigital-have-notsâ. Information and communications technologies (ICT) programs sponsored by governments and other agencies to address the âdigital divideâ also tend to be âtop-downâ initiatives that focus on the provision of institutional aid and the development of infrastructure. Within these approaches ICT have-nots tend to be treated as the passive receivers of aid. The agency of digital-have-nots in gaining access to ICT has been rarely examined. In this paper we report on a study that has shown that ICT use patterns amongst those with poor access and utilization of ICT is diverse and complex. Results from a survey of 495 rural-urban migrants in Beijing show that self-initiated digital transition exists among this group of people. The transition from digital-have-not to digital-have is not a one-step process but rather an incremental process with multiple stages and multiple pathways. Findings from this study will provide helpful insights for policy makers and related stakeholders when discussing and planning ICT programs and activities designed to address the issues associated with the digital divide
The Role of Open Source Communities in Development: Policy Implications for Governments
Open Source Software (OSS) communities engage in a shared design of software that meets the needs of community members. This dynamic may have a positive influence on development by enabling the growth of micro-enterprises thus offering opportunities for governments to stimulate their growth. This paper explores the connection between OSS communities and development outcomes to arrive at a theoretical framework that enables the investigation of the role of OSS communities in development. By examining existing government policies, we find that policymakers recognize the potential for OSS communities to create shared value through private-collective innovation. In understanding the transformative role of OSS, this research investigates (1) how OSS communities contribute to development efforts and (2) how government policy can stimulate development efforts through OSS. The contribution of this paper is in the policy implications for governments on how they may use OSS to drive development
Government Workspace Digitalization and Socioeconomic Development Outcomes in Ghana
The study sought to understand how the structurational environment shapes socioeconomic outcomes of government workspace digitalization in Ghana based on a qualitative, interpretive case study and the structurational model of technology as a theoretical lens. The findings show how the availability of electronic transactions law, government borrowing, and extendable system design can positively influence socioeconomic outcomes of government workspace digitalization. However, use of multiple system development environments, bureaucracy, a within-country digital divide, and a persistent physical signature and letterhead culture can negatively influence the socioeconomic development goals of government workspace digitalization
Discovering Development outcomes from ICT interventions in a set of micro-enterprises operating in low resource environments
The concept of Development has alluded scholars and practitioners when information technology becomes prevalent. The majority of research in the Information Technology for Development (ICT4D) field is considered to be practice intended to make the world better with Information and Communications technologies (ICTs). In addition a majority of well-intentioned ICT4D projects tend to fail, often due to unrealistic expectation set by development agencies responding to their political objectives. At the same time, Information Systems (IS) research is ripe with well-studied concepts on IT adoption (i.e. TAM/UAUT: perceived usefulness, ease of use), that do not offer insights on the effects or outcomes of technology adoption. The result is a plethora of research in the variables studied as part of Information Systems adoption research that do little to assist small and micro-enterprises struggling with technology.
This research investigates ICT interventions in a set of micro-enterprises operating in low resource environments randomly selected from a public database of about 30,000 micro-enterprises in Nebraska. Based on prior research in which we used grounded theory to analyze the ways in which ICTs are used by micro-enterprises, concepts were developed further to build theory of IT adoption in sets of micro-enterprises. This project proposes to test the theory of ICT adoption micro-enterprises by developing, testing and deploying an IRB approved instrument to the sample of micro-enterprises randomly selected for this study. The results are analyzed quantitatively to 1) identify the concepts that affect the use of ICTs in micro-enterprises. Based on the quantitative analysis a set of micro enterprises are selected to receive technology and training interventions. These micro-enterprises receive interventions customized to their needs.
The results of these interventions will be assessed qualitatively using grounded theory analysis to 2) discover the ways in which ICTs are used to support business development and growth and 3) arrive at development outcomes from the ICT usage by micro-enterprises. The potential scientific contribution of this research is in advancing knowledge of the concepts that involve the development of micro-enterprises. It also offers insights into the technology and training interventions needed to enable the growth of micro-enterprises. Such contributions, as provided in this proposed project, entail the discovery of factors that can 1) enable information systems outcomes to be assessed in terms of their success in enabling micro-enterprises to grow and 2) offer strategies for improving the lives of people, in particular the micro-entrepreneur, through IS. The societal impact of this study is in offering specific new knowledge that can be used by policymakers in supporting small business development efforts through investments in ICT infrastructures
Role of Social Media in Socioeconomic Development: Case of Facebook
To study the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on countriesâ socioeconomic development, the paper investigates the case of Facebook penetration on improving their standing as measured via GNI per capita PPP (Gross National Income per capita based on purchasing power parity). We use four macro factors categories (political, economic, demographic, and technological) in addition to Facebook penetration per capita in order to measure the potential influence of various factors on the socioeconomic level of countries. While the analyses of ICT effect on development has been the focus of many papers in the past, the specific analysis of social media is scarce. Compared to previous studies investigating social media role, we use a large dataset covering all classes of countries and examine holistically many types of determinants using different models. In addition, we distinguish our paper using the economic classification of countries according to the World Bank. Our study indicates that Facebook penetration has a significant positive role on the socioeconomic level of countries, but such role varies depending on the countriesâ classification level. Besides, there is a decreasing marginal effect showing the importance for policy makers to assess the complex dynamic behind the characteristic of each country
Impact of Pandemics on e Government Services: A Pilot Study
Focusing on COVID-19 as a prime example, this paper reports on a pilot study on the impact of wide-ranging catastrophic events like pandemics on the demand for and the supply of e-government services. Such e-services in general are of great consequence for enduring socio-economic development but may become especially important in crisis situations. The purpose of the study is to identify the specific issues related to providing necessary e-government services during and in the aftermath of an outbreak and ensuring the continuance of essential public services operations. This research provides a basis for managing and responding to such events in the future and help maintain and perhaps improve the e-government services that are most needed. The pilot study was conducted in a municipal administration in Poland. Based on interviews with city administrators and technical staff involved with providing and maintaining e-government services, the issues faced due to COVID-19 as well as the reactions and responses to these issues are investigated to develop guidelines for future handling of similar crises
- âŠ