Abstract
e-Transformation is a long-term challenge for all developing countries—a profound reform and change process that countries must undergo to both exploit the new opportunities arising form the ongoing technological revolution and cope with the imperatives of competing in an increasingly fast-paced, innovation-driven global economy. All countries are still at early stages of mastering this new techno-economic paradigm. Emerging experience in the design and implementation of national e-strategies shows that the development impact of ICT investments has varied as a function of many factors, and these factors should guide future directions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Current literature on information systems (IS) and ICT in developing countries has several discourses. The basic themes or discourses are on IS implementation as a process of technology and knowledge transfer, of catching up with the rich economies, and of diffusing IS knowledge and adapting it to local conditions; IS as a process of socially embedded action involving construction of new techno-organizational structures for a given social context; and IS as an innovation and transformative intervention that leverages large-scale and deep socio-economic change. Other recurrent themes of research of most relevance to this chapter are the high rates of implementation failures (especially scalability and sustainability failures in e-government under prevailing political, institutional, and managerial conditions in developing countries, e.g., Heeks, 2006); the dependence of developing countries on global ICT services vendors; the strategic role of ICT as a source of growth and for improvement of governance and social services (e.g., UNDP, 2001); and the development of community ICT resources (e-society, telecenters). For a good review of this research literature see Avgerou (2008).
- 2.
“Information Technology as an Instrument of Public Management Reform: A Study of Five OECD Countries,” PUMA (98) 14, December4, 1998, p. 14.
- 3.
UN (2003); Richard Heeks (2002).
- 4.
Examples include the value-measuring methodology applied by the USA, the demand and value assessment framework applied by Australia, the economic efficiency assessment applied by Germany, and the European Union’s e-Government Economics Project.
- 5.
In the USA, a large number of the first cadre of public-sector CIOs came from the private sector.
- 6.
The best examples of World Bank-aided projects have been those where ICT was intentionally used to induce broader institutional and policy changes and capacity development and where investments in skills, process reengineering, organizational learning, and other complementary ingredients were phased and secured early on in ICT for development programs.
- 7.
The global financial crisis that started in 2008 may provide a spur for economy-wide e-transformation in the USA and OECD countries, and hopefully in developing countries.
- 8.
Similar arguments are made against adopting a standard recipe for growth strategies and institutions in Rodrik (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hanna, N.K. (2010). Lessons for Managing Implementation. In: Transforming Government and Building the Information Society. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1506-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1506-1_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1505-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1506-1
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)