Moderating information and communication technologies' influences on socioeconomic development with good governance: A study of the developing countries

Abstract

With the increasing globalization of the world economy, there has been a growing interest in the potential contributions of good governance to accelerating the rate of economic and social development in the developing countries, and enhance their smooth integration into the emerging global economy. Simultaneously, developed economies are experiencing an increasing proportion in the contribution of knowledge, information, and telecommunication sectors to their overall gross domestic product. This is placing increased focus on the role and contribution of national information infrastructure to economic productivity, and in extension, to the economic and social development of nations. In this article, the authors explore the link between information and communication technologies (ICTs), governance, and social economic development in the developing countries. They empirically conclude that contributions of ICTs to social-economic development are influenced by sociopolitical governance-leading to national development through more prudent and egalitarian application and use of the ICTs' portfolio. The contingent role of governance on ICTs and national development paves the path towards recognizing the importance of sociopolitical moderators.

Information infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic development in developing countries

“…One group of research points to the positive impact of select groups of information infrastructures on socio-economic development and/or governance. Examples include Dutta (2001), Gatica (1994), Mbarika et al (2001Mbarika et al ( , 2002aMbarika et al ( , 2005, Meso & Duncan (2000), Nidumolu & Goodman (1993), Nidumolu et al (1996), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (1997), Rose & Straub (1998), Sheffield & Gallupe (1995, Straub & Watson (2001), Straub (1994), andMeso et al (2006), among others. However, others argue that governance and socio-economic development are complex phenomena which cannot be direclty improved by the effects of technology alone (Walsham & Sahay, 1999;Casely, 2004;Avgerou et al, 2005).…”

“…While a great deal of research has been conducted in recent years on how nations create information infrastructures, the influence of such infrastructures on country governance and socio-economic development remains -except for a few recent studies -at best anecdotal and conjectural (Meso et al, 2006). The key question is: can such infrastructures demonstrate tangible benefits to those who deploy them in the national arena?…”

Factors affecting ICT expansion in emerging economies: An analysis of ICT infrastructure expansion in five Latin American countries

“…Furthermore, some researchers have also argued that the impact of ICTs extends well beyond the economic domain, having positive spillover effects on numerous dimensions of social life. For example, these technologies have been harnessed to enhance learning (Aduwa-Ogiegbaen & Iyamu, 2005;Kankaanranta, 2005), improve health care (Branko, Lovell, & Basilakis, 2003;Von Lubitz & Wickramasinghe, 2006), empower marginalized women (Gurumurthy, 2003;Huyer, 2005), promote indigenous knowledge (Jain, 2006), and maintain good governance (Meso, Datta, & Mbarika, 2005). Under the assumption that ICTs are essential to rapid socioeconomic progress, institutions such as the World Bank, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been pushing emerging economies to invest heavily in ICT infrastructure expansion.…”

IT Education and Workforce Participation: A New Era for Women in Kenya?

“…More recently, the digital divide discourse has broadened to include not only issues relating to access to ICT, but also the capability and capacity to leverage ICT for the advancement of historically underserved populations, the development of local content on an ICT platform, and the creation of appropriate policy measures to cultivate an enabling environment for ICT use (Isaacs, 2002;Kvasny 2005;Meso, Datta and Mbarika, 2006).…”