Toward Sustainable Adoption of Technologies for Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Precursors, Diagnostics, and Prescriptions

Abstract

This paper proposes and merges an extension of technology acceptance model with ideas from human development research targeting least developed countries. Specifically, the paper proposes an extension of the influence of perceived user resource, which in turn was developed from the original TAM literature. It is also tied to the Information Technology literature about socioeconomic development. Our objective is to shed light on the interactions between socioeconomic development needs and factors generally innate to sub-Sahara Africa and other developing countries that impede sustainable technological adoption and diffusion. We argue that developing countries lag in adopting 'foreign technologies'. We offer diagnostics and prescriptions for how to effect a sustainable technological adoption to support socioeconomic development across Sub-Saharan Africa. This article should bring into focus this and other developing regions that are almost non-existent in mainstream Information Systems research.

The Mediating Role of Voice and Accountability in the Relationship Between Internet Diffusion and Government Corruption in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Increasing access to the Internet and its effects in the sub-Saharan African region has been the focus of much research interest in recent years, particularly because of the Internet's potential to change and possibly reverse the historic technological underdevelopment of this region (Darley, 2003;Musa et al, 2005). This interest provided the motivation for our focus on developing countries in the sub-Saharan African region.…”

“…It also tends to prevent or reduce the inflow of foreign investment (Kessing, Konrad, & Kotsogiannis, 2007), possibly perpetuating underdevelopment. Musa, Meso, and Mbarika (2005) provided a possible partial explanation for this situation, based on an examination of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They argued that developing countries are more resistant to the introduction of technologies that can be used to fight corruption, such as Internetbased technologies, than developed countries.…”

“…Following Darley (2003) and Musa et al (2005), our focus is on developing countries in the sub-Saharan African region, as well as in a "matched" developing region of increasing importance in the world, namely Latin America. Central to our investigation are the predictions that one will find a negative overall relationship between Internet diffusion and government corruption (i.e.…”

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

“…In this example, the NII solution has contributed to an enhancement in the economic productivity for these countries by opening up new multi-billion economic sectors (Kraemer et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2007). In the lesser developed nations, the meteoric diffusion of cellular telephony and Internet technologies is beginning to impact economic productivity, by enhancing the density of economic networks and allowing many more individuals to participate in the formal economy (Meso et al, 2005;Musa et al, 2005b). The dynamic interaction between participants within and without each sector, the power-dependence of these participants, and the conflicting goals of each create an intricate governance network.…”

Implications of spatial and physical structures for ICT as a tool of urban management and development in Cameroon

“…One reason for this has to do with the fact that the levels of ICT activities, almost all of which are of the demand side variant, remain relatively low. The much heralded rise in the use of mobile ICTs such as cellular phones, for instance, has very little impact on economic development in developing countries, where they are mainly used for social communication purposes or as a status symbol (Musa, Meso, & Mbarika, 2005). At any rate, it is necessary to note that ICT services in these countries are limited and of poor quality.…”