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National Strategies to Harness Information Technology pp 1–40Cite as

Why National e-Transformation Strategies?

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Part of the book series: Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management ((ITKM))

Abstract

We are at a turning point in history, shaped by globalization, and the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution. This technological revolution has sparked and enabled a late twentieth and early twenty-first century wave of globalization—a deeper global integration that goes beyond the trade liberalization that enabled the first wave of globalization. ICT is enabling the creation and management of global networks, as ICT is used to coordinate production and services, expedite and monitor delivery, share ideas and information, and collaborate on design and research. As a general purpose technology (GPT), ICT has been transforming logistics, enabling global demand-driven supply chain management, transforming services and manufacturing, enabling the offshoring of production and outsourcing to suppliers in emerging markets, and diffusing innovations across all kinds of economic and social activities (Hanna 2009a, b). In turn, globalization is enabling the diffusion of ICT and associated innovations, at a faster pace than any GPT in history.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     ICT is broadly defined to include electronics, semiconductors, and microprocessors, as well as broadcasting, computers and communication technologies.

  2. 2.

     According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles every 2 years. The cumulative impact of these spiraling increases in capability power the economy and the Internet, running everything from digital phones and PCs to stock markets and spacecraft, and enable today’s information-rich, converged digital world.

  3. 3.

     A network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the effect that one user of a product has on the value of that product to other people. When network effect is present, the value of a product or service increases as more people use it. According to Metcalfe, the value of the network is proportional to the square of the number of users.

  4. 4.

     The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information anywhere on earth and is freely accessible by anyone with a GPS receiver (Wikipedia).

  5. 5.

     Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology uses communication via radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking.

  6. 6.

     In the final chapter, we conclude with a critique of the current roles and practices of aid agencies, in light of the lessons learned about successes and failures of the country case studies covered in this book and its companion (Hanna and Knight 2011).

  7. 7.

     Recent and projected advances in smartphones are very promising, as these devices are becoming available at increasingly low price points and consequently to a wider consumer audience, particularly in emerging markets. Smartphones will increasingly become mass-market devices for Internet connectivity and diverse applications, driven by fierce competition, technological advance, and phenomenal increase in applications using open source tools (Pyramid Research, June 2011).

  8. 8.

     Recent pro-democracy movements in the Arab World among others, are empowered by social networks and mobile communications.

  9. 9.

     For example, in the era of car and mass production, the paradigm principles were mass production/mass markets, economies of scale, standardization, centralization, and hierarchies.

  10. 10.

     There is a significant risk that development practice will fail to appreciate the profound implications of the new techno-economic paradigm, and the need to respond in real time to the consequent challenges. An incremental and narrow perspective of development misses viewing development as a process of transformation, as a non-incremental paradigm shift, and as a discovery of new sources of growth and innovation.

  11. 11.

     As economies in advanced countries struggle to maintain or restore growth in 2011 and beyond, industrial policies (and ICT and innovation policies) are likely to be brought under a brighter spotlight than ever before.

  12. 12.

     Apps for development on mobile are multiplying with much promise for rural development, health, etc.

  13. 13.

     This literature is best represented by the well-respected International Journal: Information Technology and International Development.

  14. 14.

     InfoDev, a multi-donor financed program, with secretariat at the World Bank, has focused for many years on ICT pilots to demonstrate the value of various ICTs and business models. But the InfoDev program seldom worked to secure scalability and sustainability of such pilots and innovations.

  15. 15.

     Many pilots, in India and elsewhere, were declared prematurely as success stories, but further independent evaluations proved otherwise.

  16. 16.

    Note how the demand for programming to address the Y2K problem, and the overinvestment in telecommunications during the dot com boom helped the early growth of India’s export of software services.

  17. 17.

    The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank has been reviewing the Bank Group’s experience in implementing its ICT sector Strategy, which was adopted in 2002, as an input into The Bank’s preparation of its next corporate ICT sector assistance strategy for the next decade, to be available in 2012.

  18. 18.

     When it came to the ICT sector, “missing the boat” was an often-made remark by World Bank colleagues, since the advent of the Internet and the diffusion of personal computers.

  19. 19.

    Progress with e-transformation should not be confused with e-readiness indicators. E-readiness indicators attempt to measure progress in the ICT sector and to some extent, its use in government and business. But e-readiness indicators do not tell the whole story, as they provide a static picture of inputs and outputs, and are not ends in themselves. E-readiness indicators provide measures of context and of initial conditions for ICT-enabled change.

  20. 20.

     National ICT strategies have been developed and adopted by many countries, particularly in preparation for and as a follow up to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in 2005.

  21. 21.

     For relevant discussion of the project cycle and its limits for nonengineering investment projects, see Hanna and Picciotto (2002).

  22. 22.

     Individual country case studies have been covered in successive issues of the annual Global Information Technology Report, published by INSEAD and the World Economic Forum.

  23. 23.

     The figure is a highly simplified representation of the key enablers and application areas of ICT and the many possible interdependencies among them. The first four elements are the enablers to the effective use and wide diffusion of ICT in government, business, and society. For more detailed analysis of each element and their interdependencies, see Hanna (2009a).

  24. 24.

     For more detailed treatment of the role of the ICT industry in e-transformation, see Hanna (2009a, 2010).

  25. 25.

    This framework can help both explain and guide e-transformation as a process enabled by ICT, in a similar way as Porter’s system of competitive advantage (Porter 1990; Heeks 2006) is used to both explain and guide the design of programs to enhance national competitive advantage. Porter’s competitive advantage theory takes a holistic and systemic view of four elements or determinants: factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure, and rivalry. It views these elements together as a mutually reinforcing system. These elements and their interrelationships are continually evolving. The proposed e-development framework functions in the same fashion to explain the dynamics of ICT-enabled development and to guide the design and strategic management of ICT4D programs.

  26. 26.

    The value added of this framework has been validated, among others, by a case study of e-Sri Lanka–a comprehensive e-development program already underway for several years, with World Bank assistance (see Chapter 5 in Hanna and Knight 2011). The experience of using an integrated e-development framework to guide the design and implementation of e-Sri Lanka and capture lessons of implementation is documented elsewhere (Hanna 2007a, b). The World Bank has since applied this framework to its assistance in a number of other countries such as ongoing Bank-financed projects for e-Ghana, and e-Rwanda.

  27. 27.

    Little theory or research has linked concepts of development studies to ICT-for-development research (see Heeks 2006).

  28. 28.

    On the issue of reframing, see Wilson (2005).

  29. 29.

    For detailed description of such stakeholder tools and their role in strategies for engaging stakeholders in design and implementation, see Hanna (2009a). For a country case study of how this is done in practice, see Hanna (2007a, 2008).

  30. 30.

    At times quick wins are driven by an economic rationale and the need to learn, build user capacity, and sustain confidence in a program. Politicians may also prefer smaller, citizen-oriented initiatives that have lower risks and fewer implementation problems. Here, however, the discussion focuses on tensions and tradeoffs between high-impact but long-gestating investments and low-impact but short-term initiatives.

  31. 31.

    There are several methodologies for measuring e-readiness, developing aggregate indices of readiness, and ICT indicators. The trend is to move beyond measures of ICT inputs to measures of ICT use and outputs. Several international institutions have devised such measures: World Bank (World Bank Institute), ITU, UNCTAD, and World Economic Forum, among others.

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  1. Bethesda, MD, USA

    Nagy K. Hanna

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    Nagy K. Hanna

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    Peter T. Knight

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Hanna, N.K. (2012). Why National e-Transformation Strategies?. In: Hanna, N., Knight, P. (eds) National Strategies to Harness Information Technology. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2086-6_1

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