TY - JOUR

T1 - Priorities, policies and practice of e-government in a developing country context: ICT infrastructure and diffusion in Jamaica

AU - Brown, D H

AU - Thompson, S

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - This paper presents the findings of recent research into e-government policies and initiatives undertaken by the Government of Jamaica within the context of selective intervention facilitated through financial and technical assistance. In the specific context of a developing economy it highlights the use of infrastructure building and government intervention to aid diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) and draws attention to the differences between developed and developing countries in their approach to e-government. A case of the Jamaica Customs Department is provided to exemplify the implementation of e-government in practice. Using institutional factor analysis for IT innovation the interaction of policy and practice is analysed. Four significant themes are identified that characterise the context for e-government policy, together with the associated institutional factors. The relative importance of these factors is demonstrated with Innovation Directive, Standards and Subsidy shown to be prime. These findings contribute to both institutional factor analysis for IT innovation and to ICT adoption theory, and together signal the importance of the inclusion of policy-based intervention in a future research agenda for e-government in a developing country context.

AB - This paper presents the findings of recent research into e-government policies and initiatives undertaken by the Government of Jamaica within the context of selective intervention facilitated through financial and technical assistance. In the specific context of a developing economy it highlights the use of infrastructure building and government intervention to aid diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) and draws attention to the differences between developed and developing countries in their approach to e-government. A case of the Jamaica Customs Department is provided to exemplify the implementation of e-government in practice. Using institutional factor analysis for IT innovation the interaction of policy and practice is analysed. Four significant themes are identified that characterise the context for e-government policy, together with the associated institutional factors. The relative importance of these factors is demonstrated with Innovation Directive, Standards and Subsidy shown to be prime. These findings contribute to both institutional factor analysis for IT innovation and to ICT adoption theory, and together signal the importance of the inclusion of policy-based intervention in a future research agenda for e-government in a developing country context.

U2 - 10.1057/ejis.2011.3

DO - 10.1057/ejis.2011.3

M3 - Journal article

VL - 20

SP - 329

EP - 342

JO - European Journal of Information Systems

JF - European Journal of Information Systems

SN - 0960-085X

ER -