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

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• electronic government
• transformational government
• developing economies
• government intervention
• supply-push and market-pull
• institutional approach

^†Both authors contributed equally to this paper

^†Both authors contributed equally to this paper

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to the Jamaican Government, Association of Commonwealth Universities and the British Council for funding this research. Thanks also to all the participants from government institutions and organisations who gave their time and valuable information. Special thanks to the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology, including Michael DuQuesnay, for facilitating access and encouraging independent research. The authors also wish to acknowledge the constructive suggestions of the three reviewers and of the editors in the drafting of this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David H Brown

About the authors

David Brown is Chair of Strategy and Information Systems and Director of the China Management Centre at Lancaster University Management School, U.K. His research interests have two separate but linked strands. Firstly, strategic studies including strategic information systems, and secondly, the application of these strands internationally, including developing economies. The majority of his work is strongly organisationally based, including SMEs and has been published widely.

Sheryl Thompson

Sheryl Thompson holds first class degrees in Computing at undergraduate and post graduate levels from the University of West Indies and University of Cambridge. She completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Management Science at Lancaster University in 2007 as a Commonwealth Scholar. Before her present post as lecturer in the University of West Indies she worked as an IT professional in industry and government for 6 years.