Full Description
This title was first published in 2001. A discussion of information technology (IT) in developing countries. The contributors can be considered to share the following set of broad premises: information and communication technologies, and related systems, have significant potential to aid the economic growth and improvement of social conditions in the developing world; however, such potential is not released by simply transferring technologies and processes from advanced economies; in order to better serve development needs, people involved with the design, implementation and management of IT-related projects and systems in developing countries must improve their capacity to address the specific contextual characteristics of the organization, sector, country or region within which their work is located. The text thus emphasizes the importance of context in examining the role and value of IT in the developing countries. It focuses attention on the fusion of the activities of "professionals" (technical experts, managers, policy makers) and "users" (more broadly, all other groups affecting or affected by the technologies and systems), with the intention of facilitating locally meaningful and effective change.
Contents
Introduction: IT in Developing Countries; I: Organisational Context; 1: Information Systems and Human Activity in Nepal; 2: The Role of Thai Values in Managing Information Systems: A Case Study of Implementing a MRP System; 3: On the Design of Management Assistance Systems for SMEs in Developing Countries; 4: Strategic Use of Information Technology Requires Knowing How to Use Information; 5: Development of a Technology Intelligence Information System in Mexico: A Case Study; 6: Getting Value from IT Investments: Experiences from Two Organisations; 7: What's in Information Technology? Issues in Deploying IS in Organisations and Developing Countries; II: Sectoral Context; 8: Health Information Systems in Mongolia: A Difficult Process of Change; 9: Made-in-Nigeria Systems Development Methodologies: An Action Research Project in the Health Sector; 10: Analysis of Wireless Health Care Information Systems in Developing Countries; 11: Institutional Intervention in the Adoption of Computer-based Information Systems (CBIS): The Case of the Nigerian Banking Industry; 12: Competitive Advantage in the Software Industry: An Analysis of the Indian Experience; III: Wider Context; 13: Information Technology, Information Systems and Public Sector Accountability; 14: Urbanisation and Megacities in Developing Countries: The Management Challenge; 15: Local Language Software in South Asia; 16: Managing Roadblocks to the ECOWAS Trade Statistics Network; 17: Information Technology in Africa: The Policy of the World Bank; 18: Information and Communication Technology Policy in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Rhetoric and Practice; 19: IT, Globalisation and Cultural Diversity
