Giselle Rampersad

E-Government Readiness Assessment for Government Organizations in Developing Countries

ICT has become an increasingly important factor in the development process of nations. Major barriers can be met in the adoption and diffusion of e-government services depending on the readiness of a country in terms of ICT infrastructure and deployment. This study aims to define organizational requirements that will be necessary for the adoption of e-government to resolve the delay of ICT readiness in public sector organizations in developing countries. Thus, this study contributes an integrated e-government framework for assessing the ICT readiness of government agencies. Unlike the existing e-government literature that focuses predominantly on technical issues and relies on generic e-readiness tools, this study contributes a comprehensive understanding of the main factors in the assessment of e-government organizational ICT readiness. The proposed e-government framework comprises seven dimensions of ICT readiness assessment for government organizations including e-government organizational ICT strategy, user access, e-government program, ICT architecture, business process and information systems, ICT infrastructure, and human resource. This study is critical to management in assessing organizational ICT readiness to improve the effectiveness of e-government initiatives.

Examining network factors: commitment, trust, coordination and harmony

Purpose – In recent decades, R&D networks have proliferated amongst members of universities, businesses, research organisations and government. Despite increases in the complexity and prominence of these networks, empirical studies investigating their performance are still sparse. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by investigating the impact of trust and commitment on network harmony and coordination.Design/methodology/approach – The study applies confirmatory factor analysis, using structural equation modelling, to ascertain the impact of trust and commitment on harmony and coordination within networks. It is based on responses of 124 participants from an Australian biotechnology and nanotechnology network.Findings – The study reveals that trust has significant impacts on both network coordination and harmony.Practical implications – The paper provides managerial implications for organisations involved in innovation networks which can be used to inform the design and coordination of inter‐org...

Technology adoption and performance impact in innovation domains

Purpose – Despite the growing prominence of innovation, limited studies examine the adoption of applications that support innovation processes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the adoption of innovation management applications (IMAs).Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on qualitative and quantitative evidence sourced from innovation development and commercialization functions including R&D, marketing, and administration at a university and technology transfer office.Findings – The paper contributes to literature by isolating determinants that affect the adoption of IMAs and their link to innovation process performance, confirming the importance of perceived usefulness and compatibility of IMAs to users work styles.Originality/value – There is paucity of research concerning the adoption of IMAs which present unique challenges due to their idiosyncrasies. This study contributes by proposing an adoption model and validating it. It also links IMA adoption to innovation process performan...

High‐speed broadband: assessing its social impact

Purpose – Given the increasingly significant investments in high‐speed broadband (HSB) internationally and the heightened rhetoric surrounding its benefits, the purpose of this paper is to assess the social impact of HSB.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a case study concerning HSB delivered in the ambit of Australias National Broadband Network (NBN), the study contributes a conceptual framework to evaluate the social impact of HSB initiatives.Findings – The authors found that key sectors, including education, health and community development, should be critically assessed across pertinent dimensions in evaluating the social impact of HSB.Practical implications – The framework provided in this study is significant as it can be used strategically by managers and policy makers in both leveraging HSB opportunities in key sectors and monitoring the performance of such initiatives.Originality/value – The research extends the technology adoption literature by contributing a framework that moves beyond the...

Management of networks involving Technology Transfer from public to private sector: a conceptual framework

Over recent decades, increasingly complex networks have emerged among universities, industries and governments involved in technology transfer from public to private sector. Despite the growing international importance of such networks, academic research examining the key management factors leading to their effectiveness is still sparse. This exploratory study investigates such network management factors in various industries in Australia. Based on interviews held with members from university, industry and government, we provide an analysis from a network-level perspective. Findings are used to develop a conceptual framework concerned with managing networks involving technology transfer from public to private sector.

Developing and evaluating scales to assess innovation networks

Despite increasing recognition that innovation networks comprising university, business and government are important in fostering innovation, few scales have been developed for use in assessing their management. Existing measures are predominantly biased towards technical and financial aspects. Furthermore, the few scales that examine social factors remain limited to the viewpoint of only one type of participant involved such as businesses, ignoring the multitude of views of the other network participants. Based on both qualitative and quantitative research, this contributes addresses these issues by proposing validated scales to assess power distribution, coordination, harmony, communication and R&D efficiencies of innovation networks.

IOS adoption in innovation networks: A case study

Purpose – Given the increased importance of inter‐organizational networks in fostering innovation, the purpose of this paper is to isolate drivers of the adoption of inter‐organizational systems (IOS) that support innovation processes.Design/methodology/approach – Based on qualitative research incorporating a focus group and in‐depth interviews, a network framework is provided for understanding key drivers concerning IOS adoption.Findings – The research uncovers factors for facilitating coordination and communication efficiencies and outlines the roles that trust and commitment can play in managing innovation within networks through IOS use.Research limitations/implications – To enhance our understanding of innovations that are entrenched in networks of heterogeneous actors, this research contributes by employing an interdisciplinary approach as it applies network and relationships marketing literatures to the IOS adoption in innovation settings.Originality/value – The paper advances theory development on...

A Suggested E-Government Framework for Assessing Organizational E-Readiness in Developing Countries

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been presented in the government sector all over the world last two decades in an effort to accomplish better operational efficiency and effectiveness. This study focuses on the main internal factors in the assessment of e-government organizational readiness in developing countries and how do they lead to successful e-government adoption. Consequently, this study contributes an integrated e-government framework for assessing the e-readiness of government organizations. Most assessment models are more appropriate for the assessment of the overall growth of e-government in each country; they are not focusing on the difficulties that exist in the internal factors affecting transformation of a government organization caused by ICT diffusion. Most of these modules disregard the vision of external stakeholders and employees, although they represent the basis in the success of any e-government project. The suggested e-government framework consists of seven dimensions of ereadiness assessment for government organizations including e-government organizational strategy, user access, e-government program, portal architecture, business process, ICT infrastructure, and human resource. This article extended the previous work particularly in the literature review and the processes dimension. This article is significant to management in assessing organizational e-readiness to improve the effectiveness of e-government initiatives. The next step of this study is to test the relations of these factors in an emerging egovernment environment using a case study on an government organization as an essential step in the process of testing the framework suggested.

Evaluation of Organizational E-Government Readiness in the Public Sector

The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated framework to evaluate organizational e-government readiness for government organizations. This framework is necessary as current ones ignore challenges that arise due to organizational transformation issues stemming from diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies ICTs. This study adopts an e-government framework to highlight the main internal factors involved in the assessment of e-government organizational readiness and to examine how these factors lead to successful, organizational e-government readiness. The proposed framework integrates seven dimensions for evaluating organizational e-government readiness including e-government strategy, user access, e-government programs, portal architecture, business processes, ICT infrastructure, and human resources. This paper offers valuable insights to ICT managers for effectively assessing the e-government readiness of organizations to facilitate the success of e-government programs in the public sector.

Ready, Set, Govern: Readiness of Saudi Arabian Organizations for E-Government

Despite the importance of organizational readiness for successful e-Government, limited studies examine internal organizational factors needed for the transformation to e-Government. This study contributes to the literatures pertaining to e-Readiness and e-Government, by offering an Organizational E-Government Readiness (OEGR) model which uncovers critical factors imperative for e-Government readiness in public organizations. Based on a quantitative survey of key government officials in Saudi Arabia, the study applied structural equation modelling to test the OEGR model. Quantitative findings revealed that various factors including strategy, national e-Government program, processes, ICT infrastructure, and human resources had a positive impact on OEGR as compared to the no direct link between users access and OEGR. The model equips government agencies with a systematic approach for assessing OEGR.