Information and Communications Technology in Developing, Emerging and Transition Economies: An Assessment of Research

Abstract

Information and communications technology (ICT) is a crucial driving force in economic globalization and the principal enabler in building a highly connected world. However, despite the ever-increasing importance of ICT in developing economies, the mainstream information system research remains focused on ICT in the limited number of highly developed countries. Comparatively little research is being reported that specifically addresses the issues that arise from using ICT in developing, emerging and transition economies. In this paper, we review twenty-five papers in this topic area that have been published in past proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS). Based on this review, trends and shortcomings in the existing research are discussed and new research opportunities are proposed.

Keywords: Developing economies, information and communications technology, emerging economies, transition economies