Information systems development in developing countries : risk management and sustainability analysis in Nigerian software companies

The expectations of IT for socio-economic and human development in developing countries have been high, but the real benefits and the positive impacts have been somewhat disappointing. The harsh socio-economic and infrastructural context makes the sustainability of an IS a major issue. Technology transfer to Africa has been too dependent on external factors, like international aid donors, and emphasized on technology itself. There is a need for locally developed, appropriate information systems, which are based on local needs and structures. In addition, the development should be done by using appropriate methods in an African context. This thesis is part of the INDEHELA-Methods project, wh…

Internet Adoption at the User Level: Empirical Evidence from The Gambia

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) are used to investigate technology adoption. However, its application in Sub-Saharan Africa is rare and barely extended to the validation phase. In this paper, we introduce six new moderating factors for UTAUT core determinants and two other direct determinants of Internet adoption. The objective of this approach is to identify relevant elements of Internet adoption at the user level in The Gambia. Moderating factors are interacting terms used when the relationship between independent and dependent variable is weak, inconsistent or non-existent. A case study research design was employed and the data were gathered in Autumn of 20…

Two Times Four Integrative Levels of Analysis: A Framework

Walsham (2000) urged Information Systems researchers to truly cover all levels of analysis from the individual to the societal in their research agenda. In this paper, we accept his challenge by proposing a research framework offour integrative levels of analysis: individual, group/activity, organizational, and societal. Each level is divided into two viewpoints: intra (single case) and inter (multiple cases, relational, comparative). In addition, the temporal/historical dimension should be applied on all levels and viewpoints. We argue that although all of the levels and viewpoints of the “2 × 4 + history” framework cannot be thoroughly covered in any single study, researchers should alway…

ICT Barriers and Critical Success Factors in Developing Countries

Since the early 1990s, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been perceived as a catalyst for development. However, the UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report 2011 acknowledges that the poor in many developing countries remain largely excluded from ICT and its benefits. This paper aims to address three issues. Firstly, identify ICT barriers in the literature from 2000 to 2011. Secondly, identify ICT barriers through empirical findings and thirdly, categorize these barriers into critical success factors. These aims are achieved by comparing the findings in the literature to our recent empirical results. Two methodologies are used in this study, namely, a systematic literatu…

Information System Development Methodologies

This paper provides preliminary results of INDEHELA-M, a joint Finnish-Nigerian project undertaken by a prominent Nigerian software development company. The main objectives of the project are to produce empirical information and understanding of the practice and problems of information systems development (ISD) in Nigeria, and to facilitate Nigerian ISD practitioners by improved methods, techniques, practices, and education, according to their needs. Gender participation in ISD was also introduced to study the methodologies employed in ISD projects and the effect (if any) on gender participation and/or access to information technology and create gender balance awareness in Software Developm…

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