Achieving state‐of‐the‐art ICT connectivity in developing countries: The Azerbaijan model of Technology Leapfrogging

Abstract

AbstractTechnology Leapfrogging can allow developing countries to achieve an advanced state of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) connectivity rapidly and efficiently. And yet, despite its apparent value and benefits, there is currently a lack of research on how the process is enacted. In an attempt to fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a case study of Azerbaijan's national ICT infrastructure development journey. Azerbaijan is one of the top developing countries across the globe in terms of ICT connectivity, and with an in‐depth exploration of how it planned for ICT development, and leveraged new and existing ICT capabilities toward the implementation of high‐impact projects in the areas of infrastructure development, e‐government, information management and security, business and entrepreneurship, and research and education, a process model of Technology Leapfrogging is derived and presented in this article. More specifically, our process model suggests that ICT development in Azerbaijan unfolded as a “stage‐skipping” variant of Technology Leapfrogging that consists of 4 stages: (1) strategizing, (2) anchoring, (3) enacting, and (4) reinforcing. Traversing the 4 stages enabled Azerbaijan to achieve the state of the art in ICT connectivity quickly and cost‐effectively, which served to generate a number of economic and social outcomes for the country in spite of its limited resources.