Diffusion Of Information Technologies Research Articles

Smartphone use and income growth in rural China: empirical results and policy implications

The diffusion of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs) has important implications for rural economic development. Many studies have investigated the potential contributions of mobile ICTs to agricultural production and poverty reduction, but have failed to consider the wider income effects of the use of updated ICTs, such as smartphones. Our findings, based on household-level survey data from rural China and an endogenous switching regression model, indicate that gender, farmers’ education, farm size, and off-farm work participation are the main drivers of smartphone use. Further, we find that smartphone use increases farm income, off-farm income and household income substantially and there is a statistically significant difference in the income effects between male and female users of smartphones. Possible policy interventions from our findings include: (1) support to increase use of smartphones by households headed by women; and (2) a ‘win–win’ approach to rural development that includes improved hard (roads) and soft (education) infrastructure and encompasses the increased use of smartphones so as to increase both off-farm employment opportunities and farm and off-farm incomes.

Opportunities and challenges of digitized discretionary practices: a public service worker perspective

Public service workers exercise discretionary power during policy implementation. Due to an immense diffusion of information and communications technology (ICT) in public service provision, they are increasingly exposed to reforms aiming at more efficient and fair decision-making. Whereas extant literature has found that ICT can both enable and constrain public service workers' ability to exercise discretion, we know less about underlying explanations for these inconclusive findings. This paper addresses this research gap by exploring how and why public service workers react to digitized discretionary practices. We draw upon institutional logics to show the underlying considerations of public service workers when they are faced with multiple conflicting demands from market-oriented goals of digitization and professional norms. To identify their reactions and underlying considerations, we have conducted a multiple case analysis of two Norwegian organizations; a district court and a tax administration office. We conclude that public service workers are positive to digitization when it promotes professional aspects of their work and that professional discretion is considered necessary to accomplish tasks of greater complexity.

Proposing a Value-Based Digital Government Model: Toward Broadening Sustainability and Public Participation

It has generally been well-established, by a number of studies, that the rapid advance and global diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) is impacting the milieu of governance along with a socio-technical transformation of society at all levels. With a growing interest in digital government, the inquiry concerning a common digital model has been raised. To assist public administrators in thinking about new digital government for their organizations, a new developmental model framework is proposed in this article. This model is drawn from value-based analysis contained in developmental policies, and a subsequent policy development process is also proposed. In doing so, the new model would represent accelerated socio-technical transformation with intelligent technologies, escalating wicked problems appearing despite technological advances. The limitations of the current finite state model are also discussed.

From aperture satellite to "Internet finance": Institutionalization of ICTs in China's financial sector since 1991

China's financial industries started the process of marketization only two decades ago, but by 2017 its financial technology or fin-tech sector had taken half of the global market. The exponential diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Chinese financial contexts have generated new organizational structures and socio-political relations that have the capacity to change China's position in the world economy. Drawing upon the sociological concept of institutionalization, this paper examines how the Chinese state has integrated ICT diffusion in its formal policies and its informal rules in China's financial development since 1991. Further, it addresses the political and socio-economic consequences of these developments. Based on the analyses of government documents and sources, trade journals, and statistic data from business databases, this paper divides the Chinese institutionalization of financial technologies into three stages and identifies the primary actors and paradigms for ICT diffusions in each stage. ICT diffusion has been constitutive but also disruptive to the existing financial policies, instrumental to the commercialization of state-owned banks, and has gradually transformed into a set of formal and informal rules accepted by a network of professionals, corporations, and government agencies. The institutionalization of ICT diffusion has engendered the continuous adjustment of financial policies and propelled innovations in China's financial economy.

The Effectiveness of Health Care Information Technologies: Evaluation of Trust, Security Beliefs, and Privacy as Determinants of Health Care Outcomes.

BackgroundThe diffusion of health information technologies (HITs) within the health care sector continues to grow. However, there is no theory explaining how success of HITs influences patient care outcomes. With the increase in data breaches, HITs’ success now hinges on the effectiveness of data protection solutions. Still, empirical research has only addressed privacy concerns, with little regard for other factors of information assurance.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to study the effectiveness of HITs using the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model (DMISSM). We examined the role of information assurance constructs (ie, the role of information security beliefs, privacy concerns, and trust in health information) as measures of HIT effectiveness. We also investigated the relationships between information assurance and three aspects of system success: attitude toward health information exchange (HIE), patient access to health records, and perceived patient care quality.MethodsUsing structural equation modeling, we analyzed the data from a sample of 3677 cancer patients from a public dataset. We used R software (R Project for Statistical Computing) and the Lavaan package to test the hypothesized relationships.ResultsOur extension of the DMISSM to health care was supported. We found that increased privacy concerns reduce the frequency of patient access to health records use, positive attitudes toward HIE, and perceptions of patient care quality. Also, belief in the effectiveness of information security increases the frequency of patient access to health records and positive attitude toward HIE. Trust in health information had a positive association with attitudes toward HIE and perceived patient care quality. Trust in health information had no direct effect on patient access to health records; however, it had an indirect relationship through privacy concerns.ConclusionsTrust in health information and belief in the effectiveness of information security safeguards increases perceptions of patient care quality. Privacy concerns reduce patients’ frequency of accessing health records, patients’ positive attitudes toward HIE exchange, and overall perceived patient care quality. Health care organizations are encouraged to implement security safeguards to increase trust, the frequency of health record use, and reduce privacy concerns, consequently increasing patient care quality.

Declining Search Frictions, Unemployment and Growth

Over the last century, unemployment, vacancy, job-finding and job-loss rates as well as the Beveridge curve have no trend. Yet, the last century has seen the development and diffusion of many information technologies—such as telephones, fax machines, computers, the Internet—which presumably have increased the efficiency of search in the labor market. We explain this phenomenon using a textbook search-theoretic model of the labor market. We show that there exists an equilibrium in which unemployment, vacancies, job-finding and job-loss rates are constant while the search technology improves over time if and only if firm-worker matches are heterogeneous in quality, the distribution of match qualities is Pareto, and the quality of a match is observed before the start of the employment relationship. Under these conditions, improvements in search lead to an increase in the rate at which workers meet firms and to a proportional decline in the probability that the quality of a firm-worker match is acceptable leading to a constant job-finding rate, unemployment, etc... Interestingly, under the same conditions, unemployment, vacancies, job-finding and job-loss rates are independent of the size of the labor market even in the presence of increasing returns to scale in search. While declining search frictions do not lower unemployment, they contribute to growth. The magnitude of the contribution depends on the thickness of the tail of the Pareto distribution. We present a simple strategy to measure the decline in search frictions and its contribution to growth. A rudimentary implementation of this strategy suggests that the decline in search frictions has been substantial, it has been caused by both improvements in the search technology and increasing returns to scale in the search process, and it has had a non-negligible impact on growth.

Networks Externalities as Social Phenomenon in the Process ICT Diffusion

This paper is designed to fill the gap in knowledge that we have identified regarding the process of diffusion of information and communication technologies and emerging network effects that significantly enhance spread of these technologies. We contribute to the present state of the art by examining the process of ICT diffusion in 50 countries, which in 2015 achieved highest ICT penetration rates.

How does information and communication technology affect China's energy intensity? A three-tier structural decomposition analysis

The continuous diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) has exerted growing influences on the production process and energy use. This paper analyzes the major drivers behind changes in China's energy intensity with emphasis on ICT and production structure using a three-tier structural decomposition analysis (SDA) approach. This approach could thoroughly quantify the various effects of ICT on energy intensity and investigate the mechanisms of ICT input change through which it affects sectoral energy consumption. The main results indicate that: (a) production structure exerted a rising negative effect on China's energy intensity change from 2002 to 2012; (b) ICT contributed to a 4.54% increment in energy intensity, yet ICT input substitution was conducive to reduce energy use in production; (c) the ICT effects were more significant in the service sector and technology-intensive sectors. The study suggests that the Chinese government should formulate measures for adjusting production structure, promoting sustainable development of ICT and harmonizing inter-sectoral ICT input level.

Does computer penetration increase farmers’ income? An empirical study from China

The diffusion and adoption of modern information technology provide new chance for China to close urban-rural income gap. This paper uses China's provincial panel data from 2002 to 2013 to investigate the effect of computer penetration on rural residents' income. A public program aiming to connect every village with broadband Internet and other rural facilities provides plausibly exogenous variation in rural residents' availability and adoption of the broadband Internet, which is used to explore the instrument variable for rural computer penetration. The results show that rural computer penetration tends to increase rural residents' income over time, but the average effect remains limited. The dynamic panel threshold effects model, which allows for both the threshold variable and other covariates to be endogenous, is further used to explore the constraints of the income-increase effect of rural computer penetration. It shows that the effect is at least doubled over the average effect estimated from instrument variables method, once the digital divide causes are removed. Our findings have important implications for the government to increase rural residents' income and reduce urban-rural income gap by encouraging rural computer usage and removing the digital divide.

Nowe źródła wzrostu gospodarczego Chin: wiedza i innowacje

The paper deals with the new driving forces determining the role of innovation in China’s economic transition. Knowledge and innovation play a crucial role in fostering competitiveness and economic growth in the long-term period. New Economy is based on the rapid deployment, diffusion and utilization of information and communications technologies (ICT), that significantly reduces operating costs and boosts productivity. Nowadays, China focus less on rapid economic growth and strongly emphasis the high-quality and sustainability of that growth. A strategic plan Made In China 2025 calls for breakthroughs in key technologies, as well as improve quality and efficiency. The implementation of innovation-driven development strategy aims to upgrade traditional industries and laid out strategic emerging industries to ensure competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing sector.

Factors affecting diffusion and adoption of information and communication technology among rural users in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Factors affecting diffusion and adoption of information and communication technology among rural users in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

A Retrospective and Commentary on FDA’s Bar Code Rule

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a final regulation in 2004 that requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to place linear bar codes on certain human drug and biological products. The intent was that bar codes would be part of a system where healthcare professionals would use bar code scanning equipment and software to electronically verify against a patient’s medication regimen that the correct medication is being given to the patient before it is administered, which could ultimately reduce medication errors. In the 2004 prospective regulatory impact analysis, FDA anticipated that the rule would stimulate widespread adoption of bar code medication administration technology among hospitals and other facilities, thereby generating public health benefits in the form of averted medication errors. FDA estimated that annualized net benefits would be $5.3 billion. In this retrospective analysis, we reassess the costs and benefits of the bar code rule and our original model and assumptions. Employing the most recent data available on actual adoption rates of bar code medication administration technology since 2004 and other key determinants of the costs and benefits, we examine the impacts of the bar code rule since its implementation and identify approaches to improve the accuracy of future analyses. In this retrospective study, we use alternative models of health information technology diffusion to create counterfactual scenarios against which we compare the benefits and costs of the bar code rule. The magnitudes of the costs and benefits of the 2004 rule are sensitive to assumptions about the counterfactual technology adoption rate, with the upper-bound range of calculated annualized net benefits between $2.7 billion and $6.6 billion depending on the baseline scenario considered.Disclaimer: The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors in their private capacities, and they do not represent the views of the Food and Drug Administration.

Critical Reflections on the Effective Implementation of ICTs in Moroccan Universities

Computers offer several opportunities that encourage the promotion of teaching and learning experiences. Like many other nations, Morocco has understood the importance of using computers in schools and universities. For this reason, the Moroccan government has launched several projects aiming at the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education system. Actually, ICTs are useful for both teachers and students in the sense that they help teachers develop professionally. Also, students can increase their achievements and become independent learners. This paper aims to examine the various factors that have high impact on English professors’ use of computer technologies for pedagogical purposes in Moroccan universities. Descriptive analysis of means, and standard deviations were used to analyse the collected data. Also, inferential statistics, mainly Pearson Product Moment Correlation, were employed to account for this correlation. The findings revealed that lack of institutional support has a big influence on professors’ decision to utilize or refrain from using ICTs in their classroom practices.

ICT diffusion as a determinant of human progress

ABSTRACTThis research poses the question of whether the diffusion of information and communications technology (ICT) in countries can affect human progress. Human progress in this research is defined as progress that allows every member of a society to live in an environment with high economic, political, and civil liberties. To examine the posed question, the authors developed the following three hypotheses. First, ICT diffusion serves as a determinant in human progress. Second, the size of the impact of diffusion of ICT on human progress may differ depending on the income level of the economy. Lastly, the impact of ICT on human progress may differ depending on the type of technological medium. These hypotheses were tested with a sample of 102 countries panel for 14 years from 2000 to 2013 with data from the International Telecommunications Union to see the status of diffusion of ICT, the Heritage Foundation and the Freedom House in order to employ the measure of human progress by a year-lagged seemingly unrelated regression analysis with both pooled and grouped samples. The results suggest that the diffusion of ICT is a determinant of human progress at the global level and that the effects differ depending on the type of technology or the income level of the country.

English

This study aims to examine the link between inequality and diffusion of Information Communication and Technology (ICT). It focuses on a set of 32 African countries. ICT diffusion rate for all the countries was calculated. Two estimation techniques were used: Fractional Regression Model method and Ordinary Least Squares. The results indicate that inequality contributed to the development of ICT in all the countries considered. These results also showed that human capital and the level of development have a positive effect on ICT diffusion. It was also found that institutions play a catalytic role in the adoption and diffusion of ICT.   Key words: Inequality, information technology and communication (ICT) diffusion, Africa, fractional regression model.

Towards open science in Argentina: From experiences to public policies

The emergence and wide diffusion of information and communication technologies created ever increasing opportunities for sharing and collaboration, which shortened geographic, disciplinary and expertise distances. There exist various technologies, tools and infrastructure that facilitate collaborative production processes in various social spheres, and scientific production is not an exception. Open science produces scientific knowledge in a collaborative way, including experts and non-experts and to share the outcomes of knowledge creation processes. We identify 68 open science initiatives in Argentina using different primary and secondary sources. This paper describes those experiences in terms of goals, disciplines and openness along research stages. Building on the relationship between characteristics of openness and expected benefits, we discuss policy implications in order to better support openness and collaboration in science.

Information and communication technology use in asthmatic patients: a cross-sectional study in Latin America.

Rapid diffusion, low cost and broad availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) make them an attractive platform for managing care, communication and interventions in asthma. There is little information in Latin America about usage frequency of ICTs in asthmatic patients.The analysis undertaken consisted of an observational, cross-sectional study that aimed to identify the frequency and type of ICTs most often used by asthmatics. The Spanish version of the Michigan questionnaire was employed in five Latin American countries. Age and educational level was categorised. Logistic regression was performed among these groups concerning the frequency of ICT usage and the level of interest shown in seeking and receiving information about asthma.In total, 673 asthma patients were surveyed. The mean age was 43.44 years. Over two-thirds of the participants were female (68.4%). The most used ICT was the short message service (SMS) (69.9%). SMS and E-mail are useful tools for communicating (i.e. receiving and seeking information) with all asthma patients, irrespective of their age. WhatsApp (61.5%) and Facebook (32.0%) were rated as being the most interesting channels of communication for receiving information. Regression analysis showed that younger asthmatics and asthmatics with higher educational levels were most likely to use almost all forms of ICTs.ICTs are generally an attractive platform for managing care, communication and interventions to improve asthma care. SMS and E-mail were found to be the preferred ICT forms among users. However, social media forms such as WhatsApp and Facebook may also be appropriate for certain types of patient.

El computador como determinante del acceso a Internet en hogares de la República Dominicana

La literatura relevante sobre los impactos del uso de Internet en el bienestar de los hogares ha identificado dos problemas centrales: el primero, denominado “doble causalidad” o “causalidad simultánea”, parte del principio de que el uso de Internet estaría determinado por un conjunto de indicadores de bienestar, tales como el ingreso familiar y el nivel educativo del jefe o de la jefa de hogar. En este trabajo se utilizó un modelo econométrico de probabilidad respecto de hogares que tienen o no computador y acceso a Internet. Los resultados confirman que variables como el ingreso, la educación y las zonas rurales / urbanas son determinantes claves de la difusión de las TIC.

Predicting the acceptance and use of information and communication technology by older adults: An empirical examination of the revised UTAUT2

In the light of a massive diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), coupled with unprecedented rates of an ageing population, the study of technology acceptance by older adults has become a relevant field of study. Despite the popularity of influential technology acceptance models, such as UTAUT, few studies have adopted this theoretical framework to explain technology acceptance among this group. Considering the recent update of UTAUT2 to more appropriately assess the acceptance and usage of technology in a consumer context, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the predictive relevance of UTAUT2 to explain older adults' intention behaviour and usage of ICT. For this purpose, a variance-based structural equation modelling (PLS) was used to analyse data collected from a sample of 278 Portuguese older adults. The results confirm that most UTAUT2 predictors, some of them directly (behavioural intention, habit) and others indirectly (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation) were found to be relevant for this population group. The study adds to existing knowledge by providing evidence in support of the validity of UTAUT2 as a relevant theoretical base to effectively explain behavioural intentions and ICT use among older adults.

Exploring the Correlation between Professors’ Use of ICT in Teaching and the Levels of Institutional Support

<em>The implementation of computer technologies in education has become the main goal of many educational reforms throughout the globe. Like many other nations, the Moroccan kingdom has understood the importance of using computers in schools and universities. For this reason, the Moroccan government has launched numerous projects aiming at the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education system. To prepare students to face the challenges of the twenty-first century, teachers should integrate computer technologies into their teaching practices. These modern technologies are very beneficial for both teachers and students. They help teachers develop professionally through the use of various ways of teaching. Students, on the other hand, can increase their achievements in the sense that they access several materials. The use of ICT in classroom practices is extremely significant for providing opportunities for students to function appropriately in an information age. This paper aims to examine the relationship between professors’ use of computer technologies for pedagogical purposes and the levels of encouragement provided by their institutions. Descriptive analysis of means, and standard deviations were used to analyse the collected data. Also, inferential statistics, mainly Pearson Product Moment Correlation, were employed to account for this correlation. The findings revealed that there is a strong positive correlation between the two variables, r = 0.59, p < .01.</em>