Information Technology Policy Research Articles

Exploring the diversity and consistency of China’s information technology policy

Information technology (IT) policies have played an indispensable role in China’s IT research and development (R&D) and industrial development. However, there has been a lack of quantitative and clear understanding of the consistency and diversity of China’s IT policy mixes. In this article, we constructed policy target network to simulate the real policy mixes. Based on the distribution and evolution of networks, we identify and analyse the ‘diversity’ and ‘consistency & continuity’ of China’s IT policy. Our results show that China’s IT policies cover 12 different demands, and each demand corresponds to 5–10 core policy goals. At the same time, we divide the history of IT policy into seven periods and compare the characteristics of each period. Despite the scale of the policy mixes continuing to expand, the synergy between different policy targets has become clearer, forming unique communities. Among them, there are 25 core policy targets that reflect varying degrees of consistency and continuity. This study not only deepens the understanding of China’s policy characteristics and patterns, but also provides a quantitative framework for the assessment of policy consistency and diversity.

Analisis Potensi Virtual reality sebagai Strategi Pemasaran Pariwisata Kota Pagar Alam

The purpose of this study is to describe virtual reality as a tourism marketing strategy, analyze in-depth to understand the concept of virtual reality, its role, and potential that can be used as a tourism marketing strategy to increase tourist visits to Pagar Alam City. This paper systematically integrates relevant research in existing fields, builds a research framework, and conducts a situa-tional analysis of virtual reality technology as a tourism promotion strategy through SWOT analy-sis. Based on the SWOT analysis, we tried to connect the potential of virtual reality with market-ing theory, to find the advantages of using virtual reality as a tourism marketing strategy to in-crease the attractiveness of tourist visits in the city of Pagar Alam in particular. The city of Pagar Alam as a tourist destination with 24 natural attractions and 27 cultural attractions, has good strengths and opportunities to take advantage of VR-based tourism strategies, these various tour-ist objects can be visualized well and in detail through a virtual environment so that they can in-fluence the desire of tourists to visit Pagar Alam city. Although the opportunities offered by VR in the tourism sector, especially in the city of Pagar Alam, are quite significant, there are still many challenges and problems that must be solved. One of them is about infrastructure readiness and awareness of tourism industry players in utilizing VR technology. This research was only con-ducted based on literature review publications collected in recent years and analyzed tourism in the city of Pagar Alam from the aspect of using digital information technology, promotional strategies, and government policies.

International information security: In search of consolidated approaches : Interview with Andrey V. Krutskikh, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cooperation in the Field of Information Security. Interviewed by D. A. Piskunov

Andrey Vladimirovich Krutskikh is the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cooperation in the field of Information Security since 2014, and a leading expert in this field in Russia and around the world. He served as Chairman of the UN Panel of Government Experts on Advances in Information and Telecommunications and the SCO Member States Panel of Experts on International Information Security (IIS). Since 2020, A.V. Krutskikh holds the position of Director of the Department for International Information Security (DIIS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, since 2017 he is Director of the Center for International Information Security, Science and Technology Policy of MGIMO University. Andrey Vladimirovich is the author of fundamental works devoted to IIS issues, the scientific editor of the three volume comprehensive textbook “International Information Security: Theory and Practice,” prepared by the CIIS team of authors. During the interview A.V. Krutskikh spoke about Russia’s approaches to international information security, the role of our country in developing the rules of the responsible State behavior in the global information space.

Integration of the University into the Process of Digital Transformation of the Regional Economy and Social Sphere

Introduction. A key barrier in the period of economy digitalization is the lack of qualified personnel having necessary competencies for the development, implementation and the use of digital technologies. The authors analyze the current stage of digital transformation of the Russian economy and that of foreign countries, the role of universities in this process, considering in close connection the concepts of information policy and the strategy of digital transformation of the university; they propose approaches to form the university policy in the field of information technologies in order to develop digital skills of human resources. The purpose of the study is to identify the ways to effectively integrate universities into the process of digital transformation of the regional economy and social sphere. Materials and Methods. To study the problem, research and survey results on the subject of the study were selected, as well as key legal acts and documents defining and regulating the processes of digital economy transformation in Russia. In the course of the research, the method of analysis was used: to compare the indicators of citizens’ digital literacy during the digital economy transformation; to determine and summarize measures of state and regional policy in the field of education, the role and experience of universities’ participation in the process of overcoming the barriers to the digital transformation of the economy and the social sphere. Results. As a result of the study, the barriers to the digital economy transformation were identified, among which the problem of personnel shortage and, as a result, personnel training is the leading one. The authors conclude that the effectiveness of the university’s information technology policy can become an indicator of the university’s readiness for digital transformation. Discussion and Conclusion. The results obtained relate to changes in both the internal educational environment and changes in the content and format of education; they contribute to the development of the training system of highly qualified personnel for the national digital economy, strategic planning of regional development, educational management. The materials of the article can be useful to the heads of educational institutions of higher education when forming the digital transformation strategy in the aspect of three missions: educational, scientific, educative.

Integrating instructional technologies in teaching: The case of Malkerns primary schools, Eswatini

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to establish how educators integrate instructional technologies during teaching in Malkerns primary schools, located in the Manzini region of the Kingdom of Eswatini. The main focus of this study was on the training and support that educators receive towards the integration of instructional technologies in teaching as well as strategies to be put in place in order to curb the challenges faced. The study employed a qualitative approach and a descriptive research design in which face-to-face interviews and focus group discussion were used to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to select the five head teachers, ten educators as change leaders and two computer educators from five selected schools in the Malkerns cluster. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The main conclusions of the study were that the availability of instructional technologies in schools does not mean that they are integrated during the teaching process. The study also concluded that educators have inadequate technological training and inadequate support which hinder effective instructional technologies integration in teaching. It is recommended that appropriate training programmes for educators, establishment of fully-fledged computer laboratories and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy to support instructional technologies should be put in place to ensure successful integration of instructional technologies in teaching.

Progress Toward Digital Transformation in an Evolving Post-Acute Landscape

Digitization has been a central pillar of structural investments to promote organizational capacity for transformation, and yet skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and other post-acute providers have been excluded and/or delayed in benefitting from the past decade of substantial public and private-sector investment in information technology (IT). These settings have limited internal capacity and resources to invest in digital capabilities on their own, propagating a limited infrastructure that may only further sideline SNFs and their role in an ever-evolving health care landscape that needs to be focused on age-friendly, high-value care. Meaningful progress will require continuous refinement of supportive policy, financial investment, and scalable organizational best practices specific to the SNF context. In this essay, we lay out an action agenda to move from age-agnostic to age-friendly digital transformation. Key to the value proposition of these efforts is a focus on interoperability—the seamless exchange of electronic health information across settings that is critical for care coordination and for providers to have the information they need to make safe and appropriate care decisions. Interoperability is not synonymous with digital transformation, but a foundational building block for its potential. We characterize the current state of digitization in SNFs in the context of key health IT policy advancements over the past decade, identifying ongoing and emergent policy work where the digitization needs of SNFs and other post-acute settings can be better addressed. We also discuss accompanying implementation considerations and strategies for optimally translating policy efforts into impactful practice change across an ever-evolving post-acute landscape. Acting on these insights at the policy and practice level provides cautious optimism that nursing home care—and care for older adults across the care continuum—may benefit more equitably from the promise of future digitization.

Internal and External Factors to Adopt a Cyber Security Strategy in Iraqi Organisations

Cyber security has become one of the main focus areas in developing and maintaining a country’s information technology (IT) infrastructure. In a country like Iraq, there is an urgent necessity to strengthen its overall cybersecurity framework and reorganise the whole industrial and security infrastructure with the help of advanced technology coupled with integrated cyber security policy. The main aim of this paper is to devise a cyber security strategic framework for Iraqi organisations. This framework will be organised on the basis of the internal and external factors that must be considered at both the deployment and the policy levels of infrastructure development and management. An integrative or critical literature review has been embarked on for generation of themes on the bases of which the proposed cyber security framework would be modelled. This literature review is designed such that it would not only help in diagnosing gaps in knowledge but also assist to overcome the barriers in research and development. The literature reviews along with the case studies of Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, and the UK can be used to understand that a decentralised cyber security framework for national or private organisations across a country is yet not possible. However, every country must have a national level framework for a cyber security enforcement that is capable of handling both the internal and external threats. A set of recommendations were taken in this study began with Identify and technically segregate the external and internal stakeholders, formulate and implement even-handed cyber rules and regulations, devise training and awareness programmes on cyber security across the Iraqi organisations to create a fleet of capable CERT groups, innovate a cyber security framework that would encompass both the internal and external factors to be taken in account and ended with future research must be focussed on ways to assimilate cyber security specific policies within the national IT and ITeS policy framework.

The Role of Information and Communications Technology Policies and Infrastructure in Curbing the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus: Cross-country Comparative Study.

BackgroundDespite worldwide efforts, control of COVID-19 transmission and its after effects is lagging. As seen from the cases of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza, worldwide crises associated with infections and their side effects are likely to recur in the future because of extensive international interactions. Consequently, there is an urgent need to identify the factors that can mitigate disease spread. We observed that the transmission speed and severity of consequences of COVID-19 varied substantially across countries, signaling the need for a country-level investigation.ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate how distancing-enabling information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and medical ICT infrastructure, and related policies have affected the cumulative number of confirmed cases, fatality rate, and initial speed of transmission across different countries.MethodsWe analyzed the determinants of COVID-19 transmission during the relatively early days of the pandemic by conducting regression analysis based on our data for country-level characteristics, including demographics, culture, ICT infrastructure, policies, economic status, and transmission of COVID-19. To gain further insights, we conducted a subsample analysis for countries with low population density.ResultsOur full sample analysis showed that implied telehealth policy, which refers to the lack of a specific telehealth-related policy but presence of a general eHealth policy, was associated with lower fatality rates when controlled for cultural characteristics (P=.004). In particular, the fatality rate for countries with an implied telehealth policy was lower than that for others by 2.7%. Interestingly, stated telehealth policy, which refers to the existence of a specified telehealth policy, was found to not be associated with lower fatality rates (P=.30). Furthermore, countries with a government-run health website had 36% fewer confirmed cases than those without it, when controlled for cultural characteristics (P=.03). Our analysis further revealed that the interaction between implied telehealth policy and training ICT health was significant (P=.01), suggesting that implied telehealth policy may be more effective when in-service training on ICT is provided to health professionals. In addition, credit card ownership, as an enabler of convenient e-commerce transactions and distancing, showed a negative association with fatality rates in the full sample analysis (P=.04), but not in the subsample analysis (P=.76), highlighting that distancing-enabling ICT is more useful in densely populated countries.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate important relationships between national traits and COVID-19 infections, suggesting guidelines for policymakers to minimize the negative consequences of pandemics. The findings suggest physicians’ autonomous use of medical ICT and strategic allocation of distancing-enabling ICT infrastructure in countries with high population density to maximize efficiency. This study also encourages further research to investigate the role of health policies in combatting COVID-19 and other pandemics.

Stakes, positions and logics: An institutional field analysis of cross-border health IT policy

The concepts field and habitus are used widely and variably in institutional theory. The intellectual antecedents are found in the work of the French Sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. This study presents a field-level analysis of pan-European policy on cross-border health information technology. Using field theory and institutional theory, we situate field as a multi-level concept which extends institutional and organizational levels of analysis. Empirical data is gathered from European policymakers, health professionals and patient advocacy groups on the diffusion of supra-national health information technology across European Member States. Findings reveal four scenarios depicting field tensions, as ideological and practical imperatives of supra-national health information technology policy mis-align with Member State health systems. This study has implications for policy-makers and other stakeholders, who seek to narrow the digital divide across health fields and sub-fields.

Amalsad cooperative ltd: total cost of ownership for digital services

Structured abstract Rendering digital services have taken centerstage in the current ICT for development discourse. E-Government services are mostly under this discourse with the aim to provide citizen centric services in the public domain. Business and development organizations alike are also investing in developing their own digital infrastructure for rendering services to its stakeholders. This case describes scenario in which a cooperative organization wishes to use digital infrastructure and provide digital services to its farmer members. The cooperative continued investing in ICT since the last couple of decades and constantly upgraded it to ease the transaction and bring efficiency and reduce information asymmetry. This had greatly benefitted the members. However, the cooperative is aware that its communication network built on the wireless medium has its own limitations in introducing new services and integrating its databases and applications. The cooperative took note of “Digital India (DI)” initiatives to provide digital services to rural areas and build an ecosystem to empower the citizens in its governance set up. This DI policy has implicit provisions of better networking protocols with improved bandwidth. The organization has a dilemma to continue with investing its own resources or explore possibility of piggybacking on the DI initiative. The cooperative wished to examine the total cost of ownership in either case and assess the feasibility of converging with the infrastructure created by the government. Case synopsis The Government Information Technology Policies are increasingly favouring citizens and in favour of shared infrastructure and services. It is worth the examination to evaluate strategies to deploy IT infrastructure and services with optimized cost and better returns in an enterprise. This is far more important for a social enterprise like AMALSAD cooperative (user-owned firm) that has deployed its own IT infrastructure and ITeS. AMALSAD cooperative deployed its IT assets long back and in the meanwhile, the Government policy is in favour of providing services over the internet. Leaning objectives The case serves to help students to understand the theoretical concept of Enterprise information systems infrastructure and services. It brings to the students understanding: the drivers of IT infrastructure to provide digital services; challenges that would make the social enterprise (in this case user-owned firm) to understand the opportunities and challenges of deploying the right digital infrastructure and get services on demand. The case presents the scenarios for the students to deliberate and find answers to the right approach for estimating the total cost of ownership (TCO). Social implications The case situation presents a scenario for digital government services. Most of the customer-facing enterprises including social enterprises are also providing digital services. It is important that such services converge at an optimized TCO. Complexity academic level Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

Characteristics and Evolution of China’s Industry–University–Research Collaboration to Promote the Sustainable Development: Based on Policy Text Analysis

Collaborative innovation is an effective way to realize national innovation and sustainable development. The Chinese government has issued a series of Industry–University–Research (IUR) policies and regulations in recent decades to effectively promote the development of national scientific and technological innovation. Exploring the characteristics and evolution of IUR collaborative policy is critical for the healthy development of IUR and subsequent policy formulation. In this study, we collected IUR policy texts at the national level of China from 1992 to 2020 as the research object. On the basis of policy tool theory, a three-dimensional analysis framework of “Policy tool–Policy theme–Evolution stage” was constructed and studied using content analysis and social network analysis methods. Through the quantitative statistical analysis, we find that China’s IUR policies have experienced four development stages. Among all policy tools, the supply-side IUR ones are sufficient, whereas demand-side policy tools are insufficient. The service system policy theme is lacking relative to other themes. In addition, the application of information technology (IT) policies is prominent. Therefore, we suggest optimizing the policy structure in combination with social characteristics and strengthening the establishment of service system innovation. Enhancing the role of IT to promote innovation policies is also recommended.

Information technology adoption and integration into global value chains: Evidence from small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in Vietnam

AbstractWhile it is well known that the adoption of information technology facilitates the integration of enterprises into global value chains (GVCs), it is unclear how this relationship changes in different business environments. This study reveals that while the adoption of information technology facilitates micro‐, small‐, or medium‐sized enterprises which are located in an improved‐quality business environment to participate in GVCs, it does not help the micro‐sized enterprises located in a low‐quality business environment to become integrated into GVCs. Therefore, information technology policies should be complemented by policies which improve the business environment to promote smaller enterprises to be integrated into GVCs.

Behavioral intention model for green information technology adoption in Nigerian manufacturing industries

PurposeGreenhouse effects and the need for cost savings necessitate that an organization's information technology (IT) managers design IT equipment acquisition and service provisioning policies to reduce carbon footprint and cost. Analyzing the influencing factors that influence stakeholders' attitudes toward adopting green information technology (Green-IT) is an important input in designing these policies. In essence, the research aims to investigate into the relationship between these factors and how they influence policy-makers' behavior in Nigerian manufacturing industries.Design/methodology/approachThe study develops a model based on the norm activation model (NAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TBP) to investigate the factors that influence decision-makers' intention in adopting Green-IT. A quantitative approach using a survey method is carried out to gather opinions of IT decision-makers using a random sampling technique. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is applied to test the structural model and measurement model.FindingsThe study's findings support the use of the behavior model for Green-IT adoption. The study's finding indicates that subjective norms, perceived behavior control (PBC), manager's attitude, personal norm (PN), awareness of adverse consequences and the ascription of responsibility (AR) positively influence intention to adopt Green-IT.Research limitations/implicationsThe development and validation of the model are the study's theoretical contributions. The study reviewed the existing literature on the utilization of Green-IT to better understand the intention to adopt Green-IT in Nigeria. It added to the literature by identifying factors that can influence it as well as theoretical underpinnings that can fit the intentions of decision-makers. The scientific community and the industrial companies would have the chance to investigate how this integrated behavioral intention model promotes the use of Green-IT. The research predictors explained about 70.20% of the variance in the behavioral intention to adopt Green-IT.Practical implicationsResearch offers practical implications and recommendations for top management practitioners of the manufacturing industries. Business leaders can use the results of this study to develop an effective strategic IT policy for the successful adoption of Green-IT practices for enhanced productivity. The study found that decision-makers' Green-IT attitudes had a substantial impact on their behavioral intention to adopt Green-IT. The study highlighted the importance of the top management attitude toward green products to facilitate the adoption of Green-IT practices in manufacturing industries in Nigeria. Thus, the positive and significant attitude of policy-makers is a necessary tool toward the successful adoption of Green-IT. Therefore, to foster an environmentally sustainability friendly atmosphere, Nigeria's manufacturing industries shall strive to strengthen the decision-makers' attitude toward practicing Green-IT in their respective domains. The findings showed that AR, AQ, environmental concern (EC), perceived behavior and perceived behavior are critical factors to be considered in an organization.Social implicationsAccording to the findings, an individual's Green-IT attitude has a substantial impact on the environment as social behavior. As a result, the positive and essential attitude of the social sector is a key tool for efficient Green-IT implementation. Nigeria's social activists must try to create awareness campaigns to boost decision-makers' attitudes toward implementing Green-IT in their various regions to develop a friendlier environment. Thus, the identified factors can be of great help to the social sector in designing and implementing successful environmental-friendly policies that could support the adoption of Green-IT practices.Originality/valueThe current research look at Green-IT adoption in manufacturing industries of West African countries. The study offers practical implications and recommendations for top management practitioners of the manufacturing industries, government policy-makers and organizations to enhance the use of Green-IT for mitigating environmental degradation. Recommendations for future research are stated as concluding remarks.

Telecom reforms in India: An assessment of policy architecture, outcomes, and political underpinnings

AbstractThe Indian telecom network is the second‐largest in the world after China and the fastest growing network globally. Consequently, India's telecom reforms have engaged the attention of researchers. This policy review traces these reforms and their impact using the sequencing literature. It also examines the political ideologies that shaped relevant policies, the outcomes produced and outlines the outlook for the future. The study contributes to the public versus private debate using the sequencing lens, not used hitherto, to study the reforms and thereby advance relevant literature. The lessons for information technology policy and for public administration and management are also highlighted.

Strategies for coping with frontier technologies and innovations in Africa

Recent advancements in Frontier Technologies and Innovations (FTI), including artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology have shown significant and tremendous potentials for sustainable development globally. Despite this, Africa appears to be unprepared to equitably use or adopt these technological innovations. Evidence has shown that the ongoing global growth in FTI negatively impacts Africa with multifaceted inequalities ranging from poor global class, persistent poverty, disparities in income-earning opportunities, internet usage, pay gap, poor standards of education and health, etc., resulting majorly from poor adoption of technological innovations and favorable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies, culture, ethics, and values. Significant digital divides were evident between the technologically advanced countries and backward countries such as Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic because technological innovations have become critical tools for addressing the spread of the disease. This study highlights the strategy for coping with FTI for sustainable development in Africa. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was adopted as the study conceptual framework. UTAUT model claims that users' acceptance behavior toward technology is determined by users' decision to use technology and the perceived benefits thereof. The researchers explored a narrative review, analysis, and synthesis of vast works of literature that revealed significant information on strategies for coping with FTI in Africa. The researchers also conjointly extracted peer-reviewed articles among the last five years from electronic databases, engaging some keywords like "Frontier Technologies and Innovations in Africa' 'Coping with Frontier Technologies and Innovations' leveraging resources of Africa via Technology and Innovation", etc. Results show that global progress was associated with sharper inequality between countries, with widening disparities in FTI adoption, literacy level, and access to products, social services such as ICT infrastructure, electrification, education, and health. Results also show that literacy empowerment in Africa especially among women, on technology adoption, policies, culture, ethics, and values may advance sustainable goals, leverage their literacy abilities for FTI adoption, and close widening gaps and inequalities in global FTI.

Critical success factors for improving learning management systems diffusion in KSA HEIs: An ISM approach

Higher educational institutes (HEIs) are managing their resources by using learning management systems (LMS) which facilitate the learning processes. This paper aims to develop the relationships among success factors typically found in the technology, as well as the human and organisational aspects using an interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach for LMS diffusion in HEIs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The success factors possessing a higher driving power in the ISM approach need to be prioritised as many other dependent variables are affected by them. Success factors emerging with high dependence contribute to facilitating the implementation of LMS. A key finding of the modelling is that clearly defined information technology (IT) policies along with appropriate technology infrastructure are significant factors for facilitating the technology aspect of LMS implementation. Additionally, the strengthening and standardisation of IT education resources, level of computer skills, proper training programmes for staff to deliver knowledge to users as well as a high level of human competencies are significant factors for facilitating the human aspect of LMS implementation. Moreover, the support of top management is a very significant factor for improving the organisational aspect of LMS. To ensure successful LMS implementation, KSA HEIs should focus on effective learning environments, facilitate education activities, top management involvement and increased interaction between pedagogy and technology. Understanding user characteristics and online needs is essential to ensure that barriers are overcome, ensuring successful and continued LMS implementation. Further, in this research, the relationship models among the identified success factors in terms of technology, human and organisational have not been statistically validated. However, it has been suggested that future research may be targeted to develop the initial model through ISM for success factors for improving LMS implementation and then testing it using Structural equation modeling (SEM).

Cloud doctrine: impact on cloud adoption in the government organizations of India

PurposeGovernment is the biggest spender on cloud computing technology but a very limited study and data sets are available to assess the cloud adoption trends in government organizations in India. As India is ushering towards “Digital India” it becomes essential for the government to embrace the cloud to enhance governance and meet the citizen expectations. This paper aims to discuss the evolution of cloud computing (Meghraj) in government organizations by examining the various information technology (IT) and cloud policies, thereby focusing on the policy gaps. The second part of this study assesses the cloud adoption trend by analyzing adopted cloud services, deployments models, leading sectors in cloud adoption and cloud approach. Eventually, in consultation with experts, a conceptual framework for cloud adoption in the government organizations of India is developed for wider cloud adoption.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed various IT/cloud policies and related literature to find the policy gaps for slow cloud adoption in government organizations. Authors have researched to collect the data from the various government procurement portals and analysed the tender and contracts of 500 organizations for cloud requirements to infer the cloud adoption trends. Based on the review of policy gaps, adoption trends and by consulting the experts a conceptual cloud adoption framework has been developed for wider cloud adoption in government organizations.FindingsThis study can be a pathfinder where the most innovative findings are about the cloud adoption trends in the government organizations in the time frame from 2013 till 2020. Several key findings are – the public cloud are the most widely adopted, infrastructure as a service model is the most used services, the majority of the applications migrating to the cloud are legacy applications, the leading sector in cloud adoption are – IT, transport and education. It is observed that the pandemic Covid-19 has acted as a catalyst and accelerated cloud adoption in government organizations. Eventually, a conceptual cloud adoption framework has been suggested addressing the policy gaps, deficiencies, overcoming the gaps and their related outcomes for the wider cloud adoption in the government organizations.Practical implicationsThe findings of this work highlight the cloud adoption trends in government organizations which can prove vital to the policymakers. This work will assist policymakers, government organizations, researchers, IT professionals and others interested in analyzing the state of cloud adoption. The conceptual cloud adoption framework developed endeavours to uncover the policy gaps, suggest the gap resolution mechanism and outcomes which may assist the organization for wider cloud adoption. This research work effectively connects the policies to practice by stimulating the interest in understanding the policies, strategies and thereby creating the enabling environment for cloud adoption. This study provides feedback on cloud adoption trends which can assist in policy refinement and further strengthen policy/strategies.Originality/valueAs of date, there is limited data available for cloud adoption in government organizations. This work uniquely presents the cloud projections which helps to gain insights on cloud adoption trends in government organizations. This study is the first of its kind, focusing on cloud adoption in the unexplored government sector. This study provides a comprehensive summary of adoption statistics, policy analysis and practice in government organizations of India.

Development of small-and medium-sized enterprises through information technology adoption persistence in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Understanding how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt information technology (IT) in a rapidly changing business environment is important to promote their development. Utilizing longitudinal data of SMEs and the local business environments in a transition economy over a period of 2005–2015 and applying the dynamic random effect probit model as was done in the study “Business environment and innovation persistence: The case of small- and- medium sized enterprises in Vietnam” published in Economics of Innovation and New Technology, this study finds that the persistence of SMEs’ IT adoption is reduced in an improved local business environment. This finding indicates that an improved local business environment is an enabling factor for SMEs without prior experience to begin IT adoption. As a result, policymakers in transition economies are recommended to enhance SMEs’ IT adoption for development by synchronizing IT policies and policies to improve the quality of the local business environment.

How influences of external actors affect Information and Communication Technology policy formation in developing countries: case of Malawi

ABSTRACT This paper examines the case of Malawi to argue that external actors’ overt influences during Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy formulation may result in policies that are hardly implemented. In Malawi, external actors brought templates, provided financial and technical support and developed the policy with minimum involvement of local actors. We employed Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice to examine the effect of the influences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis on selected policy documents from Malawi. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Content analysis, applied to policy documents from Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda and South Africa, supplemented the investigation. We make two contributions related to national ICT policies in Africa. First, policies developed without involving local stakeholders are hardly implemented. Second, the study extends the application of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice in the ICT policy domain to show that the influences of external actors during ICT policymaking result in power imbalances in their favor. Through provision of economic, social and cultural capital, external actors dominate local actors during policymaking. The finding offers governments and stakeholders of public policy important insights into how they can effectively manage external actors during policymaking.

Some Approach in Assessing Information Technology Policies in Our Mining Industry under the Impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (Case study: Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group – Vinacomin)

Since 1997, the mining industry has paid attention to develop information-technology (IT) components at sectoral and enterprise levels. However, due to various reasons, including the interest of business and sector leaders as well as limited resources, IT in the mining industry is still on a small scale, in which it has not yet linked to a network and had a shared database, and is therefore not shared. Under the impact of Industry Revolution 4.0, to develop the IT field as an essential tool to promote the technologies of the 4.0 technology component, a systematic policy combination is needed. This article is responsible for meeting that demand of the IT field of Vietnam's mining industry.
 Keywords
 Industry 4.0, IT, IT policy.
 References
 [1] K. Schwab, The Fourth Industrial Revolution: What It Means and How to Respond, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/, 2015.[2] Forschungsunion, Acatech, Recommendations for implementing the strategic initiative INDUSTRIE 4.0, Final report of the Industrie 4.0 Working Group, April 2013.[3] J.H. Leavitt, L.T. Whisler, Management in the 1980’s, Harvard Business Review, 1958-11.[4] National Assembly of Vietnam, Law on information technology (No. 67/2006/QH11), June 29, 2006 (in Vietnamese).[5] National Association directing the compilation of encyclopedias (Vietnam), Vietnamese encyclopedia, Hanoi, Vietnam, 1995 (in Vietnamese),[6] Wikipedia, Thomas Kuhn, https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhn, 2019.[7] V.C. Dam, Scientific research methodology Science and Technics Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam, 1999 (in Vietnamese).