Internet in developing countries

In 2001, with the arrival at Louisiana State University of Dr. Victor Mbarika, a renowned researcher on information systems in developing countries, my major interest shifted to how to apply the Internet in developing countries. This eventually became the subject of my dissertation, which I completed in 2003, Expert assessments of e-commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa: A theoretical model of infrastructure and culture for doing business using the Internet. My primary focuses in this area have been on e-business and telemedicine. This became my major focus, and I eventually ceased to conduct new research in my previous stream of competitive strategy. Since 2004, however, my primary focus has shifted to open content and open source software, though I still do conduct research on applications of the Internet in developing countries.

 E-business

This study investigates experts’ assessments of the pertinent factors affecting e-business in developing countries from a theory-based national infrastructure perspective. We surveyed experts (business people, academicians, and officials of governmental and non-governmental organizations) in e-business in Latin America (LA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our partial least squares analysis shows that experts believed that policies targeted specifically toward e-business are important in affecting e-business capabilities and in obtaining value from e-business, more so than non-specific general information and communication technologies (ICT) policies, which are not significantly influential. ICT infrastructure generally affects e-business capabilities, though this was not found to be the case in Brazil. Experts believed that national government institutions positively affect e-business value in SSA, but not in LA. Experts did not believe that commercial infrastructure significantly affects e-business value. This study theoretically and empirically distinguishes between two different dimensions of e-business outcomes: specific capabilities and value derived from e-business. It operationalizes the effects of national government institutions and commercial infrastructure on e-business outcomes and empirically tests for their effects. The study provides empirical support for conceptual arguments for the need of ICT policies specific to the needs of e-business.

 This study investigates experts’ assessments of the pertinent factors on certain cultural factors on affecting e-business in developing countries. We design and conduct a survey that empirically solicits information from experts in e-business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the first phase (completed and reported here), and in Latin America in the second phase (currently in progress). Our initial results for SSA using PLS analysis show that experts believe that ICT transfer implementation strongly affects both e-business capabilities and value, but that among SSA countries, there are no significant cultural effects of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, or technology culturation. Furthermore, they do not believe that there is any significant interaction between culture and transfer implementation within SSA. This study theoretically and empirically distinguishes between two different dimensions of e-business outcomes: specific capabilities and value derived from e-business. As part of the first study that conducts a quantitative, broad-based survey on factors that contribute toward e-business in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America regions, it gives cause to question the common argument that native culture significantly affects the adoption of ICTs.

This research proposal uses a case study approach to investigate the pertinent factors affecting e-business in SSA from the perspective of national infrastructure and organizational factors. I have developed a general framework that explains what pertinent factors affect e-business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The primary dependent variable is E-business Outcomes, consisting of both E-business Capabilities and E-business Value. The predictor variables are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policies (consisting of General ICT Policies and E-business Policies), Government Institutions, the Commercial Environment, and ICT Transfer Implementation. Based on an action research methodology, I will specifically focus on eight representative cases in Ghana and study these cases intensively to understand how the predictor variables in my framework affect e-business outcomes in these organizations. In this research program, I expect to demonstrate that e-business capabilities and e-business value, while related, are distinct in their nature and in their contributing factors. Also, I develop a model of how environmental infrastructure-technological, political, and commercial-produces effective e-business outcomes in SSA. Finally, two important elements of this model have not been previously studied empirically, particularly not qualitatively with rich description: the institutional and commercial environment in which businesses operate; and a distinction between general policies on information and telecommunication technologies and those specifically tailored to e-business.

For more details on this paper, see the listing in the section on my research on research methodology.

Sub-Saharan countries are experiencing tremendous growth in Internet connectivity, the use of computers, and in the diffusion of wireless communications. Electronic commerce is one of the growth areas for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Africa. This paper presents a research framework for assessing electronic commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the nature of the digital divide, and explains the need for the commercial applications of the Internet in developing countries in general. Further, it presents literature on e-commerce frameworks, ICT diffusion, and ICTs in developing countries that shed light on different aspects of e-commerce in Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, it proposes a consolidating framework that synthesizes these various literature streams and lays groundwork for a focused body of research in this area.

Telemedicine

Although Benbasat and Zmud’s (2003) pronouncement of an “identity crisis” within the information systems (IS) discipline has been mitigated in the industrialized world, we are concerned that the crisis still looms large in the developing world. The objective of this paper is to understand how the information systems discipline can extend its social presence in developing countries to help sustain life itself. We illustrate our concern and argument with an in-depth examination of one area for which information systems research has much to offer: research into telemedicine—remote delivery of healthcare using telecommunications technologies—in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to transform the healthcare sector of this very needy society, home to 33 of the 48 least developed (poorest) countries of the world, and host to some of the world’s most serious ongoing health crises. Contrary to common thinking, socio-political nuances require a different lens to investigate IT-enabled social development in SSA.  In that vein, we propose a research framework for telemedicine transfer in the context of SSA with propositions pertinent to the developing world. This paper surfaces issues often overlooked or deemed irrelevant in developed societies in which the bulk of present information systems research has been developed. We conclude by drawing thorough implications of this research agenda as a stepping stone to recreating a social identity in developing nations plagued with more immediate concerns surrounding basic human sustenance.

Within  the  information  systems  discipline,  three streams   have   emerged   that   address   the   issue   of information  technology  adoption,  diffusion  and  use. The    first    examines    the    factors    influencing    an individual’s decision to accept a new technology. The second stream deals with the impact of culture on the development  and  use  of  information  technology;  and the  third  stream  is  directed  toward  the  transfer  of information  technology  from  one  country  or  context into another. While these three streams have attempted to   theorize   and   empirically   explain   the   factors influencing  information  technology  adoption  within  a new   environment,   they   have   largely   been   used separately  and  tested  within  the  context  of  advanced economies.  In  this  paper  we  attempt  to  integrate  all three  in  examining  the  introduction  of  telemedicine technology in medically underserved communities. The results suggest that the interaction effects of the factors derived from all theories provide a better explanation of  technology  introduction  in  medically  underserved communities.

By the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people worldwide-2.7 million under age 15-were living with HIV/AIDS. More than 70 percent of these people (28.1 million) live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Another killer, malaria, is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million children each year-2,800 per day-in Africa alone. As such statistics demonstrate, the need for medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa is paramount. Sub-Saharan Africa has fewer than 10 doctors per 100,000 people, and 14 countries do not have a single radiologist. The specialists and services that are available are concentrated in cities. This study examines the state of adoption of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa. We present several examples of successful adoption of telemedicine in the continent, provide several research implications, and propose a Delphi study to identify the critical success factors that would enable successful implementation of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa. While we do not claim that telemedicine will solve all of Sub-Saharan Africa’s medical problems, we do contend that it is a starting point to reach Africans that live in areas with limited medical facilities and personnel.

 General and other

The JMSB’s Chitu Okoli believes improving internet access for less developed nations will increase their economic opportunities

Research with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a major region within the world’s second largest continent, is almost non-existent in mainstream information systems research. Although infrastructures for information and communication technology (ICT) are well established in the more developed and industrialized parts of the world, the same is not true for developing countries. Research on developing countries has been rare in mainstream IS and, even where existent, has often overlooked the particular situation of SSA, home to 33 of the world’s 48 least-developed countries. Ironically, it is such parts of the world that can stand to gain the most from the promise of ICT with applications that would help the socioeconomic development of this region. In this study, we present the need for focused research on the ICT development and application for SSA. The information systems research community has a unique and valuable perspective to bring to the challenges this region faces in developing its ICT infrastructure, hence extending research and practice in ICT diffusion and policy. We present here a research agenda for studying the adoption, development, and application of ICT in SSA. In particular, teledensity, telemedicine, online education, and e-commerce present important areas for research, with implications for research, practice, and teaching.

While the importance of IT in development strategies is widely recognized, there has been relatively little consideration of the important role that IT training or human capacity development can play in structuring a sustainable IT development. In this paper we argue that although the development of IT infrastructure is a fundamental need for effecting sustainable development in SSA, the presence of substantial infrastructure cannot yield economic development without the human capital to effect this conversion. Thus, IT training is a necessary moderator to enhance the effect of IT transfer in achieving sustainable economic development. The economic role of IT training initiatives is more indirect, operating as a moderator of IT transfer factors that lay an underlying infrastructure for innovation for the growth of IT development.

Prophesying as the goal of the God-ordained way

Posted by Chitu on May 19, 2010 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Prophesying as the goal of the God-ordained way

The prophesying meeting is not the centre of the church life, but it is extremely important. It is a critical aspect of the God-ordained way; in fact, in one sense, it can even be considered the goal of the God-ordained way: 1Co 14:4 … He who prophesies builds up the church. This is the only verse in the entire New Testament that tells us practically how to build the church: it is by prophesying. And it is not just some saints prophesying, but it is by everyone prophesying: 1Co 14:23-25  If therefore the whole church comes together...

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Ascension is in the Spirit we have received

Posted by Chitu on Apr 5, 2010 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Ascension is in the Spirit we have received

One of the items in the all-inclusive Spirit that we believers receive is the element of the ascension of Christ. Most basically, ascension was the last step before the dispensing of the Spirit, which was in two stages: when the Lord breathed the Spirit into the disciples in John 20, and when He poured out the Spirit upon them in Acts 2. These are typified by the Old Testament feasts of the Firstfruits and Pentecost, respectively.

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Dispensational transfer in Revelation 4 and 5

Posted by Chitu on May 23, 2009 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Dispensational transfer in Revelation 4 and 5

This morning I was considering Revelation chapters 4 and 5. In chapters 4 and 5, praise is given to God and to the Lamb. In chapter 4 verse 8, the four living creatures give God the praise: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty," and in verse 11, the 24 elders give Him the praise: "You are worthy, God the Creator because You have created all things." All of this praise is in the nature of the Old Testament. It praises God as the Creator of all things, the Creator of the old creation.

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Don’t be a hypocrite—be true to your spirit!

Posted by Chitu on Dec 11, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Don’t be a hypocrite—be true to your spirit!

We often wonder how we can reconcile the conflict between acting in an appropriate way towards people when we think or feel quite differently. For instance, there might be someone we don’t really like, but the person wants to shake our hand and greet us. So we smile, shake their hand and greet them, and feel like a hypocrite inwardly. Or perhaps I’ve been having a rough day emotionally, but someone greets me, asking how I’m doing, someone not close enough for me to share my inner struggles. So, I say, “Fine,” and feel like a hypocrite or liar.

On thinking about such situations, I realized that to think in this way is to act as if man only has two parts, a body and a soul. This kind of thinking is actually according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that merely considers whether a situation is right or wrong according to my own reasoning, feeling, or assessment. This is contrary to the tree of life, which determines the rightness of things according to the principle of eating God, becoming one with God, and living out God–when we live out God, God is always right, and we are right in Him, not apart from Him.

How I might think or feel inwardly is according to my soul, that is, my mind and my emotions. To consider that this is what I am sincerely is to consider that my soul-life, my self, is the primary and real aspect of my being. But no! In addition to my body (actions, including my speech) and my soul (my inner thoughts, feelings, and decisions), I have a spirit! My spirit is the aspect of me that can be one with God and that can contact God.

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Gleanings from Joshua

Posted by Chitu on Nov 11, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Gleanings from Joshua

In my reading from Joshua, I noted the following outstanding things:

• Joshua 10:3 mentions Adoni-zedek (Lord of righteousness), king of Jerusalem. I wonder what the similarity is in this name and Melchizedek (king of righteousness), king of Salem (peace, Jerusalem)—Hebrews 7:1-2.

  Joshua 13:1 … Jehovah said to [Joshua], You are old and advanced in age, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.2 This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites,3 From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, unto the border of Ekron on the north (this is considered to be Canaanite), with five lords of the Philistines: the Gazite and the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, and the Ekronite; and that of the Avvim … 6 … I Myself will drive them out before the children of Israel; nevertheless allot it to Israel as an inheritance as I have commanded you.

  Contrary to my prior misunderstanding, God definitely alloted the land of the Philistines (that is, the Gaza Strip) to the sons of Israel, along with everything else from the Nile to the Euphrates.

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Growth in life, growth in numbers

Posted by Chitu on Nov 7, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Growth in life, growth in numbers

This morning I was considering a conversation I had yesterday concerning growth in life versus growth in numbers. The Lord reminded me of the following story (this is a story about Elisha, not to be confused with a similar story about Elijah causing meal and oil to last throughout a famine):

2 Kings 4:1-7
2Ki 4:1  Now a certain woman from among the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared Jehovah. And the creditor has come to take my two children to himself as servants.
2Ki 4:2  And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house? And she said, Your servant has nothing at all in the house, except a jar of oil.
2Ki 4:3  And he said, Go and borrow vessels outside, from all your neighbors, empty vessels, and not just a few.
2Ki 4:4  Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and each one you fill set aside.
2Ki 4:5  So she went away from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons; and they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out into them.
2Ki 4:6  And when she had filled the vessels, she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. But he said to her, There is no other vessel. And the oil stopped.
2Ki 4:7  And she went and told the man of God. And he said, Go and sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons can live off the rest.

The Lord showed me something quite remarkable concerning how He operates in His economy to multiply Christ as life in His believers to meet all the need in His economy. First, let’s look at a few passages from Ephesians:

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The will of the Always

Posted by Chitu on Nov 7, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on The will of the Always

1 Thes 5:16 Always rejoice,
17 Unceasingly pray,
18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This morning I pray-read this verse with my brother and sister-in-law, and I really enjoyed so much light:

• Always rejoice, in everything give thanks: First, I saw that God is the Always in whom we rejoice, and He is the Everything in whom we give thanks. Our rejoicing or giving thanks is not based on outward conditions that are joyful or worthy of thanks; no, our outward situation goes up and down. Nor is it based on our inward condition, whether we are sad, worried, anxious; it is not even based on whether we are victorious, defeated, sinful, holy, or unholy. None of these things, outward or inward, is presented as the basis of our rejoicing or thanksgiving. God alone is the Always, the One who never changes. He is always joy itself, always thanks itself. In Him, we have an eternal fountain of joy. Whenever I tap into Him, I touch the Always Joyful One in whom I can rejoice, regardless my inward or outward situation.

  As for His being the Everything, Christ is all and in all (Col 3:11). In many situations in themselves, I cannot find a basis of thanksgiving. I do not believe the Lord is asking us to rotely give thanks for the sake of giving thanks. I believe He is saying here that we must see that He is in all things, and that in all these things we must give thanks because of Him who is in these things. So, as soon as I see Christ in any situation, I will spontaneously be able to give thanks.

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Only sinners can experience jubilee

Posted by Chitu on Nov 2, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Only sinners can experience jubilee

Last night and tonight, in two separate meetings, we read Luke 5. I was so deeply touched by the relationship between the consciousness of sin in this chapter and the experience of jubilee in chapter 4. Tonight we also read most of Life-Study of Luke chapter 13. Here is a quote from pp. 107-108:

The cases 5:1—6:11 portray the spiritual condition of every fallen human being. Before we were saved, we were occupied. We were also lepers, sinful people, in need of cleansing. In addition, we were paralytics, those unable to walk or do anything according to God. Therefore, we were in need of the Lord’s healing.

No matter what a person’s occupation may be, when he is called by the Lord and released, he immediately realizes that he is sinful. When people are busy with their occupation, they may think that they are very good. But when they are released from their occupation to follow the Lord, they realize that they are sinful. Furthermore, after they are cleansed, they realize that they are paralyzed with respect to God and the things of God. They are not able to walk in God’s way. But after they are healed, they come to see that they are “tax collectors,” despised persons considered to be of no value. Eventually, they understand that they are under the bondage of certain regulations and are in need of both satisfaction and liberation.

After we are freed from our occupation, cleansed from our leprosy, and healed of our paralysis, we become in the Lord a person of value, for now we have Him as the new clothing to cover us outwardly and as the new wine to fill us inwardly (Luke 5:36-39). Following this, we are released from the binding regulations. As a result, we become persons fully saved by the Man-Savior.

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Gleanings from Numbers

Posted by Chitu on Oct 26, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | Comments Off on Gleanings from Numbers

In my reading from Numbers, I noted the following outstanding things:

• Num 3:47 You shall take five shekels apiece per head; according to the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them. (The shekel is twenty gerahs.)
  48 And you shall give the money, by which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons.
  49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites;

  In Hebrew, “money” is “silver.” These verses clearly establish that in the Bible, silver typifies redemption.

• Num 8:18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
  19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make expiation for the children of Israel, that there may be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.
  Num 18:6 And I Myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to Jehovah, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

  In these verses, the Levites were men given as gifts to Aaron. This is comparable to Eph 4:7-8, where the Father gives certain men as gifts to Christ, and Christ gives these men as gifts to the church:

  Eph 4:7 ¹But to each one of us ^2agrace was given according to the ^3bmeasure of the ^cgift of Christ.
  8 Therefore the Scripture says, “Having ^aascended to the ¹height, He led captive ²those taken captive and gave ^3bgifts to men.”

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Read the Bible every day, a chapter at a time

Posted by Chitu on Oct 21, 2008 in Rivers of Living Water | 15 comments

It really is so important that we establish a habit to read the Bible every day on our own. No matter how many messages we hear or how many spiritual books we read, nothing can replace directly hearing from the Lord through His word. Even something as simple as reading one chapter a day (which takes no more than 5 to 10 minutes) will get you through the entire New Testament in just under 9 months. Reading one chapter a day will get you through the entire Bible in just three years and three months. That might seem slow, but compare how long...

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