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The dynamics of national ICT ecosystems
Author(s) -
Nguyen Simon Pettersen,
Mahundi Masoud Hussein
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/isd2.12058
Subject(s) - conceptualization , information and communications technology , ecosystem , icts , tanzania , dynamics (music) , knowledge management , environmental resource management , system dynamics , regional science , business , computer science , geography , sociology , ecology , environmental planning , economics , pedagogy , artificial intelligence , world wide web , biology
Abstract The ICT ecosystem is a new and emerging concept which suggests that ICTs should not be viewed as technical systems in insolation, but rather as a part of a wider network that takes into account non‐technical dynamics, being socio‐economic, political, spatial, and such. Nguyen, Nielsen, and Sæbø (2017) have conceptualized the national ICT ecosystem which adequately describes the socio‐technical components surrounding an ICT embedded within a country. However, their conceptualization is merely a static description of the ecosystems' components without sufficient description of their dynamics. Based on a case study of a health management information system and its surrounding ecosystem in Tanzania, we contribute by identifying three dynamics of national ICT ecosystems: (1) evolution occurring in small and incremental steps; (2) co‐adaption in the ecosystem following integrations between ICTs; and (3) ICTs being integrated due to perceived network effects.