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The Influence of Intangible (‘Soft’) Constructs on the Outcome of Community ICT Initiatives in Ghana: A Gap Archetype Analysis
Author(s) -
Ayoung Daniel Azerikatoa,
Abbott Pamela,
Kashefi Armin
Publication year - 2016
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/j.1681-4835.2016.tb00562.x
Subject(s) - archetype , information and communications technology , context (archaeology) , knowledge management , corporate governance , government (linguistics) , business , outcome (game theory) , process (computing) , public relations , process management , political science , computer science , economics , geography , art , linguistics , philosophy , literature , finance , mathematical economics , law , operating system , archaeology
This paper applies the gap archetypes framework as an analytical tool to evaluate the Community Information Centre (CIC) initiative (also widely referred to as telecentres) in Ghana. It critically examines how the interaction of ‘soft’ constructs (politics, culture, emotions, people, partnerships and context) influenced the outcome of the initiative. This paper is a response to recent calls for the evaluation of such intangible constructs and the extent to which they affect the implementation and utilisation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study investigated eight government‐owned telecentres to highlight how these ‘soft’ constructs influenced the implementation and governance of the CIC initiatives. The results indicate that these ‘soft’ constructs were overlooked throughout the process of implementation which consequently negatively affected the suitability of the telecentres. The study also demonstrates the usefulness of the gap archetypes framework as an analytical tool for the evaluation of telecentres and ICT projects in general.