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The purpose of this paper is to present a mapping of the evolution of the United Nation's (UN's) e‐Readiness assessments. The mapping highlights underlying assumptions and frames a set of recommendations for new secondary indicators to strengthen e‐Readiness indices.

This exploratory case study applies triangulated document review for the analysis.

The UN's e‐Readiness assessments have evolved from a focus on Member State governments as “controllers of information and services” to “facilitators of information”. The mapping highlights the dynamic nature of understanding of e‐Government and the role of information and communication technologies in transformation efforts. It also allows for new understanding of the influence of context‐dependent imperatives, rankings, views and suggestions on Member State efforts to leverage technology toward the realization of transformation agendas. Framing assumptions for issue‐based UN surveys pose a series of limitations in terms of interpreting the results. The case study highlights the evolutionary character of the e‐Readiness assessment efforts and provides new insight for governments that rely on the assessments for decision making and planning.

The UN e‐Readiness assessments serve as a widely used point of reference for government officials, public administrators and researchers around the world. This study provides them with new understanding of the evolution of perspectives which frame and the tools used to assess e‐Readiness.

The paper provides an original examination of the evolution of perspectives and tools used in UN's e‐Readiness assessment efforts. This examination supports the identification of a set of secondary indicators in the form of a risk‐to‐reward indicator, an adoption indicator and a satisfaction indicator, to better inform and strengthen the UN e‐Readiness indices.

Due to the growing complexity involved in leveraging the endless possibilities of ICT on all levels, the technical competence of faculties of higher education institutions (HEI) and effective methods for fostering e-readiness has become questionable.

This research has developed and validated an empirically supported e-readiness scale, which can be used by HEIs to assess faculty members’ preparedness toward online teaching. The measurement model and the structural model were developed as the results of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 245). The previously identified components and their indicators were validated using the structural models and the final scale was developed with five dimensions (“online technological readiness, pedagogical readiness, institutional readiness, learning and delivery readiness and content readiness”).

The faculties’ e-readiness assessment tool, as a useful tool, could aid institutions in identifying problems that affect the implementation of e-learning or digitalization in the institutions and developing strategies in response.

Like any research this research also has some limitations and can be considered as future research probability like the responses for this research were collected from HEI in India; however, a cross-cultural study can be conducted to understand the parameters across the globe. Although the psychometric qualities of the e-readiness scale are acceptable, additional research in various higher educational environments, both nationally and internationally, is required to further establish the scale’s relevance, validation and generalizability.

Although many scales have been developed to assess the readiness level in the education sector, a scale, that holistically measures, the readiness level of faculties from an overall perspective was required. This scale can be used to recognize the e-readiness level of teachers in HEIs. This scale can also help the institutions assess the readiness level of their faculty members and address any improvements required in their teaching and learning pedagogy, further acknowledging training needs.

Electronic readiness (e‐readiness) presents a measure to which an organisation or business may be ready, prepared or willing to obtain benefits which arise from the digital economy. In this context, an advanced state of organisational e‐readiness is needed for businesses to expand domestically and internationally; to compete readily in the global open market. It is therefore imperative that organisations align their business strategies with e‐readiness strategies. This paper aims to focus on these issues.

The paper investigates the initiation, development and practice of e‐readiness of nations, and presents a case for possible adoption for the built environment area. By combining key indicators of e‐readiness of nations and achieving business success and competitive advantage, the pervasiveness of e‐readiness within the built environment arena is determined. The validity of this initial research is further endorsed through industry collaboration research.

The relationship between people, process, and technology are common themes and enablers of e‐readiness. In this respect, built environment organisations are no different. These elements are highly interrelated, as developing competence in one element must be accompanied by improvement in the others. Contextually therefore, the key elements of organisational e‐readiness should embody each nation's (national) e‐readiness reports, rankings, assessments and measuring tools as their fundamental building blocks.

This paper presents an argument that the industry needs to adopt a “measured approach” to help them be “e‐ready” – the rubrics of which should be augmented through some form of a practical framework which allows them to measure their e‐readiness capability. This paper postulates that any such model should embrace both the “hard” and “soft” issues associated with people, technology, and process.

The purpose of this study is to assess the e-readiness status of libraries in the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in terms of four dimensions – human resources, electronical infrastructure, network services and programs and enhancers of the networked world.

The study population consists of 11 libraries of the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, including the central library and 10 faculty libraries. The data collection instrument is a questionnaire prepared by the researchers that has been designed on the basis of the “e-readiness assessment of Iranian academic libraries model”. Depending on the respondents there are three parts to the questionnaire: questionnaire for managers, staff and information and communication technology (ICT) officials. Their reliability and validity have been proved.

The libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences had an average to high status in terms of “human resources” with a score of 2.32, “electronic infrastructure” with a score of 2.48, “network services and programs” with a score of 2.09 and “networked world enhancers” with a score of 2.37 out of 4. In total, these libraries had an average to high status in terms of e-readiness, with a score of 2.29.

The findings of this study can help the library administrators and officials of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences to plan improvements to the situation of ICT.

The purpose of this paper is first to construct an e‐publishing model and then to implement the model in Iranian publishers.

This article critically tries to evaluate Iranian publishing companies involved in e‐publishing based on a new model which is made in this paper. Moreover, it has tried to investigate the readiness of the society and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as a legislator toward e‐publishing. Furthermore, some suggestions to remove challenges toward e‐publishing based on the findings will be made.

A new e‐publishing readiness model is made based on e‐readiness prior models. Based on the new model, the e‐publishing readiness level of Iranian publishing companies is evaluated. It was found that, to improve e‐publishing, it is necessary to have a holistic view toward the model in a way that considers all dimensions of e‐publishing. Furthermore, it was found that in some constructs like technical infrastructure, social, and economical and financial constructs, Iranian publishers did not enjoy a good status, while in other factors this was better. Consequently, based on these finding, some suggestions are made toward improving the e‐publishing readiness level of Iranian publishers.

This research is probably the first to support the perspective of critical issues regarding e‐readiness assessment in publishing companies based on macro models. It will give a good insight which it is expected could be helpful for managers to consider the critical issues with respect to e‐readiness assessment of their organization in an effective way.

The paper aims to present the findings of an empirical study carried out as part of an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) data‐gathering exercise that would culminate in the promulgation of a national ICT policy for Botswana. The purpose of the study is to characterize the ICT sector in terms of, among other things, the skills needs in the sector for the purpose of powering the emerging digital economy. Moreover, the study – through review of literature – extends, to cover the status of ICT skills for the digital economy both in developed and developing countries.

The study used qualitative design. Focus group discussions were used to collect data from key stakeholders in the ICT sector. The stakeholders included: ICT enterprises, Citizen Owned IT companies lobby group (CORBIT), Botswana Telecommunication Corporation, Botswana Power Corporation, business community, academia, and legal experts. Data collected were analyzed using thematic categorization. Results were presented using descriptive and narrative form.

The findings generally suggest that there is an acute global shortage of high skilled and hands‐on personnel necessary for steering the emerging digital economy in both developed and developing countries including Botswana. In addition, there is a serious skills gap for certified specialists to help develop the sophisticated applications necessary to power the digital economy and more so the applications that depend on it.

The empirical part of the study was limited to the ICT sector of the economy in Botswana. A similar study covering all sectors of the national economy will provide a complete picture of ICT skills needs for the nation and its preparedness to partake in the emerging digital economy.

ICT, particularly the internet, is having a significant impact on the operations of business enterprises and is claimed to be essential for the survival and growth of nations' economies. Botswana Government has realized the folly of depending largely on diamond mining for long‐term economic development. Consequently, it is encouraging the development of the ICT sector as a way to diversify its economy and position itself to play a leading role in the global emerging digital economy.

This study provides a framework for ICT skills development strategies that can enable countries to participate competitively in the emerging digital economy.

The purpose of this paper is to present challenges and opportunities of e‐government implementation in South Africa with special reference to service delivery and implications for libraries.

The paper is based on an in‐depth literature review from government documents, presidential state of the nation addresses, global and nation reports on e‐government, and reports on service delivery concerns in South Africa.

The Government of South Africa has put in place enabling policies, poverty alleviation programmes, ICT infrastructures and regulatory frameworks which as yet have not been effectively leveraged to enhance service delivery to its citizens. Furthermore, libraries have yet to make any attempts to benefit from the emergence of e‐government in South Africa.

There is a need to infuse an e‐government ethos in poverty alleviation programmes in order to enhance service delivery. At the moment there is a lack of synergy between the two in South Africa. Additionally, South African ICT infrastructure is under‐utilised to enhance service delivery. Libraries have the opportunity using e‐government infrastructure to improve the provision of information services to the people.

Service delivery remains a priority for the post‐apartheid South African government, and the paper reveals that a disconnect exists between the e‐government vision and the poverty alleviation programmes aimed at enhancing the standard of living of the people. Libraries in South Africa have yet to leverage e‐government to provide information services and the paper may assist them in doing so.

The paper aims to present the e‐readiness status of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in Botswana and make comparisons with global trends.

The paper is based on a doctoral project that was carried out at the University of Johannesburg from 2002 to 2005. A qualitative approach was employed using both focus group discussions and in‐depth interviews to collect data.

The findings revealed that SMEs in Botswana, like their counterparts in most developing countries, had not achieved a reasonable measure of e‐readiness status compared to the developed world.

There is paucity of research on the e‐readiness of SMEs in developing countries, especially with respect to information access. Furthermore e‐readiness, being a new phenomenon, does not yet have an established theoretical basis and a universally acknowledged definition.

This study presents a framework that has the potential to assist governments, especially in the developing world, to make informed ICT investment decisions that will enable SMEs to penetrate the international electronic business environment. Moreover, the findings provide a lens through which SMEs, especially in developing world, would benchmark their e‐readiness status against the best in the world and effectively undertake corrective measures.

The existing e‐readiness measurement tools are largely quantitative and only address the qualitative dimension of the phenomenon in a limited way. In addition, the tools focus more on ICT, business, policy and legislative framework and underplay the information access factor. Furthermore, whereas e‐readiness research is increasingly populating development, IT and business literature, little is happening within the information science discipline. Finally, most e‐readiness studies have confined to macro (national) assessments and ignored sectoral‐level environments.

The purpose of this paper is to review use of open source software in the public sector in Botswana and South Africa. South Africa is Botswana's neighbor and both countries are leading economies in Africa.

The paper draws on a survey that was carried out in information communication technology (ICT)‐intensive government ministries in Botswana in May 2008. The study sought to establish availability of policy framework, level of usage of open source software, government support, motivations for implementing open source software in government, availability of skills, attitude of it managers in government toward open source software and challenges of open source software deployment in the public sector. The population of the study consisted of information technology (IT) managers who were purposively selected from ICT‐intensive government ministries and interviewed. The study was extended to cover South Africa through review of literature on the same issues as those studied in Botswana.

Compared with other countries in developed and developing countries including South Africa, there is limited use of open source software in the public sector in Botswana. However, IT managers in government of Botswana demonstrate a positive attitude toward open source software, and seem to have adequate understanding of its potential benefits. Comparatively, South African government provides support for harnessing open source software; awareness among top government officials is high and attitude toward open source software seems positive; skills are generally available and hardly any challenges of using open source software were identified.

This study was limited to purposively selected government ministries which are ICT‐intensive in Botswana, while for South Africa, the study was based on secondary sources of data and focused on deployment of open source software in government agencies.

Despite the increasing deployment of open source software in government across the world, the Botswanan government is yet unlikely to put in place an enabling open source software policy to harness the potential of the Software.

Open source software deployment in government across the world is gaining momentum purportedly to enhance universal access, reduce costs associated with commercial software bridge the digital divide, grow indigenous IT skills, etc. Botswana and South Africa are the economic frontline states in Africa, and their leadership role in this matter among counterparts on the African continent is pertinent.

The purpose of this paper is to assess e-readiness (preparedness) of the Copperbelt University (CBU) with a view to ascertain the likelihood of the university benefiting from various opportunities unlocked by the adoption and use of ICT in advancing its core mandate of teaching, learning and collaborative research.

The study used the network readiness model emanating from the socio-technical theory, which underpins the extended technological enactment framework. Further, it employed a positivist approach and adopted a case study method coupled with methodological triangulation at data collection stage. With a 95 per cent confidence level of a possible sample frame of 2,980, the study sampled 353 respondents with a response rate of 81 per cent.

The results show that anticipated ICTs users have not leveraged available ICT infrastructure or are unaware of its existence. Further, quantitative constructs: “accessibility to ICTs” and “requisite ICTs skills” has significant impacts on e-readiness indicators and in integration of ICTs in CBU core business activities. Also, the study argues that institutional ICT policy and working environments reshape users’ perception of ICTs for teaching, learning and research.

The proposed conceptual framework only accounted for 43 per cent variance of the factors determining e-readiness of CBU.

Investigating CBU’s e-readiness will enable policy-makers to prioritise interventions needed for transforming the university into an e-ready entity favourably placed to benefit from digital opportunities. Also the emanating conceptual framework is important to theory and practice in integrating ICTs universities business value chains especially in contextually similar environments.