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To understand opportunities Blockchain offers for development, we propose a novel framework that considers Business-, Society-, Economy & Finance-, Technology-, and Policy-related factors. It illustrates the complex and multifaceted role of Blockchain in development and is useful in guiding research efforts, formulating actionable advice, and promoting development. We created it methodically, drawing from systematic literature reviews and the authors' experience with Blockchain and development. Adequately designed and deployed Blockchain systems are relevant contributions that can help address problems that afflict our society, making it more inclusive, fair, and resilient. Solutions that many countries have already adopted in various sectors (e.g. public, financial, business, technology, education) demonstrate the importance of Blockchain to advance development. Further, less developed countries have a window of opportunity to avoid the typical lag in the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies and make quantum leaps that will put them on par with more developed counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost everyone recognizes the salience of cyberspace as a fact of daily life. Given its ubiquity, scale, and scope, cyberspace has become a fundamental feature of the world we live in and has created a new reality for almost everyone in the developed world and increasingly for people in the developing world. This paper seeks to provide an initial baseline, for representing and tracking institutional responses to a rapidly changing international landscape, real as well as virtual. We shall argue that the current institutional landscape managing security issues in the cyber domain has developed in major ways, but that it is still “under construction.” We also expect institutions for cyber security to support and reinforce the contributions of information technology to the development process. We begin with (a) highlights of internationalinstitutional theoryand anempirical“census” of the institutions-in-place for cyber security, and then turn to (b) key imperatives ofinformation technology-development linkagesand the various cyber processes that enhance developmental processes, (c) majorinstitutional responses to cyber threats and cyber crimeas well as select international and national policy postures so critical for industrial countries and increasingly for developing states as well, and (d) the salience ofnew mechanismsdesigned specifically in response to cyber threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development in information and communications technologies (ICTs) has created a wealth of opportunities for businesses and societies around the world. Yet, the disparity in the ICT adoption between developed and developing countries, often referred to as theDigital Divide, continues to widen. As a result, the digital divide has remained an issue of significant importance to policy-makers and scholars. In an effort to measure the magnitude of the digital divide and monitor how the disparity evolves over time, the United Nations commissioned the development of a comprehensive ICT Development Index (IDI) in 2009. The objective of this paper is to extend the methodology used in the IDI project and other scientific results presented in previous research to measure the digital divide. Using data mining techniques, we analyze ICT profiles from 154 countries to provide a rigorous quantitative assessment of the digital divide. In addition to analyzing the digital divide at the global level, we present our results at a regional level by identifying countries that are leaders and followers in their respective geographical area. Moreover, our analysis found that between 2002 and 2007,ninecountries have made a significant progress in ICT adoption such that they have transitioned into a group previously consisting primarily of developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was motivated to investigate social inequality in developed nations, by studying the impact of ICTs upon the vulnerable unemployed and under-employed in Singapore. First, drawing upon Amartya Sen's capability approach, we operationalize the dependent variable as self-perceived employability, conceptualized as both a measure of well-being and a livelihood capability. Secondly, we used Neil Selwyn's digital divide hierarchical impact assessment framework, to define and measure the ICT assets of access, usage, and appropriation. Primary data was gathered from 302 under-employed and unemployed workers in Singapore, a developed Asian economy. Regression analyses revealed that higher-order hierarchies of ICT usage and appropriation were associated with the dependent variable of employability, while access was not. We discuss the implications for development discourse in regions with ubiquitous access, advocating for policymakers to focus on ICT training. Further, we offer nuanced findings on vulnerability in developed economies as an enhancement to mainstream ICT4D scholarship, focused exclusively on poverty in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'digital divide' has sparked serious debates along the lines of economic disparity among world nations. Many in academics and policy circles believe that the digital gap could further widen the economic gap between developed versus developing nations. Among the components that are taken into consideration for measuring and analyzing the digital divide between countries, the information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the key component. This paper adds to the existing body of knowledge on the issue of regional and global digital divide by profiling 192 member countries of the United Nations based on their ICT indicators. Using clustering and statistical analysis, our results identify 'leaders' and 'followers' in ICT infrastructure and utilization at both regional and global settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive effect of information and communication technology (ICT) on human development (HD) is not guaranteed simply by the availability of technology; this gap is especially pronounced for developing countries. Using the Capability Approach framework, we collected data from 115 countries for 2019. We tested a sample to determine stable groups of countries and split the dataset into two groups, which homogeneity differs significantly. Finally, we estimated the hypotheses predicting the influence of ICT on HD for both groups using a path modelling technique. Our results confirm the significant positive contribution of ICT on all kinds of conversion factors (CFs), except social ones in developing countries. However, the way to transform capabilities into functionings differs. In developing countries, ICT contributes to HD at the individual level only. For developed countries, ICT contributes more to social CFs and less to personal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saxenian's concept of 'brain circulation' explains how a developing country can benefit when its diaspora community returns home to accelerate economic growth, but it says little about who leaves a country in the first place, and why they leave. We consider this issue in the context of Bangladesh's IT sector and focus on university students' aspirations for careers abroad. Based on a survey of 591 undergraduate IT students, we find that students' aspirations bifurcate into those hoping to work in English-speaking developed countries and those expecting to remain in Bangladesh, and that the difference correlates with parental income, attendance at elite universities, gender, and the presence of role models. We also find that parental income is predictive of what factors students value in a job. Findings are discussed in relation to socio-cognitive career theory, with implications for interventions that could improve IT brain circulation in Bangladesh and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

e-Government initiatives are increasingly mainstreamed in the development agenda, as means through which developing countries can achieve development objectives faster and, as experience from the developed world suggests, for less cost. However, little research has been carried out on the impact of such initiatives in the developing world, especially the least developed countries, and little attention has been placed on cost aspects. This research studies one such initiative, the computerization of vehicle registration, in one such country, Bhutan. After assessing impact on both efficiency and governance, it finds that improvements in governance and quality aspects greatly outweigh cost-aspects. Using activity-based costing method for internal costs, and assessing quality aspects through staff interviews and customer surveys, significant improvements were found in lead time and adherence to rules felt by citizen users. However, little benefit was found in terms of cost reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We hypothesize that four key national factors of e-readiness are associated with e-business and e-government development: national economic prosperity, technological innovativeness, institutional maturity, and Internet service provider competition. Using hierarchical regression with cross-sectional data on 122 countries, we show that these hypothesized factors are independently associated with nations' reported developmental success in the areas of e-government and e-business. These results are obtained using data for 2006 and are replicated using data for 2007. Between-groups analysis using regression provides evidence of the model's applicability to both developed and developing nations, where the four factors can serve as parsimonious indicators for e-readiness and as key areas for public policy. We then discuss implications and limitations of the present work. We conclude by highlighting the current outlook for progress in developing nations along the four dimensions investigated and suggest a targeted approach for public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research goal is to analyze the influence of socioeconomic, governmental, and accessibility factors on ICT usage, expenditure, and infrastructure in 71 developing and developed countries. Overall results indicate primary importance of scientific and technical capacity as measured by publications, and secondary significance of foreign direct investment, government prioritization of ICT, public spending on education, and math/science education. For developed nations, technology factors are again most strongly associated with scientific publications, followed by foreign direct investment, % of females in the labor force, and education variables. For developing countries, technology attributes are strongly associated with foreign direct investment, government prioritization of IT, and education variables. The cases of ICT development and growth in Egypt and Estonia are examined and found to be consistent with the regression results for developing nations. The article suggests policy steps that can be taken by national governments to narrow the digital divide. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]