A Temporal Model of Institutional Interventions for Information Technology Adoption in Less-Developed Countries

Abstract:This empirical study of Internet adoption in four Latin American countries delineates a gradual but progressive course of institutional actions and suggests a temporal ordering of the actions—including knowledge building, subsidy, knowledge deployment, innovation directive, and standard setting. The temporal model reveals how each country sustained the momentum of its evolving strategy, grew in competence to forge technological solutions, and gained access to the Internet. The four countries' original goals changed, but through experience they perceived new opportunities and established evolving Internet strategies that form the bases of new technological services provided at the national level.Key Words and Phrases: adoption of information technologyglobal information technology infrastructureinformation technology in less-developed countriesnetwork development and implementation Additional informationNotes on contributorsRamiro MontealegreRamiro Montealegre is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received his doctorate in business administration from the Harvard Business School in the area of management information systems. His master's degree in computer science is from Carleton University, Canada. He holds a bachelor in engineering degree from the Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. Dr. Montealegre is a regularly invited lecturer at the Case Western Reserve University, the Instituto de Centro America de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE) in Costa Rica, the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, Austral and Torcuato DiTella Universities in Argentina, and Carlos III and Pablo Olavides Universities in Spain. Dr. Montealegre's research focuses on the interplay between information technology and organization transformation in highly uncertain environments. He has been involved in studying projects of organizational change in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America. His research findings have been presented internationally.