There is now a great deal of evidence that e-adoption in the form of using the Internet, and information and communications technologies (ICT) over recent decades in various fields have been changing the business landscape and productivity. There is enormous literature appearing on how e-adoption has been changing the work styles, learning paradigms, businesses, and even voting and election campaigns. The E-adoption has a disruptive impact on companies, markets and gross domestic productivity, thus driving innovations. This edited book, "E-adoption and Socio-Economic Impacts: Emerging Infrastructural Effects," reports findings of some of the research studies that are conducted for e-adoption.
The book aims to present a various aspects of e-adoption and its socio-economic impact on emerging infrastructure. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are impacting economic growth and improving governance worldwide. The literature on e-adoption is growing every month as more and more publications on e-adoption are appearing in various refereed journals, handbooks, cases, reports, and monographs.
This book certainly is not intended to cover all the aspects or everything of e-adoption. Rather, this edited book features the ongoing state-of-art research in the e-adoption domain. The book consists of twenty chapters. The introductory chapter provides an overview of e-adoption and its socio-economic impacts.
The first three chapters in the book discuss Internet banking cases in three different countries. The chapters provide insights into the various factors that influence the adoption of Internet Banking Services.
The next five chapters report research on e-adoption and diffusion among Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs). The literature evidence given by these chapters indicates that a growing number of SMEs around the world are adopting new information systems innovations in the form of e-adoption. Since SMEs are the backbone of an economy in any country, research on e-adoption in the SME sector would be of a great interest to practitioners, policy makers, and researchers around the world. The reported research in these chapters will provide leads to government authorities in drawing up guidelines, approaches, and formulating more effective frameworks to promote e-commerce among SMEs in developing countries.
Chapters nine through twelve are focused on e-commerce and e-business. The research reported in these chapters indicates that the e-commerce industry around the world is growing at an exponential rate, and as a result is helping to expand the gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries.
The next chapter discusses how e-adoption has been helping in creating a newer form of electronic money systems. The research reported in this chapter helps to understand the role of electronic payments for consumers, and the problems and solutions in the emergence of electronic payments.
Chapters fourteen and fifteen report on e-government research. The literature evidence indicates that as Internet user numbers both in developing and developed nations are increasing, more and more citizens and businesses are interacting with e-government websites and adding value to their experiences for quick and better e-government services. E-government implementations are not only making it easier for citizens to obtain service and interact with the government on a 24/7 basis but have been helping to improve government efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness to citizens.
A special chapter on e-readiness and the digital divide discusses that despite Internet population growth; there are still huge gaps of digital divide around the world. Many countries worldwide are investing in information and communication technologies infrastructure to improve their e-readiness and minimize the digital divide. The e-readiness condition in every country differs, and every country is trying their best to eradicate digital inequity and the digital divide.
The research reported in chapters seventeen and eighteen on e-learning clearly show that due to its cost efficiency, e-learning is increasing in leaps and bounds around the world. E-learning is flexible, offering self-paced courses at any time and any place. Due to shrinking enrollments, more and more universities and colleges worldwide are embracing e-learning for their advantage and growth. Chapter 19 discusses e-adoption from a knowledge management perspective.
The intended audience of this book will mainly consist of researchers, research students, and practitioners in e-adoption. The book is also of interest to researchers and practitioners in areas such as e-learning, e-government, e-adoption in SMEs, and Internet banking. It is hoped that the diverse and comprehensive coverage of e-adoption in this authoritative edited book will contribute to a better understanding of all topics, research, and discoveries in this evolving, significant field of study. Furthermore, I hope that the contributions included in this edited book will be instrumental in the expansion of the body of knowledge in this vast field. It is my sincere hope that this publication and its great amount of information and research will assist our research colleagues, faculty members, students, and our organizational decision makers in enhancing their understanding of the current and emerging issues in e-adoption. Perhaps this publication will even inspire its readers to contribute to the current and future discoveries in this immense field.
The contents of most of the chapters included in this volume were originally published in the various volumes of International Journal of E-adoption. I am grateful to all authors who updated and enhanced their original papers to make their work current. The whole process of writing, reviewing, rewriting, editing, and proofreading takes a lot of time, and we appreciate all the authors for their efforts and contributions to this project.
Sushil K. Sharma, Ball State University
Acknowledgements
I would like to convey my appreciation to all contributors, including the accepted chapters’ authors, and many other invisible hands who helped to complete this book. In addition, I also appreciate all reviewers. I want to thank Hannah Abelbeck for her patience, encouragement, editorial skills, and timely follow up with authors and me to put the book together in the editing, proofreading, and layout of the various chapters. Hannah regularly gave me a helping hand to complete this project in a timely manner, and her efforts are very much appreciated. I also thank and appreciate many invisible hands at IGI publications that might have played an active or facilitating role in the completion of this book. I dedicate this book to all the authors of this book for their professional contribution and support. Last but not least, I am grateful to my family who extended their full cooperation for expediting a timely completion of this book. In the end, our special thanks to Ms. Hannah for her kind support and great efforts in bringing the book to fruition.