Influence of Electronic Readiness on Economic Growth Based on Country Income Levels

Abstract

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) readiness and societal changes have transformed and moved the world economy towards modern economy rooted in ICT. Against this backdrop, the influence of e-readiness on the economy is increasingly presenting a challenge and sparking heightened debates. As a result, a number of studies have witnessed an increase of income but also a notable increase in the e-readiness level. However, some countries have paid more on e-commerce, e-network and e-government than others, which raises the question of why, a dilemma that this study set out to fill. To reduce this knowledge gap, the study aimed to investigate the influence of e-readiness on economic growth based on nationwide income levels. This study employed an exploratory research design of a sample of 129 countries purposively selected out of 189, with Smart PLS version 4.0 applied for data analysis. The study adds e-readiness as key to economic growth, hence its contribution to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, the study provides useful implication to practitioners and policy makers on the use of ICT facilities to integrate each country into the global networked economy and to adopt holistic long-term strategies for ICT development and the design of a region's information infrastructure and its integration into the global infrastructure so as to bridge the "digital divide" and improve e-readiness in order to realize the potential of technology for sustainable economic growth.