The Strategic Association between Information and Communication Technologies and Sustainability: A Country-Level Study

We investigate the strategic association between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and sustainability using empirical data. Our hypothesis is that ICTs can promote a country’s sustainability. In our framework we include the ICT factors of access, quality, affordability, applications, and institutional efficiency & sustainability. Sustainability is represented by individual development indicators, grouped in the clusters of environment, transportation infrastructure, energy consumption efficiency, economic development, and education. Using secondary data on ICTs and sustainability development indicators for countries from the World Bank, meanwhile controlling for the wealth effect, our main multivariate result indicates that ICTs factors have a positive association with sustainability. ICTs, therefore, have the potential to promote sustainability. Our results are useful in shaping strategic policy decisions that involve the nature and extent of investment in ICT infrastructure at the country level.