It Innovations and E-service Delivery: an Exploratory Study

This study investigates the process through which new innovation is adopted in the service sector in developing countries. Studies have investigated factors which contribute both to delays in the adoption of a new information technology (IT) innovation and to delays in the realization of its potentials. However, issues involved when organizations add layers of new IT innovations have not been adequately examined. Such issues include factors that influence an organization to incrementally add a new IT, the process through which the increment is accomplished and the corresponding adaptation of associated service innovation. Organizations in developing countries (DCs) have over the past decade or so invested in and implemented series of IT and service innovations with varying degrees of success. In this study we propose a framework to help take stock of the various innovations that have been implemented and to understand the myriad of issues involved in the process of implementing these technologies and service innovations – especially when transiting from one innovation to another. As this study aims to examine the patterns of adopting new IT and service innovations in DCs, we would argue that such a study would enable us to understand how services can be better delivered with newer technologies, by learning from comparison of past experiences and present situations.