ICT Diffusion in Developing Countries: Towards a New Concept of Technological Takeoff

This book provides an extensive overview of the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in developing countries between 2000 and 2012. It covers issues such as country-specific ICT diffusion patterns, technological substitution and technological convergence. By identifying social, economic and institutional prerequisites and analyzing critical country-specific conditions, the author develops a new approach to explaining the emergence of their technological takeoff. Readers will discover how developing countries are now adopting ICTs, rapidly catching up with the developed world in terms of ICT access and use.

Ewa Lechman is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology. Her extensive research interests concentrate on economic development, ICT, and its role in reshaping social and economic systems and various aspects of poverty and economics in developing countries. She coordinates and participates in international research and educational projects and also works as an independent expert assisting with innovation assignments, including the evaluation of small and medium enterprise proposals, EU-financed programmes, and policy design regarding innovativeness, digitalization, education and social exclusion. She was the 2013 winner of an Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence and is a member of the editorial boards of international journals on technology diffusion, the digital economy and economic development.