Over the past decade, rapid progress in ICT has encouraged many governments to incorporate new technology into their national economic development strategies. Egovernment is an important application within ICT and has become more significant in the agenda of policy and decision makers the world over. E-government created a new medium that changed the nature of the whole public sector and its relationship with its constituencies. It has had a profound effect on various socioeconomic and political aspects of society. E-government provides delivery of public services in a much more convenient and cost-effective way, offering huge opportunities to improve public sector efficiency. However, the process of change also gives rise to new challenges and difficulties, especially in developing countries, where many initiatives have not been successful. This is as a result of the massive deficiencies in basic infrastructure, human capacity and financial resources, along with the attendant political and cultural constraints. These factors are crucial and impede the adoption of egovernment and the building of an information based society and economy. Egovernment initiatives must therefore account for the specific government systems, technological infrastructure and environmental conditions of the host country. Many of the models and frameworks built to assist in the adoption process in developing countries have been adapted from e-government implementation experiences in Western developed countries. While there are important lessons to be learnt, these frameworks have limited application in Africa and developing countries in other regions. Previously it was difficult to investigate e-government in developing countries due to their low levels of development. Recent advances in e-government in these countries have made it possible to conduct studies and analyse their experiences and practices. This research empirically examined the adoption of e-government at a national and organisational level, taking the public sector in Sudan as a case study. A qualitative approach was followed and data was collected from Sudan using interviews with key officials and top managers; supported by published documents in the public domain.The data was analysed using content analysis and the results verified with experts from a Sudanese public organisation. The findings of the research contributed to the identification of the critical factors in Sudan, and to the development of an e-government adoption framework. The framework combines elements from the Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) model; guiding decision makers to better manage issues related to the adoption process regarding the development of the technical infrastructure, management systems, values and strategies. The use of the proposed framework can help integrate e-government into the public sector in order to accelerate social and economic progress in developing countries.

This study focuses on the implementation of Learning Management System (LMS) in the higher education sector in Iraq. Its aim is to develop a policy adoption framework for LMS implementation by scientifically investigating LMS adoption using a model that combines the principles of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework. The research methodology comprises of seven stages that adopts the interpretive paradigm and a mixed-methods research design. A case study design is used to investigate LMS integration in the University of Al-Qadisiyah. A TAM-TOE questionnaire is developed for the academic staff of the University of Al-Qadisiyah, in which the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of LMS are analysed in the case organisation. The technological, organisational, and environmental aspects of LMS implementation are also examined. The survey received valid responses from 283 academic staff. In-depth semi-structured interviews of 8 academics, administrative staff and IT personnel contributed to the qualitative data. The survey respondents are selected using stratified sampling whilst purposive sampling is used to select the interview participants. The questionnaire data was analysed using correlation analysis, whilst thematic analysis is used for the interview data. The study identifies the barriers to LMS implementation as: Lack of or limited teachers’ training, lack of commitment to constructivist pedagogy, lack of experience to use the new technology, lack of technical support, and lack of appropriate educational software. These results feed into the policy framework design. The contribution to research knowledge includes the creation of a new adoption model derived from TAM and TOE to examine the LMS implementation barriers in a war recovering economy like Iraq. This approach the integration of academic users’ acceptance with macro-level factors like government support. The results lease to the development of the LMS policy framework to guide policy makers to prioritise their limited LMS investments. The novelty of the work is the bringing together the considerations of the individual users and the socio-economic context.

The focus of this master’s thesis is on family-run small and medium enterprises and their adoption to information systems. The motivation for this research is to understand the family businesses’ challenges related to technology adoption, so that the level of hesitancy many family SMEs are having with the process can be understood and minimised. In addition, by understanding family businesses’ challenges related to information systems adoption, we can understand if they are different entities from non-family SMEs, and whether or not they require specialised guidance and support. To achieve the objectives of the master’s thesis, a qualitative multiple case study approach was undertaken involving three family SMEs who were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide which was inspired by the four key contexts of the Decision-Maker-Technology-Organisation-Environment model. Upon the completion of a thematic analysis of the data, a total of seven themes emerged which can be used to help describe and answer how family SMEs perceive information systems adoption and the challenges. From the findings it was discovered that family SMEs usually hire relatives when they have a vacancy instead of hiring an individual who is more qualified and experienced in the job role, as it is easier and convenient to make use of the trusting relations between family members. In the majority of cases, this means that the family SMEs usually have a limited level of skills including IT knowledge and to overcome this issue they seek help from sources outside of their organisation. The results of this master’s thesis research show that Family SMEs usually have a positive outlook when it comes to carrying out the information systems adoption process,but despite this, hesitancy to initiate the information systems adoption process arose from the lack of awareness of the technology and its possibilities as well as the high cost of funding and setting up the information system.

Purpose - Blockchain technology holds immense potential in increasing transparency in supply chains. However, little is known about the implementation challenges and ways to address them. The purpose of this report is to get a deeper understanding of the challenges that might occur when implementing blockchain technology in a supply chain and the suitable actions for each one of them from the mining industry's perspective. Method - This study was conducted by using an abductive research approach with a qualitative data collection through interviews. The respondents were divided into three categories: exploratory, pilot and main interview, the pilot and main interviews were divided into two types, potential actors in the supply chain ecosystem and experts on the topic. In total 17 interviews were conducted which was then analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings - The findings of the collected theory in combination with the information gathered through the interviews resulted in a framework based on the TOE-model. The framework explicates four key challenges in implementing BC, (1) Technological, (2) Organizational, (3) Ecosystem and (4) Environmental. The challenges within these categories are then categorized based on the level a company can control/ have an impact on these challenges, the categories are hard control, soft control, and no control. Finally, these challenges are connected to different mitigators which aim to solve these challenges. Theoretical and Practical implications - The presented study contributes to current literature by extending previous research of challenges and applying the T-O-E model to the challenges occurring in the mining industry. Moreover, this study breaches a gap by connecting challenges to mitigators and recommended actions. Furthermore, the study contributes to practical implication by enabling practitioners to get a bird’s eye view of the challenges and the recommended action during the blockchain implementation process. Limitations and future research - This study is limited by its qualitative method since it cannot determine the significance and magnitude of each challenge, calling for future research to quantitatively study this area.

This study has the purpose to investigate the existing state of adoption of blockchain technology in higher education, exploring the obstacles, and potential associated with its implementation to provide an updated and concise overview of the challenges and assess the feasibility of adopting blockchain in higher education.This research includes a literature review to examine the current status of blockchain in higher education. Additionally, a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews is utilized to gain an in-depth understanding of blockchain adoption, the potential challenges of its adopting, and its prospects within higher education by investigating the perspective of the interviewed academic community.Furthermore, the TOE framework is used to categorize adoption challenges into technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions. Challenges identified include technical complexity, resistance to change, financial constraints, perception of immaturity, lack of awareness, limited interoperability, insufficient skills, inadequate organizational support, regulatory compliance, cultural factors, and ecosystem readiness.Besides, the TAM is utilized to highlight the potential of blockchain based on respondents’views. It also explores how challenges from the TOE framework impact users’ perceptions of blockchain’s ease of use and usefulness in higher education. The overall findings indicate that adopting blockchain in higher education presents challenges such as resistance to change, cost concerns, lack of awareness, cryptocurrency bias, technical complexity, regulatory compliance, and ecosystem readiness.As a consequence, considering the identified level of readiness of universities to embrace new technologies, it is evident that blockchain is still in its early stages of recognition in higher education. However, its potential benefits are suggested such as reducing bureaucracy, enhancing communication and collaboration, improving payment systems, and ensuring secure document storage. It will require time for the full potential of blockchain to be acknowledged and accepted within the field of higher education

The transformation towards a knowledge-based economy is happening on a global scale and ‎the rapid ICT development in recent decades has influenced the business world. ‎One of the ‎most developed technology is information and communication technology (ICT) which ‎provides extensive capabilities and advantages to firms.            One of the emerging concepts linked to ICT is digital transformation. The term digital transformation of the ‎supply chain is defined as the adoption and reliance of the supply chain operations on ICT ‎and ‎digital technologies to perform business activities and meet ‎market‏ ‏‎requirements.‎ Thus, to ‎survive in competitive and dynamic markets, enterprises including SMEs should begin a digital transformation of the ‎supply chain to improve their ‎overall performance and efficiency. ‎ ‎         Despite the recurring research in this field, little research is conducted based on the ‎managers' perspective. The aim of this research is to explore the perception of the managers about this ‎phenomenon and to identify the success factor and challenges in the digital transformation of ‎the supply chain. This qualitative research is conducted based on semi-structured ‎interviews with managers of food SMEs in the Iranian context. The participants are supply chain managers ‎who ‎have five years of experience in the field.  The empirical data was collected through ‎individual semi-structured interviews with the selected participants, and from the review of ‎organizational documents and was subject to a thematic analysis. ‎           From the analysis of the data five themes emerged which were reviewed in the context ‎of the research question and the proposed theoretical framework with the help of the ‎Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) Model.‎           Thus, based on the research result, participants perceive digital ‎transformation as a conceptual tool that streamlines the supply chain activities and improves ‎the overall efficiency of the supply chain. ‎In addition, findings identify the development of ICT infrastructure and increased awareness ‎of ICT benefits as success factors in this regard. On the other hand, there are two issues ‎including lack of investment and the traditional business model which were considered ‎hindering factors in digital transformation.‎ Further, based on the TOE model and from the findings, it is evident that a successful ‎digital transformation requires proper ICT adoption in three contexts of a firm i.e. ‎technological, organizational, and environmental contexts.‎

Livsmedelsindustrin står inför stora utmaningar i framtiden, varav en är att erbjuda och producera livsmedel till en växande population på ett hållbart sätt. Ett sätt att övervinna denna utmaning är att implementera AI-teknik som kan användas för att effektivisera och främja hållbar utveckling inom livsmedelsindustrin. Syftet med studien är därför att kartlägga nivån av AI-readiness hos livsmedelsföretag i Norden, det vill säga undersöka hur redo dessa verksamheter är att implementera AI-teknik. Frågeställningen har besvarats genom en digital enkätundersökning baserat på det teoretiska ramverket TOE - Technology, Organization and Environment. Enkäten besvarades av 59 anonyma respondenter. Svaren kategoriserades baserat på det huvudsakliga verksamhetslandet för respondentens företag, den del av industrin företaget främst är verksamt inom och företagets storlek. Det insamlade datat har analyserats med hjälp av Chi2-test som resulterade i insikten att större företag har högre nivå av AI-readiness än små företag. Resultatet indikerade även på tre förbättringsområden för att öka nivån av AI-readiness. Företag bör i större utsträckning utveckla en strategisk plan för implementering av AI-teknik, säkerställa tillräckligt med mänskliga resurser med rätt kompetens och öka kunskapen om externa regleringar bland sina anställda. Den kunskap som studien genererar kan vara relevant för företag som arbetar med implementering av AI-teknik, för företag verksamma inom livsmedelsindustrin som vill öka sin AI-readiness samt för framtida forskning inom liknande områden. / The food industry faces major challenges in the future, one of which is to provide and produce food for a growing population in a sustainable way. One way to overcome this challenge is to implement AI-technologies that can be used to promote sustainable development in the food industry. The purpose of this study is therefore to map the level of AI-readiness among food companies in the Nordic region, specifically to investigate how ready these businesses are to implement AI-technology. The question has been answered through a digital survey based on the theoretical framework TOE - Technology, Organization and Environment. The survey was answered by 59 anonymous respondents. The answers were categorized based on the main country of operation of the respondent's company, the part of the industry the company is mainly active in and the size of the company. The collected data has been analyzed using Chi2-tests which resulted in the insight that larger companies have a higher level of AI-readiness than smaller companies. The result also indicated three areas of improvement to increase the level of AI-readiness. Companies should to a greater extent develop a strategic plan for the implementation of AI-technology, ensure sufficient human resources with the right skills and increase the knowledge of external regulations among their employees. The knowledge generated by the study can be relevant for companies working on the implementation of AI-technology, for companies operating in the food industry that want to increase their AI-readiness, and for future research in similar areas.