D.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Promotion of ICT usage in developing countries, even under rigorous government initia- tives and policies, is a discouraging undertaking and a very di cult one. One of the many challenges government of developing countries is facing in the promotion of ICT adoption is how to incorporate a subsidy rate discount into a price model as expressed in the following sentiments: Until now, USAASA has used very little of the money in the USAF. It must justify its spending plans each year before it is given access to any of Information on how price a ects the number of users was generated by asking users on how much the spent on internet usage. The sensitivity of users was determined by asking users how many hours they spent on the internet. Analysis of the information gathered showed that there was a substantial amount of money in USAASA and ZICTA co ers which was not utilized. Furthermore users expressed desire to have their prices subsidized. In rural areas internet prices were more expensive, on comparative terms, than those in the urban areas. Analysis of data or results concerning the price and the number of users showed that there was a positive relationship between the number of users and the price of the internet service. The relationship showed that a low price attracted a lot of users, while a high price attracted few users or none at all. The mathematical analysis of the pricing model proved that at a certain subsidy discount rate and price sensitivity, the model was able to reach equilibrium while maximizing the ISP's revenue. In conclusion the price of internet services for the information \have nots" depend on the price sensitivity and the level of subsidy given by the government. the funds". \Universal access of ICT services with particular reference to rural areas is an issue that has been on the agenda of most countries in the whole world today. You are aware that while some countries are currently e ectively extending services to rural areas using various means, others have found this challenging and have ended up with unutilized funds in the banks". Subsidies, though seen as the means of promoting social and economic agendas in developing countries, can create the tragedies associated with public resources usage or something-for-nothing resources. Given a subsidy discount rate or a low price, consumers usually anticipate a net bene t derived from free resources due to subsidy. Anticipation of net a bene t from such resources may generate a damaging rush from consumers to exploit the resource, which may result in the tragedy of the commons. On the contrary, when no subsidy is given, consumers face no di erential between the perceived utility and the price of the resource creating a no social and pecuniary bene t to users, as such very few consumers or users will utilize the resource. The contribution this research develops is as follows: To show the extent of ICT usage patterns in developing countries.To determine why ICT usage in developing countries is low even under rigorous government initiatives and policies. To determine how price a ects the number of users using the internet resource. To incorporate a subsidy discount rate in a price model for unserved or rural areas of developing countries. To proposes a subsidy driven pricing framework that helps both the internet service providers and users to maximize their utilities and prevent the tragedies associated with resource use i.e. the tragedy of the commons and the tragedy of the anti- commons. To apply a non-cooperative game theoretic model to investigate the con ict between ISPs and consumers or consumers in a heterogeneous communities i.e. the infor- mation \haves" and \have-nots". We de ne utility-based decision rules for both providers and users under varying prices and subsidy requirements. We provide a decision model under a non-cooperative, incomplete-information game environment. To investigates the properties of the NE (under di erent optimization rules) and to study whether there exists an optimal solution to the game. The basic hypothesis that this research addresses is: A pricing model, with correct subsidy discount rate allows for better resource usage (preventing the tragedy of the commons and anti-commons) and makes the attainment of the objective of \ICT access for all" more likely. The methodology used for collecting statistical data was a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The purpose of research was to collect data that would later be used to propose a pricing framework for heterogeneous communities. The strategy was to use three important variables in the subsidy driven pricing model to validate the hypothesis i.e. subsidy discount rate, the relationship between price and the number of users and the sensitivity (elasticity of demand) of users towards price. Incorporation of subsidy discount rate into the pricing model was driven by the fact that institutional frameworks such as universal service and access agency of South Africa (USAASA) and the Zambia information and communications tech- nology authority (ZICTA) were sitting with unutilized universal service and access fund (USAF). Additionally, users of internet services in underserviced areas of the two countries advocated for subsidized prices towards internet provision.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / This research explored how the Smart Cape Access Project in Delft Public Library is used by the Delft community and how it related to the Millennium Development Goals asset out by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). This study also investigated the Smart Cape Access Project, as an initiative by the City of Cape Town to ensure access to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for all citizens of Cape Town, and how it is utilised as a tool for economic and personal development. The research took place at Delft Public Library in Delft. Delft is a residential area with no industries, whatsoever. The area has a high unemployment rate, high crime rate and more than 60% of those employed earn less than R1600. 00 per month. These factors and the fact that the City of Cape Town recognizes the importance of ICTs for economic and social growth made Delft ideal for this research. The study also investigated whether the information given via the Smart Cape Access project is relevant for sustainable development. Sustainable development is on the agenda of many countries and the concept can be taken as far back as the seventies with the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden and culminating in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. In South Africa several initiatives were implemented to bring ICTs to those who do not have access to ICTs, as the importance of ICTs to improve and uplift the quality of life are recognised by different role-players e.g. government, private sectors and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). The researcher regarded this as sufficient reason to embark on this study, though the scope of the study only concentrated on the Smart Cape Access Project in one public library.

The purpose of this study was two fold: (1) to examine how the distribution of resources within and outside an Enhanced Language Training Program (ELT) affected a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development; and (2) to discuss ensuing pedagogical and curricular implications for the ELT Program. The relationship between the distribution of resources and a group of newcomers’ access to Internet literacy development was studied through a hybrid of two frameworks: van Dijk’s (2005) digital divide and Warschauer’s (2004) social inclusion. The key findings were that the distribution of resources affected access four ways: (1) resources affected multiple types of access, (2) the effect of resource distribution on access was both cumulative and successive, (3) distribution of resources could either facilitate or impede access, and (4) Internet literacy development could potentially increase or decrease the resources. The findings resulted in implications for the ELT program and teaching.

This thesis examines determinants of IT investments and IT penetration rate. The full sample consists of panel data for 69 countries between years 1996 and 2013.We analyze three types of IT devices: smartphones, tablets and PCs. In order to reveal cross-segment and cross-technology differences in the importance of various determinants, separate regression models are estimated on technology-segment level. Installed base per capita, which is used to measure the level of existing capital, is included among independent variables in equations estimating per capita IT investments. Results show that the effect of the level of existing capital is stronger for smartphones and tablets when compared to PCs. Another finding is that commercial segment is less price sensitive than consumer segment. This study also provides several findings regarding other determinants of IT penetration rate and IT investments such as: national wealth, human capital, openness to trade and external knowledge, and business cycles.

Samhällets digitala förändringsprocess förutsätter alla medborgares deltagande. Detta väcker frågor kring medborgares digitala förmågor att delta samt ansvarsfördelningen för möjliggörande av alla medborgares digitala deltagande. Socialtjänstens förutsättningar att uppfylla sitt uppdrag och mål att tillgodose alla människors rätt till jämlika levnadsvillkor, ekonomisk och social trygghet samt aktivt deltagande i samhällets digitala utveckling motiverar denna studie. Syftet är att undersöka socialtjänstens förutsättningar att, i en digital samhällsutveckling, uppfylla uppdrag och mål enligt socialtjänstlagen. Offentliga dokument gällande digitalisering av samhället och offentliga verksamheter utgör grunden för studien. Forskningsmaterialet består av strategier, visioner och överenskommelser från statlig, regional och kommunal nivå. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys av forskningsmaterialet resulterar i empirins centrala teman, vilka tolkas och analyseras genom teoretiska begrepp ur Castells teori om nätverkssamhället samt Tillys teori om ojämlikhet. För att driva den digitala samhällsutvecklingen framåt framkommer av resultatet att incitament för medborgare, företag och offentliga verksamheter skall användas för att motivera till deltagande i utvecklingsprocessen.  Resultatet visar även att offentliga verksamheter har ett övervägande fokus på effektivisering och optimerad resursfördelning, vilket teoretiskt förstås som en risk för en digital klyfta om medborgerliga rättigheter i form av deltagande på jämlika villkor förbises. Vidare uppmärksammas en brist på konkreta lösningar för att möjliggöra digitalt deltagande för alla, vilket ur för socialtjänstens verksamhet kan förstås som ett hinder för att uppfylla mål enligt 1 kap. 1§ socialtjänstlagen. Slutligen framkommer riskfaktorer gällande näringslivets roll i den digitala utvecklingen, vilket ej återfinns i den tidigare forskningen som studien utgår från och således förstås som ett intressant fynd för framtida forskning.

Aim – The paper aims to acknowledge female microentrepreneurs' situation, using a feminist perspective, by identifying affecting aspects and factors when relying on borrowing a smartphone in order to run their business. Further, the study will have the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals number 8. Decent work and economic growth, and number 10. Reduced inequality, as an overall guideline.  Design / methodology / approach – To acknowledge the female microentrepreneurs' situation, we used feminist standpoint to understand the female mictroentreprenuers. The method for the data collection was a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews in the urban area of Accra, with a total of 15 female microentrepreneurs. The data were analysed and generated five concepts; relation to the mobile owner, feelings about borrowing, limitations with borrowing, impact of smartphone use in the microenterprise and impact of smartphone use for the female.  Findings – The findings of this paper point to the importance and positive aspects of using a smartphone when running a business, but also how smartphones have become a symbol of power when borrowing, as the female microentreprenuers are in reliance of the mobile owner. The study found six salient aspects affecting the social relations when borrowing a smartphone; relationships, mutual understanding, compensation, attitude, control and dependence. Further, four factors; customer relations, marketing, self-empowerment and financial empowerment, had an impact on the female microentrepreneurs and their businesses.  Originality / value – By using a feminist standpoint, this study extends the existing knowledge of the usage of smartphones in order to run a business and how operating a business empowers females. It also expands the current understanding about how borrowing a smartphone affects female microenterprises.

An exploratory study was conducted examining Internet usage among African-American college students. The study examined both psychosocial correlates, including technological anxiety and racial identity as well as socioeconomic measures, as they impacted Internet usage. Additionally, three distinct measures of Internet usage, thin access, thick access and the Internet Connectedness Index (ICI), were used as criterion variables in three separate multiple regression analysis (MRA) models. The results of the study found differences in predictive validity based on the criterion variable used, with the ICI accounting for the greatest amount of variance (54%). Racial identity, in terms of internal beliefs and feelings about being African American and internalization of Afrocentric values in a political context were found to be predictive of Internet usage as measured by the ICI.

A l’ère de la troisième révolution internet, celle de l’internet des objets (IoT), beaucoup d’espoir sont tournés vers les technologies numériques pour développer les économies et notamment dynamiser le commerce local. Dans les pays du Maghreb, en Tunisie notamment, ses espoirs sont tournés du côté de la demande. Plus précisément, à l’issu du printemps arabe, et en raison du rôle qu’ont joué les réseaux sociaux (Facebook notamment) pour mobiliser les jeunes à manifester dans les rues de Tunis, le nouveau ministère du commerce fonde ses espoirs dans cette population jeune pour développer le commerce électronique. Partant de ce constat, cette thèse propose d’étudier si les jeunes tunisiens sont les early adopters qui permettront de diffuser le commerce électronique en Tunisie. Pour cela, la problématique de recherche porte sur les facteurs d’adoption du commerce électronique par les jeunes en Tunisie. Pour répondre à cette question de recherche, la thèse propose dans un premier temps de dresser l’état des lieux de la diffusion de l’internet au sein d’un population de jeunes étudiants. Préalablement, elle propose dans la première partie de la thèse un état des lieux de la couverture du territoire en technologies d’accès aux services numériques. Cet état des lieux est discuté à l’appui d’une revue de la littérature sur la fracture numérique. Dans un deuxième temps, elle propose une analyse empirique et exploratoire menée auprès d’un échantillon de 400 étudiants tunisiens environ. Cette étude porte sur les facteurs d’adoption de l’internet et des services marchands (commerce électronique). Structurée en deux parties, le premier volet de l’enquête est exploité à l’aide de statistiques économétriques et le deuxième volet mobilise les méthodes d’analyse d’équations structurelles. Les résultats de la thèse montrent que si l’usage de l’internet est relativement bien diffusé auprès des jeunes tunisiens, la disposition à adopter le commerce électronique doit en revanche être encouragée. Pour cela, un modèle d’adoption est proposé en deuxième partie de la thèse. Il met en évidence quels facteurs favorisent ou inhibent l’adoption du commerce électronique en Tunisie. Les résultats de ce modèle et des travaux menés dans la partie 1 permettent dans la partie conclusive de la thèse de formuler différentes recommandations à l’égard des entreprises engagées dans un projet de mise en ligne de leur activité commerciale d’une part, et d’autre part envers les acteurs publics pour favoriser l’adoption des services internet marchands en Tunisie. / In the era of the third Internet revolution, that of the Internet of Things (IoT), a lot of hope is turned to digital technologies to develop economies and boost local trade. In the Maghreb countries, especially in Tunisia, those hope are turned on the demand side. More specifically, at the end of the Arab Spring, and because of the role played by social networks (Facebook in particular) to mobilize young people to demonstrate in the streets of Tunis, the new Ministry of Commerce hopes in this population young to develop e-commerce. Based on this observation, this thesis proposes to study whether young Tunisians are the early adopters who will disseminate e-commerce in Tunisia. For this, the research problematic focuses on the factors of adoption of e-commerce by young people in Tunisia. To answer this research question, the thesis proposes at first to draw up the inventory of the diffusion of the internet within a population of young students. Before doing so, we propose in the first part of the thesis an inventory of the technologies territory’s coverage of the access to digital services. This inventory is discussed in support of a review of the literature on the digital divide. In a second step, she proposes an empirical and exploratory analysis conducted with a sample of about 400 Tunisian students. This study focuses on the adoption factors of the Internet and market services (e-commerce). Structured in two parts, the first part of the survey is exploited using econometric statistics and the second part uses structural equation analysis methods. The results of the thesis show that while the use of the internet is relatively well distributed to young Tunisians, the willingness to adopt e-commerce should be encouraged. For this, an adoption model is proposed in the second part of the thesis. It highlights what factors encourages or inhibit the adoption of e-commerce in Tunisia. The results of this model and the work carried out in Part 1 allow in the concluding part of the thesis to make various recommendations to companies engaged in a project to put their commercial activity online on one hand, and on the other hand towards the public actors to encourage the adoption of the internet marketing services in Tunisia.

The thesis deals with the global information flows and its aim is to find factors which influence them. Firstly, the visibility of the country in international news is explored, i.e. which countries are dominantly represented in the international news. Secondly, the exposure of the country towards international news is observed, i.e how countries vary in the openness towards the international news. The thesis also seek to reveal factors which have an impact on the visibility of the country and on the exposure. The thesis consists of a recherche part with the theory of globalization and a quantitative analysis based on the dataset from 2014-2017. The thesis concludes that countries are represented unevenly with few dominant countries (the most dominant country is China, followed by USA and Ukraine) in the international news and that the most exposed countries have been found small developing countries (Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, etc.) from South America. Regarding the factors of visibility of the country, the highest impact has the size of population,and also GNI and the presence of violent correlated. On the contrary, all factors impacting the exposure of the country were found statistically insignificant.

Digitaliseringen fortsätter att utvecklas inom kommuner genom den nya föreskriften för digitaliseringen av detaljplaner. Studien syftar till att analysera äldres förutsättningar att ta del av kommuners planarbete med hänsyn till digitaliseringen av planprocessen. Detta görs med utgångspunkt i tre kommuner och med fokus på tillgänglighet. Digitaliseringen öppnar upp nya sätt att inkludera kommunernas medborgare men samtidigt riskerar de äldre som samhällsgrupp att hamna i ett digitalt utanförskap. Studien genomfördes genom intervjuer med planarkitekter från Varbergs kommun, Trollhättans Stad och Karlskronas kommun samt en projektledare från Pensionärernas Riksorganisation (PRO). Studien visar att kommunerna arbetar med tillgänglighet genom digitalisering på olika sätt. Kommunerna menar att de inte fokuserar på tillgängligheten specifikt för äldre, vilket resulterar i slutsatsen att det finns en risk att de äldre exkluderas från planprocessen, när allt fler delar av den digitaliseras. / Digitization continues to develop within municipalities through the new regulation for the digitization of detailed plans. This study aims to analyze the pre-conditions of the elderly to take part in municipalities' planning work regarding digitization. This is done based on three municipalities, with a focus on accessibility. Digitization creates new ways of including the citizens of the municipalities, but it also creates the risk of exclusion of the elderly as a social group. The study was carried out through interviews with planning architects from Varbergs kommun, Trollhättans Stad, and Karlskrona kommun, as well as a project manager from the Pensionärernas Riksorganisation (PRO). The study shows that the municipalities work with accessibility through digitization in different ways. The municipalities mentioned that they do not focus on accessibility specifically for the elderly, which leads to the conclusion that the elderly may risk exclusion from the planning process, as it becomes digitized.