Jordan and ICT‐led development: towards a competition state?

Abstract

This paper describes Jordan's strategy to develop a strong ICT sector that will be internationally competitive. This strategy is analysed in two ways. First, by a comparison with two countries, Ireland and Singapore, with similarities as nation states and which are widely seen as successful in promoting and sustaining strong ICT sectors. Second, through an analysis of Jordan as a competition state where the role of the state is being redefined so as to implement policies in a globalising world. It is found that Jordan exhibits many of the characteristics of a competition state in terms of the promotion of mixtures of public and private partnerships and in developing relations with international agencies and multinational enterprises to create a strong ICT sector. Using these analyses, the prospects for Jordan's initiative are assessed and issues that will be of importance for its success are pointed out.

The Influence of Trust and Risk on Intention to Use E-Democracy in Nigeria

“…Electronic method was used in order to get individuals who are educated, Web users and likely users of e-democracy platforms. Research in Jordan found that educated people are early adopters of the Internet and potential users of e-democracy services (Al-Jaghoub and Westrup, 2003). E-mail message containing the link to the Google Form, and the essence of the survey was sent to the respondents.…”

Developing Countries and ICT Initiatives: Lessons Learnt from Jordan's Experience

“…This research finding is compatible with other research studies that reviewed different ICT initiatives development in Jordan indicating that most government agencies are facing capacity problems. This is due to complicated existing processes and to working culture (Al-Jaghoub & Westrup, 2003;Kulchitsky, 2004;Ciborra, 2005;Ciborra & Navarra, 2005;Navarra, 2006). However, most of the ICT based initiatives around the world, including the most successful, are facing similar problems to varying extents depending on the country's profile.…”

“…The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a developing, middle-income country, which also has scarce natural resources but with highly educated human resources. As a result, ICTs are being seen by the Jordanian government to provide an exceptional opportunity for the country to become competitive in this area (Al-Jaghoub and Westrup, 2003). In response, Jordan undertook aggressive steps in order to launch its major ICT based initiatives with the aim of transforming the country to eJordan (REACH, 2000;Ciborra & Nevarra, 2005).…”

“…REACH only had short term goals which were to be achieved within five years. Jordan often compares itself in the deployment of ICT based projects to Singapore (REACH 2000;Al-Jaghoub & Westrup, 2003). However in Singapore, one of the critical elements necessary to be able to jump-start and scale up quickly any ICT initiatives such as e-Government is the presence of a strong IT foundation.…”

Human Resource Information Systems in Jordanian Universities

“…Although it has scarce natural resources, Jordan has some competitive advantageous factors, which include the following (REACH, 2000, Al-Jaghoub and Wetrup, 2003, Department of statistics, 2006, and Jordan, the official site of the Jordanian E-Government, 2008):…”