Information Technology And Community-Level Socio-Economic Development

There is a significant gap between the practice(s) of community-level socio-economic development and research into the adoption, use, and impacts of information technology (IT). This gap leads to unnecessary difficulties in methodically applying information technology to community-level socio-economicdevelopment, and in evaluating such development efforts. This paper synthesizes a framework for analyzing the implications of IT for community-level socio-economic development from literature regarding the adoption, use, and impacts of information technology. It concludes that information-intensive approaches to community-level socio-economic development that are collaborative, flexible, reflexive, and quality-oriented will realize the greatest overall value from IT. An example of how the framework may be applied is provided.