Globalization, networks, and governance: Researching global ICT programs

Global ICT programs are defined as new and universal modes of organizing mediated by technology and enacted through a novel mix of policy instruments, international institutions, business interests, and techno/managerial concepts. Largely unexplored in the various fields studying innovation and digital technologies, such programs are of interest, not least because of their projected ability to promote innovation and help achieve new mechanisms of governance at local, national, and global scale. Based on relevant information systems research, this paper argues that we need a new theoretical understanding for the study of such programs and in order to explore their potential as a means of technology transfer and innovation in the developed and developing world.