IT Innovations and Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies: Is Cloud Computing a Magic Ingredient for Egyptian Entrepreneurs?

Rania El-Gazzar, Helle Zinner Henriksen, Fathul Wahid

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Using the concept of affordances as an analytical lens, this study aims to understand the use of Cloud Computing (CC) by Egyptian entrepreneurs. The study analyses impact of CC on their businesses and its inhibiting and enabling factors. In general, Egyptian entrepreneurs have positive perceptions of CC and note its various actualized affordances: accessing information technology (IT) resources rapidly, broadening reach and transferring responsibility. The use of CC has yielded diverse effects: shortened time to market, reduced costs, a diversified audience and more useful feedback. We also identify what inhibits the use of CC, including transparency and corruption problems, limited support for online transactions, unsupportive government policies, low appreciation from the domestic market, cumbersome bureaucracy, account hacking and unreliable infrastructure. Finally, we also reveal some enabling factors, including institutional support, overseas market potential and CC uptake (i.e., growing use).
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationECIS 2017 Proceedings
Number of pages18
Place of PublicationAtlanta, GA
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
Publication date2017
Pages1044-1061
ISBN (Print)978989207655
ISBN (Electronic)9780991556700
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Event25th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2017 - Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Guimarães, Portugal
Duration: 5 Jun 201710 Jun 2017
Conference number: 25
http://www.ecis2017.eu/

Conference

Conference25th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2017
Number25
LocationCentro Cultural Vila Flor
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityGuimarães
Period05/06/201710/06/2017
Internet address
SeriesProceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems
ISSN0000-0034

Keywords

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Egypt
  • IT innovation
  • Cloud computing
  • Emerging economies

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