IDPM Working papers
This Working Paper is part of the Development Informatics series
Information, ICTs and Small Enterprise: Findings from Botswana
Richard Heeks
Abstract
The potential contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to small enterprise development can only be assessed by first understanding current information practices and needs in such enterprises. This paper reports findings from a questionnaire and interview survey of formal sector enterprises in Botswana based on this approach.
The survey first mapped current enterprise information systems, finding there was a strong reliance on informal systems. It also mapped current information needs. Such needs must be kept in perspective since they may be less important than (though intertwined with) needs for other resources such as finance, skills and new markets. Where information systems are improved, changes to informal, non-electronic systems must be considered alongside changes to formal, ICT-based systems.
Interventions, whether by entrepreneurs or support agencies, must also be differentiated. The paper therefore concludes by offering an information-related categorisation of enterprise types with different information systems and different intervention requirements.
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