Jamaica's Internet Story based on the GDI Framework

In this paper the authors examine the diffusion of the Internet in Jamaica through the lens of the Global Diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework, which characterizes Internet diffusion along six dimensions: Pervasiveness, Geographical Dispersion, Sectoral Absorption, Connectivity Infrastructure, Organizational Infrastructure, and Sophistication of Use. Jamaica, like most developing nations, has faced numerous challenges to expanding its Internet and other information infrastructures over the past decade (; ). However, much of these efforts have yielded positive outcomes. For instance, the liberalization of the telecommunications sector in the late 1990's has led to increased access to the Internet and related applications for Jamaican citizens. The authors use this development as baseline for examining the pivotal role the Internet can play in economic, political, and social development through e-commerce, e-government, tele-education, and tele-medicine and discuss some “unintended” consequences of the Internet in Jamaica such as the use of technology to facilitate sex tourism. The authors conclude by offering implications of our study for research, practice and policy development.