Microenterprise Sustainability: The After-Effect of ICT Adoption and Use

Abstract

In the United States, there are over 25 million microenterprises, which encompasses 88% of all businesses. These small businesses have five or fewer employees and are resource-constrained – with one of the many areas being the lack of technical skills. Their inability to acquire and use these skills causes them to be at a disadvantage to larger corporations. An innovative approach, called “IT Therapy”, is a customizable technology-based assistance infrastructure for any microenterprise willing to adopt Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This adoption can lead to social, economic, and human development if the ICT is sustained. Therefore the research question in this study is, how can Information Technology adoption and use in microenterprises be sustained to facilitate their business growth? The main contribution of this study is an Online Sustainability Network to facilitate sustainability of microenterprises’ ICT adoption and use. This tool serves as a repository for micro-entrepreneurs to learn, interact and share technological experiences with one another.