IT maturity model for public agencies in developing countries: The case of Mongolia

As the digital divide between developed and developing countries continues to widen, there have been increasing international attempts to narrow the gap. One such attempt involves assessing the IT maturity level of each developing country and consciously improving the weak areas thus identified. However, the majority of IT maturity evaluation tools, which are the key component of this attempt, are specialized for developed countries or cannot be accessible due to confidentiality. Accordingly, a new IT maturity evaluation methodology needs to be developed that can be shared by developing countries. This study suggests an IT maturity evaluation framework and measurement tools, which could be used by public agencies of a developing country to comprehensively evaluate multi-layered informatization areas. Theoretically based on the Information Orientation Model and the IT Business Value Model, both of which are widely implemented worldwide, an evaluation model and measurement items were developed and applied to Mongolian government agencies in order to verify their validity and reliability. Main dimensions of the model are composed of informatization innovation competence, informatization use competence, informatization foundation competence, and informatization exchange competence. Since the model is a theoretically and practically valid assessment tool reflecting the reality of developing countries, it will be useful in diagnosing IT maturity levels, identifying weak areas, deriving improvement strategies, and establishing development plans in each public agency of developing countries.