It-technology investments not always productive

(message publié sur LISTSERV@LISTS.NAU.EDU par vuokko jarva)

A research published in Finland shows, that lots of money is wasted in information techonology investments. The technology does not improve the productivity as expected.

The reasons reported are that workers cannot use the new technology, and there has been no time to teach the utilization skills to the workers. As result working gets slower and the motivation suffers, and this is getting expensive to the enterprizes and to the society.

The research indicates figures of several hundred millions wasted out of 1,5 billion’s yearly investments.

This is a phenomenon I noticed at my workplace, the university : new programs and systems were introduced before teachers and students has learned to utilize the earlier ones.

This brings me back to Eleonora’s comment, that even people with similar (technological) access to some technology use technology in different ways. And even the access can be blocked by missing skills.

The research, as if the first I havecome across, should be at least a weak signal, that there might exist an it-bubble, which might break some time in the futures.

Vuokko

See also

 Le "Tout Numérique" : entre mythe et réalité par Vincent TRELY
 The benefits of technology investments (and IT departments) were not always so apparent by John Baschab,Jon Piot.
 Paradoxe de Solow