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Use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support research work is becoming increasingly common. This study set out to establish how ICTs are being used to support collaborative research in Kenya, and identify factors within the ICT ecosystem that contribute to their adoption and use. A mixed methods research design, involving 248 academic scientists in 4 disciplines across 4 major Kenyan universities, was employed. We find little diversity in forms of ICTs used to support collaborative research within the studied population. Several factors affect adoption and use practices, including availability and access to ICT resources, nature of the work, national and institutional ICT and research environments and the social cultural practices of researchers. We explain our findings using Venkatesh et al.’s Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model, which identifies four main constructs that affect adoption of technology such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ICT-based enterprises (ICT-BEs) are businesses that produce ICT products, provide ICT processing technologies, or offer ICT support services. Most ICT-BEs grow in particular niche fields of ICT use by offering services that are well tailored to meet the needs of a specific target market. This however is usually short lived, as alternative technologies are developed each day and availed globally within a few months, while the rate of adoption and diffusion of technology is dependent on other factors other than the ICT itself. In most cases technology diffusion is rather slow and uneven at first, but accelerates rapidly once a critical mass of individuals has adopted the technology. This raises the question of how ICT-BEs can cushion themselves against sudden and unpredictable ICT trends, which may lead to existing customers abandoning a technology for any new alternative technology. The study examines the impact of rapid ICT trends on ICT entrepreneurship in the liberalized and globalized Kenyan ICT market. The study is based on qualitative data, collected through four descriptive case studies selected from micro and small enterprises offering ICT solutions. Findings reveal that rapid changes in ICT trends and early adopters' switching behavior negatively affect the survival of an ICT-BE, while customer satisfaction and entrepreneurial creativity positively influence the survival and success of an ICT-BE. The study provides practitioners, budding ICT entrepreneurs, and policy-makers with essential lessons on how ICT trends affect the growth and survival of ICT-BEs and how to mitigate these negative effects and therefore remain in business. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]