IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2012009.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The informal ICT sector and innovation processes in Senegal

Author

Listed:
  • Konté, Almamy

    (Ministry of Higher Education, Universities, Regional University Centres and Scientific Research, and Department of Physics, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal)

  • Ndong, Mariama

    (Department of Sociology, Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis University Saint-Louis, Senegal)

Abstract

This paper investigates the informal information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Senegal with a view to developing indicators that could be used to improve the understanding of the innovation process. Three approaches are used to gather the information needed for the analysis: a review of literature; a questionnaire to collect data; and, a life story to provide context to the research. The analysis provides examples of innovation in the informal ICT sector and examines the relationship of social factors to these examples. As the informal sector dominates the Senegalese economy, the paper contributes to the understanding of innovation driven economic growth in that sector, and to the factors linked to transition of economic activity from one sector to another.

Suggested Citation

  • Konté, Almamy & Ndong, Mariama, 2012. "The informal ICT sector and innovation processes in Senegal," MERIT Working Papers 2012-009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2012009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2012/wp2012-009.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Camal Gallouj & Faïz Gallouj, 1996. "L'innovation dans les services," Post-Print hal-01111983, HAL.
    2. Rinaldo Evangelista & Giorgio Sirilli, 1995. "Measuring innovation in services," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 207-215, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gault, F., 2014. "Where are innovation indicators, and their applications, going?," MERIT Working Papers 2014-055, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Avenyo, Elvis Korku & Konte, Maty & Mohnen, Pierre, 2019. "The employment impact of product innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    3. Avenyo, Elvis, 2018. "Informal sector innovation in Ghana: Data set and descriptive analysis," MERIT Working Papers 2018-030, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Avenyo, Elvis, 2016. "Employment impacts of technological innovations in sub-Saharan Africa: Firm-level evidence," Conference papers 332715, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    5. Agyemang Rama & Bekolo Ngoa Celestin & Shuangying Chen & Konan Martin, 2022. "Assessment of Eco-Innovation Drivers within the Informal Sector in Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Fu, Xiaolan & Mohnen, Pierre & Zanello, Giacomo, 2018. "Innovation and productivity in formal and informal firms in Ghana," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 315-325.
    7. Avenyo, Elvis Korku, 2021. "Learning and Product Innovation Performance in Informal Enterprises: Evidence from Urban Ghana," MPRA Paper 108839, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 May 2021.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 1999. "Services and the search for relevant innovation indicators: a review of national and international surveys," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 218-232, August.
    2. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2000. "Le « casse-tête » de la mesure de l'innovation dans les services : enquête sur les enquêtes," Revue d'Économie Industrielle, Programme National Persée, vol. 93(1), pages 7-28.
    3. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2001. "L’organisation du processus d’innovation dans les services : les résultats d’une enquête postale," Post-Print halshs-01247790, HAL.
    4. Frida Thomas Pacho, 2018. "Diversified Network Effects on Innovation Performance in Tanzania: Innovation Strategy in Service Firms," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Macrothink Institute, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, vol. 5(1), pages 1-1, December.
    5. Sylvain Lenfle, 2004. "Innovation in services : the contribution of design theory," Post-Print hal-00263365, HAL.
    6. Faridah Djellal & Camal Gallouj & Faïz Gallouj, 2004. "De l'hôpital-fonction de production à l'hôpital service complexe et noeud de réseaux : Les différentes facettes de l'innovation hospitalière," Post-Print halshs-01247786, HAL.
    7. Fourcroy, Charlotte & Gallouj, Faiz & Decellas, Fabrice, 2012. "Energy consumption in service industries: Challenging the myth of non-materiality," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 155-164.
    8. Başak Dalgıç & Burcu Fazlıoğlu, 2021. "Innovation and firm growth: Turkish manufacturing and services SMEs," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 395-419, September.
    9. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, FaIz, 2005. "Mapping innovation dynamics in hospitals," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 817-835, August.
    10. Faïz Gallouj, 2000. "Knowledge-intensive Business Services: Processing Knowledge and Producing Innovation," Post-Print halshs-01113809, HAL.
    11. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz & Miles, Ian, 2013. "Two decades of research on innovation in services: Which place for public services?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 98-117.
    12. Rafael Cáceres & Joaquin Guzmán, 2015. "Seeking an innovation structure common to both manufacturing and services," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 9(3), pages 361-379, September.
    13. Hipp, Christiane & Grupp, Hariolf, 2005. "Innovation in the service sector: The demand for service-specific innovation measurement concepts and typologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 517-535, May.
    14. Faïz Gallouj & Paul Windrum, 2009. "Services and services innovation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 141-148, April.
    15. Lopez-Rodriguez, Jesus & Martinez-Lopez, Diego, 2017. "Looking beyond the R&D effects on innovation: The contribution of non-R&D activities to total factor productivity growth in the EU," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 37-45.
    16. Thakur, Ramendra & Hsu, Sonya H.Y. & Fontenot, Gwen, 2012. "Innovation in healthcare: Issues and future trends," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 562-569.
    17. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2006. "Innovation in care services for the elderly," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 303-327, April.
    18. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2002. "A propos de la nature de l'innovation dans les services : les enseignements d'une enquête postale," Post-Print halshs-00198321, HAL.
    19. Jean Philippe & Pierre-Yves Léo, 2010. "Innovation and Internationalization: A Dynamic Coupling for Business-to-Business Services," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2008. "Innovation in services and entrepreneurship: beyond industrialist and technologist concepts of sustainable development," Post-Print halshs-01113906, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal economy; innovation indicators; information and communication technologies; ICT; social development; economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2012009. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ad Notten The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Ad Notten to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.