Institutional stakeholder perceptions of barriers to Green IT policy in Nigeria

Abstract

This article inductively identifies barriers and limitations to Green IT policy as perceived by IT and environmental regulators in Nigeria. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the set of senior executive managers of Nigerian regulators who share Green IT as a key remit. The data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Although mostly reactive, Green IT policy in Nigeria has mainly targeted e-waste and incentivized innovative uses of renewable energy. However, insufficient financial provision towards the promotion of Green IT was perceived to hinder efficient regulatory activities. Similarly, poor energy infrastructure and insufficient collection and recycling facilities prevented the regulators from enforcing Green IT strategies. Major impeding barriers were also reported at the levels of policy ownership and control. This article is valuable to public administration agencies who must collaborate to address the issues of information technology/information systems and sustainability. It exposes regulators’ perceived difficulty to establish lines of accountability between agencies that intervene in Green IT policy, from the perspective of a developing country. Each regulator is currently focused on taking individual efforts and steps which are perceived to lead to conflict in policies and overlapping authority. As remedial action we propose tighter coordination amongst regulators who share Green IT as a key remit.