Digital Transformation in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of digital transformation in developing countries more broadly, we organized a joint special issue on digital transformation in Latin America in EJISDC and also our sister journal, the Information Systems Journal (ISJ). Latin America is home to approximately 10% of the world's population and possesses nearly 10% of its wealth. These data alone should be enough to justify the importance of the region and stimulate new research on the impact of digital technologies in transforming economies, societies, and organizations in Latin America. Besides, there are unique nuances to the digital transformation that is taking place in Latin America. In fact, being a developing region, it faces unique political, social, and economic issues that shape the digital transformation and make it distinct as compared with other regions around the world. This uniqueness demands original scholarly insights into the nature of digital transformation in Latin America, especially considering the observation that Information Technology (IT) implementation has been of paramount importance for the development of the region (see, for instance, Alderete, 2018; Avgerou, 2003, 2008; Avgerou & Walsham, 2017; Markus & Rowe, 2018). Indeed, the digital transformation potential for the development of regions such as Latin America is no longer in doubt, as several scholars have expounded on the developmental impacts accrued from IT endeavors (see, for instance, Davison et al., 2000; Guim on de Ros & Agapitova, 2013; Joia & Zamot, 2002; Macadar & Reinhardt, 2002; Mariscal, 2005; Markus & Rowe, 2018; Romo-Rodríguez, 2005; Silva & Figueroa, 2002; Unwin & Unwin, 2009; Walsham, 2017). Thus, it is important that scholars identify and investigate the research questions that address the digital transformation paradigm in Latin America. Undoubtedly, there are unique aspects to the Latin American culture and context that are well worth investigating, modeling, and using as a basis for theory development on digital transformation in emerging markets. These theories may extend existing theories adapted specifically to the Latin American context, or they may be entirely new theories that are needed to explain organizational or socioeconomic phenomena in the region (Zheng et al., 2018). That way, the main objective of this special issue of EJISDC is to address the potentialities of digital transformation for development in Latin America as well as highlight the possible obstacles to implement the same in the public and business administration areas in the region. Therefore, that special issue presents papers that take the Latin American context into account and shed light on the peculiarities of same on the success or failure of digital transformation initiatives in public and business administration in the region. That way, in the articles of that special issue, the context is paramount, being considered not only in a descriptive way but also to explain the results obtained (Davison & Martinsons, 2016). In this sense, we hope that the two articles presented in this special issue of EJISDC—“Digital Transformation in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities”—can reveal how digital transformation can help the region improve its competitiveness, generate socioeconomic inclusion, and offer a better quality of life for its citizens. In the first paper, Gutiérrez et al. (2023) explore the contribution of social media to business effectiveness in the specific context of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises in Mexico. Drawing on data obtained through a survey of 229 Mexican enterprises, the authors demonstrate how social media capability influences business performance and effectiveness of MSMEs even before the imposition of radical constraints by the pandemic. In the second paper, Palma (2023) analyze the factors that influence the acceptance of telemedicine, more specifically, of teleconsultations, by physicians in Brazil. The authors also seek to understand how institutional factors act to disseminate or prevent the acceptance of these technologies. An exploratory and qualitative study was carried out in Brazil, through interviews with physicians from different specialties. This led to the identification of 12 factors that influence the acceptance of telemedicine, five of which have not been reported in the prior literature. This is an important study in the domain of e-health and telemedicine, and is representative of how the digital transformation of the health care sector proceeds.