Formulating national information technology strategies: A preference ranking model using PROMETHEE method

The purpose of this research is to define a national strategy model for information technology (IT) development in developing countries and to apply the model in a real case for Iran. The research is structured around a three-dimensional configuration of strategy development process. These dimensions are key technologies (a set of technology clusters which have high impact on the development of IT); socio-economic sectors (major economic and social sectors with potential use of IT opportunities); and applications (IT application flagships to provide different strategic choices). The model is a multi-criteria decision making and in order to solve it and select a set of IT application flagships in different budgeting levels, we used the PROMCALC and GAIA decision support system. By allocating 1% of GDP, four major IT applications for investing are identified. E-education, e-research, e-office and e-information services were ranked as highly important for the realization of long term objectives in the economical, social and cultural development of the country. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.