The concept of ‘e-readiness’ emerged because it became necessary to provide a
unified framework to evaluate the breadth and depth of the digital divide at macro
level between more and less developed countries during the late 90s. E-readiness
measures the capacity of nations to participate in the digital economy. It is also
perceived as the measure of a country’s ability to leverage digital channels for
communication, commerce and government in order to further economic and social
development (Economist Intelligent Unit/IBM Institute for Business Value, 2008).
The inextricable relationship between e-readiness and the digital economy is succinctly
captured by Hartman et al. (2000), who state that net readiness is measured
as a company’s preparedness to exploit the enormous opportunities in the e-economy
landscape. According to Grant (1999), a business is “e-ready” when it is able to
implement e-business and e-commerce, or as Parker (2000) would put it, it is the
preparedness [of a nation, community or an organisation] to operate in an e-business
or e-commerce marketplace.