In this research, we report the information technologies rated as important by IT professionals in thirty-seven countries of the world, thus enhancing our understanding of the global technology landscape. Past research has focused primarily on the U.S. technology issues, which although useful in the U.S. context, may not generalize to all other countries. Globally, four core technologies have been ranked high for most of the countries: networks/telecommunications, business intelligence/analytics, enterprise application integration, and mobile and wireless applications. There were also differences among countries. Statistical analyses were performed to analyze the nature of these differences based on the economic level of the country and its IT infrastructure capability. Further insights were generated by performing cluster analysis; grouping the countries into three clusters (optimizers, pragmatists, and progressives), and examining their characteristics and technology priorities. These results are useful for multinational companies, governments, and international agencies as they forge their technology strategies and make investment decisions. We also lay the foundation for ongoing research to better understand the contextual factors that explain the differences in technology priorities among nations.

在这项研究中，我们报告了世界 37 个国家的 IT 专业人士认为重要的信息技术，从而增强了我们对全球技术格局的了解。过去的研究主要集中在美国的技术问题上，虽然在美国的背景下很有用，但可能无法推广到所有其他国家。在全球范围内，四项核心技术在大多数国家中排名靠前：网络/电信、商业智能/分析、企业应用集成以及移动和无线应用。各国之间也存在差异。进行了统计分析，以根据国家的经济水平和 IT 基础设施能力来分析这些差异的性质。通过执行聚类分析产生了进一步的见解；将这些国家分为三个集群（优化者、实用主义者和进步者），并检查它们的特征和技术优先级。这些结果对跨国公司、政府和国际机构制定技术战略和做出投资决策非常有用。我们还为正在进行的研究奠定了基础，以更好地了解解释国家间技术优先级差异的背景因素。