Ethiopia Internet Case Study

Table 6: The Sophistication of Use of the Internet  

Level 0 

None: The Internet is not used, except by a very small fraction of the population that logs into 

foreign services. 

Level 1 

Minimal: The small user community struggles to employ the Internet in conventional, mainstream 

applications. 

Level 2 

Conventional: The user community changes established practices somewhat in response to or in 

order to accommodate the technology, but few established processes are changed dramatically. 

The Internet is used as a substitute or straight forward enhancement for an existing process  

(e.g. e mail vs. post). This is the first level at which we can say that the Internet has "taken hold" 

in a country. 

Level 3 

Transforming: The user community s use of the Internet results in new applications, or significant 

changes in existing processes and practices, although these innovations may not necessarily 

stretch the boundaries of the technology s capabilities. One strong indicator of business process 

re engineeering to take advantage of the Internet, is that a significant number (over 5%) of Web 

sites, both government and business, are interactive. 

Level 4 

Innovating: The user community is discriminating and highly demanding. The user community is 

regularly applying, or seeking to apply the Internet in innovative ways that push the capabilities of 

the technology. The user community plays a significant role in driving the state of the art and has 

a mutually beneficial and synergistic relationship with developers. 

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