Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have emerged as crucial enablers for addressing global challenges and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While ICTs’ potential to drive sustainable development is widely acknowledged, the mechanisms through which ICT regulations translate into tangible SDG outcomes - particularly at the individual level - remain poorly understood. This study addresses this critical gap by investigating how ICT access and use mediate the relationship between ICT regulations and SDG achievement at the individual level across 131 countries. Grounded in the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and capability approach, our analysis of Network Readiness Index data employs Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate this mediation model. The results demonstrate that ICT regulations significantly enhance both ICT access and usage, which in turn positively influence SDG attainment. By focusing on individual-level dynamics, this research provides novel insights into how regulatory frameworks, when combined with improved access and usage, can collectively advance progress toward multiple SDGs.
AbedSS (2020) Social commerce adoption using TOE framework: An empirical investigation of Saudi Arabian SMEs. International Journal of Information Management53: 102118. 1–11.
2.
AdamIOAlhassanMD (2020) Bridging the global digital divide through digital inclusion: The role of ICT access and ICT use. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy15(4): 580–596.
3.
AdamIOAlhassanMD (2020) The effects of ICT development on firm-level technology absorption: The role of IT usage. UK Academy for Information Systems Conference Proceedings 2020: 1–18. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ukais2020/13
4.
AdamIOAlhassanMD (2021) Examining the link between information and communication technologies and the UN sustainable development goals. International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development20(1): 21–41.
5.
AdamIOAlhassanMD (2022) The mediating role of ICT regulation on the effects of ICT access and ICT use on e-participation: Evidence from structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development14(5): 1161–1172.
6.
AfsharMAlamKTaylorB, et al. (2020) Does digital inclusion affect quality of life? Evidence from Australian household panel data. Telematics and Informatics51: 101405. 1–18.
7.
AhadMAPaivaSTripathiG, et al. (2020) Enabling technologies and sustainable smart cities. Sustainable Cities and Society61: 102301. 1–12.
8.
Akomea-FrimpongIAndohCAkomea-FrimpongA, et al. (2019) Control of fraud on mobile money services in Ghana: An exploratory study. Journal of Money Laundering Control22(2): 300–317.
9.
Al-HujranOAl-LoziEMAl-DebeiMM, et al. (2018) Challenges of cloud computing adoption from the TOE framework perspective. International Journal of E-Business Research14(3): 77–94.
10.
AlhassanMDNuoterahLAdamIO, et al. (2025) Examining the linkages between ICTs, economic development and the sustainable development goals: Evidence based on the ICT4D value chain. International Journal of Innovation Science17(2): 319–333.
11.
AliMSBGasmiA (2017) Does ICT diffusion matter for corruption? An economic development perspective. Telematics and Informatics34(8): 1445–1453.
12.
AnyidohoNAGallienMRoganM, et al. (2022) Mobile money taxation and informal workers: Evidence from Ghana’s e-levy. In: ICTD Working Paper 146. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, 1–45. DOI:10.19088/ICTD.2022.012.
13.
BahrGHammerBLuseA (2025) ICT4D And the capability approach: Understanding how freedom of expression on ICTs affect human development at the country-level. Information Technology for Development31(1): 33–56.
14.
BakerJ (2011) The technology–organization–environment framework. Information Systems Theory: Explaining and Predicting Our Digital Society1: 231–245.
15.
Balsalobre-LorenteDAbbasJHeC, et al. (2023) Tourism, urbanisation and natural resources rents matter for environmental sustainability: The leading role of AI and ICT on sustainable development goals in the digital era. Resources Policy82: 1–13.
16.
BiggeriMMitraSvan der VeenS (2025) Towards person-centred care: Using the capability approach together with the international classification of functioning, disability and health. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities26(2): 276–284.
17.
BullR (2015) ICT As an enabler for sustainable development: Reflections on opportunities and barriers. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society13(1): 19–23.
18.
CaoXYuLLiuZ, et al. (2018) Understanding mobile payment users’ continuance intention: A trust transfer perspective. Internet Research28(2): 456–476.
19.
ChakrabortyIMaityP (2020) COVID-19 outbreak: Migration, effects on society, global environment and prevention. Science of the Total Environment728: 1–7.
20.
DiopSAsonguS (2022) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a catalyst for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level in Africa (No. WP/22/084). AGDI Working Paper.
21.
Ekow KellyAPalaniappanS (2022) The contribution of government policy and financial security control in Ghana’s mobile money services. Cogent Social Sciences8(1): 1–22.
22.
ElbannaAIdowuA (2021) Crowdwork as an elevator of human capital. A sustainable human development perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems33(2): 12–31.
23.
FanJZishanHHongquanL, et al. (2021) Mediating effect of ICT impacts on ICT and health goals of MDGs: A cross-national panel analysis. In: Proceedings Wuhan International Conference on E-Business, pp.1–3. USA: IS Electronic Library (AISeL).
24.
Fernández-PortilloAAlmodóvar-GonzálezMCoca-PérezJL, et al. (2019) Is sustainable economic development possible thanks to the deployment of ICT?Sustainability (Switzerland)11(22): 15.
25.
Fernández-PortilloAAlmodóvar-GonzálezMHernández-MogollónR (2020) Impact of ICT development on economic growth. A study of OECD European Union countries. Technology in Society63: 1–9.
26.
FornellCLarckerDF (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research18(1): 39–50.
27.
FreitagCBerners-LeeMWiddicksK, et al. (2021) The real climate and transformative impact of ICT: A critique of estimates, trends, and regulations. Patterns2(9): 1–20.
28.
GarangJA (2024) Effects of the civil war on financial inclusion in South Sudan: Theory and evidence. African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development9(3): 255–271.
29.
GebertIMde Mello-SampayoF (2025) Efficiency of BRICS countries in sustainable development: A comparative data envelopment analysis. International Journal of Development Issues24(1): 38–54.
30.
GnangnonSK (2022) Tax revenue instability and tax revenue in developed and developing countries. Applied Economic Analysis30(88): 18–37.
31.
GoelRKVishnoiS (2022) Urbanisation and sustainable development for inclusiveness using ICTs. Telecommunications Policy46(6): 1–10.
32.
GösslingSMichael HallC (2019) Sharing versus collaborative economy: How to align ICT developments and the SDGs in tourism?Journal of Sustainable Tourism27(1): 74–96.
33.
HaftuGG (2019) Information communications technology and economic growth in sub-saharan Africa: A panel data approach. Telecommunications Policy43(1): 88–99.
34.
HairJFRingleCMSarstedtM (2011) PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice19(2): 139–151.
35.
HairJFRisherJJSarstedtM, et al. (2019) When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review31(1): 1–24.
36.
HiemstraSRFleurenBPIde JongeA, et al. (2024) Sustainable employability of people with limited capability for work: The participatory development and validation of a questionnaire. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation35(1): 105–115.
37.
IqbalSJokelaPHammarT, et al. (2021) Sustainable healthcare systems. A holistic perspective on the use and impact of medication management robots in home healthcare. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems33(2): 12–31.
38.
ITU. (2019) Report on the WSIS Stocktaking.
39.
JayaprakashPRadhakrishna PillaiR (2019) The role of ICT for sustainable development: A cross-country analysis. In: 40th International Conference on Information Systems, pp.1–17.
40.
JonesPWynnMHillierD, et al. (2017) The sustainable development goals and information and communication technologies. Indonesian Journal of Sustainability Accounting and Management1(1): 1–15.
41.
KimS (2018) ICT And the UN’s sustainable development goal for education: Using ICT to boost the math performance of immigrant youths in the US. Sustainability (Switzerland)10(12): 1–19.
42.
KostoskaOKocarevL (2019) A novel ICT framework for sustainable development goals. Sustainability (Switzerland)11(7): 1–31.
43.
LanH (2025) Sustainable development of social responsibility in universities in the digital era: Perceptions and advances. Information Development: 1–16.
44.
LeeGShaoBBMVinzéA (2018) The role of ICT as a double-edged sword in fostering societal transformations. Journal of the Association for Information Systems19(3): 209–246.
45.
Mantovani RibeiroDMNHourneaux JuniorFLara CunhaCL, et al. (2021) Digital sustainability: How information and communication technologies (ICTs) support sustainable development goals (SDGs) assessment in municipalities. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance23(3): 229–247.
MullinsPGuptaSLiuJ (2020) Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Low-Income Countries: where to from Here? (No. 195). Washington, DC: Centre for Global Development. www.cgdev.orgwww.cgdev.orgwww.cgdev.org
48.
NhamoGNhemachenaCNhamoS (2019) Using ICT indicators to measure readiness of countries to implement Industry 4.0 and the SDGs. Environmental Economics and Policy Studies22(2): 315–337.
49.
NoorAAsgharZSarwarH, et al. (2021) Role of the ICT in women empowerment and achieving SDGs: A case study of women labour force in developing countries. ETIKONOMI20(2): 339–348.
50.
NourallahMChanHRChienC, et al. (2025) Financial capability, behaviour, well-being, and stress among financial advisors. Financial Planning Review8(2): 1–10.
51.
NtsifulEOAnkrahEGyesiK, et al. (2023) Sustainable development goal four (SDG 4) in Ghana: Can second cycle school libraries play a role?Information Development0(0): 1–12.
52.
NussbaumMC (2000) The capabilities approach. vol. 3Cambridge, UK: Cambridge university press.
53.
NuumboshoJIipingeSMAnyoloEO (2022) The role of ICT in the teaching of geography in Namibia: SDG 4 perspective. Journal of Educational Studies21(4): 136–149.
54.
OgedengbeFAAbdul-TalibYY (2020) Factors influencing electronic banking continuance usage intention in developing economies: A study of Nigeria. International Journal of Business Information Systems35(1): 63–87.
55.
Owusu-AnsahS (2021) Reshaping strategies of University Libraries in Ghana towards sustainable development Goal 4. Mousaion: South African Journal of Information Studies39(1): 1–25.
56.
Parra-SánchezDTTalero-SarmientoLHGuerreroCD (2021) Assessment of ICT policies for digital transformation in Colombia: Technology readiness for IoT adoption in SMEs in the trading sector. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance23(4): 412–431.
57.
PradhanRPArvinMBNairMS, et al. (2021) Sustainable economic development in India: The dynamics between financial inclusion, ICT development, and economic growth. Technological Forecasting and Social Change169: 1–19.
58.
Prieto-EgidoISanchez-ChaparroTUrquijo-RegueraJ (2023) Impacts of information and communication technologies on the SDGs: The case of Mayu Telecomunicaciones in rural areas of Peru. Information Technology for Development29(1): 103–127.
59.
RamasubramanianGShaikhAASharmaR (2021) Examining the impact of ICT on sustainable development: A data-driven narrative. In: Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020, pp.4394–4403. https://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2021.534
60.
Rangel-PérezCGato-BermúdezMJMusicco-NombelaD, et al. (2021) The massive implementation of ICT in universities and its implications for ensuring SDG 4: Challenges and difficulties for professors. Sustainability (Switzerland)13(22): 1–14.
61.
ReggiLGil-GarciaJR (2021) Addressing territorial digital divides through ICT strategies: Are investment decisions consistent with local needs?Government Information Quarterly38(2): 1–22.
62.
RobeynsI (2017) Wellbeing, freedom and social justice: The capability approach re-examined. In: In Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined. Cambridge, UK: OpenBook Publishers.
63.
RomanelliM (2020) Analysing the role of information technology towards sustainable cities living. Kybernetes49(7): 2037–2052.
64.
RotheFF (2020) Rethinking positive and negative impacts of ‘ICT for development’ through the holistic lens of the sustainable development goals. Information Technology for Development26(4): 653–669.
65.
RotheFFVan AudenhoveLLoisenJ (2022) ICT For development and the novel principles of the sustainable development goals. Third World Quarterly43(6): 1495–1514.
66.
SenA (1999) Development as Freedom. New York: Knopf.
67.
ShiraziFHajliN (2021) IT-enabled sustainable innovation and the global digital divides. Sustainability (Switzerland)13(17): 1–24.
68.
SihotangDMPurwandariBEitiveniI, et al. (2023) Factors influencing village information systems adoption in Indonesia: A qualitative study. Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries89(5): 1–15.
69.
SihotangDMYudhistiraBASolikin, et al. (2022) A systematic literature review of barriers and drivers of e-government in developing countries: TOE framework perspective. In: 2022 7th International Conference on Informatics and Computing, ICIC 2022, pp.1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIC56845.2022.10006942
70.
SrivastavaSCShaineshG (2015) Bridging the service divide through digitally enabled service innovations: Evidence from Indian healthcare service providers. MIS Quarterly39(1): 1–19.
71.
TayalD (2019) Gender inequality, reproductive rights and food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa – a panel data study. International Journal of Development Issues18(2): 191–208.
72.
TjoaAMTjoaS (2016) The role of ICT to achieve the UN sustainable development goals (SDG). IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology481: 3–13.
73.
ToukabriMMohamed YoussefMA (2023) Climate change disclosure and sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the 2030 agenda: The moderating role of corporate governance. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society21(1): 30–62.
74.
UllrichA (2022) Opportunities and challenges of big data and predictive analytics. In: Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, pp.1–17. https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2022
75.
UN. (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly.
76.
Van Der WerffLFoxGMasevicI, et al. (2019) Building consumer trust in the cloud: An experimental analysis of the cloud trust label approach. Journal of Cloud Computing: Advances, Systems and Applications8(6): 1–17.
77.
VenkateshVMorrisMGDavisGB, et al. (2003) User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS quarterly27(3): 425–478.
78.
VermaAGiriAKDebataB (2025) ICT Diffusion, women empowerment, and sustainable development in SAARC countries. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences41(2): 435–451.
79.
VoorheesCMBradyMKCalantoneR, et al. (2016) Discriminant validity testing in marketing: An analysis, causes for concern, and proposed remedies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science44(1): 119–134.
80.
Vyas-DoorgapersadS (2022) The use of digitalisation (ICTs) in achieving sustainable development goals. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies14(2): 265–278.
81.
WaemaTMOkindaO (2011) Policy implications of the relationship between ICT access and usage and well-being: a case study of Kenya. African journal of science, technology, innovation and development3(3): 30–56.
82.
WatsonRTElliotSCorbettJ, et al. (2021) How the AIS can improve its contributions to the UN’s sustainability development goals: Towards a framework for scaling collaborations and evaluating impact. Communications of the Association for Information Systems48(1): 476–502.
83.
WeiYDLiefnerIMiaoCH (2011) Network configurations and RandD activities of the ICT industry in Suzhou municipality. China. Geoforum42(4): 84–495.
84.
WuJGuoSHuangH, et al. (2018) Information and communications technologies for sustainable development goals: State-of-the-art, needs and perspectives. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials20(3): 2389–2406.
85.
WynnMGJonesP (2021) ICTs and the localisation of the sustainable development goals. International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development13(4): 1–15.
