An evaluation of e-readiness assessment tools with respect to information access: Towards an integrated information rich tool

This paper is an offshoot of the findings of a doctoral thesis carried out at the University of Johannesburg (formerly Rand Afrikaans University) in South Africa on the assessment of e-readiness tools with respect to information access. The paper argues that information is a key component in the e-readiness equation and yet it is not given much emphasis in the e-readiness extant tools, but is instead subsumed under Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The paper notes that the various major segments of e-readiness as synthesised from existing tools are scattered in different tools making their use painstakingly cumbersome. The paper proposes a new e-readiness integrated tool that emphasises information access and also collocates the various segments of organizational, ICT, human resources, and external readiness into one single tool. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.