IT Governance in Virtual Communities: An exploration of the issues in the Caribbean context

With the increased usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate information sharing and exchange, there has been increased development of and participation in virtual communities. In the Caribbean context, virtual communities are being formed in various sectors (public, private, NGO) in the region for collaboration and information sharing purposes. With the reliance of virtual communities on information and communication technologies, effective IT governance may be critical to the success of a virtual community. This paper presents research which will examine the current state of IT governance in virtual communities in the Caribbean, using a research model. This research will then guide the development of an IT governance framework for virtual communities with special reference to the Caribbean context.