IT governance has the potential to perpetuate power imbalances in international organisations. Important IT decisions are frequently made in the headquarters and then propagated through the rest of the organisation. This pattern can indicate a well-organised centralised IT governance focusing on security and efficiency. The same pattern, however, cannot only impede innovation and flexibility but also has the potential to continue colonial decision structures, especially as headquarters are often in the global north. Through 27 interviews with NGO representatives–a sector that should be highly motivated to counter postcolonial tendencies–we examine IT governance structures. We observe indications of a mismatch between organisational goals and IT governance structures that can only be explained when considering postcolonialism. We need to combine explanation approaches from IT governance and postcolonial theory to explain the observed phenomenon fully. Moreover, we critically comment on IT-related decision-making structures and call for more effort in research and practice to decolonise IT and IT governance.

Information technology (IT) allows members of the growing elderly population to remain independent longer. However, while technology becomes more and more pervasive, an age-related underutilisation of IT remains observable. For instance, elderly people (65 years of age and older) are significantly less likely to use the Internet than the average population (see, for instance, European Commission, 2011). This age-related digital divide prevents many elderly people from using IT to enhance their quality of life through tools, such as Internet-based service delivery. Despite the significance of this phenomenon, the information systems (IS) literature lacks a comprehensive consideration and explanation of technology acceptance in general and more specifically, Internet adoption by the elderly. This paper thus studies the intentions of the elderly with regard to Internet use and identifies important influencing factors. Four alternative models based on technology acceptance theory are tested in the context of comprehensive survey data. As a result, a model that explains as much as 84% of the variance in technology adoption among the elderly is developed. We discuss the contribution of our analyses to the research on Internet adoption (and IT adoption in general) by the elderly, on the digital divide, and on technology acceptance and identify potentially effective paths for future research and theoretical development.