Diffusion and Adoption of Technology amongst Small and Medium enterprises during COVID-19 with a focus on Internet of Things.

Abstract

The paper is a conceptual study of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) technology adoption and diffusion with a focus on impact on IoT adoption during COVID-19. The paper proposes that the pandemic has acted as a legitimizing force for technology adoption and diffusion amongst SMEs. SME’s have adopted response strategies to cope with the pandemic that have an impact on their propensity to adopt new technology. This has resulted in increased uncertainty, which can be reduced through the strategies identified in this paper. Through literature review on SME IoT adoption during the pandemic, a gap is identified in current studies. This gap is addressed through the inclusion of case-studies and use-cases. The paper can be used as a reference for SMEs for strategies to reduce information uncertainty, policy makers to support SMEs as well as academicians for further research.