
Information has been defined as a set of data, facts, and figures that have been processed in such a way that they become meaningful. They make intelligence. When information is applied to doing something and is globally pertinent, it is said to have become knowledge. Information flow can be treated as an alternate wealth for a developing society and knowledge networking through virtual communication processes can break the lags and leads of information barriers. It can create an appropriate tool for achieving and facilitating exchange of information and knowledge among development partners, academia, policymakers, and the civil society at local, national, and global level to design and implement plans for development (Rahman, 2000). Virtual communities are the collection of online links to a particular node, examples of which are Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, or smaller chat rooms or instant message buddy lists. These networks of links are freely chosen, democratic, unrestricted, and may even be anonymous or pseudonymous (Roberts, Smith, & Pollock, 2002). The concept of the virtual enterprise has emerged in management literature as the result of the fusion of technological advances and a claimed major socioeconomic paradigm shift. The virtual enterprise can be seen as a temporary alliance of contracted individuals or companies linked together by ICTs, which assembles for the purpose of a specific business task. Advocates of the virtual enterprise believe that it will replace the conventional model of organization in the 21s t century (Introna, More, & Cushman, 1999). The virtual network is being increasingly promoted as a model for a new form of ICT-mediated communication endeavor. Initially, the concept of the virtual network and the supportive role of ICTs as conceived by its proponents need to be clarified. Based on the initial understanding, the establishment of community information centres as the existing instance of virtual enterprise needs to be done.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
