ICT4D and E-government

Journal of Society of Korea Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2016

Use of ICT in Government has ability to improve service delivery to its citizens, and yet many developing countries have lagged behind in the...

International Journal of Innovative Research and Development, 2018

Based E-Government Models Most of the governments offer e-government services through the web-based models mainly through the Internet (Siebel, 2005). Some of the current e-government models in use in developed and developing countries like Kenya are the

The aim of the study was to examine E-Government Services and Performance of County Governments in Kenya: The Case of Nairobi City County. Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised of 11,603 employees from the Sectors of Mobility and Works, Business and Hustler Opportunities, Boroughs Administration and Personnel, Lands and Build Environment of the county government of Nairobi working at City Hall. The sample size was 387 staff that was calculated using Yamane formula and selected using stratified random sampling method. Piloting was done to establish the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics entailed percentages, means and standard deviation. Inferential statistics included Pearson Correlation analysis to determine the nature and strength of the correlation between e-government services and Nairobi City performance. Regression analysis was conducted using multiple regression models to determine the effect of e-government services on performance of Nairobi City County. Data was presented in form of tables. Findings: From the findings, e-government services had a positive and significant influence on the performance of Nairobi City County (F=49.021, P<0.05). Additionally, it was also established that eparking (b=0.212, p=0.000<0.05), E-Business Licensing (b=0.177, p=0.002<0.05), e-job application ((b=0.232, p=0.000<0.05) and e-land services (b=0.153, p=0.015<0.05) had a positive and significant affect performance of Nairobi City County. The study concluded that e-parking, e-business licensing, e-job application and e-land services are significant determinants of the performance of Nairobi City County. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study was guided by Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The study recommended that the county government of Nairobi ought to fully implement e-parking services, e-business licensing services, e-job application services and e-land service to tap its benefits. The study further recommended that the National Government through the ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy ought to digitize the delivery of government services to the citizens in all ministries.

Electronic governance has become a core target by many developing countries in improving the level of service delivery to their citizens. This has motivated them to invest in modern technology with an aim of achieving an equitable, accountable, effective and transparent public service. The success and survival of a state is dependent upon the administrative structures in place as well as technological strategies and government efforts to achieve both millennium and own set goals. This paper explores the nature, aim and scope of e-governance, specifically in terms of the need to extend its relevance and benefits to the level of public service delivery in the interest of both the government and the public, specifically in relation to Kenyan scenario. The paper employs a qualitative research design approach and discusses the concepts of public administration, governance and electronic service delivery thereby creating a distinction among the various variables. It builds a vivid understanding of the underlying impact of electronic governance on public management through various scholarly dimensions from different theoretical thoughts. The findings of this paper elucidate a rapid investment in e-governance in most developing countries. Many countries have now embraced the use e-governance as a step stone to increase efficient, effective, equitable, reliant and transparent, public sector service delivery. The study further revealed that e-governance remains a powerful enabling tool with capacity to help government achieve with relative ease development and administrative reforms inconformity with vision 2030 blueprint agenda in Kenya.

2012

The public sector plays an important role in the economic growth and development of developing countries. The application of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) may help improve the public sector by contributing to new services and processes that address citizens as well as government-to-government services, involve citizens more directly in decisions being made, and contribute to streamlining work processes and standardizations needed to develop a well-functioning public sector. Research focusing on Egovernment in developing countries is still dominated by case studies and conceptual pieces of work. Thus, more empirical-oriented work is needed to expand our knowledge on current status, challenges and future plans. The reported study has been initiated to address such needs. The objective is to investigate, from a broad perspective, ongoing E-government initiatives in the public sector in Tanzania. The contribution of this work is twofold. First, the descriptive findings are important to gain insight into the current status of Egovernment projects in Tanzania. Second, the study reported here could guide the way forward for practice as well as research. We firmly believe that both practice and research should be based on the current situation and identified challenges and aim to describe such issues to guide future work.

African Journal of Business & Management, 2010

This paper examines how e-government is conceptualized and the possible relationship with the expected impacts of e-government in a developing world context. The aim is to shed some light on why e-government initiatives often fail in developing world contexts. This research was based on an exhaustive survey among government agencies and consultants in Kenya. The dimension of egovernment impacts was initially operationalized in terms of connectivity, openness, efficiency and effectiveness. Government conceptualizations could be classified under tool view; proxy view; ensemble view; computational view and nominal view. Interestingly, the empirical data yielded very different impact factors than originally envisaged, which were enhanced interactions and accessibility, enhanced cooperation and awareness, a better connected public administration and enhanced citizen opportunities. Canonical function analysis found a supply-side focus which linked connected government to the conceptualization of e-government as an Evolving Artifact. The main contribution of this paper lies in highlighting the fact that the implementation of western information technologies in developing countries will be shaped by how their impacts are perceived. Thus both purveyors of the technologies and researchers can be made aware that, because of the very different expectations and contexts, these technologies may be conceptualized differently than in developed countries. In addition, the paper demonstrates a practical research approach to assist in uncovering these conceptualizations more explicitly.

International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, 2015

eGovernment focusses on the use of technology to achieve levels of improvement in various areas of government, transforming the nature of politics and relations between the government and citizens. However, in Kenya, just like in other developing nations, many eGovernment projects have either stalled or failed to meet their objectives due to some key organizational factors. This study therefore highlights critical organizational factors affecting eGovernment projects and the nature of their relationships with eGovernment performance. The study employed cross-sectional survey design. Targeting the entire 18 eGovernment projects implemented through the Information Communications Authority of Kenya since 2005. Both primary and secondary data was collected and analyzed based on response from 217 respondents out of the 300 who participated (72% response rate). At the end, it emerged that out of the various organizational factors hypothesized to predict eGovernment projects Performance, only organizational structure, prioritization of deliverables, and organizational culture are critical in Kenyan context. Others identified in previous studies such as future needs of the organization, power distribution, structure, information system strategy alignment, prioritization of deliverables, and training were also important but not critical.

Communications

Information Polity, 2013

Most e-government literature examines outcomes and potential benefits. Yet it is also important to explore the actual process of developing and implementing e-government systems in specific institutional and political environments. In this paper, we analyze the process of developing a website with the Municipal Council of Ruiru in Kenya, a country undergoing democratization and devolution of power. How to support a process that would enable the website to catalyze and support reforms in local government emerged as an important question in this context. We found strategically linking universities and local technology firms to government and fostering their interactions within e-government implementation a helpful approach. Conducting focus group discussions in the course of a participatory design process and discussing each stage of website development with key actors in the government helped bring citizen voices into the process and the final website content. Overall, for the website project to actually help improve government we found it is critical to go beyond participatory design towards a strategic, flexible and longer-term process of engagement in "e-politics", the political negotiations over the use and control of the technology by the government.

2008

E-government, which entails use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to drive different government processes , promises diverse benefits to governments and citizens. Governments need to understand e-government adequately in order to invest profitably in it, and that can be promoted through studies that assess the development of prerequisite conditions for e-government in government agencies. This study therefore assessed the preparedness for e-government by Oyo State government agencies in 2006. Data were collected from 134 public servants in 20 of the 45 state agencies. The study found that public servants were motivated to embrace e-government innovations less by citizens' desire for participation and information access; that they viewed e-government more in terms of improving inter-unit coordination than saving costs or reducing corruption; that the capacities of agencies in respect of electronic systems for capturing, processing and disseminating information to citizens was weak; and that there were no e-government plans in the state or in individual agencies. The study recommended programmes to enlighten governments, citizens and public servants on e-government; e-government strategies and plans to build networks, databases and websites; and support by all stakeholders for a freedom of information law for the country. 1 Introduction Transactions between governments and citizens traditionally took place in physical offices. However, the growing mindset worldwide today is how government agencies can use information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve their efficiencies and deliver services to citizens. This mindset arises from the increasing recognition by policy makers and researchers, of the high correlation and possible causal relationship between the socioeconomic development of societies, and growth in the use of ICT, efficient and transparent governance systems, and effective citizen participation in socio-political and economic affairs. Such use of ICT by government is termed electronic government (e-government), a concept defined and explained by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs-UNDESA (2005) as: 'the application of information and communication technology … within public administration to optimise its internal and external functions, [thereby providing] government, the citizen and business with a set of tools that can potentially transform the way in which interactions take place, services are delivered, knowledge is utilized, policy is developed and implemented, citizens participate in governance, and public administration reform and good governance goals are met.' This definition emphasizes the interrelated aspects of e-government-the use of ICT for improving the internal processes of government, and for interacting and transacting business between governments and citizens. But there is as yet no consensus in the literature on a precise definition of e-government. Although the UNDESA definition is embraced by some studies (e.g. Kovacic 2005; Jansen 2005), others adopt definitions that only emphasize the web presence of government agencies in terms of the quality of their websites for delivering information to, transacting business with, or promoting participation in governmental decision-making by, citizens (e.g. Accenture 2004; West 2007). Yet, others like Sheridan and Riley (2006), contrast e-government with e-governance. They explain that e-government relates to the use of ICT to drive both the internal processes of government and external transactions with citizens (which is similar to the internal processes and external transactions aspects of the UNDESA definition), but that e-governance relates to the use of ICT to facilitate social governance processes or objectives such as information dissemination, political participation, consultation and consensus seeking among governments, public servants, politicians and citizens (which relates only to the citizen participation in governance aspects of the UNDESA definition).