A model of success factors for Local E-government implementation in Uganda

Abstract

Local e-government is important as it enables citizens at all levels to interact with government easily and get services through electronic means. It enables citizens to participate in online discussions of political and economic issues with increasing frequency. It also enables electronic transactions between government departments and the private sector to take place easily and cheaply. However, despite these benefits, its implementation in economically and technologically transitioning countries remains problematic. This is largely due to the gap between the existing e-government implementation models design and the real conditions on the ground for these countries. This study aimed to address this problem by developing a model for local e-government implementation in transitioning countries and Uganda in particular.

A field study was used to gather requirements for the model. Data was collected using questionnaires from the local government headquarters and six districts of Uganda namely: Mukono, Kampala, Wakiso, Namutumba, Manafwa and Bududa. The results were used to extend an existing model in order to describe a suitable one for Uganda as a transitioning country.

The results indicate that the extended model for local e-government implementation should take into consideration the five dimensions of i) Financial Resource mobilization, ii) ICT infrastructure, iii) training, iv) sensitization and v) social political factors. The developed model for local e-government implementation therefore extends the existing ones with these parameters. The first dimension of financial resource mobilization will help the local government to put in place ICT infrastructure and these infrastructures will help people to easily communicate and share information. Sensitization will help citizens to become aware of the usefulness of e-government and begin to embrace it, training will help employees to get IT skills and willingly make use of e-government services and social political factors like building trust and putting in place IT standards will help to increase on the adoption and usage of e-government services at the ministry of local government. The customized model was validated in a questionnaire based field study.