Conceptual Framework for Sustainable e-Government Implementation in Low a Infrastructure Situation.

Abstract

The evolving nature of government operations and the evolution of new technology bring alternative ways for government to serve its citizens. Many government organizations are in a transition state of changing human based services into electronic services. The electronic services are referred to as e-government. E-government is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in a government to improve information flow and service reliability. The emerging technology of ICT leads to a dramatic evolution in economic, health, education, and agricultural applications. Consequently, government administration improves its performance when using electronic tools. E-government has been well established in developed countries. However, its implementation in low infrastructure countries is still suffering resistance to achieve its full deployment in the government organization. Despite government efforts to emphasize the use of ICT to its offices, sustainability of e-government projects is facing daunting challenges. This is especially the case in low infrastructure countries. This situation negatively influences the maturity of e-government, which is lagging far behind the maturity of developed countries. Frameworks, models, and processes have been developed specifically to ensure successful e-government implementation. Furthermore, researchers have identified e-government failures to multiple viewpoints such as user satisfaction, cultural differences, digital divide, and government policy problems. E-government component relationships form a dependent bond in the e-government implementation context. However the importance of this fact is not always recognized by researchers. This study proposes a conceptual framework for e-government implementation in a low infrastructure situation. The framework integrates its constructs from the DPSIR model (Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, and Response), the e-government maturity model, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the SERVQUAL model to obtain a sustainable e-government implementation. Furthermore, the framework identifies five critical success factors (infrastructure, service, deployment, citizen, and government) in e-government implementation. Mapping the DPSIR concepts to the critical success factors for implementation leads to the proposed framework, having infrastructure as driving force, service as pressure, deployment as state, citizen as impact, and government as response. The framework can be used as a basis for e-government implementation. However, the internal organization of the implementation process at the administrative level should be well organized to engage both government officers and the citizen as end-user. This paper suggests that using the Round Table process can increase the user engagement and successful usage of e-government application. Keywords: e-government, sustainability, low infrastructure, DPSIR model.
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