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In this paper, we methodologically isolate the contribution of the four dimensions of environmental factors in explaining the adoption of Unified Identification systems (UIDs) in Uganda. UIDS can be defined as the broad administrative sector concerned with the integration of different channels of access to public services, while digital identification refers to the ways through which a state can identify its citizens for access to public services (Mensah, 2020; Basyal, Poudyal, & Seo, 2018). The current trend of the digital identification era has many opportunities when adopted as witnessed in the early adopters like Denmark, Estonia, Germany, India, and Finland (Gemalto, 2018; Silas & De Wet, 2017). These benefits include improvement in service delivery (Ajay, Mandalika & Manish, 2019), cheaper ways of doing business (Ari-Veikko, 2010), support of government policies especially in the provision of high-quality services at a relatively low cost (Susan & Norman, 2018), ensuring high-level security to personal details (Digital Single Market, 2016) among others. Though this has not been the case in the African states such as Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda (Fazekas, Skuhrovec, & Wachs, 2017). Despite the efforts, challenges of budget constraints, unnecessary delays due to limited financial resources, and sometimes indefinite suspension of the entire integration process have frustrated the process (Anderson et al., 2016; Foster, 2015).
Review of literature on UIDS engrossed the researcher's attention on the perspectives of UIDS implementation, adoption status, and UIDS adoption rate in the developing world (Mensah, 2020; Sant et al., 2016; Falcone, 2018; William & Steven, 2010). UIDS adoption and usage have been successful in the developed world, unlike in the developing world (Kaabachi & Obeid, 2016). Several factors can explain this. For instance, the majority of IS adoption theories have been designed from developed countries' context (Alzahrani, Al-Karaghouli, & Weerakkody, 2017), imbalance on the demand-supply curve (governments paying attention to providing their citizenry with electronic services without inquiring the users on what they wanted (Formunyuy & De Wet, 2018), lack of transparency and accountability in the developing countries and limited infrastructural development (Fazekas, Skuhrovec, & Wachs, 2017). These issues have deprived developing countries of the benefits of UIDS. For a developing country like Uganda to enjoy the benefits of UIDS, the adoption rate has to be achieved. It is against this background that the researcher focuses on the UIDS adoption rate. The Ugandan government, through the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U), has developed several strategies. The strategies include a data centre, installation of 336 meters of fibre optic cables across the country, building 71% websites coverage in Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) and enacting IT security regulations to enable the integration process for the unification of all MDAs (NITA-U, 2019). Despite these efforts by the government to have a shared database, only 10 MDAs out of 130 (8%) have accessed the service modules on the National Integration Platform (National IT survey report, 2018). The factors that explain the low take-up rate has not been fully explored. If the remaining 120 (92%) MDAs stay uncooperative in the integration process, it may impede the achievement of Uganda's vision 2040, the achievement of sustainable development goals by 2030. Although the review of extant literature attributes this challenge to environmental factors (Wasfi, 2015, Susan & Norman, 2018; Silas & De Wet, 2017) little is known in the Ugandan context hence the relevance of this study.
An external environment which is defined as the arena in which an organization conducts its business (Wasfi, 2015) has not been given much attention concerning UIDS adoption. Some scholars like (Sune & Skau, 2015) identified several factors such as competitive pressure, regulatory actions, and customer satisfaction requirements in explaining adoption in areas of electronic health, customer relation management, electronic business, and knowledge work systems. Earlier studies have investigated the role of environmental factors in explaining technology adoption (Yigitbasioglu, 2015; George, 2015; Kaabachi & Obeid, 2016). However, only two dimensions have been identified, that is government support and competitive pressure. There is no study known to the researcher that has identified environmental factors in explaining the adoption of UIDS. Thus, this study identified perceived trust, user readiness, competitive pressure, and government support to explain the dynamics of MDAs in enhancing the adoption of UIDS.