The primary aim of this chapter is to examine the TRA in relation to ICT adoption by the Malaysian public sector. Prior experience using ICT was found to be antecedent of attitude towards ICT use among the users. TRA was also extended to find the nature of causal link between subjective norm and attitude itself, and the findings of the chapter show positive relationships between them at alpha level of p < 0.001. The significant contribution to the public sector is that adoption of ICT relies on technical know-how and/or the experience of how to use ICT to accomplish the goal. Experience of ICT and the presence of important individuals would make a user form positive attitude towards using ICT to do work according to the findings. The implication of such findings for policymakers here is to provide adequate ICT training for civil servants to make it more meaningful to them.
TopIntroduction
In today’s indispensable competitive environment between private and public organizations, the success of the any government would largely depend on its ability to adopt Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to confidently meet its increasing demands and stand stout against the various challenges of global scenario. There is no country and its government that is safeguarded from the forces posed by globalization and severe competition of the industrial nations of the world. These challenges have compelled any country to partake in modern mode of service delivery and reform to meet the growing demands of its people through incorporation of ICT to perform tasks. In Malaysia, building knowledge workers (k-workers) with modern technology, creativity and staff innovation are key objectives of the government. These objectives play important role in generating and sustaining not only effective service delivery to the satisfactory level of the citizen but also economic growth of the country. In lieu of this aspiration of the government, a strategic ICT roadmap for Malaysia was mooted by the National IT Council since the period of the 6th Malaysia Plan (1990-1995). In pursuance to this long term vision of the country change in public service delivery system through adoption of ICT, the Malaysia’s National ICT Agenda (NITC) was formulated in the 7th Malaysia Plan (1996-2000). The government of Malaysia sought ICT application as a fundamental to transformation of the public sector as whole to a leading industrial player within the Asia continent. Among the crucial steps taken by the government to ensure the integration and adoption of ICT by government agencies was empowerment given to the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) to provide consultation services for work procedures and implementation of ICT with efforts to improve the government service delivery system.
In line with the government of Malaysia’s national agenda to reform its traditional way of working and delivering services to its citizens, e-Procurement way back in 1999 under the big umbrella of e-Government or ICT application in public sector through Commerce Dot Com (Ambali, 2010). To implement e-Procurement initiative, the government had launched two modules which are the ‘Procurement via Central Contract’ and the ‘Suppliers Registration’ in October 6, 2000. This was followed by ‘Direct Purchase module’ in May 10th, 2002. The latest modules launched by the government were devoted for both tender and quotation in the e-Procurement system. As part of the government to business (G2B) dimension of the e-Procurement main objective is to enable the suppliers of different products or providers of various services needed by government agencies or even citizens obtained the required information virtually throughout the 24 hours of the day. Thus, both government and citizens become closer to one another as a single entity to collaboratively elevate the economic growth of the country. To be more specific, the government’s objectives also include other pertinent points in its implementation policy worth mentioning here are: ensuring sustainable supply of products and services. The benefit here will enable the government run its operational expenditure more efficiently in the areas of public goods such as health and education, etc. In addition, it can help the government reduce its operational cost. On top of that is to help develop the local small medium companies. Generally is seen as avenue to promote the local industries and allow them to play their roles in the development of the country’s economy. With this objective in mind it can help create a resilient Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community. The government expects that implementation of the e-Procurement policy will serve as a tool not only to promote transfer of technology or expertise but also enable international tenders through which foreign companies can join venture with the local contractors in businesses.