Overlooking Organizational Culture: Problems in Analyzing the Success and Failures of E-government in Developing Countries

Defining E-Government

The growth of ICTs has had a significant impact on the function of governments. ICTs are technologies such as the internet, intranet, extranets and other such technologies that “cover the spectrum from basic infrastructure implementation to technologies that improve services and operations in an organization” (Gupta, Dasgupta and Gupta, 2008, p. 140). The use of ICTs in government is referred to as e-government. The governmental use of ICTs is on the rise across the world with 19% of all governments offering online services (Ibid.). Gupta et al. (2008) state that e-government is defined as the use of technology to enhance the access and delivery of services to benefit citizens, employees and business partners. Literature in e-government often borrows or builds upon the definition offered by the World Bank (Dada, 2006; Falabi, 2007; Kaaya, 2004). The World Bank defines e-government as the use of ICTs by government agencies, such as the internet, wide area networks, and mobile computing, “to transform relations with citizens, business and other arms of government” (World Bank, n.d.).

E-government thus moves beyond putting services online. It focuses on harnessing information technology with the attempt to remain relevant in an era that is more interactive and informative. It also involves the ability to use technology to achieve levels of improvement in various areas of government thus transforming the nature of politics and the relations between citizens and government (Dada, 2006). The interaction between government and its stakeholders is classified in the following ways: government to business, government to internal employees, government to other institutional government organizations and lastly government to citizen. ICTs work for the benefit of stakeholders by improving the efficiency and access to government (Gupta et al., 2008).