Scalability and Sustainability of M-Government Projects Implementation in Developing Countries

Scalability and Sustainability of M-Government Projects Implementation in Developing Countries

Olalekan Samuel Ogunleye (Meraka Institute, South Africa) and Jean-Paul Van Belle (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Copyright: © 2016 |Pages: 24
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9845-1.ch064
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Abstract

Mobile technology has played a crucial role in facilitating democratic change in many of the developing countries. Many countries have attempted to implement Mobile Government (m-government), which is a form of electronic government, using mobile and other latest technologies such as social media as the most fundamental infrastructure for implementing such changes. However, m-government projects' scalability and sustainability are amongst the key issues relating to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This chapter attempts to discuss the scalability and sustainability of m-government projects in the context of developing countries. The aim is to provide a broader understanding of the inherent issues surrounding scalability and sustainability of m-government projects: in general terms and also in relation to mobile phone-based projects for governments' service delivery. In order to understand these issues, definitions of these two concepts are provided and various e-government maturity models are discussed. This is then followed by an overview of the challenges of scaling up and sustaining the m-government projects in developing countries, and lastly, an elaboration of how sustainability and scalability can be achieved is also presented.
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E-Government: A Developing Countries Perspective

Governments in developing countries have considered e-government as the means of delivering government services to citizens. Generally, e-government is defined as the provision of government services through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure (Sprecher, 2000). It is about using tools and systems made possible by ICT infrastructure to provide better public services to citizens and businesses. It is widely used in most developed countries (e.g. most England, France, Germany, Canada and USA) and has also been implemented in some developing countries (e.g. South Africa, Kenya, and Mauritius) (Coordinating, 2001). Majority of the citizens in developed countries have access to most of the service provided by the governments via e-government. This is due to the fact that access to Internet connectivity is not a barrier and most citizens can afford it. This has made e-government implementation and usage a success in developed countries. Therefore, service delivery by governments of those countries is enhanced which consequently improves standard of living of the people in those countries.

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