Before embarking on a broad strategy for implementing E-government, it is important to identify common practices and their trends in the existing ICT projects. Such trends will assist in identifying critical shortfalls that affect the successful implementation of E-government programmes. Further, this paper is intended to contribute towards the improvement of the processes and procedures employed in government bodies to implement ICT projects, collaborating in theeffort to make an impact on service delivery to the citizens. The results of this research will help project planners and policy formulators define the areas into which they are supposed put more or less effort in a coordinated manner. This will allow them to implement a more productive work strategy whilst trekking on a steady path towards attaining the defined goals. This paper is organized as follows:
Section 1 is the introduction. Section 2 presents the approach used in the study. Section 3 describes aspects related to E-government projects implementation aspects. Section 4 presents and analyses the results obtained in field research. Section presents the main conclusions from this research and recommendations that can be adopted to improve project performance in government programmes.
2. Approach of the study
We reviewed literature from several documents related to E-government projects in Uganda. These include the Uganda E-Government Strategy (March 2004)[3], Uganda e-Readiness Assessment (March 2004),[4] The National ICT Policy for Uganda Implementation Framework Draft Final Report (February 2005) [5] and East African Community Regional E-Government Framework (Draft) December 2005.[6] We also reviewed literature on E-government from other countries to identify any best practices that are applicable in Uganda. From the documents reviewed, we focused on identifying evidence to confirm that the Government of Uganda is committed to a unified, integrated, and comprehensive ICT program to enable Government services to be delivered more efficiently and effectively to every segment of society. We also looked at sample projects that have already been undertaken in a sample of ministries with a focus on identifying challenges and experiences from these flagship projects. Special attention was paid to e-government related projects based on the e-government strategic plan for the country.
3. E-government and ICT Projects
3.1. Overview
Driven by the belief that e-government is one of the key motors for development, governments are taking wide-ranging initiatives to rapidly create knowledge-based economic structures and information societies comprising networks of individuals, firms and countries interlinked electronically through webs of informational relationships. According to Datanet et al (1987) [7], the importance of expanding the access of developing countries to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been recognized by governments and international agencies with increasing consensus that ICT-related technology should be regarded as a strategic national infrastructure. Development, in contemporary times, is characterized by various dimensions, including ICTs. A functional E-government structure is comprised of an ICT infrastructure, different computer applications, and knowledge workers who form the basis of new information societies. While the ICT infrastructure is a visible starting point, it is often very expensive to install but at the same time the easiest to see and verify. When it comes to government programmes, it is more complex to stimulate processes through which individuals, organizations, communities and countries create capacities to use information effectively in their local contexts and for their needs. With the vision to
offer better services to the citizens and business communities,
the government of Uganda formulated the e-government strategy in 2004. This followed many years of government efforts to put e-government in practice through formulation of policies and structures to support its implementation. Literature available shows that Uganda received substantial support from donor agencies in the area of ICT for development. This has translated into a myriad ICT projects being implemented in various sectors of Ugandan society, most notably in rural infrastructure, education, livelihoods and health. The motivation for conducting this study has been accelerated by the need to establish the where Uganda as a country has reached on the path to full implementation of E-government, identify any challenges and where possible, focus on identifying strategies to handle the
challenges.
There are indications that the Government of Uganda has recognized the critical importance of ICT in national development, and has started a policy framework to start implementing these technologies throughout the country. Several policies, statutes, and other initiatives have been undertaken toward this goal. The most recent of these include: (i) A National ICT Policy was approved in 2003 with the
aim of promoting the development of ICT infrastructure in the country, with the ministry of Works Housing, and Communications as the primary coordinated agency within the Government; (ii) A Draft broadcasting policy is in place; (iii) The Uganda Communication Policy; (iv) The new Communications Policy (Draft) seeks to connect all schools, sub-counties, urban centers, health centers and public libraries by 2010; (v) The Government is promoting Public-Private Partnerships to build the requisite backbone infrastructure. Despite the above structure, individual Ministries have continued to adopt ICT initiatives based on internal factors and available opportunities for funding on an ad hoc, decentralized basis. As a result, ICT development within the Government remains more integrated at the national policy level, than it does with respect to translating that policy to a harmonized ICT implementation and operational guidelines across all Ministries.
3.2. ICT Programs in Selected Ministries
The following summaries highlight the major findings based on interview meetings and documentary reviews. The highlight are presented in Table 1, first identifying the ministry concerned, description of its responsibilities, current and planned ICT Programs and comments on ICT Program Implementation. In the
commentary section, we highlight the causes of any failure so far experienced within the identified
Key findings
In general, the development and integration of ICT within the Government is uneven, with the lack of adequate resources to dedicate to ICT programs. Therefore, programs that enlist international donor organizations have been the primary catalyst for ICT penetration into the Government sector. Some ministries i.e. Finance, have substantial electronic records processing, databases and information retrieval systems, internal LANs and external networking to other Ministries.The World Bank provided much of the funding for these initiatives. Many other Ministries are still working to establish internal networking,
requires a centralized and coordinated organizational structure to ensure the most
rational and cost-effective utilization of scarce resources and fully standardized and
inter-operable systems throughout the Government. With the creation of a Ministry
of ICT, there is anticipation that this challenge will be addressed
.
Read the rest of the article at: http://cit.mak.ac.ug/iccir/downloads/SREC_07/Narcis%20T.%20Rwangoga%20and%20Asiime%20Patience%20Baryayetunga_07.pdf
thank you our prof. well done
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ReplyDeletethank you Prof for your best effors
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