Emergence of the E-Government Artifact in an Environment of Social Exclusion in Kenya

Purpose: E-Government, introduced in African countries under the banner of New Public Management (NPM), is envisaged to fundamentally aid in improving governance in developing countries. The imported model of E-Government is therefore transferred to African countries as a panacea to bad governance by carriers such as international donor agencies, consultants, Information Technology vendors and Western-trained civil servants. Improved governance is expected to impact on the socio-economic development of these countries implementing E-Government, as an NPM instrument. This article recognizes that E-Government success, which is critically dependent on the World Wide Web, requires socially inclusive national information infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical analysis into the emerging E-Government artifact in the context of a developing country. By combining three independent research streams related to governance, social exclusion, and national information infrastructure, the emerging E-Government artifact was explored from a supply-side perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The research approach was critical in its philosophical orientation. The case study research strategy was adopted, which relied on various sources of data on E-Government policy and its related strategies in Kenya. Theoretical discourse analysis was employed as the predominant mode of analysis. Findings: The findings reveal that the emergent meanings of E-Government have strong managerialist intentions pointing to a thinly veiled control agenda couched in the language of a desire for efficiency in governance. An unexpected consequence of this conceptualization of E-Government is to help in solidifying and possibly exacerbating the social exclusion problem

Economic barriers to development : cost of access to internet infrastructure

The Internet is increasingly viewed as an "indispensable" resource for general development and economic growth (UNDP 1999). Its adoption by governments, organizations and individuals has resulted in the shrinking of spatial and temporal distances between different regions of the world, and has greatly facilitated the "free" and quick exchange of information. Such constrictions of time and space impact upon social and economic interactions at all levels of society. Furthermore, ramifications of this impact are felt by a society, group or individual irrespective of whether or not they use the Internet. The ability to access the Internet, and in particular the costs associated with such access, are therefore important points of consideration. Not only do these costs contribute to the disproportional spread of the Internet across the world's population; they also potentially contribute to uneven patterns of development within, and between countries

Engaging Universities in the Regional Integration Project in Southern Africa

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential for engaging universities in promoting greater regional integration in the southern African region, with the intention of prompting further conversation and debate around the role of universities in supporting regional initiatives

E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: THE CASE OF BANGLADESH

In this new era of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) the role of government is changing rapidly. To bring overall effective improvement in administration government has changed their patterns by implementing ICT in different sector of a country and adopting the new concept of e-governance. To reinvent a country‟s whole administration is not an easy task. Most of the developing countries still depend on the paper-based service delivery and the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure condition is in a very poor situation. For this reason, as a developing country Bangladesh government also has to face many obstacles in implementing e-governance. In this thesis I try to show the barriers of implementing e-governance in Bangladesh and how Bangladesh can achieve a more citizen friendly service through e-governance. This thesis is mainly a theoretical based study. The impact of e-governance in public service is the main concern of this thesis. Here, in this thesis I will be discussing two successful projects of India and Sri Lanka concerning e-governance implementation. The reason behind for giving the example is that as a South Asian neighbour countries both India and Sri Lanka can be a role model for Bangladesh government for implementing e-governance. In the conclusion part, I would try to figure out a collaborated model for smooth running of e-governance operation in Bangladesh. It is nearly impossible for Bangladesh government to run e-governance project alone. This collaboration model is inspired from e-Sri Lanka model of Sri Lankan government. This model is unique and best for implementing in a developing country. Bangladesh government should collaborate with donor institutions and private sector to implement e-governance project in Bangladesh. Under the SICT (Support to ICT Task Force Program Project) project some small project already start to get success, so Bangladesh government should do more research in e-governance for better outcome. Bangladesh government e-governance project should be citizen-centric not techno-centric project. Bangladesh government should plan e-governance project in a way which brings efficiency and effectiveness with countries overall socio-economic development. Bangladesh government should take care of that e-governance project objective should be connected with the countries development objective. Bangladesh government should also take care of that it should never make ambiguous vision for e-governance project with its too little capacity.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Electronic Payment Systems Development in a Developing Country: The Role of Institutional Arrangements

This paper examines the institutional arrangements in the development of Nigeria’s electronic payment system (EPS) using a new institutional economics (NIE) perspective. A case study of Nigeria’s EPS was carried out using semi structured interviews to collect data from 18 participating stakeholders; a thematic method was used for the data analysis. The study suggests that a well-functioning set of arrangements, which is lacking in the institutional setup in Nigeria may be required to build necessary institutional capacity suitable for development of safe and efficient electronic payment systems. Although the technological payment infrastructure in Nigeria is modern and of comparable standard, the failure to put in place reliable and relevant market and collaborative agreements has not enabled full exploitation of the available infrastructure. Current governance structures show elements of power struggle and distrust between stakeholders (players and regulators), hampering the creation of an environment that would sustain free market economic activities and effective development of payment systems

Public governance as a key determinant of FDI : a comparative analysis of sub-saharan Africa and south-east Asia host countries

The World Bank (2000), in its report on Quality of Growth emphasises the importance of public governance as the keystone of a country's development. Studies examining determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) are also increasingly taking account of such fundamentals as institutional and political factors. Thus, rule of law, bureaucratic corruption, educational attainment or quality of physical infrastructure are now included in econometric analyses next to more common variables such as market size, labour costs or trade openness. In other words, good governance appears to be a key condition for attracting FDI. For instance, Lehmann (1999), shows that a country like India could increase its share of US affiliates' physical investment by 50% if it were to eliminate all political uncertainty. For a developing country, the stakes for improving its public governance are high. Beyond an increase in its growth rate, a favourable business climate is likely to attract more FDI and enhance their alleged spillovers. More FDI means more financial resources for the host country, whereas it is likely that the technological intensity of these investments and the transfer of foreign know-how to domestic firms will largely depend on the quality of public governance. This article has three goals. First, to clarify why public governance is likely to influence FDI inflows. Second, to propose a new evaluation of public governance through the construction of quantitative, relatively objective, easily replicable and sample-specific indicators. The public governance of two geographic zones will be assessed through this method: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South-East Asia (SEA). As shown in table 1.1, the former attracts much less FDI than the latter. Third, to test econometrically whether public governance explains the diverging abilities of SSA and SEA to attract FDI

Factors determining the success of public private partnership projects in Nigeria

The implementation of public private partnership (PPP) procurement method is expected to help governments in the development of infrastructures and provides an opportunity for the reduction in the governments’ debt profiles. This method has been adopted in Nigeria for more than a decade and with these years of implementation, few infrastructural projects have been developed using this method while some have been unsuccessful. This study aims to examine the PPP projects implementation in Nigeria and identify the most critical factors that could determine the success of such projects. A total of 184 questionnaires were received from public and private sectors’ participants in the implementation of PPP projects. An exploratory factor analysis identified seven critical success factors as projects feedback, leadership focus, risk allocation and economic policy, good governance and political support, short construction period, favourable socio-economic factors, and delivering publicly needed service. This study shows that more developmental projects could be delivered through PPP if the government could focus on these main factors in the implementation process. The result will influence policy development towards PPP and guide the partners in the development of PPP projects.

Global Risks 2015, 10th Edition.

The 2015 edition of the Global Risks report completes a decade of highlighting the most significant long-term risks worldwide, drawing on the perspectives of experts and global decision-makers. Over that time, analysis has moved from risk identification to thinking through risk interconnections and the potentially cascading effects that result. Taking this effort one step further, this year's report underscores potential causes as well as solutions to global risks. Not only do we set out a view on 28 global risks in the report's traditional categories (economic, environmental, societal, geopolitical and technological) but also we consider the drivers of those risks in the form of 13 trends. In addition, we have selected initiatives for addressing significant challenges, which we hope will inspire collaboration among business, government and civil society communitie

An Assessment of the Role of Government Agencies in Public-Private Partnerships in Housing Delivery in Nigeria

Nigeria faces a tremendous shortfall in housing provisions, especially in its urban areas. Consequently, Public-Private Partnership in housing provisions has been adopted as a means of addressing this problem. Several previous studies have focused on the role of government agencies in the governmentprovider approach to housing, but adequate attention has not been given to the role of government agencies in Public-Private Partnerships in housing. This paper attempts to fill this gap in literature by examining the role of government agencies in Public-Private Partnerships in housing. A study of thirteen government agencies in six selected Nigerian cities was undertaken. The findings indicate that though the agencies tended to focus on the provision of access to land and the regulatory framework for housing development, the majority of Nigerians have not benefited from this arrangement. The paper recommends that government agencies should also be involved in providing basic amenities and subsidies to ensure that Public-Private Partnership housing serves the interest of most Nigerians