Strategy, Policy, and Legal Barriers to E-Gov Implementation in Afghanistan

Emal Ismail,Ala Abdulaziz Alariqi,John Wall,Mohammad Abdulrab,Asadullah Jawid

doi:10.1109/access.2022.3144198

Abstract

This research aims to identify the strategy, policy, and legal obstacles facing the implementation of E-Gov in Afghanistan from the perspective of the government employee. Accordingly, an empirical study was conducted using statistical and descriptive analysis research methods to determine the existing strategy, policy, and legal barriers. The literature review on the subject showed that while there have been several papers focusing on obstacles to E-Gov in developing countries, including Afghanistan, few studies have focused specifically on strategy, policy, and the legal barriers to E-Gov within the public sector of Afghanistan. This study takes as its sample a total of 387 employees from 10 different government institutions in Afghanistan. The final results of the analysis indicate that respondents agreed on the existence of all the strategy, policy, and legal barriers listed in the survey. However, of interest was that four obstacles out of 11 rated either agreed or strongly agreed by respondents; that is, the absence of implementation guidance for E-Gov Projects (57.82%); lack of legal bases and comprehensive policy (58.35%); lack of security rules, policies and privacy law (58.39%); and lack of political commitment and coordination (58.34%), all of which were considered significant barriers. Therefore, the findings of this paper contribute towards filling the knowledge gap of E-Gov sector strategy, policy, and legal barriers. Furthermore, the results of the survey confirm the hypothesis that strategy, policy and legal barriers are among the major challenges facing effective implementation of E-Gov initiatives.

Highlights

The history of computing in government institutions can be traced back to the beginning of computer history; the term E-Gov emerged in the late 1990s
This research aims to identify the strategy, policy, and legal obstacles facing the implementation of E-Gov in Afghanistan from the government employee perspective
The resulting final questionnaire was separated into six sections: questions of demographics, barriers to strategy, policy and legal barriers, technological and IT infrastructure barriers, organizational and cultural barriers, and operational cost barriers of E-Gov implementation in Afghanistan

Summary

Introduction

The history of computing in government institutions can be traced back to the beginning of computer history; the term E-Gov ( called Electronic Government, Digital Government, Electronic Governance) emerged in the late 1990s. E-Gov refers to the systems of information communication technologies (ICTs) [1] used by governments to deliver public services and. Make efficient the processes involved in conducting business, with the aim of renovating the relationship between Government and Business (G2B), Government and Citizen (G2C), Government and employee (G2E) as well as different sectors within the government (G2G). E-Gov adoption rate is increasing rapidly in developing countries, servicing the promotion of good governance and accountability within the public sector [14]. Evidence shows that E-Gov can facilitate the delivery mechanisms needed by citizens and stakeholders in a streamlined, efficient and cost-effective manner, making it an ideal solution for developing countries, such as Afghanistan [15]

Objectives

Methods

Results