The e-government paradox: Is it real and how can it be resolved?

Abstract

The development and implementation of e-government has been viewed as an opportunity to bring the much-desired reforms in public administration. There are several studies that have been conducted in the field of e-government and many projects implemented in both developed and developing countries signifying a tremendous growth in the field. However, studies show that there is a mismatch between the level of investment and the results realized so far. This has led to what some researchers refer to as the ‘e-government paradox’ that follows from the ‘productivity paradox’ earlier documented for IT projects. There are several factors that are attributable to the ‘e-government paradox’: measurement error; time lag between implementation and results; the fact that public administration and by extension e-government is driven by the need to create value for citizens and not economic value; and the mismanagement of the implementation process by e-government implementers. The measurement error has been identified as the most important factor contributing to the ‘e-government paradox’. Theories on development, implementation, measurement and evaluation of e-government are still at nascent stages of development. This study proposes the development of a citizen centric e-government evaluation model that is suitable in the context of a developing country to solve the measurement error. The study was conducted from government common citizen service (Huduma) centres in Kenya where citizens access government services. This study proposed a conceptual model that hypothesised relationships between the identified constructs. The model was tested using Structured Equation Modelling (SEM) and findings reported.