Exploring Issues Underlying Citizen Adoption of eGovernment Initiatives in Developing Countries: The Case of Tanzania

Abstract

Adoption plays an important role in the success of eGovernment initiatives. Low adoption, particularly by citizens, indicates inadequate utilization and rejection of the initiatives by the intended users. This may lead into failure of eGovernment initiatives. This is particularly important in the context of developing countries such as Tanzania where eGovernment is a newly imported innovation. It is therefore imperative to understand and proactively consider issues underlying citizen adoption of eGovernment initiatives in that context. This study aimed at identifying issues underlying adoption of eGovernment initiatives in Tanzania, a typical developing country. The results are important for designing, deploying, and evaluating of the initiatives in the country. In this paper, we present research results concerning issues influencing adoption of eGovernment initiatives by citizens in Tanzania. Using the case study approach as our strategy, we investigated the adoption of three government organisations. We found that the adoption of eGovernment initiatives in Tanzania is determined by (1) perceived organisational preparedness (2) citizen preparedness (3) service intrinsic issues, (4) access limitations, and (5) organisational context. We perceive that it is possible to achieve higher degree of citizen adoption of eGovernment initiatives in Tanzania. However, the government need appropriate strategies to overcome challenges posed by the issues identified in this study.