Defining Dimensions for Assessing Sustainability in e‑Governance Projects

Abstract

Governments across the world have invested in e‑governance projects as they help deliver citizen services efficiently and economically. Given that these projects are public‑funded, they are regularly evaluated to measure the benefits accrued. Existing research on the subject has used impact assessment frameworks with defined dimensions and sub‑dimensions for e‑governance project evaluation. Current research literature in the area of assessment frameworks projects shows that the important dimension of sustainability is either ignored or not defined properly. This study addresses this gap by proposing a set of dimensions and sub‑dimensions that can be used in an e‑governance project to measure its impact on sustainability. The applicability of our proposed framework was validated using a case study approach. The framework was applied on the Common Service Center project in India. The findings reveal that the telecenter project is lacking in different aspects of sustainability as sustainability aspects were not considered at project conceptualization stage. Technological sustainability is the only aspect where the CSC project has performed well. This study would help both policymakers and practitioners in measuring the impact of e‑governance projects on sustainability.