Empirical Examination of e‑Government in Developing Countries and its Value in Kenya’s Public Service

Abstract

In the last two decades, Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become a strategic tool of management in developing countries. In specific, Electronic Government enhances governance in the public sector; e‑Government being the use of ICTs in public service. Though information systems as a discipline presents some research on the value of ICTs in the private sector, the focus on the public sector is comparatively thin. Informed by the model of public value management, the paper sought to identify the dimensions of the public value of e‑Government. Thus, a framework was adapted and tested on data collected in a survey of 340 public service officers in Kenya. Through structural equation modeling, an e‑Government public value model was generated, and this formed the main contribution of the paper. At a theoretical level, the model demonstrated cognizance of e‑governance multi‑faceted nature, and as such may inform the development of full‑bodied policies to drive efficiency in public service delivery. The model may aid in elucidation of the drivers which inform the use, or fear of use of e‑government infrastructure. In addition, at a methodological level, the paper suggests the place of mixed methods in information systems research. This aids in understanding the unique qualitative and quantitative measures of perception of public value of e‑Government. In this regard, the estimated model shows the magnitude of influence of e‑Government on various dimensions of public values. In practice, these present a suitable reference to guide the formulation and restructuring of e‑Governance policies and strategies in the developing countries. Though the paper presents a positivistic evidence, it is imprecise on whether the evident values enhance or deteriorate public service quality; thus, possible future research is suggested.