Utilization Of Egovernment Services In Developing Countries

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

This study sought to develop a framework that would guide e-Government services utilization in developing countries. A cross-sectional research design combining case studies and survey was used. A self-administered questionnaire which had been tested for reliability and validity was the main data collection tool, coupled with an interview guide. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey data while content analysis method was used to analyze interview data.

Findings indicate that e-Government utilization in developing countries is greatly hampered by lack of knowledge and ICT skills, limited training opportunities, lack of awareness, little user appreciation of the importance of e-services, limited e-Government service coverage, and poor infrastructure among others. The findings further indicate that user involvement, deliberate e-Government education and sensitization programmes, training and capacity building in ICT at different levels, improved internet service provision, reduced cost of internet connection, stable and improved power supply to e-Government facilities and proper legislation were key technical and policy strategies for improving e-Government service utilization in developing countries. Based on the challenges and suggested strategies, requirements were collected, analyzed and used to develop the framework for e-Government service utilization in developing countries. The developed framework was tested and validated for clarity, simplicity and applicability using case study and expert judgment methods. The validation results indicate that the framework is applicable in e-Government and also conforms to Information Systems design principles of clarity, simplicity among others.

Key words: e-Government services, e-Government framework, Service utilization, Developing countries

Introduction

Over the years, there has been widespread change in the adoption and utilization of new technologies in both private and public sectors. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the new technologies that have become increasingly popular. These technologies have been key actors in the public sector transformation to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. ICTs have also helped governments achieve coherent and simple public service goals and strengthened trust in government agencies. The developments in ICT led to the birth of e-Government, which is the use of ICTs such as the Internet as tools to achieve better public service delivery.

There are as many definitions of e-Government as there are people who have thought about it. Some refer to it as online information or transactional services to citizens while others include automated business relations with other service providers, companies, and other governments (Hp, 2003). However, it is possible to develop a definition based on its various uses in the literature. For example, McClure (2000) defines e-Government as government's use of technology, particularly web-based internet applications to enhance the access to and delivery of government information and services to citizens, business partners, employees, government entities and other agencies. For the purpose of this study the MRG of Cunningham Communication definition of e-Government as "online government services", i.e. any interaction one might have with any government body or agency; will be used. E-Government is an important tool for government agencies to use in business today. The public sector is able to use e-Government services in order to gain faster response since most e-Government systems respond immediately, 24-hrs/day, 7 days/week and manifest lower costs compared to traditional means of public service delivery. It is universally agreeable that computer systems are cheaper than salaries and office space, all factors considered, and provide more up-to-date and complete information. E-Government systems can provide efficient access to millions of database records and other documents, some of which are updated daily in addition to convenience, better customer service, synchronous and asynchronous information access hence improved service delivery.

On the other hand, utilization is the act of using a product or service. The product or service in this case, an e-Government service to be utilized must be in existence, and designed under user specific requirements that make users feel the system is usable in terms of being easy to learn, is understandable and error free. In this study, we focus on the act of using e-Government services such as video conferencing, district web portals and ministry websites among others. This study explores e-Government service utilization within the public sector in Uganda as a case study.

Many definitions have been advanced by several scholars of a framework. However, in general terms, a framework is a structure which sets the rules and procedures upon which a system is based. In Information Systems development, it depicts, in gross terms the size, shape, spatial relationships, and basic purpose of the final structure. It is thus not the system itself but the rules upon which it is based. An information system framework, which has since been widely used by system analysts and database designers, was first introduced by Zachman (1987).

E-Government in developing countries

A number of success stories on e-government have been registered in some developing countries such as Brazil, India, Chile, Argentina, India, China and the Philippines among others. These have been able to reap benefits and the opportunities offered by ICTs i.e. improved knowledge economy for collaboration, networking, better services, efficiency and effectiveness.

However, most e-Government initiatives in developing countries have largely failed (Heeks, 2003). The main challenge of e-Government implementation in any developing country is whether the intended objective of reaching the citizens is actually achieved. E-Government should reach all the people who need government services regardless of their location, age, status, language, or access to the Internet. In East Africa, for instance, only about 1 million people have access to the Internet. In addition, reluctance to share information, implementation, uncoordinated activities, low IT literacy rate, un-even distribution of internet facilities, high cost of internet connection and in some cases low penetration of high-speed internet connectivity have accounted for failure (CAFRAD, 2005).

A Brief Review of Utilization Models and Frameworks

The Mason-Mitroff (1973) research framework provided the impetus for a large stream of empirical research that has studied the relationship between individual utilization of an information system and four other variables such as design and implementation process, information system characteristics, individual differences, and task characteristics. Mason-Mitroff (1973) argues that these variables affect the utilization of an information system. Further to these, Stettheimer and Cleveland (1998) point out that the logical candidates for measuring utilization of an information system must be those that focus on describing the interactions between the system and the user. Out of the six interactions driving technology application such as System-Organisation (organizational support), System-Task (task-technology fit), User-System (system satisfaction), User-Task (information need), Task-Organisation (value), and User-Organisation (job satisfaction), the user is the focus for all interactions. In the study, job satisfaction, system satisfaction, and task need directly involve users and the remaining three interactions do not involve the user; however, it is envisaged that the perception of these interactions by the user are directly related to utilization.

In the 1970's, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was the first theoretical perspective in utilization research to gain widespread recognition (Robey, 1979). This theory posits that "individuals would use computers if they could see that there would be positive benefits (outcomes) associated with using them." While this theory has demonstrated widespread validity, it does not sufficiently account for all variables necessary to explain utilization. Some researchers have suggested that beliefs about outcomes are actually tempered by the user's expectations about their own capabilities in regard to the technology.

In 1986, Fred Davis introduced an adaptation of TRA that he christened the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This adaptation was specifically designed to model user acceptance of information systems in general. The TAM model has drawn widespread validation from a number of studies (Stettheimer and Cleveland, 1998). Later, Goodhue and Thompson (1995) proposed another utilization model called the Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) which asserts that "for an information technology to have a positive impact on individual performance, the technology must be utilized, and the technology must be a good fit with the tasks it supports." They developed their model by integrating the previously disparate streams of research focusing on technology utilization and task-technology fit (TTF). The utilization-focused research emphasizes the "user attitudes and beliefs to predict the utilization of information systems." The task-technology fit research has explored the impact on performance that results "when a technology provides features and support that 'fit' the requirements of a task."

An effort has been made to integrate the TAM and TTF models since the theories underlying both models have specific elements in common. These elements are derived from the proposition that a person engages in a behavior "because he or she has evaluated the benefits of engaging in that behavior and expects a certain result. With high 'TTF, expected benefits should be more likely. Dishaw and Strong (1997) demonstrated that while TAM and TTF both directly affect utilization, TTF also "indirectly determines Perceived Usefulness through the mediation of Perceived Ease of Use." Igbaria et al (1996) proposed a motivational model of microcomputer usage which consolidated theoretical frameworks from earlier utilization literature.

The case for Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

To theoretically ground this study, the researchers adopted and used the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), developed by Vankatesh et al. (2003). UTAUT has gained prominence over other such similar models and theories and is highly praised in recent literature as one of the best models that explain technology acceptance and usage (Anderson and Schwager, 2007). The theory was developed through the review, mapping and integration of eight dominant theories including the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Motivational Model (MM), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), a combined Theory of Planned Behaviour/Technology Acceptance Model (C-TPB-TAM), the Model of PC Utilization (MPCU), the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). These theories and models had been successfully utilized by a large number of previous studies of technology or innovation adoption and diffusion within both the information systems field and other disciplines including marketing, social psychology, and management (Williams et al, 2011). The motivation to define and validate UTAUT was based on the argument that many of the constructs of existing theories are similar in nature; therefore, it was logical to map and integrate them to create a unified theoretical basis (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Venkatesh et al.(2003) argue that technology uptake, usage and/or utilization is influenced by factors including social influence , effort expectancy, attitude toward using the technology, self efficacy, anxiety and performance expectancy. The most important constructs of UTAUT that this study borrowed include: 1) Performance Expectancy (PE), 2) Effort Expectancy (EE), 3) Social Influence (SI) and 4) Facilitating Conditions (FC). These constructs have been explained in detail under e-government framework requirements analysis.

The Weaknesses of UTAUT

Although UTAUT is explains how peoples behavioral intention to utilize and actual utilization of technology services, UTAUT fails to indicate the various stakeholders responsible for prevalence on the influencing factors and conditions for technology utilization. Kituyi et al. (2011) argues that for successful technology adoption, the various stakeholders and their respective roles should be identified. Further to this, Mundy and Bandi (2010) attempted to identify stakeholders for e-Government uptake as government departments, policy makers, policy implementers, commissioners among others. In its current form therefore, it is difficult to tell which players/stakeholders will bring in performance expectance factors, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions in order for e-Government services to be utilized. Nevertheless, UTAUT remains a very sound and empirically tested theory deserving of usage in this kind of research as the researchers sought to address e-Government utilization in developing countries and therefore was chosen to guide the study.

Research Design

This study was conducted in five ministries of the Ugandan government including the Ministry of ICT, Judiciary, Finance Planning and Economic Development, Public Service and Local Government. A total of 80 respondents who comprised of IT staff, policy makers, project managers and accountants were purposively selected to participate in both interviews and the survey. A pretested questionnaire and interview guide (using Content Validity Index>0.6 and Crombatch Alpha Coefficient>0.7 for all variables) were used to collect primary data. These data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis methods.

The framework presented in this study was designed using simple Microsoft Word drawing tools. The framework structure, constructs and variables were picked from both primary and secondary data as explained in detail in succeeding sections.

Framework Validation

Case study and expert judgment methods were used to validate the framework. The case studies were conducted on respondents in all participating ministries, while 15 Information Systems experts from Makerere University Business School, Africa Institute of Management and National Information Technology Authority Uganda were purposively selected and used to validate this framework in ensuring it was applicable and user friendly.

Findings of the study

This section presents the study findings on the challenges faced by e-Government service users, the possible ways through which utilization of e-Government services in developing countries could be improved and requirements for developing the e-Government service utilization framework.

Sample Characteristics

Descriptive statistics were used to examine the characteristics of respondents as seen in Table 1:

Table 1: Sample characteristics

Gender

Total

Title

Female

Male

IT staff

Project Managers

Officer

Senior Officer

Users

Age

Bracket

18-25 years old

Count

2

4

6

3

0

1

0

2

Row%

33.3%

66.7%

100%

50.0%

.0%

16.7%

.0%

33.3%

26-30 years old

Count

5

8

13

10

0

0

2

1

Row%

38.5%

61.5%

100%

76.9%

.0%

.0%

15.4%

7.7%

31-40 years old

Count

12

7

19

3

2

10

0

4

Row %

63.2%

36.8%

100%

15.8%

10.5%

52.6%

.0%

21.1%

41-50 years old

Count

15

3

18

0

6

2

8

2

Row %

83.3%

16.7%

100%

.0%

33.3%

11.1%

44.5%

11.1%

>=51 years

Count

0

5

5

0

3

0

2

0

Row%

.0%

100.0%

100%

.0%

60.0%

.0%

40.0%

.0%

Total

Count

34

27

61

16

11

13

12

9

Row%

55.7%

44.3%

100%

26.2%

18.0%

21.3%

19.7%

14.8%

Results in table 1 show that majority respondents were female (freq=34). Only 27 respondents representing 44.3% were male.

In addition, the results indicate that 19 respondents were in age bracket 31-40 years old, 18 were in age bracket 41-50 years old, 13 were in age bracket 26-30 years old, and 6 respondents were in age bracket 18-25 years old. Only 5 respondents were aged 51 years and above.

Furthermore, majority of the respondents representing 26.2% were IT staff. This was followed by Officers who contributed 21.3% (freq=13). Project Managers were 11; senior officers were 12, while users were 9.

Challenges faced by e-Government service users

Respondents were asked to identify the challenges that affected or inhibited the utilization of e-Government services. These were identifies as lack of training, insufficient knowledge of users on systems use and availability, computer illiteracy, lack of awareness, little user appreciation of the importance of e-services available, poor infrastructure e.g. unreliable network connectivity and change management. These challenges were coded and categorized into training/capacity building, accessibility, sensitization, limited infrastructure development and change management. Findings indicate that 25% of the respondents had inadequate capacity building and training on how to use the systems, while 24% of the users were affected by poor and limited infrastructure, 12% lacked access to the systems, while 25% and 14% of the users highlighted inadequate sensitization and change management respectively. Table 2 shows e-Government challenges:

Table 1: e-Government services utilization challenges

Challenge

Freq

Percentage

Inadequate capacity building and training

15

25

Poor infrastructure

15

24

Limited access to the systems

7

12

Inadequate sensitization

15

25

Change management

9

14

Total

61

100

Solutions to e-Government services utilization challenges

From the responses, the users proposed various solutions such as introduction of deliberate e-Government education and sensitization programmes, training and building capacity in ICTs at different levels, stepping up of computer facilities, sensitization, extension of e-Government services to cover all government departments, improvement of internet service provision, reduction of internet costs, improvement of power supply and policy among others. The responses were coded and analyzed. From the analysis, the findings indicate that the majority of users/respondents (90%) suggest improvements in infrastructure on issues such as reduction of cost of using government infrastructure by privately owned networks and engaging a more stable ISPs, 80% of the respondents called for a constant and stable power supply to government IT facilities, 71% require improvement in education and training programmes including incorporating ICT training in every course for various educational programmes in the country while 52% and 19% advocated for service expansion to reach all departments and establishment of an e-Government policy to foster use of e-Government services respectively. Table 3 shows the suggested solutions:

Table 3: Suggested solutions to e-Government challenges

Challenge

Percentage

Improve on the infrastructure

90

Stable power supply

80

Training in ICT

71

Service roll out to all departments

52

Put in place an e-Government policy

19

Aligning of requirements from the field study to literature

In order to ensure that this framework was theoretically grounded, the researchers aligned the requirements established from the study and interviews with variables from existing frameworks, IT adoption theories and models. Table 4 shows the variables that were adopted from existing works.

Table 4: Variables and Constructs adopted from literature

Theory/ framework/model

Construct(s)

Source

The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

Performance expectancy,

Effort expectancy,

Social influence

Facilitating conditions.

Vankatesh et al. (2003)

Diffusion of Technological Innovation Theory

Training

Sensitization

Rogers & Shoemaker (1971)

Technology Acceptance Model

Perceived ease of use

Perceived usefulness

Davis et al. (1989)

Framework for e-Government Development in Nigeria

Stakeholder influence

Mundy and Bandi (2010)

Explanation of Constructs adopted from literature

Performance expectancy

According to Vankatesh et al. (2003), performance expectancy is the extent to which users of a given technological innovation believe that using the technology helps them improve on their service delivery. Therefore Performance expectancy in this study refers to the extent to which users of e-Government services believe that using e-Government can help them improve their service delivery.

Effort expectancy

Effort expectancy was used to imply the extent to which e-Government services were easy to use. For example, how much effort was required for users to comfortably use the available e-Government services?

Social influence

Social Influence construct means the extent to which utilization of a given technological innovation is influenced by social influence factors. In this study, social influence examined the extent to which utilization of e-Government services was due to social influence factors.

Facilitating conditions

Vankatesh et al. (2003) posit that facilitating conditions are those factors that provide a conducive environment for the utilization of technological innovations. In this study, facilitating factors for utilization of e-Government services such as knowledge, infrastructure and policy among others were indentified.

Training

According to Rogers and Shoemaker (1971), training encompasses all activities that are aimed at enhancing users’ knowledge of a new innovation. In this study, training covers activities conducted to improve e-Government users’ knowledge on utilization of e-Government services.

Sensitization

In addition to training, Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) argue that users should be sensitized about new technologies. Sensitization covers activities that are aimed at enhancing users’ awareness of the benefits of a new innovation. In this study, sensitization covers activities conducted to improve e-Government users’ awareness of utilization of e-Government services.

Perceived ease of use

Perceived ease of use is defined by Davis et al. (1989) as a state in which users consider a technological innovation easy or not easy to use. Davis et al. (1989) argue that an increase in perceived ease of use leads to a positive behavioral intention to use which yields into usage and/or utilization of a new technology and vis a vis. In this study, it is posited that users utilize e-Government services they perceived to be easy to use.

Perceived usefulness

On the other hand, perceived usefulness is used by Davis et al. (1989) to refer to a state in which users consider a technological innovation as being or not being useful to them. Davis et al. (1989) further argue that an increase in perceived usefulness leads to a positive change in behavioral intention to use which yields into adoption of a new technology and vis a vis. This study agrees with the proponents of perceived usefulness and argues that e-Government users utilize e-government services they perceive to be useful to them and do not use the ones they perceive not to be useful to them.

Stakeholder influence

Stakeholder influence is used to manifest the positive or negative role played by various e-Government stakeholders in influencing the utilization of e-Government services. According to Mundy and Bandi (2010), there are various facilitating roles that stakeholders can play to positively facilitate utilization of e-Government services. In this study, the identified stakeholders for e-Government utilization are National Information Technology Authorities, ministries of Information and Communication Technology, Public Service, Education and Sports and Service Providers/MDAs. The roles that the indentified stakeholders should play to influence utilization of e-governance services are covered under training and sensitization constructs (Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971), Perceived usefulness and Perceived ease of use constructs (Davis et al. 1989).

Requirements from primary data

In addition to the constructs listed in Table 4, requirements obtained from primary data were incorporated into the e-Government utilization framework. The requirements that scored highly were considered to be valuable requirements, while those requirements that scored poorly were disregarded and left out of the framework. Table 5 contains the requirements that were extracted from primary data.

Table 5: Requirements from primary data

Requirement

Source

Percentage

Improve on the infrastructure

Table 3

90

Stable power supply

Table 3

80

Training in ICT

Table 3

71

Roll out to all departments

Table 3

52

Put in place an e-Government policy

Table 3

19

Explanation of the requirements from primary data

Improve on the infrastructure

Up to 90% of the users indicated that there was an ardent need to address the e-Government infrastructure problem in order to realize full utilization of e-Government services. In the framework, we assign the ministries of ICT and National IT Authorities of various developing countries the role of identifying and establishing the required ICT infrastructure for e-government. This includes seeking constant power supply to e-Government IT facilities, formulating standards for IT equipment installation. These stakeholders are also responsible for operationalizing national backbone ICT network infrastructure in their respective countries. In addition, these stakeholders are supposed to purchase bulk internet bandwidth on behalf of their governments among others.

Stable power supply

In addition to infrastructure, the Ministry ministries of ICT and National IT Authorities should ensure equitable and stable supply of electricity to all government departments for purposes of utilizing e-Government services. This can be complimented by setting standards for ensuring only less power consumption equipment are fitted in governments departments.

Training in ICT

Since a good percentage of respondents indicated that training was important for effective utilization of e-Government services, this study identified the ministries of education and sports to help achieve this through organs such as universities, schools and other training institutions. The education ministries should in partnership with the ministries of public service design appropriate ICT training curriculum at all levels of education in order to enhance knowledge of e-Government services and how they are used.

Roll out to all government departments (MDAs)

MDAs in this study refer to other stakeholder sectors to the IT sector including but not limited to agriculture, health, education, tourism, finance, trade and commerce, judiciary, internal affairs, gender, development partners, ethics and integrity and the various government agencies that are responsible for the running of e-Government systems under their respective areas. These stakeholders are responsible for piloting e-Government services. They should also develop IT skills development schemes in their respective areas, participate in IT promotion and awareness by publishing in their periodicals, social networks, SMs broadcasts, news papers and also provide adequate training manuals to staff in their respective department.

Put in place an e-Government policy

Based on their mandate, the ministries of ICT should develop appropriate policies for fostering utilization of e-Government services in their government departments.

Variables from interviews

Table 6 presents a summary of ideas and requirements that were obtained from interviews with service providers of e-Government services:

Table 6: Requirements from interviews

Requirement

Source

Score

Sensitization

Interviews

8 out of 9

Extending the scope of e-Government services to all departments

6 out of 9

Improving internet service provision

6 out of 9

Addressing the cost of using e-Government services

6 out of 9

Explanation of the requirements from interviews

Sensitization

The role of sensitizing the public about e-Government services rests in hands of ministries of ICT, Public Service and Service Providers/MDAs. These should work hand-in-hand to provide adequate training manuals and sensitize the public by advertising on social networks, SMs broadcasts news paper and their periodical publications.

Extending the e-Government services to a wider coverage

The ministries of Information and Communications Technology should ensure extension of e-Government services to a wider coverage by providing the basic infrastructure, enacting appropriate policies and promoting the usage of e-Government services in government all institutions.

Improve on internet service provision

In addition to the above, the ministries of Information and Communications Technology together with National IT Authorities should ensure improvement in internet services through expanding coverage, improving on bandwidth and ensuring that internet services are accessible and affordable to public servants. These can be supported by service providers/MDAs in terms of providing specialized skills for proper implementation and utilization of e-Government services.

Argument in Support of Selected e-Government Utilization Requirements

Rokhman (2011) noted that the most critical factors for successful implementation of e-Government is the opportunity to develop employees’ capacity in technical training on e-Government. These challenges were also found by Ndou (2004), Kitaw (2006), Islam and Hassan (2009), Mohammed & Steve (2010) and Qaisar & Ahmad (2010). Mohammed & Steve (2010) who categorized the challenges as technical, organizational, financial, management support and social concluded that ICT infrastructure is the most important challenge that must be carefully handled at both governmental and private levels. Mohammed & Steve (2010) found out that ICT infrastructure was a critical issue that needs to take the highest level of priority in e-Government implementation process in addition to employing qualified personnel and training.

In their study, Mutula and Mostert (2010) also recommended establishing coordinating mechanisms to monitor e-Government implementation, make e-strategy recommendations that such as promotion of ICT usage; enhancing connectivity; encouraging public-private partnerships; developing a nation-wide backbone; human resource development and regulation among others. The findings confirm that the issues earlier raised in previous studies are still majorly affecting e-Government initiatives and attention to them has been minimal and therefore, training of top management and authority leaders within the public sectors to understand and support these initiatives is vital for the success of e-Government projects (Al-Dosari and King, 2004).

The e-governments utilization framework

A fusion of requirements from literature and primary data identified and explained above was done so as to develop a framework that was practical but also theoretically grounded. The structure of the framework for e-Government services utilization as seen in Figure 1 was borrowed from UTAUT with enhancements to cater for the weaknesses of UTAUT, explained in detail in the framework description as follows.

Description of the framework

As already mentioned, the framework for e-Government services utilization was largely based on Vankatesh et al. UTAUT, which pictorially shows how technology adoption and utilization is influenced by social influence, effort expectancy, attitudes, self efficacy, anxiety and performance expectancy. The constructs that were borrowed from UTAUT are Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence and Facilitating Conditions.

Improvements to UTAUT

The contribution of this study is mainly manifested in the improvements made on UTAUT in making it more application in e-Government service utilization in developing countries. Some improvements were made to ensure that the weaknesses of UTAUT as explained were addressed, thereby making it applicable in e-Government utilization. In this framework, we posit that utilization of e-Government services can be successful if all the four constructs as suggested by Vankatesh et al. (2003) exist. In addition, we add the fifth construct of stakeholder influence, which is envisaged to directly influence utilization of e-Government services through training, increased perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. We further indentify the five key stakeholders responsible for the introduction of behavioral influencing factors as 1) the ministries of Information and Communication Technology, 2) the Ministries of Public Service, 3) the Ministries of Education and Sports, 4) the National Information Technology Authorities and 5) Service Providers/MDAs. The role played by each of these stakeholders is explained in detail in the previous sections. Figure 1 shows the new e-Government service utilization framework:

Figure 1: Framework for utilization of e-Government services

Summary on application of the e-Government Utilization Framework

A set of strategic factors which have the greatest effect on the utilization of e-Government services in developing countries based on the government structures; complexities and also experiences have been proposed. This framework can help policy-makers in ensuring effective and efficient utilization of e-Government services. It is worth mentioning that simultaneously considering all the issues presented in this framework in the initial stages of e-Government service implementation is a key success factor. A reasonable investment in infrastructure is mandatory for optimal utilization of any e-Government service. Further to this, it is believed that proportional consideration of all these factors may likely lead to successful implementation of e-Government and prevailing possible problems (Amirhossein, et al, 2008).

Validation results

Applicability of the e-Government framework

Data were collected on applicability of the new framework on e-Government services utilization as seen in table 7:

Table 7: Applicability of the e-Government Framework

Valid

Response

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

35

95

95

95

No

2

5

5

100

Total

37

100

100

Results in Table 7 indicate that majority of the respondents approved the framework as being applicable (freq=35, percentage=95%). Only 2 respondents constituting 5% disapproved of the framework’s applicability.

Conformity to IS Design Parameters

In addition, respondents were tasked to indicate whether the framework met key IS design parameters such as user friendliness, ease of use, understandability and clarity. The data were generated and analyzed as seen in Table 8:

Table 8: Conformity to Design Parameters

Parameter

Min

Max

Mean

The framework is user friendly

1

5

4.67

The framework is easy to use

1

5

4.86

The framework is understandable

1

5

4.52

The framework is clear

1

5

4.73

Results in table 8 show that the respondents strongly agreed that the framework was user friendly (Mean=4.67), easy to use (Mean=4.86), understandable (Mean=4.52) and clear (Mean=4.73).

Discussion Conclusion and Recommendations

For Government to Business (G2B) and Government to Government (G2G) in developing countries like Uganda, international development partners such as United Nations, World Bank etc emphasis implementation of e-Government to enhance good governance and curb corruption. Ensuring e-Government utilization is vital in achieving the main goals of e-Government. The framework presented in this paper provides comprehensive guideline for utilizing e-Government services in different countries.

Further to this, the study established the challenges faced by e-Government users, and also established the gaps in e-Government services utilization. The study has yielded into a more appropriate framework that will help in guiding the utilization of e-Government services. Above all, this study has made a contribution to UTAUT in terms of identifying the key stakeholders and their roles for better utilization of e-Government Services.

Findings from primary data generally agreed with literature on the challenges and recommendations to utilization of e-Government services e.g. see Ndou (2004), Kitaw (2006), Islam and Hassan (2009), Mutula and Mostert (2010), Mohammed and Steve (2010) and Qaisar & Ahmad (2010). These findings mainly centred on ICT infrastructure, human resource skills and organisation capability and commitment.

The identified stakeholders should therefore address ICT Infrastructural challenges such as network unavailability, infrastructural costs, limited bandwidth, low computer usage and other technological challenges. They should also work towards improving ICT knowledge, creating awareness, improving effort expectancy and performance expectancy of users.

Areas for Future work

It would be of great interest to conduct further research in this field using the same stakeholders but in different countries with preferably bigger samples for purposes of coming up with results that may be compared to the findings of this study. Validating and testing the framework in different environments and with different samples might also yield different results, especially on its applicability.

Furthermore, we propose future research aimed at studying control systems for monitoring the progress of the proposed framework. Also, for each construct in the framework, there is need to customize study deeper, its associated impact to e-government utilization. This probably will lead to new ideas for e-Government service utilization.