Exploratory study on internal factors affecting e-government in Bangalore

Abstract

Governments, which are the largest repositories of data and information need to exploit the advantages of ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) to manage these voluminous amounts of data, use them internally for better governance and disseminate them to the public as and when required and necessary for public service. E-governments, where the electronic made of government functioning is practised, are present in many countries of the world. In this dissertation, the factors within the government organisations that affect the progress of e-government have been studied. The literature on this subject has been reviewed and based on that the commonly observed internal factors have been listed. These factors and their impact on the progress of e-governments in the Karnataka state government departments in Bangalore have been studied. Surveys were conducted in four departments of the state government. The survey methodology included interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires to managers as well as clerical staff . The age, educational qualifications and years of experience and the effect of these in evaluating the internal factors by the respondents have been analysed. The internal factors that were studied were: Vision, Leadership, Organisational culture, Interoperability, Business processes, Budget, Training, Technology and Review. It was also attempted to discover if there were any other internal factors that existed and that were not covered in the literature review. Based on the analysis of the data and information gathered during the survey, it has been concluded that formulation and dissemination of a vision statement, quantity and quality of training and a good system of review were clearly lacking. Inadequacies in these factors were affecting the progress of e-government projects. The other internal factors were being adequately addressed. There were slight differences in the way that educationally qualified employees and their less qualified colleagues perceived some of the effects of some of the internal factors. Policy details that take care of addressing these issues taking into consideration the varying requirements of different categories of employees, could go a long way in making e-government deployment smoother.