Adoption and utilisation of e-government systems by citizens in SADC: the case of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Electronic government (e-Government) offers great opportunities for transforming the public service delivery systems by providing an effective, efficient and transparent tool for facilitating the active participation of citizens in government decision making processes and for achieving good governance. However, the success of e-government is not entirely dependent on the provision of excellent e-government systems (supply-driven), but also on other factors like system acceptance and utilisation by citizens. Whilst the United Nations e-Government Surveys have demonstrated the proliferation of e-government initiatives in both developed and developing countries, the implementation, adoption and utilisation of such systems in developing nations is constantly affected by many challenges. Many citizens are hesitant to adopt and use e-government systems for various reasons and in some cases, such decisions are indeed merited. Citizens’ awareness, technical aptitude, confidence and trust in the government and its e-government systems are salient factors that are impacting the acceptance and utilisation of such systems. Similarly, practitioners (decision and policy makers, designers and implementers) of e-government have noted that most of the challenges being encountered by citizens are distinctively pertinent to national and regional socio-economic, cultural, political, and technological circumstances, and thus require a contextual and holistic approach for solutions. This study is driven by the quest to examine and establish the fundamental factors that are affecting citizens’ capacity, effort and behavioural intentions to adopt and continue using egovernment systems in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region; using Zimbabwe and Zambia as a case study. Thus, this study focuses on the government to citizen (G2C) domain with particular emphasis on the citizen-side. Currently, there are no holistic, people-driven models that could be used to assist and guide practitioners on e-government maters (including guiding citizen-informed designs and implementation, predicting and stimulating adoption and utilisation) for the SADC region and other developing nations with similar socio-economic and technological settings. This study aims to develop a people-driven e-government adoption and utilisation model (PDEGAUM), build upon two long-established theoretical frameworks; the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) (focused on understanding the demand-side) and the ITU E-Government Implementation Toolkit (focused on understanding how the supply-side could be aligned with, and be informed by, the demand-side). An explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was considered most appropriate for testing the PDEGAUM conceptual model. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select the 800 respondents (drawn from Zimbabwe and Zambia) for the survey method (selfadministered questionnaires were used). After the pre-analysis screening of the quantitative data, only 736 questionnaires were used for data analysis (comprised of 489 citizens who have used e-government systems and 247 have not used). Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and regression analysis (using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)); and structural equation modelling (SEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) (using IBM Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS)) were selected for testing the model fit of the proposed model. All but one of the hypotheses was confirmed by this study. Semi-structured interviews (serving a confirmatory role) were pursued with 8 purposively selected interviewees from the respondents who had participated earlier on in the survey. The Total Quality Framework (TQF) was adopted as the most suitable theoretical lens for guiding the analysis of the qualitative data; thematically using the Nvivo Plus qualitative data analysis software (QDAS). The qualitative results confirmed the quantitative results. Findings of this study confirm the proposed PDEGAUM model as being suitable for the SADC region. The PDEGAUM model is novel in that it places citizens’ demands and input at the centre stage of spearheading e-government initiatives, which in turn informs e-government implementation. This approach contradicts the supply-driven approach by being contextuallyaware of citizens’ concerns in-line with e-government initiatives. Such a holistic gesture by the government is believed to go a long way in fostering and stimulating the adoption and utilisation of e-government systems. Decisively, the findings of this study have demonstrated that a people-driven approach constitutes the basis for rolling-out successful e-government systems, particularly in the context of the SADC region and other developing countries that are plagued by complicated socio-economic and political dynamics.