Influence Of Information Communication Technology Adoption On Service Delivery In County Governments In Kenya, A Case Of Murang’A County Government

Abstract

ICT has become an integral component in development and telecommunication across the entire globe and in all industries may it be the public, non–governmental organizations or private sectors. The innovation/development of mobile based applications e.g. uber and banking mobile platforms together with the enhanced speed of internet globally has enhanced the growth of ICT and its usage. County governments in Kenya introduced with the new constitution are not an exception of this technology. During the adoption phase of ICT, majority of the people perceived it as a tool for enhancing business than management of government institutions. Being an emerging trend, the area on adoption of ICT in management of counties lacks sufficient literature and a lot needs to be done. The study examined influence of ICT adoption on service delivery in Kenyan County governments, examined the influence of staff expertise on adoption of ICT in service delivery, explored the influence of attitude on adoption of ICT in service delivery, determined the influence of financial implication on adoption of ICT in service delivery and to assess the influence of ICT infrastructure on adoption of ICT on service delivery. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study included County government staff and the residents. Sample of 384 respondents were issued with questionnaires but only 273 responded. Primary data obtained from questionnaires was studied and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.Reliability of the research instruments was validated via a pilot test which was issued to 38 respondents which led to some changes in the questionnaires which was the main item for data collection during the actual field work. From the study the independent variables in the study were positively related to adoption of ICT in service delivery in Murang’a County and the variables were statistically significant at 5% significance level. It was also established that holding Staff expertise, financial implications, attitudes & ICT infrastructure to constant, service delivery would be at 0.371. A unit increase in staff expertise would result to an increase in adoption of ICT by 0.172, a unit increase in financial implications would lead to an increase in adoption of ICT by 0.029, unit increase in attitudes would result to an increase in adoption of ICT by 0.671 and finally a unit in increase ICT infrastructure would result to an increase in adoption of ICT in service delivery by 0.319. This confirms that there was a positive relationship between the independent variables and service delivery. From the Pearson’s correlation, the findings showed that there was a positive correlation coefficient between staff expertise and service delivery as indicated by correlation factor of 0.616. This was significant at 95% and was found to be statistically significant since the significant value was 0.000 which was less than 0.05. This agreed with the expectation that increase in staff expertise would lead to increase in service delivery. There was a positive correlation coefficient between attitudes and service delivery as indicated by correlation factor of 0.934. This was significant at 95% and was found to be statistically significant at 0.000. There was a positive correlation coefficient between influence of financial implications and service delivery as indicated by correlation factor of 0.738. This was significant at 95% and was found to be statistically significant at 0.000. There was a positive correlation coefficient between influence of ICT infrastructure and service delivery as indicated by correlation factor of 0.806. This was significant at 95% and was found to be statistically significant at 0.000 .The study confirmed positive correlation coefficient between staff expertise, attitudes, financial implications and ICT infrastructure against the dependent variable service delivery. The study recommends more study on ICT adoption on service delivery in other counties and countries especially in the developed economies.