An investigation of the impact of e-government technology in the city council of Nairobi

Abstract

E-government is a form of e-business in governance and refers to the processes and structures needed to deliver electronic services to the public (citizens and businesses), collaborate with business partners and to conduct electronic transactions within an organizational entity. Being a developing country, Kenya is going through the process of globalization and liberalization of its market and services. This has given rise to new business processes, different information flows, changed policies, new kinds of records, advanced security measures, and new data management methods. The general objective of the study was to evaluate e-government technology in the City Council of Nairobi. It also established the benefits and challenges associated with e-government technology in the City Council of Nairobi. The study utilized descriptive study employing both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The target study area was City Council of Nairobi with 30 respondents from four major departments of IT, Accounting/Finance, Administration and Customer care being interviewed. A self-administered open and closed ended questionnaire was utilized in collecting primary data from the field. In addition, in depth interviews and desk research were used for confirmation and verification. Data collected from the field was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential data analysis, and information presented in graphs, frequency distribution tables and figures. This paper documented that acceptance of the information systems by the users is also critical and therefore there is need for good identification of the user needs to help in speeding up the adoption of this strategy and avoid rejection of the same. However, limiting aspects such as lack of technical skills, poor understanding of the functions of e-government technology by those in the authority and poor internal support hinder the success of e-government technology. The study recommends that the government need to sensitize its citizens on the values associated with e-government. To ensure the success of e-government users must be trained and involved at the development and implementation levels so that they understand how this initiative works. Lastly government ought to reduce the level of bureaucracy and make enough resource allocation to ensure the success of this important transformative initiative.