Exploring the Barriers to EGovernment

Shefali Virkar
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
shefali.virkar@oii.ox.ac.uk

Understanding the Concept of Barriers

to e-Government

The idea of a barrier can be problematic

as a social science concept

O.E.D Definition: A fence or material

obstruction erected (or serving) to bar the
advance of persons or things, or to
prevent access to a place.

Conceptualising barriers as one part in the

larger system of service delivery

Flow of Services

Citizens

Government

The Hole-in-the-Road Analogy

Flow of Services

Government

Citizens

Seven Key Barriers to eGovernment

Political Leadership Failures
Political Strategy
Workplace Culture / Organisational Set-up
Socio-Economic Divides
Technology
Financial Inhibitors
Lack of Trust

Political Leadership
Clear leadership with a project champion
Ability of key political and bureaucratic
players to ensure stakeholder
participation, create involvement and
minimize resistance.

Dominance of politics and self interest

Poor project management
Low Prioritisation of e-Government Initiatives

Political Strategy
Degree to which a long-term plan for good
governance and e-government has been
developed
Efforts made towards integrating IT with
broader reform objectives

Lack of clear vision and strategy

Workplace Culture/Organisational
Set-up

Prevailing practices in organizations,

particularly the workplace culture and the
patterns of communication and information
exchange they support.
Poor change management

Distinct lack or absence of requisite IT and

management skills

Socio-Economic Digital Divides

Degree to which there are inequalities in

skills, and differences in access to ICT
systems, literacy levels and other socioeconomic indicators
Lack of affordable access to the system
Socio-economic divides of wealth, age, and gender
Existing socio-economic developmental issues

Technology

Nature of approach to project conception

and implementation, including nature of
project design and availability of
infrastructure.

Poor, unrealistic project design incompatible with either

Government or end-user needs
Inadequate technological infrastructure

Financial Inhibitors

Impact of available financial resources on

the planning and implementation of eGovernment projects

Inappropriate cost / benefit analyses

Lack of flexibility in exploring funding options

Lack of Trust
Issues relating to online privacy and
security, particularly with reference to the
electronic handling of sensitive information
Not really an issue in nascent developing
world projects a second generation
concern

Big Brother fear

Insufficient attention to security by system designers

Synergies and Tensions:

e-Government and Development

e-Government applications possess the

potential to improve internal managerial
efficiency and quality of public services
Decentralisation

Accountability
Democratic

Participation

Benefits to developing nations

Synergies and Tensions (contd)

Reality is that resources to fund development

projects are scarce
ICT

projects require heavy investment in

infrastructure and skills
Resources diverted away from other high-priority
areas

Is administrative reform important enough to

justify taking potentially risky decisions?