Strategic Framework for Designing E-Government in Developing Countries

Developing countries have embarked on e-government initiatives in their modernization activities, as the developed countries. Despite the effort, implementation of e-government in developing countries is still rated as not sufficient. Several literatures, such as the UN 2012 survey, investigate challenges faced by developing countries; poor management and limited availability of resources being the main ones. Developing an e-government system with limited resources and with the challenges developing countries are facing requires careful planning. The ultimate question is the public value generated and the sustainability of e-government initiatives in developing countries. Our main question driving the investigation in this paper is, therefore, whether guidelines exist to develop e-government solutions with the goal of public value generation in mind. The investigations of literature have unveiled many guidelines for designing e-government systems. However, there is still lack of a comprehensive framework that will enable developing countries to design e-government systems whilst generating public value. In this paper, existing guidelines for development of e-government systems are first reviewed followed by a comparison among the guidelines. Then the challenges for designing e-government systems in developing countries are outlined. Through a consolidated view emerging from the comparison and the outlined challenges, the paper brings forth a comprehensive strategic framework for successful design of e-government systems. The proposed framework is for policy makers and e-government coordinators to design e-government systems in a way that the objectives are met and that the investments generate public value.