Current status, challenges, and opportunities of e‐Government in Ethiopia: The case of Wachemo University

• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Tagesse Mathewos Sugebo,Kamanuri Sekhar
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2432

ACADEMIC PAPER

Current status, challenges, and opportunities of e-Government

in Ethiopia: The case of Wachemo University

Tagesse Mathewos Sugebo

1

| Kamanuri Sekhar

2

1

Department of Public Administration and

Development Management, Wachemo

University, Hosanna, Ethiopia

2

Department of Management, Wachemo

University, Hosanna, Ethiopia

Correspondence

Tagesse Mathewos Sugebo, Department of

Public Administration and Development

Management, CoBE, Wachemo University,

667, Hosanna, Ethiopia.

Email: tagesse2008@gmail.com

The main aim of this study was to assess the current status, challenges, and existing

opportunities of e-Government in Ethiopia, particularly in Wachemo University. A

descriptive survey method was employed. Using simple random and purposive sam-

pling techniques, 258 samples were taken from the academic and administrative

staffs. Data were collected using questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and

document analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the current status of

e-Government in Ethiopia and Wachemo University is unsatisfactory due to a reper-

toire of challenges such as lack of commitment in realizing e-Government, lack of ICT

regulations, inadequate ICT infrastructures, lack of digital literacy and awareness

among citizens, and insufficient budget assignment to the University. Consequently,

they have impeded to fully harness the benefits of e-Government. Therefore, the

study recommends that the Government and its institutions should be committed,

take policy interventions, reap the opportunities, allocate proper budget to ICTs

development, increase Internet penetration, and continuously empower citizens on

the benefits of ICTs and e-Government.

1|INTRODUCTION

There is a growing consensus among many governments throughout

the world to revitalize public administration to facilitate client-cen-

tered, cost-efficient, and user-friendly delivery of services to citizens

and businesses, thereby to improve the quality of governmental func-

tions and government responsiveness (Jian & Jian, 2017). This is due

to unprecedented challenges and increased pressure on these govern-

ments to move from the traditional portrait of inefficiency, ineffec-

tiveness, unresponsiveness, and low standard of public service

provision to improved and quality services delivery (Andrew, 2015;

Osborne & Gaebler, 1992).

Currently, citizens' needs and aspirations for better and quality

services from a government not only rise but also change continu-

ously (Karim, 2003; Lee-Geiller & Taejun (David, 2019). On the other

hand, the public administration system, governed by bureaucratic

structures, built on rational principles, that dominated the 20th cen-

tury has failed to respond to the changing requirements of the present

times (Monga, 2008). For these reasons, inter alia, starting at the turn

of the 21st century, many governments in the world moved toward a

new era called the Information Age. The advent of information and

communications technology (ICT) resulted in electronic government

(e-Government) (Estevez & Janowski, 2013; Jamil & Dhakal, 2013).

The advocators of e-Government have long argued that e-

Government holds tremendous potential in reducing the cost of run-

ning state administrative systems (Heeks, 2003). For instance,

Hanna (2010), and Layne and Lee (2001) suggest that e-Government

has the potential of improving the relationship between government

and its citizens by making interactions with citizens smoother, easier,

inexpensive, and more efficient. In addition, e-Government enhances

accountability, encourages transparency, establishes trust between

government and citizens, allows participation, and improves resource

management and responsiveness (Dawes, 2008; Mishra, 2007; United

Nations [UN], 2018), as well as improves the overall performance of

the public sector (Roy, 2017). Moreover, according to Endalew (2017),

the use of ICT in service provisioning allows people to immediately

access services in real time and within a few clicks on the Internet.

Developing countries, especially sub-Saharan African countries

have witnessed wide-ranging public-sector reforms recently. One of

such reforms came in the form of ICT. This is because use of ICT helps

Received: 14 March 2020 Accepted: 9 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2432

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2432. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2432