Abstract:
This paper examines how e-government is conceptuali
zed and the possible relationship with the
expected impacts of e-government in a developing wo
rld context. The aim is to shed some light on
why e-government initiatives often fail in developi
ng world contexts. This research was based on an
exhaustive survey among government agencies and con
sultants in Kenya. The dimension of e-
government impacts was initially operationalized in
terms of connectivity, openness, efficiency and
effectiveness. Government conceptualizations could
be classified under tool view; proxy view;
ensemble view; computational view and nominal view.
Interestingly, the empirical data yielded very
different impact factors than originally envisaged,
which were enhanced interactions and accessibility
,
enhanced cooperation and awareness, a better connec
ted public administration and enhanced citizen
opportunities. Canonical function analysis found a
supply-side focus which linked connected
government to the conceptualization of e-government
as an Evolving Artifact. The main contribution of
this paper lies in highlighting the fact that the i
mplementation of western information technologies i
n
developing countries will be shaped by how their im
pacts are perceived. Thus both purveyors of the
technologies and researchers can be made aware that
, because of the very different expectations
and contexts, these technologies may be conceptuali
zed differently than in developed countries. In
addition, the paper demonstrates a practical resear
ch approach to assist in uncovering these
conceptualizations more explicitly
.