THE LINK BETWEEN THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF E-GOVERNMENT AND ITS PERCEIVED IMPACTS: AN EXPLORATORY EMPIRICAL STUDY IN KENYA

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 .