ICT Infrastructure and Adoption of E-government for Improved Service Delivery in Kajiado County, Kenya

Abstract

Through advancement of ICT, many governments around the world embarked on projects that introduced E-government initiatives for efficient and effective government operations geared towards making a government accountable and transparent as well as providing timely services which are more convenient and cost-effective. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of ICT Infrastructure on adoption of E-government in the County government of Kajiado in Kenya. The study was based on pragmatic paradigm. Descriptive survey was used in this study. A sample of 335 respondents was drawn from the target population of 2660 employees from the devolved 10 ministries in Kajiado County using Cochran (2007) formulae. Quantitative data was collected through open and closed-ended questionnaires while qualitative data was collected through an interview guide. Regression models and correlation were used to analyze inferential data and test hypotheses. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The study found that ICT infrastructure had a strong positive influence on adoption of E-government (r = 0.821, p-value=0.000). Thus, the study concludes that ICT infrastructure has a significant influence on the adoption of E-government in the County Government of Kajiado. The study recommends that the government of Kenya should develop ICT policy specifically for County governments so as to ensure that challenges such as slow network, lack of infrastructure and power interruptions are addressed. In addition, the National government should develop a policy aimed at addressing IFMIS and other systems related challenges so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the supply of products and services in the County governments. Further, the County government of Kajiado should make sure that there are enough computers for use in different ministries. In addition, the County should start using a more reliable network and internet services. Network and internet service providers should be selected on the basis of their infrastructure and ability to provide reliable services.

Key words: ICT infrastructure, E-Government, ICT Adoption