A Qualitative Investigation of Factors Underlying Slow Development of E-Government in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Abstract

The paper investigates factors underlying the slow development of e-government in Laos. Design of research for the paper was qualitative where document analysis and semi-structured interviews were conducted to learn the status of e-government development and perceptions of citizens towards implementation of e-government programs to enable government offer appropriate e-interfaces to the people through electronic delivery channels. Implementation of e-government programs is affected by many challenges related to ICT which include: inadequate infrastructure; limited capacity; and low accessibility to technologies in general; human capital, and policy on ICT. The paper concludes that factors affecting development of e-government in Lao PDR would be addressed by reviewing policy and inviting the private sector to invest in information, communication and technology industry. The paper has a limitation because of the small sample size of citizens interviewed, however, it is considered that their perceptions represent that of the majority of Lao population. The paper proposes that future research should assess and quantify the magnitude of effect of each factor on the implementation of e-government programs.

Keywords: E-Government, E-governance, SWOT Analysis, Lao PDR