Causes of eGovernment Success and Failure: Factor ModelWhy
do some e-government projects in developing/transitional countries
succeed and others fail? This page offers some answers, based on a
survey plus case study analysis. A Factor Model for eGovernment Success and FailureThis
model summarises the reasons behind success and failure of e-government
projects. Left-pointing items encourage failure; right-pointing items
encourage success. The factors are explained in more detail in the
tables below. 
Critical Success Factors: Why eGovernment Projects SucceedThe
table lists and explains some of the main factors that help support
success of e-government in developing/transitional countries. Cases in
which these factors have been identified are cited in the right-hand
column. Factor | Explanation | Examples |
|---|
External pressure | Drive for reform from outside government, e.g. from civil society | Brazil eProcurement Douala Port | Internal political desire | Drive from key government officials for reform and for achievement of e-government goals | Trust Automation Brazil eProcurement Douala Port Mexico eProcurement Citizen Centre | Overall vision and strategy | Overall
vision and master plan for good governance and for e-government,
identifying 'where we want to get to', seeing IT as the means not the
end, and integrating IT with broader reform objectives | Cameroon Tax | Effective project management | Including
clear responsibilities, good planning and consideration of risk, good
monitoring and control, good organisation of resources, and well-managed
partnerships between public agencies, and public-private | Pensions System Citizen Centre | Effective change management | Including
leadership with a project champion, use of incentives to create
commitment to and ownership of e-gov project, and stakeholder
involvement to build support and minimise resistance | Supporting Democracy Birth Registration FRIENDS Centres Pensions System | Effective design | An
incremental/piloting approach with feasible objectives and quick,
scalable outcomes; participatory involvement of all stakeholders,
leading to designs that meet real user needs and match real user
contexts | Social Investment Fund Balochistan MIS Douala Port Mexico eProcurement Birth Registration FRIENDS Centres Pensions System | Requisite competencies | Presence
of the necessary skills and knowledge, especially within government
itself; need both management and IT skills and knowledge | Supporting Democracy Trust Automation Citizen Centre | Adequate technological infrastructure | For example, encouraged through appropriate telecoms policies | |
Other critical success factors identified include: luck, perseverance, and adequate funding. Critical Failure Factors: Why eGovernment Projects FailThe
table lists and explains some of the main factors underlie failure of
e-government in developing/transitional countries. Cases in which these
factors have been identified are cited in the right-hand column. Factor | Explanation | Examples |
|---|
Lack of internal drivers | Pressures only from IT vendors, with no internal ownership (or understanding of e-gov) | | Lack of vision and strategy | Lack
of any long-term view, lack of guidance, and lack of link between ends
and means; may be caused by ever-shifting senior staff and/or
ever-changing policy and political environment | National Databank Universities MIS | Poor project management | Dispersed responsibilities due to multiple ownership of project; absence or weakness of controls; ineffective procurement | Social Investment Fund | Poor change management | Lack
of support from senior officials (causing lack of resource allocation,
and negative message to other groups); lack of stakeholder involvement
(causing lack of ownership) | Warana Kiosks Natural Resource IS Durban Council Universities MIS | Dominance of politics and self-interest | Focus
of key players on personal needs and goals, often related to 'playing
politics', with symptoms like infighting, resistance where loss of power
is feared, 'me too' copying of e-gov solutions for image purposes,
obsession with electoral impacts and short-term kudos, and corruption | Social Investment Fund Douala Port Beira City Citizen Centre Uganda Voters Foreign Affairs Ministry National Databank | Poor/unrealistic design | Caused
particularly by lack of inputs from key local stakeholders, leading to
designs that are over-technical, over-ambitious, or mismatched to local
environment (culture, values) and needs; occurs particularly where
foreign donors, firms and consultants are involved. Other design
problems: lack of piloting, lack of fit to organisational structure | Warana Kiosks Golaganang | Lack of requisite competencies | Lack of IT knowledge and skills among developers, officials and users/operators; lack of local knowledge among developers | Durban Council | Inadequate technological infrastructure | Lack of sufficient computers or networks | Cameroon Tax Foreign Affairs Ministry | Technological incompatibilities | Inability of computerised systems to interchange data | |
Taking Action on Success/Failure FactorsFollow this link for further details about actions to take to reduce the risk of e-government failure. Basis
for analysis of factors: synthesis of a) online survey of "e-gov in
developing/transitional countries" practitioners and commentators in
October 2002 (c.40 responses for failure, c.40 for success); and b) 26
case studies of e-government in developing/transitional economies
submitted during September-November 2002 to the eGovernment for
Development Information Exchange. Cross-checked with a) categorisation
of success/failure factors from study of global e-gov cases in Heeks, R.
(2001) Reinventing Government in the Information Age, Routledge,
London; and b) summary of e-gov risk factors in Al-Wohaibi, M.A. et al
(2002) Fundamental risk factors in deploying IT/IS projects in Omani
government organizations, Journal of Global Information Management,
10(4), 1-22. |