An Evaluation Of M-Government Services Proliferation In South Africa

Abstract

E-government contributes to the improvement of government service delivery to citizens. Access to information and services permit citizens through the facilitation of interactions. E-Government commonly provides online services through wired networks and computers; which poses a challenge of fair access for entire citizens, predominantly for those living in rural areas and/or in disadvantaged financial state. In view of this, mobile phone penetration is growing faster than that of landline connection and is deemed having the chance to give wider access to citizens. Statistics show that more people access the internet via their cell-phones, suggesting that the computer has lost its dominance as a tool for information access. Due to the high-level use of mobile devices, many countries have been moving towards m-Government as the next step in improving their contact with citizens. m-Government is a subsection of e-Government and the former is a supplement or extension of the latter. The key advantages of m-Government services include: personalization, ubiquity, reduced cost, providing information and services anywhere and at any time, ease of use, and placed-based services. m-Government has four major domains which includes: m-Services, m-Communication, m-Administration and m-Democracy. The main research question for this study was: “To which extent has m-Government services in the Free State been implemented and accepted by the citizens”. The primary objective was to evaluate and measure m-Government implementation in the Free State Province and provide the roadmaps and guidance for future directions. As this is an Information Systems research project, a problem-centered approach was adopted. In order to accomplish the main objective of the study, the researcher made use of four data collection tools: literature review, observations, in-depth interviews and surveys. The study commenced with an intensive literature review, by investigating e-Government and m-Government initiatives in SA and also investigated and assessed m-Government maturity models. This allowed the researcher to design and develop a mGMM that was utilised in measuring and assessing m-Government implementation in the Free State. In order to validate the mGMM, case studies in two different government departments (DoE and DoH) in the Free State were conducted. Each case study was thoroughly observed to gather information on m-Services that were currently available to the community. The observations were followed by in-depth interviews, and the in-depth interviews assisted the researcher to assess and measure the level of maturity of m-Government services in these departments. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics as well as thematic approach. The findings from this exercise were used to develop questions for the survey for the community. The survey was carried out among community members of the Free State province (in rural, urban and township areas). The survey enabled the researcher to collect data on m-Services that the citizens currently know of and are using; factors that are influencing the use or non-use of m-Services and also m-Services they would like to use in the future. UTAUT framework was utilised to develop the questions to measure m-Government (Technology) adoption from the citizen’s point of view. From the observation done at DoE, three m-Government services were discovered (School Finder, Social media pages and Student Portal). The in-depth interviews were conducted to find at which level / stage were these m-Government services when rated using the mGMM. The results indicate that two of these m-Government services are at the augmentation stage and the last m-Government service is at the involvement stage. Furthermore, the results indicate that some of the participants find the m-Government services easy to use and other participants would like to see more m-Government services provided in the future. From the observations done at DoH, only two mobile applications were offered to citizens (Mom-Connect and AitaHealth). Participants who used AitaHealth found the application easier to use and much more significant. The m-Services currently offered by DoH when rated using mGMM, the results indicate that AitaHealth is at Augmentation stage, while Mom-Connect at Elementary stage. The factors that affect m-Government services include: user adoption, lack of investment, staff not computer literate, lack of trust and financial constraints. Considering the data analysed and presented in this dissertation, Free State government, particularly the DoE and DoH, are not yet ready to transition to m-Government. The systems provided by these departments are still at the Augmentation stage of the mobile Government Maturity Model and the Departments are still yet to prepare to transition to the Elementary stage. The researcher also identified factors for successful implementation of m-Government services in the Free State in SA. The proposed m-Government factors include the following: Technology Infrastructure, Security, Trust and Privacy, Application Services, Agile Policies and Strategies, Knowledge Management, Human factors, Adequate Investment, Training, Education and Support and lastly Marketing. All the identified factors play a crucial role in the successful implementation of m-Government.