E-government Readiness Assessment for Government institutions in Burundi

Abstract

Electronic government (E-government) refers to the use of Information and Communication Technology, and specifically the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government. Indeed, Information and Communication Technology have been introduced in the government sector in the past two (2) decades in an attempt to achieve greater operational efficiency and effectiveness and e-government development is one of the most important factors of public sector rationalization, as well as faster countries' development. Given the growing development of e-government strategies worldwide, the Government of Burundi has also recently taken several measures by introducing e-government services for ensuring easy access to government information and success. The paper has then assessed the e-government readiness of several Government institutions in Burundi. The paper has used a qualitative approach and a framework provided by the European Commission to assess the e-readiness of public institutions. Several interviews with key respondents and an extensive desk review were conducted to ensure an effective data collection process. Hence, the paper revealed that Burundi has one of the lowest e-readiness rate worldwide and comes in at the low end of most of the rankings. The major causes being the lack of political will and the development level of the country. E- government being a good governance reform, the Government of Burundi must ensure a proper political will and sound administrative activities to make the journey to an implementation of e-government more effective