E-government Implementation in Mozambique: Transferring Lessons across the Public Secto

Abstract

Although the implementation of computerized information systems in developing countries has been ongoing for decades, the diffusion process has been slow to achieve a state of active use in organizational settings, and examples of cross-sector sharing and learning remain very limited. This paper aims at demonstrating aspects that can be shared across sectors within the same socio-economic and political implementation context, and the potential benefits that can be achieved. Empirically, the paper draws upon experiences from the study of information systems implementation within the health and land management sectors respectively in Mozambique. The concept of “translation” drawn from Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) is used as a lens to analyse both experiences, and the similarities and differences are analyzed to draw specific inferences on potential domains of crosslearning. Specific learning concerns the issues around managing the scalability and sustainability of the implementation of egovernment initiatives. Four key areas of learning identified through this analysis are: use of participatory and action research development; enrolment of the government; enrolment of local universities; and use of joined top-down and bottom-up implementation approach.