Open Innovation in E-government: Exploring its Practices in Tanzania

Abstract

Open innovation (OI) in e-government is evolving as an important research agenda, which takes advantage of new collaborations and emerging technologies in provision of public services. The objectives of the article are (1) to examine the understanding of OI in e-government in Tanzania and the practices adopted in selected public institutions, (2) to identify the challenges of OI in e-government, and (3) to identify strategies for addressing the OI challenges. The article adopts a qualitative research method to investigate OI in e-government in Tanzanian context. The article concludes that (1) OI in e-government is still a new but significant research and practical agenda, (2) for Tanzania, OI is expected to accelerate innovation and to strengthen an OI ecosystem, (3) success of OI in e-government depends on how the government creates an enabling environment. This article makes theoretical and practical contributions in exploring OI practices in the Tanzanian public sector. Theoretical framework of OI in e-government is still emerging; thus, this article is timely. The practical recommendations of adoption of OI in e-government for the Tanzanian government add to the key contributions of this article.