Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives in Provision of E-government Services: The Case of Tanzania

Abstract

This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania. E-government provisions in developing countries are linked with the use of ICT4D to support development plans. Literature indicates that development issues, cultural context and consideration of local communities’ requirements play a crucial role in facilitating adoption of e-government systems. Use of mobile phones in local communities and sharing mobile device facilities presents a unique phenomenon on utilizing e-government services in Tanzania. Drawing from in-depth interviews from government officials and citizens, the paper argue that perceived gap between central government and local communities is caused by a number of issues. The results indicate that even with few available e-government services, citizens are still keen to use them. It also emerged that there is a gap on computing facilities, central government was found to have all required minimum devices and support to access e-government services and the same was missing to the local communities. Among citizens, mobile phones were preferred way of accessing e-government services as compared to other means since they are convenient and are more personal and hence providing feeling of ownership. For the e-government services to benefits indigenous communities there is a need to address problems associated with the lack of available key e-government services in rural areas, lack of skills among government officials on public administration and development issues as well as underutilization of mobile phone for e-government services.