Future of e-Government in Pakistan: A Case Study Approach

The progress towards realising the full potential of e-Government using digital technologies to improve public services delivery and government-citizen engagements has been slower and less effective in the developing countries. Pakistan, over the past several years, has experienced similar lethargic e-Government growth rate due to economic and political instability, poor governance and deteriorating government institutions. This paper aims to contribute by exploring the future of e-Government in Pakistan and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by providing a snapshot of various e-Government projects in Balochistan. This `snapshot' includes both perceptions of eGovernment and the status of a number of diverse initiatives. The paper uses a case study based approach to collect and analyse data at provincial and district level in Balochistan province, Pakistan. The empirical findings indicate that government officials in Pakistan are willing to use ICT for their day-to-day operations and to enhance their performance. Nevertheless, lack of Information Technology (IT) skills, scarce resources, cultural issues and lack of capacity building are some of the impediments that make it difficult for government officials to use ICT effectively.