Strategies for eGovernment Implementation in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Botswana Government

eGovernment as a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary field, its implementation in developing countries is confronted with many barriers which require winning strategies in order to successfully implement the projects. Inter alia, the barriers include; weaknesses in governance systems, ineffective political structures, lack of requisite technical skills, proficiency and implementation capacity, ineffective information provision and access, poor infrastructure, a non-conducive policy environments and legislation. The fundamental aspect of eGovernment is that it must deliver public information and services in ways that citizens and businesses want them using internet and other ICTs as enablers. Thus eGovernment serves as a platform of infrastructure that governments today are building to transform the way they complete their missions, values and aspirations. This should have direct impact on the effectiveness of public services and government's continuous contacts with citizens, especially those living in remote areas. Winning strategies are therefore needed for successful implementation of eGovernment. The identification of barriers and determining critical success factors for eGovernment are a crucial part of winning formulae to eGovernment projects success. A case study of Botswana, a developing country is used as part of an ongoing broader research, to identify and discuss the barriers and consequently suggests strategies for developing eGovernment by introducing a new framework called; EGovernment Implementation Critical Success Factor Model which is intended to guide Botswana government and other developing countries in their eGovernment implementation pursuit. The new model and discussions thereof are necessary to give a detailed perspective of requisite factors that enable the successful impementation of eGovernment projects. These factors are classified into (a) technical and proficient personnel to implement eGovernment, (b) enabling high political leadership involvement, (c) A conducive legislation and public policy environment, (d) dedicated and sustainable budgetory framework, (e) equitable provision and access to information, (f) innovative government to foster economic development (g) vision and strategic decision capability, (h) adequate infrastractural development, and (i) creation of all stakeholders Inclusive environment. The methodology for the case study comprises of both secondary and primary data sources. The primary sources covered interviews with general members of the public and project office in Botswana, whilst secondary sources included, external and internal reports, policy documents and publications by individual researchers and other research organisations.