By Kabuye Ronald
The action research project titled- “Investigating the Potential of Internet Usage to Enhance Service Delivery and Promote Transparency and Accountability in Uganda’s Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies” conducted by the Evidence and Methods Lab EML , in collaboration with the Internet Society– Uganda Chapter, has established that poor or no internet connectivity in various parts of the country especially upcountry as the major challenge affecting government e- services and digitization.
This action research which was conducted in 13 districts including Arua, Lira, Mbale, Kamapala among others on digitalization and e-services in transforming government operations across various sectors, Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and District Local Governments with the aim of exploring the potential of the Internet for service delivery, setting a path and lessons for MDAs and Local Governments to optimize business processes.
Michael Katagaya, the team leader at Evidence and Methods Lab said they found out that districts have adopted different approaches to sustain e government initiatives based on the challenges they are having, made development in infrastructure, carried out sensitization on the availability and utilization of internet based services and allocated budgets on the same activities including training which increases the uptake of e services. They also found out that the government digital platform used are not user friendly designs, they have issues with accessibility considering issues like disability and low literacy levels thus a need for inclusive accessibility which is a key determinant for successful e government services.
“The other issue is the issue of the infrastructure, again, to do with the resources that are available within some of the institutions. For example, when you’re thinking about upcountry districts, when you’re thinking about police stations, we still file things manually, you know, partly because we do not have the resources, the capacity is not there.
You go to a hospital and they’re trying to file things manually. So we found that some of these things make it very hard to be able to improve the delivery of services, for the government to become efficient. So a station which would have served 10 people or 20 people or five people in a day, a bit of the time is spent trying to find files because they are busy.” Said Michael
The challenges found include the limited awareness of the e services, issues with internet connectivity and unfriendly user government digital platforms and websites, the issue of leadership and coordination across different entities and the limited public private partnerships, lack of digital literacy and thus a need for mindset change towards the e service.
The research also made recommendations which include among others, technical service enhancement, need to improve IT infrastructures and power services in rural areas to increase access to e government services, enhancing the reliability and effectiveness of e services, addressing issues of slow or no internet connectivity and inconsistent service delivery, investment in high quality network and advancements in technologies and simplifying the bureaucratic tendencies by government officials and increase budget allocation for internet connectivity and e services.
The research further called for training of local leaders in digital literacy and extending e government services to all levels of government administration including rural areas.
