A framework for selection of processes to virtualize in e-government: a case study of Liberia

E-government has become an important strategic area of focus in many Sub-Saharan African countries. It has prompted many governments to consider digital transformation of services to residents. Countries in America, Europe and Australia have reported improvement of governance through the effective and efficient use of technology in the public sector. Despite the numerous success stories about egovernment bringing great benefits in developed countries, many e-government implementations in Africa do not achieve the expected outcomes. The reason for the failure of e-government projects in Africa is still not well understood. This study is focused on Liberia, a developing country in Sub-Saharan Africa, where e-government has been adopted as a key government strategy for making services accessible to its citizens. However, the implementation of e-government in Liberia has not been successful. The IT practitioners in the government of Liberia ministries and agencies have no guidelines to select viable e-government initiatives to implement. The problem lies in the aspect that there is no formally implemented framework for the selection of most suitable government processes or services to virtualize. There is little academic nor practitioner work that has been conducted in this area. The objective of the research is to develop a framework that can be used to select suitable government physical processes to virtualize, and, hence, contribute to the success of an e-government program in Liberia and other developing countries. To achieve this objective, this reflective-practitioner research applies Process Virtualization (PVT), Extended PVT (EPVT) Theories and design science research methodology to develop a framework in the form of a decision support tool that enables practitioners to select suitable government physical processes to virtualize. The three phases in the research include definition of the problem; design and development of the framework; and evaluation of the framework. The results of the literature review, survey and focus group discussion form the basis for the design of the framework. The study combines qualitative and quantitative data collection from IT professionals of the government of Liberia ministries, agencies and commissions (MACs). In this regard, the perspective of IT practitioners in Liberia is found to be key contribution to this research. This study makes an important theoretical contribution to PVT and EPVT theories by applying it in the context of e-government. The proposed framework will help manage and mitigate potential negative outcomes to e-government implementation in developing countries.