Improving Citizen Participation Through Improved Information Access in e-Government: Technology, Organisation and Environment Factors for South Africa

Many governments around the world, including South Africa, are spending millions on improving their e-Government services to allow citizens to interact with government more freely than before. Although the evolution of e-Government started during the early 1990s, it has not achieved the same success in terms of citizen participation as e-commerce. According to the e-Government Readiness Index, South Africa is considered ready for e-Government. However, actual citizen participation in e-Government remains low. Thus, this paper sets out to investigate the technology, organisation and environment factors which impact on information access and citizen participation in e-Government. A model for improving access to information for citizens through e-government is proposed. The elements of this model are derived from an extensive literature review of studies in similar developing economies, while citizen-related factors are confirmed through questionnaire findings. This model can be used to identify areas that need to be addressed in order to ensure that information access and citizen participation in e-Government is enhanced.