A conceptual framework for e-government development in resource-constrained countries: The case of Zambia

Many e-government interventions in resource-constrained countries fail because of the cost involved in setting up appropriate, robust and responsive e-government programmes and platforms. The failure of these projects results into paying a higher opportunity cost owing to missing out on socio-economic benefits that e-government has to offer. To avert the higher failure rate of e-government interventions, it is vital that effervescent e-government design be informed by context-aware conceptual frameworks and models. Using the Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach, this paper explores the contextual factors that influence e-government design and development and proposes a conceptual framework with due reference to local contextual characteristics. The proposed framework may act as a blueprint for designing e-government interventions in contextually similar environments endowed with complex cultural setups. The paper brings out pointers to understanding critical factors that influence e-government development especially in a developing world context. The results indicate that effervescent e-government design needs to be informed by the unique contextual characteristics in the area in which it is implemented.