TY - GEN
T1 - Diffusing the Ubuntu philosophy into E-government
T2 - Joint IFIP TC 8 International Conference on E-Government and E-Services, EGES 2010 and IFIP TC 6 International Conference on Global Information Systems Processes, GISP 2010 Held as Part of 21st IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2010
AU - Twinomurinzi, Hossana
AU - Phahlamohlaka, Jackie
AU - Byrne, Elaine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2010.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Information Systems (IS) researchers are increasingly calling for contextual approaches to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) innovations [1]. The call proceeds from the realization that ICT and e-government policies are often adopted and developed with a blind focus on the ICT artifact, and with little reflection on the contribution of ICT to the context [2]. This paper emanates from an ethnographic study that investigated how ICT can facilitate government policy implementation in a development context. The study found it necessary to understand the role of tradition and its potential influence on ICT implementations in South Africa. The paper reviews the context of the South African government and its conspicuous inclination to the way of life, Ubuntu. Ubuntu is growing in popularity and is increasingly being applied as an African solution to African problems such as poverty, political strife and trade. Using Grounded Theory analysis, the findings revealed the critical importance of ICT not threatening tradition but rather complementing it, the role that ICT could play in enabling or enhancing community assemblies, and the marginalized role of women citing how ICT might be used as a means to empower rather than marginalize women even further. We conclude that e-government needs to be re-conceptualized in South Africa for a more culturally acceptable and relevant approach to the use of ICT innovations for development.
AB - Information Systems (IS) researchers are increasingly calling for contextual approaches to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) innovations [1]. The call proceeds from the realization that ICT and e-government policies are often adopted and developed with a blind focus on the ICT artifact, and with little reflection on the contribution of ICT to the context [2]. This paper emanates from an ethnographic study that investigated how ICT can facilitate government policy implementation in a development context. The study found it necessary to understand the role of tradition and its potential influence on ICT implementations in South Africa. The paper reviews the context of the South African government and its conspicuous inclination to the way of life, Ubuntu. Ubuntu is growing in popularity and is increasingly being applied as an African solution to African problems such as poverty, political strife and trade. Using Grounded Theory analysis, the findings revealed the critical importance of ICT not threatening tradition but rather complementing it, the role that ICT could play in enabling or enhancing community assemblies, and the marginalized role of women citing how ICT might be used as a means to empower rather than marginalize women even further. We conclude that e-government needs to be re-conceptualized in South Africa for a more culturally acceptable and relevant approach to the use of ICT innovations for development.
KW - ICT for development
KW - Policy implementation
KW - e-Government
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84943647523&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-642-15346-4_8
DO - 10.1007/978-3-642-15346-4_8
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84943647523
SN - 9783642153457
T3 - IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
SP - 94
EP - 107
BT - E-Government, E-Services and Global Processes - Joint IFIP TC 8 and TC 6 International Conferences EGES 2010 and GISP 2010 Held as Part of WCC 2010, Proceedings
A2 - Janssen, Marijn
A2 - Lamersdorf, Winfried
A2 - Pries-Heje, Jan
A2 - Rosemann, Michael
PB - Springer New York LLC
Y2 - 20 September 2010 through 23 September 2010
ER -
