Yes / This paper considers recent field evidence to analyse what online public services citizens need, explores potential citizen subsidy of these specific services and investigates where resources should be invested in terms of media accessibility. We explore these from a citizen-centric affordability perspective within three ‘exemplar’ developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank and United Nations in particular promote initiatives under the ‘Information and Communication Technologies for Development’ (ICT4D) to stress the relevance of e-Government as a way to ensure development and reduce poverty. We adopt a ‘Contingency Value’ method to conceptually outline reported citizens willingness to pay for digital public services. Hence, our focus is mainly upon an empirical investigation through extensive fieldwork in the context of sub-Sahara Africa. A substantive survey was conducted in the respective cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The sample of citizens was drawn from each respective Chamber of Commerce database for Ethiopia and South Africa, and for Nigeria a purchased database of businesses, based on stratified random sampling. These were randomly identified from both sectors ensuring all locations were covered with a total sample size of 1,297 respondents. It was found, in particular, that citizens were willing to pay to be able to access digital public services and that amounts of fees they were willing to pay varied depending on what services they wish to access and what devices they use (PCs or mobile phones). / European Investment Bank under the EIB-Universities Research Action Programme

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The purpose of the research case study was to assess the current state of alignment of business processes to Provincial Strategic Goals (PSGs) and services in the Provincial Government and to identify the way to align business processes to PSGs and services for an effective e-government implementation. Existing literatures were reviewed in order to identify relevant models to achieve the purpose of the research case study. An empirical research case study and comparative approach were used in order to identify suitable models, by means of strengths and weaknesses of the identified models and discussed. A qualitative research design and methodology was applied while assessing existing models from various literatures. A model to identify the current state of business processes was identified by the researcher and tested to assess the current state of business processes in the Provincial Government in question. There was no existing model to assess the alignment of business processes to Provincial Strategic Goals and services. Alignment elements that were cited by various literatures were used by the researcher to design and propose a Business Process Alignment Model (BPAM). The BPAM was tested and accepted by the Provincial Government where the study was conducted. The research case study predominantly used a qualitative research design and method. The quantitative illustrative approach was applied only to validate the proposed model that was designed by the researcher. A questionnaire was used to conduct interviews with research participants that were selected within the Provincial Government in question. It should further be noted that a quantitative approach was used to illustrate some findings that were analysed by the researcher. Results confirmed that the current state of business processes within the Provincial Government in question was still at level two (repeatable state). Yet the alignment of business processes to Provincial Strategic Goals and services did not exist; this alignment was assessed using the proposed BPAM which was designed by the researcher during this research case study. The effectiveness of e-government services is dependent on proper alignment of business processes and the maturity level of business processes across the organisation. Without proper alignment of business processes, it is a challenge for the public sector organisations to realise effective e-government implementation, not excluding other factors that have been identified by other literatures. This research case study will contribute to the current body of knowledge regarding effective e-government implementation, particularly in the public sector at Provincial level. Public sector organisations in South Africa could leverage on this work to address issues associated with business process alignment.

<p>Citizens’ interaction with governments is an area with unique implications for channel management. Governments need to take the citizens perspective into further consideration in order to be successful in delivering high-quality e-services. This paper aims to determine if a categorization of citizen-initiated contacts from a citizen-centric perspective can be a valuable basis for decisions regarding e-service development. The study consisted of three steps. The first step was an examination of the existing related literature, which resulted in the uncovering of the most important aspects of citizens channel choice. The second step consisted of an elaboration of a classification based on perceived task characteristics and a subsequent matching of the categories to desirable channel characteristics. The third and final step consisted of an application of the proposed categorization on a content management system containing all citizen-initiated contacts in a Swedish municipality. The application indicated that the proposed categorization could possibly be used to guide investments in e-services towards a channel-appropriate direction.</p>

Citizens’ interaction with governments is an area with unique implications for channel management. Governments need to take the citizens perspective into further consideration in order to be successful in delivering high-quality e-services. This paper aims to determine if a categorization of citizen-initiated contacts from a citizen-centric perspective can be a valuable basis for decisions regarding e-service development. The study consisted of three steps. The first step was an examination of the existing related literature, which resulted in the uncovering of the most important aspects of citizens channel choice. The second step consisted of an elaboration of a classification based on perceived task characteristics and a subsequent matching of the categories to desirable channel characteristics. The third and final step consisted of an application of the proposed categorization on a content management system containing all citizen-initiated contacts in a Swedish municipality. The application indicated that the proposed categorization could possibly be used to guide investments in e-services towards a channel-appropriate direction.