Appendix: A Synthetic View of Critical Issues for a Successful ICT4D/E-Government Project

Summary

One of the goals of this book is to provide the reader with a better understanding of the many diverse and related factors that influence the possible success or failure of an ICT4D/e-government project. Our six years' experience in developing such systems for local government institutions in Morocco enabled us to draw a parallel between the observations and recommendations provided by different authors about the development of e-government programs at a national level and what we observed when we developed and deployed ICT4D/e-government systems at a local governance level. There are strong similarities between the two types of situation that had to be managed and actions that had to be taken (see Chapter 5).

In practice, decision makers, managers of governmental institutions and project managers of ICT4D/e-government projects need to consider numerous related issues and deal with such a large variety of challenges that they may feel overwhelmed. In order to help them grasp “the big picture,” we offer in this appendix a detailed view of what we consider to be the main elements that influence the transformation affecting a governmental institution when it adopts and integrates new business policies and practices based on ICT4D/e-government techniques and good governance principles.

Indeed, the institution evolves in a complex context related to its organizational, economic, political, cultural, social, technological, legal and local environments. When this context changes, the institution may no longer be able to deal with it adequately, especially if it does not master ICT or associated business practices.