Abstract:
E-government is commonly introduced as
governments ‘use of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) combined with organizational change
to improve the structures and operations of government. Egovernments
are characterized by providing increased
levels of convenient efficiency to citizens, while ensuring a
better quality of customer service and convenience in
accessing better information. Many technical and nontechnical
obstacles are faced in the adoption and
dissemination of e-government regardless of how
advanced a country in terms of ICT infrastructure and
deployment is. The understanding of e-government barriers
and challenges is a significant strategic phase toward
reliable and effective e-government adoption. The aim of the
study is to identify barriers and challenges in adopting egovernment
in Sri Lanka. A range of earlier studies in India,
Nepal, Nigeria, Romania, UAE have been critically
examined and analysed to identify challenges of egovernment.
This paper then presents a critical analysis of
barriers and challenges experienced in public sector
organisations in the light of Sri Lankan context using an e
government architecture consisted of four layers. Findings
reveal that Sri Lanka faces more or less similar challenges
including financial constraints, policy barriers,
infrastructure, lack of integration across government
systems and organizations, change management, security
risks and trust issues and low IT literacy which should be
addressed in a holistic approach. Introducing a new e
government and ICT policy is recommended as an initial
step to overcome the barriers and challenges.
