An Information Systems Artifact Approach to Evaluate e-Government Services in Rwanda

Abstract

Technology is universal, but use contexts differ widely. Technology develops rapidly but social contexts are slow to change, hence digitalization efforts must go hand in hand with process innovation. This research aims at designing an improved process for evaluating e-government services in Rwanda, a least developed country pursuing ambitious digitalization. The research draws on the information systems artifact (ISA) model, which considers alignment between technology, information, and social context as the key to successful technology-based innovation, and all three aspects as artifacts, subject to design. We build a prototype technical artifact and suggest an information and a social one. The ambition is making the currently control-based summative evaluation process more cooperative and inclusive of both service providers and users. The new design uses feedback from users to allow service providers and monitoring organizations to conduct also formative evaluations in order to be able to better align service processes with user needs and behavior and thereby make them more attractive and more used. The prototype “Rwanda Online Service Evaluation” (ROSE) was tested through semi-structured interviews with senior managers in six Rwandan organizations, and through an online user survey (n= 60). The findings can guide decision makers and practitioners involved with e-government design and evaluation. As a contribution to research, the research shows the usefulness of the ISA model for communicating the design of technology aiming at comprehensive process change.