ICTs and Rural E-Governance: From Digital Design to Public Policy

Abstract

Over the past three decades, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have significantly shaped the emergence and evolution of public organisations and public policies worldwide. The rapid advancement of ICTs has contributed to e-governance, which broadly comprises the use of ICTs for government administration, public services, stakeholder engagement and other activities. According to the United Nations' E-Government Survey in 2024, diverse regions around the world have been increasingly leveraging ICTs to enhance government services, whereas ‘[t]he rapid digitalization of services, the shift towards remote work, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), the emphasis on digital identity and data management, and the increased use of data and emerging technologies for policymaking are key global megatrends’ (United Nations 2024, xxi).

Despite the adoption of ICTs in the public sector and advancement in e-governance, rural communities remain underserved in today's digital age (United Nations 2024) and to some extent understudied in the e-governance literature. Today, over 40% of the world's population lives in rural areas (United Nations 2018; World Bank 2024), including regions with limited resources and insufficient infrastructure, potentially posing significant challenges for public service and socioeconomic development. ICTs present unique value propositions and promises, as well as risks and challenges. The opportunities are especially salient in areas such as the expansion of rural communities' access to digital infrastructure, innovation in agriculture and enhancement of food security, deployment of healthcare applications and services, contribution to gender equality, reduction of inequality including the digital divide, promotion of education and employment, sustainable development and protection of endangered animals (ITU 2021).

Reflecting the multifaceted and complex nature of e-governance, research from multiple fields, including public policy, rural studies, development sociology, development economics and information systems (IS), has explored related topics (e.g., Banerjee et al. 2020; Dawes 2008; Salemink et al. 2017; Slavova and Metiu 2022; Xiao et al. 2013). Among these fields, IS, with its focus on technology, is potentially uniquely positioned to generate nuanced and valuable insights into the role of ICTs in enabling and improving public services. The findings from the IS literature have demonstrated and detailed how different forms of ICTs, from established technologies, such as mainframes, desktops, the Internet and cellular services, to emerging technologies, such as cloud, mobile applications, Internet of Things, blockchain, metaverse and AI, have increasingly been operating as an occasion for interaction among governments, public-sector organisations, individuals, firms and societal actors (e.g., Brown and Thompson 2011; Chua and Storey 2022; Dunleavy et al. 2006; Engesmo and Panteli 2020; Kauffman and Techatassanasoontorn 2009; Meijer 2015; Oborn et al. 2019; Reddick 2004; Su 2011).

In the IS literature, a collection of studies has explored ICT-enabled governance and development in the rural context, taking the first step to unpack the potential of ICTs for rural e-governance. For example, first, technology-related initiatives can improve digital adoption and bridge the digital divide in regions, including rural areas, under poverty (Masiero and Das 2019; Srivastava and Shainesh 2015; Venkatesh and Sykes 2013). Second, ICTs can contribute to women's income (Bailur and Masiero 2017) and health by increasing access to medical care and reducing mortality (Venkatesh et al. 2020). Third, e-commerce has been transforming rural economies, contributing to the formation of rural e-commerce ecosystems (Leong et al. 2016), the development of rural community's capabilities (Cui et al. 2019), the elimination of poverty (Jha et al. 2016; Li et al. 2019), as well as social innovation and sustainability (Tim et al. 2021).

Meanwhile, how to design, develop, deploy, leverage and evaluate ICTs for rural e-governance remains a complex question for policymakers and practitioners, and an underexplored yet important research area for academics. In the rest of this article, we first provide a brief overview of the evolution of ICTs in e-governance, based on both academic research and practitioner insights. Drawing on the literature, we also identify several themes which represent both challenges and opportunities in the design and use of ICTs for rural e-governance. Then, we present a framework for conceptualising and envisioning research on ICTs for rural e-governance. Building on this framework, next, we introduce the articles in this special issue and discuss how these studies contribute to the research on rural e-governance in different but complementary ways. Finally, we explore potential opportunities and directions for future research on ICTs and rural e-governance.

The landscape of e-governance has evolved significantly over the past decades. The evolution spanned multiple areas, including the specific ICTs adopted, the institutional, organisational, cultural and social environments surrounding the technologies, and the socioeconomic conditions in diverse regions around the world in which these technologies have been designed, deployed and adopted. In the following, we focus on tracing the evolution of technologies for e-governance. Table 1 provides a summary of the evolution.

Since computers and telecommunication technologies started being systematically adopted in the public sector, the specific types of ICTs for e-governance can be broadly categorised into several periods (e.g., Dawes 2008): the era of mainframes pre-1990s, the era of personal computers during the 1990s, the era of the Internet and what became known as Web 1.0 in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the era of Web 2.0 post-2000s and the age of diverse potentially disruptive technologies, from blockchain to artificial intelligence.

E-governance in the rural context, in particular, presents unique challenges and opportunities. Research in the field of rural studies and related disciplines suggests that rural regions have traditionally struggled to adapt to and benefit from, the digital economy (e.g., Malecki 2003; Venkatachalam and McDowell 2003; Warren 2007). In today's digital age, a significant digital divide remains between rural and urban regions, impacting the governance and development of rural regions around the world. Specifically, the design and use of digital technology have been uneven between urban and rural regions and uneven among rural communities worldwide. Such disparities are observed in both developed and developing economies (Roberts et al. 2017). A review of the existing research demonstrates several most salient themes which represent both challenges and opportunities in the design and use of ICTs for rural e-governance.

Existing research and practice have demonstrated the value and potential of ICTs in socioeconomic development, including the development of rural regions (e.g., Díaz Andrade et al. 2019; Heeks et al. 2021; Nicholson et al. 2021). Faced with the ambiguous, multifaceted and interdisciplinary nature (e.g., Rittel and Webber 1973; Simon 1996) of complex phenomena such as rural e-governance, the increasing advancement and adoption of ICTs can contribute to the designing of innovative solutions (e.g., Brown 2009; Manzini 2015). Existing research on e-governance in general has shown that strategically planning and designing e-governance initiatives, taking into account diverse elements including technologies, policies and stakeholders, can help achieve the intended benefits while addressing barriers to e-governance initiatives (e.g., Dawes et al. 2016; Janssen et al. 2020).

In the field of information systems, designing ICT-based solutions to complex socioeconomic problems has been a prominent theme. A subset of studies in IS and related literatures has addressed the topic of designing solutions for e-governance (e.g., Goldkuhl 2016). The design of use of ICTs as solutions has also proven successful in rural regions (e.g., Venkatesh and Sykes 2013). To help academics and practitioners conceptualise existing research and envision future work on ICTs for rural e-governance, in the following, we present a research framework. It should be noted that the goal of the framework is not to provide a comprehensive taxonomy of the literature, but to develop a roadmap for research such as different studies can collectively contribute to designing ICT-based solutions for rural e-governance (Figure 1).

In the following, we introduce the three articles in this special issue. The articles address different aspects of rural e-governance and apply divergent methods, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods and design-based research. We also use these articles to illustrate the conceptual framework presented above (Figure 2).

The first paper, ‘Challenges in developing information and communication technology (ICT) use for rural e-governance: An ecology perspective’, by Shou et al. (2025), analyses various ICT applications that could enhance e-governance within the different sectors of rural landscapes. The theoretical foundation of the paper is the ecological perspective (e.g., Nardi and O'Day 2000) which has been adopted and applied in the IS literature to explore diverse phenomena (e.g., Miranda et al. 2022; Wang 2021). In the context of rural e-governance, the lens of ecology emphasises the heterogeneity and intricate relationships between different elements within rural digital ecosystems. Based on the ecological perspective, this study adopts a research method which combines a quantitative investigation of the significant but varying impacts of ICT utilisation on rural e-governance, with a qualitative analysis for identifying a diverse set of challenges in rural e-governance and proposing a set of strategies. These strategies can offer guidance for policymakers in addressing the identified challenges and advancing rural e-governance. Overall, this study is positioned in the top right area of the research framework, as it unpacks the interconnected, ICT-based ecosystem in rural regions and develops valuable intervention strategies for policymakers.

The second paper, ‘Can information and communication technology drive effective spatial governance in rural areas? Emergence of e-participation ecosystem from rural China’ by Tong et al. (2025), focuses on the design and use of ICTs for spatial and territorial governance (Angelidou 2014; Dadashpoor and Yousefi 2018; Gagliardi et al. 2017; Santinha and Anselmo de Castro 2010; Sun et al. 2021, 2024) in the context of rural areas. Specifically, the research reports on the design, implementation and outcome of an ICT-based technique, involving the collaborative efforts of designers, government officials and villagers in rural communities. While the study also demonstrates the value of ICTs in rural e-governance, compared to the other papers in the special issue, this study concentrates on a specific instance of technology and its use case and impact, which places the study in the bottom left area of the research framework.

The third paper, ‘How do information and communication technology platforms shape rural e-governance: The case of Zhao-lou Village on the WeCounty platform’, by Chen, Cheng, et al. (2025), analyses the impact of a digital platform on policy deployment. Specifically, the study has shown how the platform can shape the tension and interaction between key stakeholders, including local governments and villagers, in the rural context. Using positivist case studies as research strategy (Su 2018; Yin 2014), The paper's findings offer nuanced insights into the mechanisms by which ICT influences rural e-governance. For example, the study finds that facing the tension between governments and villagers, digital platforms and related activities could enhance interaction between the two stakeholders and ultimately promote a compromise, thereby contributing to effective policy deployment. Overall, this study can be positioned in the middle area of the research framework, as the study seeks to link an individual digital platform to ICT-enabled social processes surrounding the platform, while unpacking the connection between technology and policy.

In summary, existing research in multiple disciplines has explored the important, complex and dynamic domain of rural e-governance. Globally, as ICTs rapidly advance and the socioeconomic environments in rural regions evolve, new opportunities and challenges arise in these traditionally underserved and understudied communities, presenting unique questions for academics, policymakers and practitioners in both public and private sectors. Among different academic fields, IS could be in a unique position, with the potential to bridge learning from different disciplines and offer important insights into designing ICT-related solutions for rural e-governance. The research framework presented in this paper has highlighted the versatility and diversity of IS research. Based on the framework, we identify several potential avenues for future research.

This article is based on the existing literature.