External Saas Readiness Influences Towards Improved E-Government Implementation in the Public Sector

The world has seen a multitude of innovations and advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The use of ICT significantly changes the business operations of the private and public sectors. These sectors utilize ICT to improve business operations. The South African public sector adopted an Electronic Government (e-Government) policy, a public service Information Technology (IT) policy framework in 2001. In an effort to implement e-Government, the South Africa (SA) public sector embarked on nationwide initiatives including e-filling, the National Traffic Information System, Smart Identification Document, and the Department of Home Affairs National Information System. Despite the efforts and initiatives, the benefits have not yet been fully realized. This is due to several challenges such as lack of resources, a high level of digital illiteracy, inadequate ICT infrastructure, and insufficient budget. In the midst of these e-Government challenges, one recent IT solution invention with the potential to speed up e-Government implementation is Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS is a cloud computing service model that has the highest level of abstraction as applications and software are offered as a service over the Internet. It is against this background that this paper investigates the external readiness influences for improved e-Government implementation in the public sector. To achieve this, the paper employs a mixed method approach, qualitative and qualitative methods. This study surveyed external SaaS influences towards E-Government in developing countries by selecting South Africa as a case study. Key findings of this study reveal that more government departments around the globe are migrating to SaaS to advance e-Government implementation. The finding further revealed that legislation compliance, political influence, budget constraints, government commitment to support SaaS, and IT industry support are vital external factors in the context of developing countries. Finally, the paper provides recommendations.