In general, e-Government projects have high rates of failure. Failure rates are even higher in developing countries; by some measures, more than 60-80% of projects are partial or total failures. See United Nations, World Public Sector Report 2003, “E-Government at the Crossroads” (October 2003), p. 60. Many of these failures can be attributed to gaps between information system design and user needs and capabilities. For example, an evaluation of the oft-cited Gyandoot project, a rural e-Government program in India’s Kerala province, found that the project was not well-matched to user needs.

Accordingly, the e-Government planning process would benefit from consultation with the citizens and businesses who are the main “customers” of e-Government, to identify their needs. By involving the members of the community the e-Government program expects to serve, planners can identify factors in the local environment that must be addressed effectively in order to promote project success. Infrastructure constraints, the objectives of key stakeholders, funding limitations, and the status of human capital development will all have a bearing on the success of e-Government programs.

Those developing an e-Government strategy should consult with the business community, with local governments, which may want to link their local e-Government applications to national systems, and with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). If these stakeholders can help shape e-Government projects in ways that meet their needs, they will be more likely to use those services and support the push towards e-Government. There is another reason to involve the business community in the planning process: the private sector is likely to be involved in developing relevant applications and providing support and maintenance for e-Government systems. NGOs may have useful expertise in ICTs and may be able to assist in organizing citizen consultations. They can also be helpful in building public awareness of projects once launched.

One country that has used the consultative process to good effect is Canada, which has put over 130 government services online. The chronology of the Government On-Line project shows careful planning, including stakeholder consultation.

Resources on Stakeholder Consultation:

• “Citizens’ participation in eGov planning in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.”
• Richard Heeks, “Most e-Government-for-Development Projects Fail: How Can Risks be Reduced?” (2003)