Title: Assessing SADC e-government maturity through the lens of its cities

Authors: Vusumuzi Maphosa; Mfowabo Maphosa

Addresses: Department of Information and Communication Technology Services, Lupane State University, P.O. Box 170, Lupane, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe; The Independent Institute of Education, ADvTECH House, Inanda Greens 54 Wierda Road West, Wierda Valley Sandton, 2196, South Africa ' Department of Information and Communication Technology Services, Lupane State University, P.O. Box 170, Lupane, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe; The Independent Institute of Education, ADvTECH House, Inanda Greens 54 Wierda Road West, Wierda Valley Sandton, 2196, South Africa

Abstract: Efforts to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) by municipalities in developing countries to improve access to information, service delivery, promote citizen participation and engagement is worth pursuing. This research sought to evaluate 41 Southern African Development Community (SADC) cities' websites to determine the e-government level each municipality had attained regarding information flow, transactional processing, and website usability. During a two-month observation period of the selected 41 cities, eight cities did not have websites, 11 were not available, leaving 22 websites for evaluation. The evaluation was based on a heuristic assessment matrix we developed based on information maturity level and usability. The results revealed that most municipality websites excelled in one-way information flow and two-way interaction while lacking advanced levels. Overall, cities in South Africa ranked highly in terms of evaluations. The results appeal to governments to develop policies that stimulate e-government initiatives.

Keywords: e-government; e-services; service maturity levels; usability; website evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2023.131726

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2023 Vol.19 No.4, pp.420 - 436

Received: 07 Feb 2021
Accepted: 15 Jun 2021
Published online: 30 Jun 2023 *

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