An overview of the challenges faced in Zanzibar as well as in one other exemplar "developing country" as regards the evolution, and adoption of IT/Corporate Governance standards in the public sector
E-governance entails the adoption of acceptable information and communication technologies by the government with an aim of achieving efficiency and effectiveness in all government sectors. However, the process of adopting IT standards faces numerous challenges. Zanzibar is one among the developing nations in which the challenges are evident, a fact that limit the extent to which coherent information systems are beneficial to the government. Zanzibar’s public sector lags behind the private sector in implementing reputable information security standards. This is ascribed to the lack of training and awareness programs in information security in the nation as well as in other developing countries like Somalia. Coupled with the low level of professionalism, it becomes difficult to lay down the basis of a credible system (Davison, 2005, p. 23). The other challenge is the lack of adequate legal framework for the establishment of a credible system (Viscusi, et al., 2010, p. 121). In Zanzibar, there is a legitimate framework that recognizes intellectual property rights and interference with data, but the Act does not recognize evidence collected electronically for the purpose of criminal prosecution. This situation leaves a lacuna in the law that can be manipulated to avert criminal liability after a breach of information security. Other challenges include poor business continuity management, impecunious web application security standards, and necessitous confidentiality mechanism. To address these shortcomings there is a need to engage reasonable reforms in good governance that would assist Zanzibar and other developing countries can unlock the potential held by IS.
The extent to which Corporate Governance can operate as a reliable "proxy" for trust as regards E-Governance
The attendant structures and their modus operandi are the unique features of corporate governance that make it possible for corporate governance principles to be employable in e-governance. The concept of e-governance is likely to benefit from credible structures that will exist in ideal corporate governance (Dhameja, 2005, p. 67). The Zanzibar investigation revealed that at least fifty percent of public entities surveyed were at an intermediate level of adopting e-government. Through principles of corporate governance, the management of institutions that offer public services are able to commit to their mandate; which will in most cases go beyond mere service delivery (Dada, 2006, p. 6). A proper e-governance framework works towards providing solutions based on a platform that seeks to lower the cost government initiatives, cost of development, and cost of deployment. Other principles of corporate governance that can be applied in e-governance are those of resource management, records are kept and record accessibility.
The Role that International E-Governance standards might have to play in the future evolution of E-Governance both in developed and in developing countries
The United States, the United Kingdom, and the New Zealand among other numerous countries had initiated steps to ensure that structured e-government programmes are established by 2001. This became possible following the role these exemplar nations played in identifying the general advantages of e-governance such as better provision of services, cost effectiveness and efficiency, greater participation by the public in government, and providing better leadership (Finger & Sultana, 2012, p. 32). A five-stage evolution model that determines the recognition of any developed or developing country as an implementer of e-governance was released in 2008 by the United Nations. The model covers roles such interconnection among government agencies, interconnection between any central and local government, proper infrastructure, connection between the government and the citizens, and the connection among all stakeholders; government, private sector, academic institutions, NGOs and the civil society (United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2010, p. 34). Demonstrating all these levels of interconnectedness makes a government to be regarded as at the epitome of e-governance. It is the role of the of the International standards of e-governance to provide a benchmark upon which developed and developing countries can gauge their systems in order to see if any improvements need to be made. Reductions in the cost of running government projects among other advantages posed by e-governance are ultimately bound to attract all countries (Alshehri & Drew, 2010, p. 15).
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