ATENG, Victor Muganda

Title: Assessment of Public Value of ICT Investment in County Governance: A case of Homa Bay County.

Abstract:

Public value is used when evaluating the performance of e-government. Furthermore, the performance of e-government is assessed from the citizen’s perspective. Transparency, participation, and collaboration in county governments’ processes should be viewed as means toward desirable ends, rather than administrative ends in themselves, as they appear to be currently treated. The creation of public value is the goal of public organizations; through public value, public organizations meet public goals with respect to substantive benefits as well as the intrinsic value of better government.Data was collected through questionnaires from residents, leaders and staff of Homa Bay County.Considering the nature of e-government in Kenya, four dimensions of public value creation through e-government were considered. These dimensions outline the four different ways of creating public value including the delivery of public services, the achievement of desirable outcomes, the development of trust, and the effectiveness of public organisations. The study recommends that a sensitization be done among the county residents of Homa bay on the existing electronic government channels they can use to access County services to allow more uptake of the ICT technologies for their own good. There is need to increase the services being provided through ICT e-government platforms to quicken up take of the ICT systems. This coupled with support on the usage and supporting systems such as infrastructure and power will help more services to be done through ICT platforms and more residents to use them. Going forward, the county needs to assess the public needs and how such needs can be handled through investments in ICT to increase the level of public value derived from the county’s ICT investments.