<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Good points raised thus far. <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">iHub Research conducted a study in 2014, assessing how ICTs facilitate/hinder two-way interaction between citizens and governments in four key areas: access to information, tracking corruption, monitoring/accessing government service delivery, and citizen participation. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The study was carried out in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In Kenya, we looked at Nairobi and Nakuru (where infrastructure to support access to eGovernment services exists to some extent), and very interesting insights emerged. A one page summary on the study’s findings and recommendations is accessible <a href="http://www.ihub.co.ke/ict4gov" class="">here</a>. The full report can be downloaded <a href="http://www.ihub.co.ke/downloads/ict_4_gov_report.pdf" class="">here</a>; the report is in an easy-to-read format, highlighting citizen’s voices and anecdotes on their interactions with ICTs). </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Key points:</div><div class="">1. <b class="">SMS and radio are still king! </b>To disseminate information, raise awareness to many, and especially in rural areas, those two mechanisms remain the most effective. And, as Grace pointed out, if SMS queries can be sent at no cost to users, then many citizens are likely to leverage them. </div><div class=""><i class="">Recommendation</i>: <span style="text-align: justify;" class="">Non-Internet based ICTs used in governance such as mobile phones and radios need to be integrated more in ICT and governance initiatives since they are the most widely used and most accessible.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="">2. <b class="">User experience on government websites:</b> "<span style="text-align: justify;" class=""><i class="">Citizens only visit governance-related sites that are a priority for their needs at a specific time, and even then, they reported that the websites are clunky and ugly. User experience is not a key factor in the creation of these websites.</i></span><span style="text-align: justify;" class=""> “ The iTax platform and KRA website were a common reference on this. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><i class="">Recommendation</i>: embrace <a href="http://www.ihub.co.ke/uxlab" class="">user experience considerations</a> before deploying or upgrading ICT tools. </div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><span style="text-align: justify;" class="">3. <b class="">Design- reality gap:</b> "</span><i class="">citizen consultations do not seem to inform the creation or prioritization of eGovernment efforts.” </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><i class="">Recommendation: </i>The design of ICT initiatives in governance that are meant to facilitate two-way interaction between citizens and government should include the input of citizens who are intended to use them. </div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><i class="">4. </i>A major hurdle faced in the deployment and use of ICT tools in governance is <b class="">a lack of trust in the government</b>, as well as <b class="">apathy among citizens </b>that is brought about by perceived government failure to respond to complaints or issues raised along various governance lines. As one FGD participant put it: <i class="">“If my going to the office, physical presence, does not inspire the [government] official to act on a problem, how will communication using their websites or Facebook be different?” </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><i class="">Recommendation: </i>eGovernment services need to activate interaction and feedback mechanisms, including transparent response mechanisms to queries raised or complaints. (Government officials indicated that resources to facilitate this are often lacking). </div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="">5. <span style="text-align: center; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Lack of involvement of citizens (who are the primary target/end users of most of the ICT tools for governance) in the development of ICTs for governance leads to poor prioritization of the citizens’ needs. Awareness creation about the existence of these tools, why and how they should be used is not done by the implementers of the tools.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="">We hope that the study’s findings and recommendations prove useful.</div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class=""><span style="text-align: justify;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 18 Jan 2016, at 13:03, <a href="mailto:kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke" class="">kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a> wrote: </div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><span style="font-family: Constantia; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important;" class=""><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>ICT Authority request on Connected Kenya</span></div></blockquote></div><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; 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font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Constantia; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;" class=""><div style="font-family: Constantia;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font color="#000000" class="">Regards,</font></div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="">Nanjira Sambuli</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td height="20" valign="bottom" style="margin: 0px;" class=""><font size="2.5" class=""></font></td></tr><tr class=""><td height="15" valign="bottom" style="margin: 0px;" class=""><font color="#949494" size="1" class="">Research Lead</font></td></tr></tbody></table><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><div class=""></div></div><div style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: small; widows: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="font-size: 11px; color: rgb(51, 61, 71);" class=""><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td height="20" valign="bottom" style="margin: 0px;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="color: rgb(51, 61, 71); font-family: Constantia; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 61, 71); font-family: Constantia; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; 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