Effectiveness of Government’s e-Communication in Tanzania: Survey of Dar es Salaam Residents

Abstract

As governments recognize the capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create a favourable socioeconomic shift for the populace, digital technologies continue to open up exciting opportunities around the world. This paper presents part of the findings of the research titled “Effectiveness of Government’s e-Communication in Tanzania: Survey of Dar es Salaam Residents.” The paper set out to explore the views on the government’s e-communication services in Tanzania from Dar es Salaam residents. The study relied on the Technology Acceptance Model, which is relevant to the study, as it shows that the majority of the respondents became more interested in e-communications services owing to the ease of use of such services. Likewise, when e-communication devices are deemed difficult by some government officials, there is a likelihood of limited or no use of such e-communication services. The study relied on a survey design, where 150 respondents from selected households in Dar es Salaam were sampled with a structured questionnaire about their knowledge of the e-communication services offered by the various government departments in Tanzania. The majority of the respondents (54%) showed that they had accessed various types of e-communications services; however, one of the drawbacks was that 46% of respondents did not take some of these services very seriously, as they believed that such services were not as efficient as they had thought. Despite the shortcomings associated with e-communications, when asked about the usefulness of e-communication services, the majority of the respondents (46%) strongly agreed that, indeed, the government’s e-communication services were critical. It can be concluded that given the wave of technological advancements sweeping across the globe, the government is supposed to strengthen ICT services and the capacity of its officials for more service delivery. This study recommends the need for an e-communication policy and strategic plan as one of the ways to improve the use and promotion of e-communication services in almost all government departments.