Abstract
Most e-government literature examines outcomes and potential benefits. Yet it is also important to explore the actual process of developing and implementing e-government systems in specific institutional and political environments. In this paper, we analyze the process of developing a website with the Municipal Council of Ruiru in Kenya, a country undergoing democratization and devolution of power. How to support a process that would enable the website to catalyze and support reforms in local government emerged as an important question in this context. We found strategically linking universities and local technology firms to government and fostering their interactions within e-government implementation a helpful approach. Conducting focus group discussions in the course of a participatory design process and discussing each stage of website development with key actors in the government helped bring citizen voices into the process and the final website content. Overall, for the website project to actually help improve government we found it is critical to go beyond participatory design towards a strategic, flexible and longer-term process of engagement in "e-politics", the political negotiations over the use and control of the technology by the government.
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