IT Governance Practices in a Public Organization in Ghana

Abstract

The strategic importance of information technology (IT) in today's organizations and dependence on IT to support e-government strategies has increased the interest in IT Governance (ITG) in public sector organizations. From this perspective, this paper examines ITG practices in a public organization in Ghana (that has a responsibility to mobilize revenue for national development) in order to gain an insight into IT governance structures, processes and relational mechanisms and understand how this contributes to adding value through IT. The findings have revealed that this public organization has a centralized approach to IT governance, with inadequate board involvement concerning how IT investments can bring value and improve organizational performance. Furthermore, there are no IT steering and strategy committees to oversee IT governance as best practice requires.