Rhetoric vs. Realities in Implementation of E-Government Master Plan in Nepal

Abstract

This study discusses different facets of implementation of e-government in Nepal. With the background theoretical information about e-government in general, the Nepalese case of e-government initiatives is discussed with a specific focus on the “e-government Master Plan.” Important pillars of any e-government initiatives, namely infrastructure, human resources, institutions, and policy and legal aspects are looked into from the perspective of feasibility of e-government implementation in Nepal. While doing so, Heeks’s e-government success/failure model has been taken into consideration accounting for different dimensions, namely information, technology, process, objectives and values, staffing and skills, management systems and structures, and other resources, which are responsible to create design reality gap thereby jeopardizing the success of e-government projects. This study is the first in the Nepalese perspective, which tries to analyze the constraints in e-government implementation resulted from shortcomings in infrastructure, human resources, institutions, and policy and legal aspects. The authors believe that failure of e-GMP to achieve targeted objectives by the end of 2011 can also be attributed to these factors. The insights inferred can be useful in facilitating a smoother implementation of the master plan related to e-government.