Manoj Maharaj

E-government is widely believed to play a significant role in improving the public service delivery system in developing countries. Yet, its adoption and utilization amongst citizens remain a subject of concern amongst government policy makers. This study aims to investigate moderating factors that influence citizens’ decisions to adopt and utilize e-government services in the SADC region. The study adopts the extended UTAUT2 model as a theoretical underpinning, backed by recent literature on e-government adoption to advance and test an e-government adoption model. Empirical quantitative data for validating the proposed model was collected from 247 participants using self-administered questionnaires.
In analyzing the empirical data, five moderating demographic factors affecting citizens’ behavioral intention to adopt e-government services were tested and confirmed. The study found that only four moderating factors (age, level of education, the location of residence, and vernacular language) positively influenced citizens’ intention to adopt e-government. The study concludes by drawing attention to insights on moderating factors affecting e-government adoption, thereby casting more light to success factors and gray areas for failed adoption.

The role of knowledge management as a strategic intervention in higher education in developing economies has not been studied extensively. Higher education plays a central role in a country’s economy through knowledge creation and dissemination to its stakeholders. The main purpose of this article was to examine the role and influence of knowledge management in decision-making and strategy formulation at leading universities in Africa and to establish if knowledge management was adding value and competitiveness to the institutions. A survey across 20 leading African universities was conducted in 2014. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted. The results show that knowledge management does have the potential to positively influence institutional strategy formulation, but should ideally be represented at executive level for its potential to be fully realized. More knowledge management practice is needed in the areas of academic teaching and learning, and research. There was a lack of sophisticated and powerful knowledge management Information Systems in most of Africa’s leading institutions. Those institutions that utilized KM more strategically, inclusive of specialized KM Information Systems were the higher ranked institutions. This suggests that knowledge management could play a crucial role in a University’s success and competitiveness.