Exploring the Opportunities for Internet Usage in Fostering Transparency and Accountability Within Government Agencies in Uganda.

RESEARCH QUESTION 

The research questions are: What are the opportunities for the Internet in service delivery? What are the capacity gaps hindering the utilization of the Internet by government agencies in the effort to improve transparency and accountability in service delivery? The research takes place in Uganda.  

WHY IS THIS RESEARCH IMPORTANT? 

Despite having Internet infrastructure, only a few government institutions utilize the Internet for citizen engagement, many of them with less interactive online presence, denying the over 12 million Internet users access to information. The government has consistently closed various Internet platforms for mostly political interest, limiting people’s access to information, which is pivotal to transparency and accountability. Despite having an Access to Information Act, Uganda continues to uphold and pass legislation that limits openness. 

There is a need to explore the gaps and opportunities for utilizing the Internet for transparency and accountability in Uganda, and to dig deeper into the unofficial/not-documented reasons limiting Internet access and openness of the government through online channels. This forms the basis for this research project. 

METHODOLOGY  

The study is designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data on the usage of the Internet for service delivery, transparency and accountability amongst four groups of respondents, namely Political Leaders, Public Administrators, Public Servants and Service Users, covering all the regions of Uganda. The methodological design includes (1) scoping and documents review; (2) structured interviews of public servants in ministries, local governments, public primary schools and public health facilities; (3) key informant interviews with government institutions heads as well as the local leaders; (4) focus group discussions with the users of public services and users of government information; (5) a national Stakeholders Consultative Workshop (NSCW) with public administrators (Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) and Personnel Officers); and (6) a service delivery scorecard module piggy-backed on the Government Annual Performance Report. The primary data collected is supplemented by secondary data and information from relevant documents such as the CSO reports and performance assessment reports. 

MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS 

See below for research publications and other articles related to the research. 

https://softpower.ug/research-to-examine-role-of-digitization-in-service-delivery-among-govtinstitutions-launched/ 
https://chimpreports.com/data-integration-in-govt-mdas-to-speed-up-service-deliverystakeholders/ 
https://trustednewsug.com/index.php/2022/12/16/evidence-and-method-lab-launches-a-newproject-on-fostering-transparency-in-govt-agencies-using-internet/ 
https://nilepost.co.ug/2022/12/16/new-study-to-examine-role-of-digitization-in-improvingservice-delivery-among-govt-institutions/ 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zsy1KaMRsHAEMOiLsoer275m7LLSyFrO?usp=share_link 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1egiev-DGDQgs1u07z5IC8WSIeSSJzi2u?usp=share_link