Information technology directorate challenges and its impact on service delivery of the North West province government

Abstract

The effective use of information technology (IT) compounded under e-Government has become a major element of the delivery of service by Governments including the North West Provincial Government (NWPG). To this end, there have been policies initiated by the NWPG with the aim of augmenting the intention to use IT. The use IT requires efficiency where the costs involved result in commensurate return on investment at the various levels of Government namely; national, provincial and local. The Government like other organizations faces the challenge of retaining critical skills especially related to IT. Retention of human resource can partly be attributed to budgetary constraints faced by the Government on how to effectively use limited finances. The key findings of the study revealed the high turnover of staff in the IT Division has affected the delivery of service by the NWPG resulting in the lack of effective and efficient function of the IT Division. Most IT staff leave the IT Division for better jobs in the private sector. This is because of lack of competitive incentives, which include competitive salaries and organizational structure and lack of career progression. Challenges faced by the IT Division emanate from budgetary constraints. There has been a failure to integrate strategic planning of the IT Division, and the Treasury Department with the service Departments. Integration of strategic plans maybe the underlying factor to this challenge faced by the IT Division.