An investigation into the effective use of Information and Communication Technology among public workers in the North West Provincial Government

Abstract

Information and communication technologies ICT use amongst public workers in government, simply has the potential to improve internal efficiency, speed up bureaucratic processes, reduce costs, capture economies of scale, bring all function areas closer and reach citizens within splits of seconds. North West Provincial Government has implementing information and communication technologies while concentrating on aspects such as human interaction with ICTs. This study aimed to investigate the effective use of ICT among public workers in the NWPG. It investigates the effect of certain hardware and software utilisation and the impact that the use of these ICTs have on the work of public workers. Several initiatives that are ICT related have been constituted in the past for mere ICT use in government and to improve service delivery. However, some of public workers are still reluctant to use the implemented ICTs effectively when performing their functions and acknowledging NWPG initiatives of ICT implementation in order to disseminate information and provide fast efficient and effective service delivery to South African citizens. The study was carried out using quantitative approach method through survey research. The results of the study then showed that public servants have access to ICT tools and applications to effectively process governmental work. The results further depicted the available ICT tools and applications were effectively used simply because public servants had good computer skills. However, some public servants experienced difficulties using windows 8 and 10 ( operating systems) and indicated that they needed training on the use of Microsoft office and transversal systems. The recommendations of the study are presented in the final chapter.