CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This opening chapter reveals the historic evolution of the basic concepts under study which is Information and Communication Technology and governance. That is how it originated, evolve to present day. Secondly, the general statement of the problem will be presented, research questions posed, objectives of the study stated and research hypotheses numerated which will be tested.

• Background of the Study

John Mauchly,J Presper Eckert,Jr.(1980)Electronic Numerical Integration and Computer (ENIA),The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania led a government-funded project to build an all- electronic computer known as the first programmable general-purpose electronic computer, built during the World War II by the United States.The term Information Technology evolved in the 1970’s. Its basic concept, however, can be traced to the World War II alliance of the military and industry in the development of electronics, computers and information devices. After the 1940’s the military has remained the main source of research and development funding for the expansion of automation to replace manpower with machine used. The first computer had the size of a house and was installed permanently in one location but as time passes and technology evolved, there was improvement in its capacity (memory, processing speed and storage capacity) and a reduction in size.

Kroker,(2010); Yonck(2010) elaborates the use of computers and technology today has become fundamental to the operation of organization and the society. Information is carried out at a high speed within and across various communication networks. These allow the transfer of massive amounts of information in a matter of seconds, enabling humans to advance in a multitude of ways. These include the transfer of real-communication across great distance

On the other hand, governance can be historically traced from the following stages; Humans once lived in family groups as part of extended clans. The search for resources prompts the clans to move around in search for scared resources which further divided into kingdoms.  Kingdoms emerged with the disappearance of clans and agriculture emerged and people settled. These settlements came along with kings and taxation because there was the threat of invasion which required strong rulers, coordinated actions capable of defending resources against enemies and threatening kingdoms. From kingdoms, emerged empires where dominant Kingdoms developed new tactics to protect themselves and secure more resources. They expanded by suppression of people in new territories and governance emerged to manage the increasing complexity of the new empires. From empires, we have democratic governance where leaders are voted into positions. Nowadays, with well-defined governance processes, organizations or institutions can gain a strategic advantage over others as they systematically evaluate and improve their processes and services, leading these organizations or institutions to perform better and, consequently, to be more competitive, effective and efficient. There is a link between Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and improved governance, providing a competitive advantage for organizations, institutions and citizens. The adoption of adequate and mature ICT processes, allows managers and their employees to provide services with quality and transparency, especially in relation to the management of public ICT resources. In this context, stakeholders need to manage, measure, and monitor the ICT goods and services offered to citizens. In addition, the decentralization of ICT services should allow the use of practices that improve the supervision and accountability of poor management of ICT resources by the Public Administration, considerably mitigating the monopoly of information by some stakeholders. ICT Governance should be understood as the use of well-aligned processes to improve the governance of ICT resources by all stakeholders, including business, government, and citizens alike. Improvements in ICT governance incorporate improvements, among others, on the respect for Organizations in a country, citizen participation, and the delivery of quality public goods and services. Thus, ICT processes in organizations, whether public or private, are a basic factor to achieve better efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness. Therefore, understanding how organizations manage their activities and how they formulate and align their ICT processes becomes an essential factor for organizational success. Thus, this work aims to diagnose the ICT practice in the management of resources and the timely realization of projects and governance in Bamenda I, II, and III municipality. A diagnosis of ICT processes is important to identify the processes that councils need to implement in order to manage its ICT resources and improve their performance. In addition, the Mezam council’s needs to improve its ICT processes optimize the use of ICT resources and reinforce best practices in relation to ICT management so that the organization can achieve its goals and excel in providing services to other government agencies and the citizens. The main goal is to analyze and verify the ICT processes of governance and to carry out a compliance analysis of the ICT Solutions Contract Planning process with the rules that govern ICT solutions.

The main contribution of this work was to identify the current scenario of information and communication in relation to its governance processes, mainly in relation to the processes already implemented, as well as ICT processes that need to be fully implemented. The term governance has become increasingly discussed and practiced by organizations.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance, the growth, evolution, and complexity of organizations, as well as the Information transformations of the contemporary world, lead to the need to better define roles, rules, and processes. Governance has applications in different areas of knowledge, with different meanings.

Fiorini et al, defines governance as a consequence of the evolution of corporate societies that led to the separation of ownership and management between the owners of the companies and those hired to manage them the managers, conflicts of interest arose, called agency problem, which is one of the main points contributing to the emergence of corporate governance. “Corporate Governance is the system by which companies and other organizations are managed, monitored and encouraged, involving the relationships between partners, the board of directors, supervisory and control agencies and other stakeholders”. In recent years, one of the areas that have most evolved was Information and Communication Technology (ICT), not only in the technical scope but also in the strategic scope.

Tuzzolo states that, without a mature ICT organization that promotes a competitive advantage through its processes, there is no company that can remain competitive in any market.

 According to Haes and Grembergen ICT has become crucial in companies’ support, sustainability, and growth. Previously, boards of directors and executives could delegate, ignore, or avoid ICT decisions. Today, in most sectors and industries, such attitudes are impossible, as companies increasingly depend on ICT for their survival and growth.

Weill and Ross aiming to capture the simplicity of ICT Governance, defines it as “the specification of decision rights and the framework of responsibilities to stimulate desirable behaviors in the use of ICT”. The authors also explain the important distinction between governance, which determines who makes decisions, and management, which is the process of making and implementing decisions. According to them, effective ICT Governance must address three questions:

• What decisions must be made to ensure the management and effective use of ICT?
• Who should make these decisions? And
• How will these decisions be made and monitored?

E-Governance is a process of using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to transform the functioning of the government or institutions. E-Governance concept has emerged in the 1990’s, as to sharing expertise, experiences among the administrative and the society to a larger extent. E-Governance means a system in which the services to people are provided by the administration through a controlling mechanism by having steps like, information, interaction, transaction and transformation made possible by ICT’s. These four steps constitute a complete cycle. It starts with a person collecting data/information about people services needs and simultaneously making it to deliver final result. A nation which works on such a system, permits flow of all the phases of entire cycle without any hindrance, can be said as an example of good governance to possess and practice good governance. Good Governance is the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good of her citizens.

This includes;

 (i) The process by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced, (ii) The capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies, and

(iii) The respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.

The process of E-Government i.e. Electronic Government is the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to run or carry on the business of the Government of a Country. However the term E-government is misleading, as it may imply an electronic substitute for the physical government. Electronic substitution of a government is not possible as Government is a unit of people coming together to administer a country. A Government is a group of people responsible for the administration and control of a Country/State. It involves people like the Heads of States, Ministers, Government Employees, etc. It also involves public participation. Therefore, E-Government may only refer to a Government using Information and Communication Technology such as computers, network infrastructure (internet, intranet), with the use of web based services in conducting its business. The term ‘Governance’ is wider than ‘Government’. Governance may be an activity of governing/controlling a country by its Government, controlling of an organization or a company by its CEO or Board of Directors or controlling of a house hold by the head of the house, Accordingly E-governance may also involve governing of a country, organization, company or a household, however with the help of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). But when we talk of E-Governance in the popular parlance we only refer to the governing of a Country/State using ICT. E-governance therefore means the application of ICT to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of exchange of information and transaction; Between Governments, between Government agencies, between Government and Citizens, between Government and businesses. E-governance also aims to empower people through giving them access to information. Governance is a process of information sharing, disseminating between the Government and Citizens, Government and Businesses and Government and Government. E-Governance also covers all these relationships as follows:  Government to Citizen (G2C), Citizen to Government (C2G), Government to Government (G2G), and Government to Business (G2B).

1.2 Statement of the problem

Here, the researcher is seeking to investigate the possible outcome that will generate as a result of non-integration of Information and Communication Technology such as: Firstly, THE COMPUTER which is further divided into software’s (application programs, also known as utility programs) which is used to perform different tasks or problem solving) and the hardware’s(which includes computer components, the physical and tangible parts that is the electrical, electronic and mechanical parts which comprise a computer. Secondly, NETWORK systems made of: LAN (Local Area Network), which is a network system that covers relatively a small geographical. WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), and WAN (Wide Area Network).Thirdly, the Internet which is a global system comprised of interconnected computers and computer networks, which communicate by means of TCP/IP protocols.

Lastly, Mobile telephone which are most reliable in case of failure of the above means of communication such as the computer and the internet

1.3 Research Questions

1. a) How does the Computer as an Information and Communication Technology tool has an impacting governance
2. b) To what extent can networks brings about a change on governance?
3. c) What does the non-integration of mobile telephones has on governance

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study is to identify the effects of Information and Communication Technology on governance to enhance serving citizens at their locations at any time using Information and Communication Technology and web based services.

-To determine role played by the computer on Governance to foster development, accountability, and transparency etc.

-To ascertain the role played by network systems on local Governance.

-Find-out the change brought about as the integration of mobile telephones in local governance.