2. ICT Development and Organizational
Change in the Public Sector of
Afghanistan
By
Hidayatul Haq Hidayat
A dissertation will be submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of
Global Master in Public Administration On E-Government and E-Policy from Graduate School of
Governance, SUNGKYUNKWAN University (GSG-SKKU)
3. Key Aspects
This dissertation will explore THREE key aspects of ICT development efforts in the
public sector of Afghanistan:
Relations between ICT and managerial control in the Afghanistan public sector.
Processes of standardization in government information infrastructure development.
and …
The importance and complexities of boundary work in digital government
development efforts.
5. Research Questions
What are the current patterns of ICT development, adoption, innovation and use
in the public sector of Afghanistan?
What are the principle organizational barriers, limits, and consequences of ICT
development, adoption, innovation, and use in the public sector of Afghanistan?
How ICT affects public sector organizational structure rearrangements, and the
relationships among government employees.
How the adoption and use of ICTs affects different groups of government officials
in their working lives.
6. Research Methodologies
In particular, my research will focus on the change in organizational factors that
relate to hierarchical structures and lines of command, the roles and relationships
among officials within and across organizations, autonomy and power of different
groups of people in organizations, and work practices of officials at different levels
in organizational hierarchies.
My research will focus on organizational factors that changed, and those that did
not change as a result of the introduction of ICT.
Furthermore I am interested in the effect of technology at the individual level.
Therefore, I examine …
I. How technology affects government employees.
II. How government employees changed and/or were required to change their
work, and the roles and relationships between themselves.
III. How they adapted or developed workarounds to deal with change.
7. Qualitative Research Methods
This methodology involves extensive fieldwork and a variety of data collection methods
such as interviews, and archival analysis.
To understand the practices and patterns of ICT development, adoption, and use, and
their relationship with organizational change in Afghanistan bureaucracy in this Project,
so using qualitative methodologies will capture a range of variation in ICT practices and
their impacts on government agencies and officials.
I will employ an ethnographic study which include ethnographic observations and
semi-structured interviews. This project will be started as part of the requirements of
this course, where further Qualitative Methods, will be taught by Professor Su-Ho, BAE.
In that study, I will focus on those two central questions:
8. Challenges / Problems
“We (the ICT Center) have to be 100% sure that the MICT can link its national centralized
databases across different e-Document systems before we connect our networks and e-
Document Management System to the interoperable ones. We have to make sure that the
transition is seamless and the users are not at all affected by this transition. If we are not
absolutely certain, it is better to delay the ICT development projects than to have problems on
our end. The internal MCIT operation is our priority. The reliability and continuity of the system
are more critical here than connecting the system with other agencies (i.e. EDMS, CRD or E-Attendance
System). If the users report any problems with the system to the Minister or DM
(IT), Then we are failed.”
“Personal Communications in MCIT (June 2014)”
These are the 5 Main obstacles to ICT implementation in Afghanistan
Sustainability and scale
Lack of knowledge
Pace of change
Proper Funding
Changing roles and norms
9. Possible Research Findings
Following selected findings extend the understanding of ICT development and
organizational change in the public sector of Afghanistan.
First, information systems are used to reinforce existing hierarchical control power
and authority, leading to tensions and resistance to the systems and control.
Second, infrastructure development and standardization are a politically loaded
process provoking conflict among agencies competing for power and autonomy over
information resources.
Third, the effects of technology adoption on work practices and relationships among
officials are concentrated among lower- to middle-ranking officials, with relatively
little impact on the practices of higher-ranking officials.
Fourth, computerization does not necessarily increase the speed and efficiency of
public administration as paper-based practices are still dominantly in effect.
10. Vision
Within very few upcoming years most people of Afghanistan will benefit from the
equitable access to quality public information and IT services of high priority with
equal opportunities to men and women in a balanced manner across urban and
rural areas, reduced corruption, upgrade Literacy and improved security, stability
and participation in governance with everyone motivated and enabled to
contribute in the ICT Development in Afghanistan.
Keywords:-
i) ICT, Adoption, Use and Organizational Change.
ii) A Change in Your Mind can Change your Life to what you want.