Analyzing the Interaction of Barriers in E-Governance Implementation for Effective Service Quality: Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

Abstract E-Governance is being encouraged in most of the countries of the world for providing effective e-services to their citizens. In India, many planned e-governance projects under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) could not be implemented effectively due to various implementation barriers. In this study, the objective is to identify and analyze the key barriers which impede effective implementation of Indian e-governance projects. Based on literature review and experts’ opinion, 14 key barriers in the implementation of e-governance are identified. This is the first type of article where the causal model for understanding the relationship among identified barriers is developed by using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Then, further, the barriers are categorized as drivers, dependent, autonomous, and linkage variables based on their driving and dependence power with the help of MICMAC Analysis. Out of 14 barriers, 6 have been identified as dependent barriers, 6 as driver barriers, and 2 as linkage barriers. No barrier is identified as autonomous barrier. Lack of political will is found to be the most crucial driving barrier in implementing e-governance projects. This study is expected to provide useful inputs to practitioners in terms of crafting better implementation strategies for better service quality of e-governance initiatives.