ICT PENETRATION AND UTILIZATION IN LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN KENYA: THE STATUS AND IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

Effective penetration and utilisation of ICT in the  public service for high-end value-adding operations in local government is crucial to enhance effective and efficient services that satisfy the citizens and other stakeholders.ICT penetration and utilization in the local government has not reached the levels necessary to reap the benefits ofICT in service delivery. This study sought to find out the status of ICT penetration and utilization and what the observed status implies. Three councils were purposively selected for this study. Stratified random sampling wasemployed to obtain respondents within the councils. Eighty respondents were obtained with a ratio of proportional allocation being used to allocate proportionate samples to the councils and their departments based on the respective staff populations. An ICT penetration and utilization index was developed based on a custom-made weighting. Pearson Moment of Correlation Coefficient and test of statistical significance were  used to compare the strength of linear relationship between the index and ICT resources with descriptive statistics beingused to analyze the results. ICT penetration and utilization was found to have a significant linear relationship withICT resources, the level of education, age, length of service and the job scale of staff. Great  investment in ICT resources and better educated staff was recommended towards improved ICT penetration and utilization in local authorities.