Development and Validation of an Information System Implementation Readiness Assessment Tool for Government Organizations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the current government is heading for a major digitalization programme to streamlining the administrative processes of government organizations with the view of expediting workflows improving their services. Past experience shows that many such major transformations, in both in public and private sectors, have failed. One major reason behind experiencing such problems associated with digitalization programs has been the lack of readiness with respect to implementation of information systems (IS). Assessment of readiness with respect to implementation of IS is a critical prerequisite for addressing the anticipated problems in future digitalization programs. A comprehensive literature review of a wide spectrum of published research articles in reputed journals, points to the fact that there are neither IS implementation readiness frameworks nor comprehensive instruments for making such assessments suitable for public sector organizations. This is particularly true to government sector in the context of Sri Lanka, where the social, cultural and other environmental aspects are somewhat unique. Therefore, this research aims to a comprehensive IS readiness framework and an instrument that can be used to assess the IS implementation readiness in government organizations focusing on Sri Lanka, to bridge the abovementioned knowledge gap. This paper presents the results of the first phase of this study dedicated to developing the framework that explains the implementation of IS readiness and the associated instrument. After a comprehensive literature review, a tentative conceptual framework has been developed for using it as the basis to refine the IS readiness framework through qualitative investigations. A series of one-on-one interviews with IS professionals in universities and practitioners, including those in the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Local Government were conducted. The interview findings were then analysed as an expert opinion review to derive the framework with 07 dimensions and 31 measurement items. These findings are to be used in the next phase of investigation to develop a valid and reliable IS implementation readiness instruments applicable to government organizations in Sri Lanka.