| Author | Seneviratne, Helawikum Athauda |
| Subject(s) | Rural development project--Sri Lanka
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| Note | A thesis report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Information and Communications Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | A well adapted Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) help improve the standard of living of rural communities and increase their income levels, as a result facilitating the elimination of constant poverty. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to support rural development. The success of rural ICT projects is affected by a number of challenges. The study was carried out to establish the current status of e-rural development project implementations and to determine the critical factors affecting the success of implementing e-rural development projects in Sri Lanka. It also helped identifying the challenges in implementing e-rural development projects and to analyze whether the e-rural development implementations align with the Sri Lankan government ICT policy.
On evaluating some of the implementation models via a literature survey, the survey-based method was selected to analyze experiences in implementing e-rural development. This was accomplished by identifying success factors related to IT/IS and e-rural development/e-government projects based on literature survey. Through personal interviews with 22 project implementation team members from government and private organizations, the relevance of critical success factors identified through the literature survey was validated. Six senior officers of ICT policy making bodies in Sri Lanka were interviewed in order to measure the effect of ICT policies on the successful implementation of e-rural development projects. The feedback was received from 87 end-users from two Grama Niladhari Divisions in Kegalle District through a closed ended questionnaire, which was distributed among them to measure the post-implementation success of e-rural development projects. The study findings were statistically analyzed in order to draw conclusions.
The research outcome indicates that there are several successfully implemented projects in order to provide government services to the rural community. In addition, there are a few projects in the pipeline. The factors ‘Sustainability’, ‘Usage’ and Intangible benefits’ are considered as key factors in measuring the e-rural development system post implementation success. In the investigation, the top ten critical success factors identified were: Clear Project Goals/Objectives, Top management support, End user commitment, Involvement & training, Choosing appropriate technology, Effective communication and information sharing, Vendor support and commitment, Leadership style (Effective decision making), Focusing on demand driven needs, Technological infrastructure and realistic Schedule. Based on the key research findings, most of the e-rural development related areas are covered by the e-government policy in providing e-rural services. But it has been emphasized by many researchers that having an e-rural development policy would improve the success of e-rural development projects. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Information and Communications Technologies (DICT) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Information and Communication Technology (ICT) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ahmed, Kazi Mohiuddin;Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Poompat Saengudomlert; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Sri Lanka.Ministry of Youth Affairs.Technical Education Development Project;AIT Fellowship; |