Barriers in local e–government partnership: evidence from Malaysia

This paper explores the implementation of an e–government partnership programme and discusses the barriers that have impeded its implementation in two local governments in Malaysia. Empirical evidence comes from 20 semi–structured interviews conducted with managers and users of e–government services. We found that the use of short–term partnership models, lack of funding, failure to deliver results by third–party vendors, poor leadership and digital divide problems have impeded the successful implementation of the e–government programme. We suggest that a collective stakeholder involvement of government, private sectors, including third–party vendors and citizens as 'strategic' partners is essential in the creation of an enabling e–government partnership.