Addressing trust, security and privacy concerns in e-government integration, interoperability and information sharing through policy: a case of South Africa

Technology enabled government promises to deliver better services and hence facilitate better lives for citizens. However such e-government cannot be implemented without trust between government and citizens and between government departments. Concerns over information security and privacy have become a contentious issue for governments and stand in the way of that trust. Policy and legislation are two mechanisms that governments have to implement to address these concerns. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify and review policy and legislative measures implemented by the South African government to address information security and privacy as well as e-government information sharing, integration and interoperability. The study is an interpretive case study using documentary evidence and a review of literature as data collection methods. The study found that South Africa has implemented a number of policy and legislative measures aimed at addressing these concerns. The study concluded that some of these measures are compromised by poor implementation, poor coordination in government, poor state of governance, conflicting legislation and policy and poor compliance.