Enhancing governance through blockchain technology in the South African public sector

Africa's Public Service Delivery and Performance Review

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Enhancing governance through blockchain technology in the South African public sector
 
Creator Sibanda, Beatah Basheka, Benon van Romburgh, Jan
 
Subject Public sector Accounting governance; blockchain technology; Auditor-General of South Africa; change management; technology acceptance model; diffusion of innovation theory.
Description Background: Blockchain technology can potentially enhance the efficiency and governing of the public sector. The study explored how blockchain could be instrumental in effectively governing the public sector using the Technology Acceptance Model and Diffusions of Innovations Theory as explanatory lenses.Aim: To determine if blockchain could lead to effective governance by reporting the views of those charged with public sector governance.Setting: The sample consisted of those charged with governance in four Gauteng provincial departments in the positions of Head of Department, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Director of Finance.Methods: A qualitative research approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews and purposive sampling was used.Results: Blockchain could be instrumental in curbing the current governance challenges in the South African public sector. The rapid growth in the use of blockchain by other countries, and the leveraged results thereof prompt South Africa to align. Although blockchain can potentially improve governance, the study’s findings suggest that the South African public sector may not be ready to embrace it.Conclusion: Effective governance is critical for public sector performance. The ongoing governance challenges in the South African public sector urgently require a solution. The article suggests that blockchain technology could potentially improve the governance of the public sector evidenced by data from in-depth personal interviews despite the low willingness to accept it.Contribution: The study contributes to the body of knowledge by provoking an intellectual debate and research on the use of blockchain technology in the public sector, which remains an under-researched topic.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor None
Date 2024-01-24
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/apsdpr.v12i1.734
 
Source Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review; Vol 12, No 1 (2024); 10 pages 2310-2152 2310-2195
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://apsdpr.org/index.php/apsdpr/article/view/734/1448 https://apsdpr.org/index.php/apsdpr/article/view/734/1449 https://apsdpr.org/index.php/apsdpr/article/view/734/1450 https://apsdpr.org/index.php/apsdpr/article/view/734/1451
 
Coverage None None Management levels
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Beatah Sibanda, Benon Basheka, Jan van Romburgh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT