=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2145/p14
|storemode=property
|title=Enhancing e-Participation via Gamification of e-Government Platforms: A Possible Solution to Sub-Saharan African e-Government Initiatives
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2145/p14.pdf
|volume=Vol-2145
|authors=Ebenezer Agbozo,Evgeny Chepurov ,Giorgi Iashvili
}}
==Enhancing e-Participation via Gamification of e-Government Platforms: A Possible Solution to Sub-Saharan African e-Government Initiatives
==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2145/p14.pdf
Enhancing e-Participation via Gamification of e-
Government Platforms: A Possible Solution to Sub-
Saharan African e-Government Initiatives
Evgeny Chepurov
Ebenezer Agbozo
Dpt. of Systems Analysis & Decision Making
Dpt. of Systems Analysis & Decision Making
Ural Federal University
Ural Federal University
Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Yekaterinburg, Russia.
evgeny.chepurov@urfu.ru
eagbozo@urfu.ru
Abstract— In this modern age, countless business growth essential to the success of modern day businesses, this article
techniques have been researched on and research has proven expounds upon gamified e-services and their role in enhancing
that involving clients by gamifying the whole business electionic participation.
interaction process.
In the next section, the concepts of e-participation and
Humans generally enjoy competition and rewards; thus people gamification are explored respectively; how the latter
usually enjoy the thrill that comes with winning and being influences the former in the subsequent sections; the benefits
rewarded. Numerous organizations have employed the are looked into; and finally conclusions are made.
gamification methodology in order to grow their business,
strengthen customer loyalty, generate leads, increase their
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
competitive edge and ultimately increase revenue.
If this is possible in the business world, it might as well be A. E-Government and E-Participation
applicable in the Electronic Government (e-Government) According to the UN E-Government 2016 Survey which
ecosystem – gamified e-services – as long as governments are measures various e-Government related indicators, e-
able to treat citizens as consumers. The gamification approach participation (electronic participation) which involves the use
to e-government systems is necessary because numerous e- of online services to engage citizens and non-citizens, is
government projects are abandoned as a result of citizen non- quantified as value ranging from 0 to 1 and is measured as the
involvement. E-Participation Index (EPI) [2]. According to the report, EPI
measures e-participation according to a three-level model of
This research discusses the possibilities of employing the
gamification model as a means of enhancing e-participation in e-
participation that includes: (i) e-information – provision of
Government projects and also proposes the concept of information on the Internet, (ii) e-consultation – organizing
gamification of e-Government initiatives to the Sub-Saharan public consultations online, and (iii) e-decision-making –
African region so as to boosting e-Participation. involving citizens directly in decision processes. E-
participation is a key element in the e-government cycle
Keywords— e-Participation; Gamification; Electronic because every information system is built for the end-user
Government; Public Sector; Citizen-Centered Design. primarily. As such e-participation levels determine the success
or failure of an e-government initiative. In order to achieve
I. INTRODUCTION maximum end-user e-participation, this article proposes a more
effective user-centered design approach which is encompassed
Whether in the Electronic Government (e-Government) by the concept of gamification.
functionality of participatory decision making or general online
services, citizen engagement is crucial to the success or failure B. Gamification
of any e-government implementation. Organizations have
employed gamification techniques as a vehicle in advancing In a study by Wood [3], which involved applying elements
their business to the next level, strengthen customer loyalty, of behavioral psychology and gaming to business, it was
generate leads and increase their competitive edge and discovered that the same drive to participate found in the game
ultimately increase revenue. An example is PLAYCALL, a player could be brought out in customers and employees. A
contact center performance management software which system is said to be gamified when game design elements are
“gamifies” performance allowing agents to see how their applied to a non-game context to change people's behavior [7].
performance ranks among others at the company and utilizes A perfect illustration of gamification would be earning a point
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) set by the company; a for running a mile on a mobile application.
worker can track their progress or lack thereof and can react Thiel [6] outlined the elements of gamification;
accordingly [1]. Just as the concept of gamification has been achievement, points, status, expression, feedback,
Copyright held by the author(s).
83
personalization, challenge, competition and time constraint, and III. METHODOLOGY
pointed out that game-related aspects serve the purpose of a) This study gathered data from the World Bank, UN (United
creating a more gameful (e.g. fun) and therefore engaging Nations) e-Government Survey, and conducted a literature
experience, which in turn aims to b) affect users' motivations. search from scientific literature (journals and conference
The aim of gamification is to motivate players, hence, points proceedings) as well as reports using a combination of the
are accrued, luring the players to return to the game so as to following keywords “e-participation”, “e-Government”,
score more points. In a game, the rules are clearly defined, “gamification” and “Sub-Saharan Africa”. In order to gain
there’s an obvious goal and one’s progress can be measured in insight, selected gamified e-Government projects around the
definite terms [2]. world deployed within the last 5 years were cited so as to create
Psychologist, Ian Robertson coined the terminology, The the awareness of how necessary gamification is to enhancing e-
Winner Effect, which simply holds the ideology that the more participation.
people (players) take on a challenge, achieve and derive
pleasure, the more they want to do it in order to succeed [8]. IV. AN OVERVIEW OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND E-
PARTICIPATION
C. Gamification in E-Government
The Sub-Saharan African region is classified as the region
Gamification in e-Government, though not prevelant, has been beneath the Sahara desert on the map of Africa with a
employed by some governments. Below are a number of population of approximately 1 billion people and consists of the
instances: following nations; Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,
United Kingdom (U.K.): Idea Street - A market Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
developed in 2009, which spread like wildfire, where Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo
employees could suggest ideas for changes in the Republic, La Cote D'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
workplace, big and small, and others could trade Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau,
stock in those ideas and overarching this was a Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
system of game dynamics that encouraged Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,
participation [5]. Employees of the Work and Rwanda, Sao Tome And Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra
Pensions Department in the U.K. who were actively Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Rising out
involved gained recognition as and when they won
of decades of civil unrest and poverty, the sub-region is
likewise the agency immensely benefited from this
experiencing a gradual economic shift though it still faces
implementation since it pushed for more issues of corruption as well as other stumbling blocks to
contributions. development. As reported by the World Bank, growth in Sub-
Hawaii: In order to entice more users to state Saharan Africa is described as recovering and is projected to
websites via my.hawaii.gov, a one-stop shop for pick up to 2.6 percent in 2017 and to 3.2 percent in 2018,
citizens’ government needs and services, where with likewise, per capita output is projected to increase to a modest
a single sign-on access so that someone who needs to 0.7 percent growth pace over 2018 and 2019 [4].
file a birth certificate can also reserve a campground
According to [5], corruption in the sub-region has a strong
or check procurements with the same user name and
positive relationship with gender equality, age group (15–64),
password [11]. The portal contains other fun feedback
and innovation and that less corrupt countries tend to be more
components with good user interface (UI) and the balanced in terms of gender equality, are more innovative.
Web Marketing Association named it the best
government website. In the AU’s (African Union) 2030 Agenda, the aspirations
Sweden: In Stockholm, a speed camera lottery to accelerate development and growth are outlined and desired
encouraged safe driving by entering those who to be achieved by inclusive growth and sustainable
obeyed the speed limit into a lottery pool funded by development, science and technology-driven innovation, good
drivers who had been fined for traffic violations and governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and
the rule of law [2].
in a three-day demonstration, traffic speed decreased
22 percent [2]. An experiment on assessing the In the area of science and technology-driven innovation, e-
impact of gamification on e-government applications governance is gradually making headway and is a promising
was conducted by Fernandes and Junior [9] where solution to numerous public sector processes as well as knitting
two different versions of a mobile application government, citizen and business relations. The following
composed by a series of questionnaires, so users countries in the sub-region have taken steps in initiating e-
could learn while using the application, younger users participation;
were greater than the number of lessons and it proved Mozambique: Engaging citizens in Maputo to
that gamification could also be implemented on e- monitor waste management services via web and
government applications but extra precaution and SMS Service Monitoring System or Monitoria
respect must be taken on player restrictions and Participativa Maputo (MOPA) [2].
confidentiality.
84
Kenya: Volunteer mapping of cities by the 2014 3,575,190 19.6 681,211,736
younger generation hence, by surveying
communities, they create new public information 2016 4,006,146 22.4 752,990,050.6
and lay out pathways, clinics, water points and
markets with the goal of sharing that information Carefully observing Table II, though not as encouraging as
as much as possible in the community, thereby expected, the positive trend in increasing number of individuals
creating an essential social and economic resource subscribing and using the internet as well as mobile
[2]. subscriptions is visible from 2010 to 2016 per the data gathered
by the World Bank. It is also evident that the majority of sub-
Tanzania: OpenStreetMap (OSM) technologies Saharan Africa’s population widely patronize mobile phones
used in mapping flood-prone areas. These maps rather than broadband subscriptions – which is due to the fall in
helped in the response to the outbreak by prices of both handsets and airtime as well as the transition
identifying the most affected areas, locating from cell phone ownership as an elite status symbol to a
victims, and providing other critically important necessity for adults [19]. Hence, mobile operators in Sub-
information about water points and sanitation [2]. Saharan Africa are continuing to innovate and reach more
Uganda: U-report is a mobile participation that subscribers. This is an optimistic ground for the inclusion of
allows young Ugandans to speak out on what is gamification into the e-governance platforms to increase e-
happening in communities across the country and participation. Mobile usage continues to increase in the sub-
work together with other community leaders for region, meaning more users are getting connected to the
positive change [10]. information superhighway. Thus, providing a large user-base –
mostly the younger and tech savvy generation – for e-
government applications.
TABLE I. E-Participation Index (EPI) in Sub-Saharan Africa from
2010 to 2016
Indicator A. Exploring the Benefits of Gamification
EPI Examples of potential problems that gamification may
2010 0.063984375 address are as follows:
2012 0.060673469 The most important aspect is with respect to the
increase in user e-participation since a large
2014 0.19767449 population of the sub-region is made up of youth.
2016 0.242477755 Gamification will potentially keep users actively
involved in public sector e-services.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s poor performance in e-participation is Raising the awareness of dangers resulting from the
evident in Table I. Though there has been a minimal increase waste of natural resource or dangers of using mobile
over the course of 5 years, the performance is not encouraging phones while driving [13] and this is evident in
and as such this needs to be boosted. Hence, the inclusion of a Stockholm [3]. It has the potential of being
gamification approach in developing e-government is deemed implemented in numerous government ministries,
as a potential solution to this deficiency. All of the above agencies and departments as well as at the local
projects are signs of efforts made by citizens and government government level. For example, an increasing sector
to encourage e-participation but there remains a wide gap of concern for governments and citizens alike—given
between where the sub-region is and where it ought to be. As threats to biodiversity, depletion of fossil fuels and
such, gamification is recommended as a supporting solution to other minerals and climate change fallouts—is the
increasing e-participation. Many e-government initiatives in environment sector [10].
Africa fail because they try to copy and paste from the The dissemination of information from citizens to the
developed world without taking local realities into government is crucial. In order to make the activity
consideration but this can be addressed by promoting less burdensome, since it is a voluntary act, scoring
innovations that can address local challenges [5]. In as much points as an achievement for reporting an
as researchers in the sub-region would want to experience a
environmental issue which is then verified could save
shift it is pertinent to explore the innovation environment
the environment. Thus, gamification is not only
locally and produce gamified solutions tailor-made for each
country. benefitting the sub-region, it is also encouraging
citizens to be on the look-out for problems to be
TABLE II. Sub-Saharan African Mobile & Internet Connectivity Statistics solved.
(Source: World Bank)
Indicator Gamification may encourage new “players”, such as
Fixed broadband Individuals using the Mobile cellular
children, to interact with administrative services or
subscriptions Internet subscriptions initiatives organized by local governments to increase
(% of population) their awareness of issues challenging governments
2010 1,345,449 14.6 387,953,418 and have a better opportunity to form future “good”
544,447,403 citizens [12].
2012 2,095,874 17.1
85
Gamification creates opportunities for users to engage
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