The Adoption Of Information And Communication Technology In The Public Sector; A Study Of The Financial Management In The Ghana Education Service (GES)

Abstract

The adoption and utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in financial management is gradually becoming a major requirement for improvement in the allocation efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and productivity and in accessing funds from donor partners in the educational sector. This study therefore assesses the level adoption of ICT for financial management by the Ghana Education Service (GES) using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the research framework. Data was collected from a sample population of 60 officers from finance units under GES and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings include low level of adoption of ICT in Financial Management and identified major hindrances to ICT adoption which includes low level of ICT literacy, inadequate and obsolete equipment as well as cost of investment in ICT. Among the recommendations made are the need for the provisioning reliable ICT infrastructure and enforceable ICT Utilization policies by public sector organization. Index Terms: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Adoption, Financial Management, Technology Adoption Model (TAM),E-government, Ghana Education Service (GES) ————————————————————