Transformational effect of digital technology on the public management reforms in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from South Sudan

This study explains those elements that promote and develop the capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to accelerate public management reform (PMR). This study tackles a significant and novel topic pertaining to the effect of digital technology on PMR and its subsequent impact on organisational performance and inclusive participation predominantly in South Sudan’s public sector. It adds to the ongoing debate in the field of academia, as to how to approach and develop digital technology in the public sector and its reciprocal benefits in terms of improved service delivery, eparticipation and general digital governance in the public institutions. It demonstrates the advantages of using digital technology to accelerate digitallydriven public management reforms (DEPMR) in order to improve organisational performance and inclusive participation by way of enhancing transparency, accountability and equal participation. The principal argument that this study advances is that all the reform agendas that were introduced essentially focused on the non-digital elements, such as legislative reform, leadership and institutional strengthening, administration processes and procedural reforms, although there is limited emphasis on digitally-driven public management reforms. Intrinsically, the state of ICT and the use of new technologies are at stake and have no appropriate roadmap to implement DEPMR. Therefore, undertaking this study is a novel idea not only to contribute to the scientific community but also to provide practical knowledge and ideas to the general public. This study is motivated by the need to provide an empirical understanding of the role of public employees to boost DEPMR in an area where few studies have been conducted. It comprises of cross-sectional study (survey method) that has adopted a quantitative method targeting 75 public institutions of varying sizes and in two different states in the country. Research questionnaires were disseminated on Kobo Toolbox and subsequently deployed on mobile devices. Afterward, survey data was cleaned and coded. Subsequently, 517 relevant responses were obtained for regression analysis on the SmartPLS 4.0 version by adopting multivariate analysis and Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). 4 Furthermore, this study adopted public value theory, resource-based theory and new public management (NPM) among others to explain the phenomenon under investigation. This manuscript expands the debate on public management reform by considering the performance of the organisation and inclusive participation as outcomes for digital technology in the conceptual framework used. These types of variables have not been conceptualised in one study topic, specifically, in the context of sub-Saharan African countries, i.e. South Sudan, hence, making it particularly novel in the field of practice and academia. The findings in this research visibly demonstrate that digital technology can be an important incentive to harness organisational performance and inclusive participation. Specifically, the study determined that digital technology has a strong relationship on PMR and organisational performance and inclusive participation. Conversely, the findings established no mediation effect of PMR on the performance of the organisation and inclusive participation. The author suggests that public managers should adopt a recruitment system that is based on the competences of the employees. Similarly, there should be regular capacity assessment and development for these public employees to enable them to learn and gain experience of the new digital skills and technologies that are appropriate to enhance PMR. Lastly, this manuscript proposes adopting an administrative and legal framework that can inculcate a culture of digital technology and creative thinking in the public sector so that local infant technologies can be explored and employed instead of relying significantly on the imported technologies and innovation which occasionally does not suit the context of sub-Saharan Africa, specifically, South Sudan. The use of in-house technological innovation should be encouraged and incentivised so that capital expenditure can be minimised, whilst also implementing context-specific technologies to reduce resource wastage.