Assessment of Factors Influencing Usage of E-Monitoring and Evaluation in Public Institutions, Tanzania

Abstract

The study assessed factors influencing usage of e-monitoring and evaluation among public institutions in Tanzania. Specifically, examined the effect of Perceived Benefits toward the usage of e-M&E in public institutions in Dodoma, the effect of Stakeholder Engagement toward the usage of e-M&E in public institutions in Dodoma, the influence of Technological Readiness toward the usage of e-monitoring and evaluation in public institutions in Dodoma, Tanzania. The mixed approach was adopted where quantitative data was collected from 172 department users and monitoring and evaluation unit using a questionnaire, while the qualitative data was collected through 10 in-depth interviews with key official in the selected public institutions. Simple random sampling was used to get respondents from five selected public institutions. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and multiple regression models while qualitative was through content analysis. The study found the Perceived Benefits and Stakeholder Engagement have a high influence on e-M&E usage among public institutions. Also, found higher implementation costs may lead to limited resources for training, support, and maintenance of the system, ultimately impacting its usage. The study revealed that Technological Readiness have influences on the usage of e- monitoring and evaluation in public institutions. It links the chain of inputs, the outputs which show the realization of activities, outcome shows degree of direct objectives and anticipated results, while the impact assessment reveals the degree in which the overall objective or goal of the program is realized. The study concludes that among the technical and financial factors influencing usage of e-M&E; staff training, networking support and available of e-M&E infrastructure play a significant role in public institutions except networking support. The study recommends that central in collaboration with public institutions top management to prepare budget for enhancing e-M&E networking systems for effective adoption of e-M&E in public institutions, Regular assessments of the software infrastructure.