Governance of information technology within South African Development Finance institutions
Date
2014-07-31
Authors
Nemaangani, Abbrey Rudzani
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Abstract
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The governance of IT within the public sector continues to be one of the focus areas in ensuring that the government delivers on its mandate. Various efforts are being put in place to ensure that the controls around the governance of IT are adequate. From an information system audit conducted by the Auditor General for the financial years ending 2009 and 2010, various recommendations were made. The first recommendation was that an ICT governance framework be developed for the implementation of an IT strategy to address IT risks at a national level. Second, that a governance-wide policy framework and an implementation guideline be developed to address IT risks. Third, it was recommended that the roles and responsibilities be defined and implemented to ensure appropriate governance of ICT.
The objective of the study was to explore the state of IT governance within South African DFIs. This study deployed a qualitative method using purposive sampling and a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were conducted face to face and some over teleconference with a total of 23 interviewees across 8 DFIs.
The findings suggest that the levels of IT governance maturity with DFIs are at acceptable levels, although some still require improvement. There is clear alignment of the IT strategy to the overall strategy of DFI and the management of IT risks is properly monitored. However, there is increased focus on demonstrating and delivering the value that IT adds to the organisations. In addition, the IT governance structures within DFIs are in place and their roles are clearly defined. However, challenges such as lack of buy-in by management and limited resources were experienced when implementing IT governance.
The study concludes that the governance of IT within South African DFIs is at a “Managed” level and requires improvement.
Description
MBA 2014
Keywords
Information technology -- Management,Public administration,Data processing.