Factors Influencing the Adoption of Enterprise Architecture in the South African Public Sector

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is touted to bring many possible benefits to private and public organizations. However, EA adoption in the public space has been lagging. This research paper looks at the factors influencing adoption of enterprise architecture in the public sector within South Africa as well as the perceived benefits. This is achieved by means of a qualitative research approach involving in-depth interviews with key decision makers and influencers of a South African national government department. The themes that emerged as factors were classified using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. Perceived potential EA benefits more specifically accruing in the public sector were also investigated. Given that EA adoption in the public sectors of other emerging economies is also lagging, some of the findings in this study are likely to resonate and may be applicable in government organizations of a similar Information and Communications Technology (ICT) maturity.