Abstract:
Effective penetration and utilization of ICT in the public service for high-end value-adding operations
in local government is crucial to enhance effective and efficient services that satisfy the citizens and
other stakeholders. Affirmative action with respect to gender balance, education level and age
among others has been reinforced under the Kenya Constitution 2010. It is important to study the
level of ICT penetration and utilization across these categories and perhaps develop new insights
into the role of ICT in facilitating diversity, inclusion and participation. This study sought to find out
whether there are any significant differences between the different gender, education levels and
age on the ICT penetration and utilization. Three councils were purposively selected for this study.
Stratified random sampling was employed to obtain respondents within the councils. Eighty
respondents were obtained with a ratio of proportional allocation being used to allocate
proportionate samples to the councils and their departments based on the respective staff
populations. An ICT penetration and utilization index was developed based on a custom-made
weighting. Pearson Moment of Correlation Coefficient and test of statistical significance were used
to compare the strength of linear relationship between the ICT penetration and utilization index and
gender, education and age. It was noted that there is no significant difference between male and
female on ICT penetration and utilization while there are variations across different education levels
and ages.
