E-government information systems (IS) projects experience numerous challenges that can lead to total or partial failure. The project failure factors have been identified and studied by numerous researchers, but the root causes of such failures are not well-articulated. In this study, literature on e-government IS project failures in developing-world contexts is reviewed through the application of qualitative meta-synthesis, design–reality gap analysis, and root cause analysis. In the process, 18 causal factors and 181 root causes are identified as responsible for e-government IS project failures. The most prevalent of the 18 causal factors are found to be inadequate system requirements engineering (with 22 root causes), inadequate project management (19 root causes), and missing or incomplete features (16 root causes). These findings can be of use to future researchers, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to identify methods of avoiding e-government IS failures, particularly in developing-world contexts.

E-government information systems projects in developing countries face several challenges that lead to their partial or total failure. Several causes of e-government information systems project failure have been identified, including inadequate requirement engineering. The overall failure rate of e-government information systems projects due to requirements engineering inadequacies is still high. Inadequate requirement engineering leads to systems with missing features, low quality, project costs, and time overrun. This research aims to design a framework to guide practitioners in e-government information systems requirements engineering processes. The design science research approach and qualitative data collection and analysis methods were applied through three iterative cycles of rigor, design, and relevancy.  The proposed framework is based on goals and viewpoints requirements engineering. It consists of three models: the e-government viewpoints model, the e-government goals model, and the e-government requirements engineering process model. The framework was validated through two rounds of Delphi focus group discussion techniques and a single technical action research case study. The results showed a strong consensus among practitioners about the proposed framework's ease of use and utility with a mean agreement of 4.429/5. The technical action research involved five practitioners who applied the proposed framework to discover the requirements of the road emergency response module of road safety information systems of Tanzania. A total of 104 requirements were discovered compared to nine requirements elicited before without using the proposed framework. The overall objective of the proposed framework is to facilitate the discovery and specification of adequate and relevant requirements for e-government information systems projects and ultimately reduce the rate of e-government projects failure and contribute to the realisation of e-government benefits.