ASSESSMENT OF THE ETHIOPIAN ELECTRONIC REGULATORY INFORMATION SYSTEM (ERIS) PROJECT: THE CASE OF THE ETHIOPIAN FOOD AND DRUG AUTHORITY

Abstract

The study sought to assess the practice and challenges of implementing an electronic regulatory system project in the case of the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority. For this study, the researcher used both a Mixed Approach as well as a Descriptive Design. The researcher used primary data collection tools such as structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Of the 186 employees, who use the shared portal (eRIS), the researcher took 127 professional permanent employees as a sample size for this study using a simple random sampling technique. The findings revealed that the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority's practice of electronic Regulatory Information System project implementation was good when measured from the perspectives of electronic Regulatory Information System practices such as efficiency, security/privacy, fulfillment, and system availability. The project site's service performance was successful on the first request; the site provided prompt service and can be retrieved quickly enough; the project site was tailored to each user's needs and was compatible with their preferred browser. Additionally, the website included up-to-date information and was user-friendly and wellorganized. The study came to the additional conclusion that when viewed from the perspective of challenges like the inconvenience of downloading or uploading data on the site forms, ease of accessibility, and a lack of necessary knowledge to address user inquiries, the practice of electronic Regulatory Information System project implementation was in a good position. This conclusion was drawn from the fact that the project did not experience any significant issues concerning employees' capacities for eliciting confidence and trust, their inability to exhibit a sincere interest in resolving users' issues, their promptness in responding to users' queries, and their provision of unnecessary data for authentication. Regarding technology and infrastructure, the project didn't face any significant obstacles. The project's implementation, however, was challenged by stakeholder resistance to change and unwanted data produced by site visitors. The study recommends that management should implement the necessary corrective actions to raise awareness among its important stakeholder groups, including businesses and government authorities. Additionally, it is recommended that the management should understand the reasons and effects of unintentional data shared by site visitors and take proper action in response.