The Transactions of Governmental Authorities - Dissertation Example

? The satisfaction level of e-government in Saudi Arabia Table of Contents 3 Background 3 Research Aim 4 Research Objectives 5 Research Questions 5 Literature Review 6 Review of Research Methodology 9 Project Plan 11 References 12 Appendices 14 Abstract The increase of complexity in the transactions of governmental authorities worldwide has led governments in most countries to adopt e-government schemes, which would result to a series of benefits for both the states and the citizens. In practice, the establishment of these schemes has been proved to be quite challenging; apart from the need of appropriate training of these system’s administrators - referring to the employees of public organizations – issues like security and time required for transactions have to be effectively addressed in countries where e-government plans are established. Moreover, the trust of people to the particular schemes seems still to be rather low – despite the efforts for the continuous increase of these systems’ safety. The proposed study focuses on the examination of the effectiveness of e-government in Saudi Arabia. Emphasis is given on the level of the citizens’ satisfaction regarding the particular systems. A series of related issues are also critically discussed, as analyzed in the study’s Research Objectives section. At a first level, the performance of e-government in Saudi Arabia seems to be satisfactory; however, if reviewing the resources engaged in the realization of the particular plan it is made clear that the specific plan has not achieved the targets of its initiators. The reasons for this failure are going to be investigated through this study; suggestions will be also made for the system’s improvement so that citizens’ satisfaction is increased. Current study will help to understand the progress of e-government in Saudi Arabia based on the level of satisfaction of the citizens. In this way, the system’s advantages and drawbacks will be revealed. E-government is of particular importance for the government in Saudi Arabia. The proposed study will offer valuable details both on the system’s performance up to now and its needs for updates/ improvements in order to become more effective. Background In accordance with Al-Tameen et al. (2008) the development of e-government in Saudi Arabia has been initiated because of a series of factors, which have been all important in the plan’s development. Strategic motives seem to have been combined with economic reasons for supporting the development of the particular framework. In general, the development of e-government in Saudi Arabia should be characterized as quite satisfactory – both in terms of the system’s quality and the time spent on the system’s development. In a recent interview of the country’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ahmed Mulla, the country’s government has set the effective development of e-government across the country as a priority (Oxford Business Group 2010, p.247). The above plan is combined with efforts for improving the quality of IT systems engaged in various governmental projects and increase the volume/ quality of education provided to these systems’ users. In accordance with the minister, the value of the above efforts is reflected to the Saudi E-government Achievement Award, a prize that has been introduced in order to reward the efforts towards the development of e-government across the country (Oxford Business Group 2010). Research Aim The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established an e-government framework that could be used regularly by citizens. However, problems have been identified in the system’s performance; more specifically, complaints have been stated by citizens who use e-government services either regularly or periodically. This research aims to examine the satisfaction level of e-government in order to get a high level of satisfaction. The identification of the system’s failures and the suggestion of appropriate solutions will help to the increase of satisfaction of citizens regarding this framework based on the fact that when citizens are satisfied they are more likely to be encouraged to revisit and reuse e-government services. Moreover, the increase of citizen’s satisfaction will raise the loyalty to the government over the time. Research Objectives The research objectives of the proposed study could be described as follows: a) To examine the level of quality of services (level of quality and quantity of information) provided through e-government in Saudi Arabia, b) To examine the level at which security and privacy are ethically related to e-government, c) To investigate the security and privacy in terms of how information exchange is carried out in the Kingdom’s e-government, d) To investigate if e-government services meets its citizen expectations; e) to investigate the level of effectiveness of e-government in Saudi Arabia taking into consideration the rather recent development of the country in the area of IT systems, f) to investigate the risks related to the use of e-government system, g) To provide recommendations on how to increase the quality and safety in Saudi Arabia’s e-government services. Research Questions The proposed study will offer appropriate responses to the following questions: a) Has e-government in Saudi Arabia managed to respond to citizen needs? How? b) Which are the ethical concerns regarding e-government in general and in particular in Saudi Arabia, c) What changes/ improvements are required for the e-government scheme of Saudi Arabia in order for citizens to be satisfied? d) Which are the main benefits and drawbacks of e-government in Saudi Arabia? e) Which are the factors that have influenced the progress of e-government in Saudi Arabia? f) Which are the prospects for e-government in Saudi Arabia? Is the support of citizens towards this scheme going to be increased or not? Literature Review The expansion of e-government in public organizations across Saudi Arabia cannot be doubted. However, e-government, like all IT-related plans, has certain risks. The level at which these risks are effectively handled by the country’s government will be examined through this study. In the literature, the ability of Saudi Arabia government to face the challenges of e-government is not made clear. In accordance with Remenyi (2008) risk is related with trust – under the terms that without risk, trust would not have a reason of existence (Remenyi 2008, p. 39). However, it is explained that in order for an e-government plan to be characterized as effective it is necessary that the trust to the plan is higher than its perceived risk (Remenyi 2008, p. 39). The correlation between trust and risk in e-government plan used in Saudi Arabia would reveal the level at which citizens in the country are satisfied by the particular plan. At this point, reference should be made to the following fact: up to 2002, the development of IT systems in Saudi Arabia was quite limited; it was after that year that the country’s government started gradually to support IT – related projects (Reddick 2010, p.54). The level at which the government in Saudi Arabia has managed to improve its IT infrastructure should be further examined. Particular emphasis should be also given on the fact that the involvement of Saudi Arabia government in the development of the country’s commercial and legal environment is high; the country’s highly centralized system of governance has favoured the expansion of bureaucracy, which is characterized by citizens as one of the major barriers to the further growth of the economy and commerce (Ramady 2010, p.209). It is expected that bureaucracy may also threaten the performance of e-government across Saudi Arabia; however, the existence and the extension of such problem would be identified through the empirical survey developed in this study. The review of the relevant literature could also help to understand whether such issue exists and which are its main aspects. The potential contradiction between the efforts of Saudi Arabia government for the development of e-government and the system’s actual performance is highlighted in the study of Al-Fakhri et al. (2008); in the above study it is made clear that ‘currently Saudi Arabia is in the process of transitioning to e-government’ (Al-Fakhri et al. 2008, p.59). It is further explained that even if ‘websites have been developed by many public organizations in Saudi Arabia have, most of these websites are ineffective’ (Al-Fakhri et al. 2008, p.59), an issue which should be further explored. Such issue is also highlighted in the study of Kostopoulos (2004) where reference is made to the extensive efforts made by the Saudi Arabia government – and the governments of other countries in the greater region – for the development of ‘cyber technologies in order to enhance the government to citizen service’ (Kostopoulos 2004, 293). The level at which the above target has been fully achieved need to be examined and evaluated. At the next level, e-government schemes have been found to have weaknesses in terms of security. In accordance with Obaidat et al. (2007) the most common failures of e-government schemes in terms of security can be categorized as follows: ‘a) loss of confidence, b) loss of integrity and c) loss of availability’ (Obaidat et al. 2007, p.172); in the first of the above cases, the trust of users to the e-government scheme can be decreased because of technical failures, usually in protecting private data or in completing transactions; in the second case, which is quite important, is the potential modification of the private data of users without their authorization; the third category refers to failures related to the non-functionality of the system – i.e. the system is not available to the users due to severe technical problems. Regarding the security challenges of e-government schemes, Nardelli et al. (2003) noted that the development of an effective e-government system can be a challenging task mostly because the particular system does not involve in one organization but it is expanded across a network of organizations – referring to all organizations of a country’s public sector which are asked to participate in the scheme. In the context of such system, ensuring security is quite difficult, since there are many technical details, which need to be, addressed (Nardelli et al. 2003, p.140). Apart from security, another issue related to the use of e-government systems is that of privacy. In accordance with Mitrakas (2007) the privacy of the users of e-government schemes can be effectively protected through the introduction of the following features: ‘a) anonymity and end-user control, b) flexible access control rules and c) client-side restrictions’ (Mitrakas, 2007, p.171). In any case, the establishment of e-government in Saudi Arabia revealed the framework’s risks and weaknesses: even if the average time for the completion of relevant tasks has been reduced and even if the paperwork has been decreased (Alsahli 2009), still, concerns on the system’s security seem to exist (Himma et al. 2008). These concerns have been further enhanced by the fact that risks in IT systems have been increased in the international community resulting to the limitation of citizens’ satisfaction from the particular projects (Welsch et al. 2006). Review of Research Methodology The research methodology on which the proposed study will be based will be of two different forms: a) qualitative and b) quantitative. Each of these research methods is critically discussed below aiming to explain the reasons for their involvement in the proposed study. It should be noted that the use of two different research methods has been regarded as the only way for ensuring the limitations of gaps in the study, taking into consideration the fact that the studies published in regard to this study’s issues are limited, as explained below. a. Literature Review In the context of the qualitative research, the literature published on the specific subject will be reviewed and critically evaluated, taking into consideration the research aim and objectives. The material used in the literature review part of the study will be identified using the following criteria: a) the material will have specific format: academic sources (books and journals) will be mainly used; however, non-academic sources will be also reviewed in the context of the study at the level that these sources provide valuable data regarding the issues discussed in the study (for example: government portals, online newspapers and institutions that activate in the specific area or those that monitor the progress of e-government in Saudi Arabia); figures and graphs related to the e-government scheme of Saudi Arabia will be also used in the study aiming to increase the study’s credibility; the use of online sources – as explained above – in the literature review section is considered as unavoidable because of the following reasons: a) existing literature on the study’s subject is rather limited; a series of studies has been developed regarding the e-government schemes in general but the studies focusing on the e-government in Saudi Arabia are quite limited; for this reason, the use of additional material (reports, articles of newspapers/ organizations, online data) for the support of the study has been considered as necessary, b) the academic studies – where available – focusing on the issues under discussion are not recent, at least, not as recent as the online sources related to the particular subject; from this point of view, online material (of the types explained above) has been used in the study aiming to reflect the current status of the study’s subject. b. Empirical Research/ Survey As explained above, the research of this study will be also quantitative; a survey will be conducted through a questionnaire (see Appendix) distributed to the customers of public organizations in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire will be distributed hand by hand and will be collected in the same way. A total of 250 questionnaires will be distributed; about 120 questionnaires need to be returned completed. No criteria are set regarding for choosing the participants. In fact, people of different age and gender will be asked to complete the questionnaire. The aim of the study is to reflect the view of people of different demographic characteristics on the performance of e-government in Saudi Arabia. However, particular emphasis will be given on the ethical aspects of the survey. Participants will be informed on the study (aims/ objectives) in order to decide whether they wish to state their view on the issues discussed or not. Additionally, the rights of participants in terms of ethics are analytically presented in the questionnaire; participants will be asked to read and sign the relevant section (Part 3 of the Questionnaire, see the Appendix) in order to verify that they have been informed on the scope of the study and their rights in regard to the survey. After gathering the completed questionnaires, their findings will be categorized and analyzed; no statistical method of analysis will be used. Instead, the findings will be critically discussed, using also the relevant findings of the literature – as appropriate. Also graphs will be used for representing the results of the survey and their potential correlation. Project Plan The study will be developed in 7 phases; the duration of each phase will be differentiated, in accordance with the relevant needs of the study. The order of the study’s activities is analytically presented in the Gantt chart that follows. At the end of the project, a review of the study will be developed aiming to identify any potential gap – referring to issues that would be further analyzed or explained. It should be noted that the duration of the plan will not be alternated; deadlines are strict; the potential need for a short extension has been taken into consideration when developing the graph. A period of 1 week has been set between the literature review and the research methodology – for covering any potential delay because of emergent issues – for instance, delay in retrieving valuable resources due to library rules or temporary non-availability of necessary material. Also 1 more week added after finishing the analysis of the results – and before developing the conclusion section – again for covering unexpected and non-manageable delays; in both cases, the 1-week period has been entitled as the Project Review phase. The study is expected to last for 3 months; during this period, the parts of the study will be developed as analysed in the Gantt chart below. Project Plan/ Gantt chart Weeks Weeks/ Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Development of introductory section/ e-mail the questionnaire Literature Review Project review Process of completed questionnaires/ categorization of findings Analysis of findings Project review Development of the conclusion section/ Check the study’s content/ flow References Al-Fakhri, M., Kelly, P., Higgs, G. (2008) E-Government in Saudi Arabia: Between Promise and Reality. International Journal of Electronic Government Research (IJEGR), Vol 4, Issue 2, pp. 59-85 Alsahli, A. (2009) E-government in Saudi Arabia – Case study. City University Al-Sobhi, F., Weerakkody, V., Muhammad M. (2010) An exploratory study on the role of intermediaries in delivering public services in Madinah City: Case of Saudi Arabia. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 4 Iss: 1, pp.14 – 36 Al-Tameem, A.A., Al-Imam M. (2008) An empirical study of e-Government formulation in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & United Arab Emirates. Digital Information Management, Issue 13/16 Nov, pp. 819-826 Gamlo, A., Bamasak, O. (2009) Towards securing e-transactions in e-government systems of Saudi Arabia. Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, Nov. 2009, pp.1-7 Hamner, M., Al-Qahtani, F. (2009) Enhancing the case for Electronic Government in developing nations: A people-centric study focused in Saudi Arabia. Government Information Quarterly, Volume 26, Issue 1, pp.137-143 Himma, K., Tavani, H. (2008) The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Khosrow-Pour, M. (2005) Practicing e-government: A global Perspective. Hershey: Idea Group Publishing Kostopoulos, G. (2004) E-government in the Arabian Gulf: a vision toward reality. Electronic Government, an International Journal 2004 - Vol. 1, No.3, pp. 293 – 299 Mitrakas, A. (2007) Secure e-government web services. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Nardelli, E., Posadziejewski, S., Talamo, M. (2003) Certification and security in E-services: from E-government to E-business: IFIP 17th World Computer Congress, TC11 stream on security in E-services, August 26-29, 2002, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. London: Springer, 2003 Netchaeva, I. (2002) E-Government and E-Democracy. International Communication Gazette, Vol. 64 no. 5, pp. 467-477 Obaidat, M., Boudriga, N. (2007) Security of e-systems and computer networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Oxford Business Group (2010) The Report: Saudi Arabia 2010. Oxford: Oxford Business Group Ramady, M. (2010) The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges. New York: Springer Remenyi, D. (2008) 4th International Conference on e-Government. Academic Conferences Limited, Welsch, E., Hinnant, C., Moon, J. (2006) Linking Citizen Satisfaction with E-Government and Trust in Government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 371-391 Appendices Questionnaire Part 1 – Demographics of Participants Gender Age Educational background IT skills Part 2 - Questionnaire 1. Are you satisfied from the e-government scheme used in Saudi Arabia? Yes No 2. Do you use e-government regularly? How often? Yes [ once a month once a week 1-2 times annually] No 3. Do you think that the system has failures? Yes No 4. Which one do you consider as the system’s major failure? Security Delays in completing each transaction Lack of training of employees 5. Do you think that the system’s benefits overcome its drawbacks? Yes No 6. Which is e-government’s major benefit? Time saving Cost saving 7. Which element of e-government scheme would be improved/ changed? Training should be provided to employees The access to the system should be further secured Decrease of the system’s complexity/ improvement of its user interface 8. How would you characterize the system’s security? Excellent Very good Satisfactory Rather bad Disappointing 9. Would you find e-government more effective than the traditional way of transacting with the state? Yes No 10. Would you think that the system would be viable in the long-term? Yes No Part 3 – Ethical issues The participant verifies that he/ she agrees with the use of this questionnaire for supporting the particular study. All completed questionnaires will be kept safe by the researcher; no one will have access to these questionnaires, which are going to be used only in current study. The participants are free to avoid answering in one or more questions. Date Sign BOOKS http://books.google.com/books?id=vxs1GhszvFMC&pg=PA40&dq=e-government+and+Saudi+Arabia&hl=en&ei=zBW7TZukA4OutweWztW8BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=e-government%20and%20Saudi%20Arabia&f=false Remenyi, D. (2008) 4th International Conference on e-Government. Academic Conferences Limited, http://books.google.com/books?id=z6d_3NJj-uUC&pg=PA247&dq=e-government+and+Saudi+Arabia&hl=en&ei=zBW7TZukA4OutweWztW8BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=e-government%20and%20Saudi%20Arabia&f=false Oxford Business Group (2010) The Report: Saudi Arabia 2010. Oxford: Oxford Business Group http://books.google.com/books?id=U7ae3Y2idIkC&pg=PA209&dq=e-government+and+Saudi+Arabia&hl=en&ei=MRi7Te-FFMu3tge17oDBBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDwQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=e-government%20and%20Saudi%20Arabia&f=false Ramady, M. (2010) The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges. New York: Springer http://books.google.com/books?id=AFOvmZG9yN4C&pg=PA172&dq=e-government+and+security&hl=el&ei=iha_TYqMEpGp8QPNxei9BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=e-government%20and%20security&f=false Obaidat, M., Boudriga, N. (2007) Security of e-systems and computer networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press http://books.google.com/books?id=-ddSqEg0f9QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=e-government+and+security&hl=el&ei=iha_TYqMEpGp8QPNxei9BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Nardelli, E., Posadziejewski, S., Talamo, M. (2003) Certification and security in E-services: from E-government to E-business: IFIP 17th World Computer Congress, TC11 stream on security in E-services, August 26-29, 2002, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. London: Springer, 2003 http://books.google.com/books?id=LOXQVrjZRlQC&pg=PA171&dq=e-government+and+privacy&hl=el&ei=Sha_Tfu1LIKZ8QPUmbnZBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDYQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=e-government%20and%20privacy&f=false Mitrakas, A. (2007) Secure e-government web services. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Himma, K., Tavani, H. (2008) The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Khosrow-Pour, M. (2005) Practicing e-government: A global Perspective. Hershey: Idea Group Publishing Journals Alsahli, A. (2009) E-government in Saudi Arabia – Case study. City University Al-Tameem, A.A., Al-Imam M. (2008) An empirical study of e-Government formulation in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & United Arab Emirates. Digital Information Management, Issue 13/16 Nov, pp. 819-826 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4746841 Kostopoulos, G. (2004) E-government in the Arabian Gulf: a vision toward reality. Electronic Government, an International Journal 2004 - Vol. 1, No.3, pp. 293 – 299 http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.59.806&rep=rep1&type=pdf Al-Fakhri, M., Kelly, P., Higgs, G. (2008) E-Government in Saudi Arabia: Between Promise and Reality. International Journal of Electronic Government Research (IJEGR), Vol 4, Issue 2, pp. 59-85 http://dspace.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/4017/1/C84.pdf Gamlo, A;  Bamasak, O. (2009) Towards securing e-transactions in e-government systems of Saudi Arabia. Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, Nov. 2009, pp.1-7 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5402546 Hamner, M., Al-Qahtani, F. (2009) Enhancing the case for Electronic Government in developing nations: A people-centric study focused in Saudi Arabia. Government Information Quarterly, Volume 26, Issue 1, pp.137-143 http://ipac.kacst.edu.sa/eDoc/2010/185059_1.pdf Al-Sobhi, F., Weerakkody, V., Muhammad M. (2010) An exploratory study on the role of intermediaries in delivering public services in Madinah City: Case of Saudi Arabia. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 4 Iss: 1, pp.14 – 36 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1846272&show=html Netchaeva, I. (2002) E-Government and E-Democracy. International Communication Gazette, Vol. 64 no. 5, pp. 467-477 http://rcirib.ir/articles/pdfs/cd1%5CIngenta_Sage_Articles_on_194_225_11_89/Ingenta914.pdf Welsch, E., Hinnant, C., Moon, J. (2006) Linking Citizen Satisfaction with E-Government and Trust in Government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 371-391 Read More