Delivery of Effective E-Government Systems: The of Oman - Case Study Example

?Delivery of Effective E-Government Systems: The Case of Oman I.Outline of the Project Environment 1Problems The leadership has been seeking for a way to have the People of Oman participate in nation building, knowing that there is limited democracy in Oman. As an absolute monarchy, there is always the danger of being accused of not serving the interest of the greater majority, because there is perpetuation of a ruler in power who controls the great resources of Oman. Although there has been stability and years of ongoing growth in the country, compared to developed countries and many other nations, the literacy of Omanis is low at 81.4%, according to CIA (2012). Furthermore, although it is known that Oman is relatively richer and poverty in this country is unknown, there has been a very recent news report by an international observer (Andy, 2012), that 24.35% of the population are looking for employment. That rate is very high compared to many other countries. Problems like these can be avoided if the people know how to utilize ICT resources and if the government will facilitate the people education and possession of computers or mobile electronic devices. They can easily ask for jobs. And government will find a way to generate opportunities for people looking for jobs. But right now, people in government would have to guess who needs what and where. There may be a mismatch of job opportunities with manpower qualifications which is why many cannot find employment from private enterprises. Perhaps government needs to extend training and development to make them more qualified. Which field of work needs the manpower? What training and development do people need? This information can be determined by E-Government services directly connected to the official representatives of the people in government. 1.2 Democracy The system of government known as democracy is characterized by a leadership elected by the people, for the people, and founded on the rule of law wherein the fundamental laws are embodied in a constitution. There is check and balance of power under a democracy. The Executive Branch enforces the laws. Its head is the elected President along with his Vice President and the President’s appointed Cabinet Members. The Executive Branch does not create, deliberate on , and enact laws. It cannot hear or judge cases. A law making body, namely Congress, does the creation or amendment of laws. Congressmen and Congresswomen are also known as the People’s Representatives. They are also elected into office. The third independent body is the Judiciary Branch made of judges who are appointed after being recommended and screened by both the Executive Branch and Congress. Although Oman government has long been under an absolute monarchy since 1650, when the Portuguese who once conquered a part of Oman were driven out, the Sultanate has made it possible for the people to somehow participate in guiding the country to work for aspirations of the people. But the current absolute monarchy began its dynasty “about 250 years ago by Imam Ahmed bin Sa’id Al Bu Said”, the great ancestor of Sultan Qaboos bin Sa’id, according to US Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (2012, par. 21). Prior to Sultan Qaboos, his father Sa’id bin Taymur had ruled a country that was “plagued by endemic disease, illiteracy, and poverty” (par. 17) and insurgency traceable to very restrictive leadership. Reforms were implemented. One of the significant reforms was to establish a Consultative Council whose members came from among the elected representatives from 59 districts of Oman. Through these elected officials, who are supposed to listen to the people they represent and to work for the general welfare of their constituents, the leadership is able to arrive at plans and decisions based on the people’s needs and wants. The Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council) makes up half of the Oman Council. They can propose, amend, and approve laws of the country for the good of the people. They can also influence the ministers and recommend policies, although without authority in matters of foreign affairs, security, finance, and defense. By 2011, the members of the elective Consultative Council increased to 84 representing about 3,000,000 people in Oman. Similar to a democracy wherein people live under the rule of laws, Oman enacted its Criminal Code in 1974. In 1996, under the Ministry of Justice, the Judiciary Branch of government, similar to a democracy, was made independent along with the Office of the Public Prosecutor. Oman also has an Independent Supreme Court. A visit of the official website of Oman will show the vision of the incumbent Sultanate. It says that Sultan Qaboos bin Said sees the opportunity for development of Omanis “to develop the skills and abilities of citizens” utilizing ICT (Sultan Qaboos bin Said, 2008). He is interested in the improvements in government services by applying advanced knowledge in the field of E-Government. These are good signs supporting the principles of democracy whereby government is considered for the people and by the people. 1.3 E-Democracy E-Democracy on the other hand is the utilization of ICT to facilitate the participation of people in the exercise of their rights and duties as citizens, for example, in their duty to vote for their elective officials, or to express their sentiments, needs, and wants. It is not about governing people. This is about practicing freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom to interpret, freedom of discussion, freedom to complain, and about exercising the right to life, liberty, property. From the viewpoint of Meier, Andreas (2012, p. 3), “Electronic Democracy or eDemocracy (is)…the support and enhancement of civil rights and duties in the information and knowledge society.” 1.4 Oman Parliament Oman is presently under an absolute monarchy who believes in the rule of law and popular will of the people. Except for the maintenance of the same ruler destined to reign for the rest of his life, this form of government seeks to follows the principles of democracy, in the sense that the government seeks to be for the people and of the people. And through participation of the people in government, it wants to be also a government by the people,. The people of Oman accept the absolute monarch as their leader. The Parliament of Oman consists of elected representatives of the people. In 2011, for example, there were 1,300 candidates wherein 77 were women. 520,000 registered to vote, according to Aljazeera (2011). There were 105 polling stations. Districts with 30,000 or more people had to choose two MPs or Members of the Parliament. Those with less than 30,000 had to choose just one MP. Elections are held for 84 officers of the Consultative Assembly which has power to create laws and whose members serve as consultants between the people and the government. But other than creating laws, they can only serve as a consultative body to all other parts of government. Similar to a democracy, the form of government of Oman believes in the same purposes of government, namely, (1) to maintain peace and order, (2) to provide for the public good, (3) to promote freedom and equality, and (4) to follow the Will of the greater majority. These are among the basic principles of democracy according to Janda, Kenneth; Berry, Jeffrey M.; Goldman, Jerry; and Hula,Kevin W. , (2012, pp.8-10). But it is the Sultanate of Oman who appoints cabinet members to serve as ministers of different departments. Although at present, political parties are not allowed, the government is working towards Constitutional Monarchy or a system of government guided by a constitution which embodies the fundamental laws and the rights of its people. 1.5 Importance of E-Tools The Oman government gives importance to and nurturing of e-Government and m-Government for the purpose of encouraging people to participate in their own way through interactions with ministers in various ways that modern ICT allows. Its leader needs to know what the people need and want. Through the E-Government Portal, people can submit their feedback. They can communicate with their representatives. But that is if all of them have computers or mobile digital equipment to access the portal. Right now, the websites of MPs do not yet have similar E-Government Services Portals. 2. Problem to be solved 2.1 The immediate problem which needs solution is the conversion of MP websites into more serviceable resources which their representatives can access and send communications for their improvements. However, it is not that simple. There is the question of whether or not the people have their corresponding computers or mobile digital devices to be able to access the websites. And what will people want to see? What should be considered for modifications and why? How can MPs know what are considered useful for the end users, namely the people? There is a connection of those websites and desired portals for MPs. There is comparatively low literacy in Oman. One of the missions of the representatives is to solve that problem of improving the people’s literacy. Another problem is the recent report of high unemployment rate. Through E-Government portals in their websites, they will know who needs jobs, which jobs, and where if the people communicate through them. 2.2 Aims and Objectives The ultimate aim of leadership is to afford the people of Oman all the means for better literacy, full employment with high GDP per capita, adequate freedom of participation in nation building, and the exercise of various human rights to live in peace and prosperity, by maximizing the use of its present abundance in resources and good relationships in the international community, as it provides for security against potential threats to its people, land, and wealth. For purposes of this project, the aim is to provide a framework for Omani’s Parliament website known as Majles A Shora, with E-Government and M-Government access and facilities using the latest ICT in order to educate the people, encourage them to be open about their thoughts, problems, needs, wants, even opinions, for the purpose of participating in the spirit of nation building and solving personal, community, regional, and possibly national problems. In line with this aim, the benefits of ICT will be explained in ways that can prove it is a major solution to the problem of illiteracy. For example, once the people are taught how to use the computer, and are given access to the internet, E-Learning Courses can be offered to every person who can read, understand, write, and use the computer. Following are some of the major objectives that this dissertation can address: 1. “To establish a process for listening and talking to users and to respond to their feedback, complaints, and suggestions.” (ITA, 2012) 2. To define and clarify how E-Government for Oman can be utilized to solve problems, explore opportunities, and bring about a more sustainable, growing economy, a more literate population, and with full employment as well as high productivity per capita; 3. To disclose facts about the capability of Oman to successfully implement the setup of ICT resources throughout the country; 4. To be able to review the principles of democracy, its importance for the country, and how Oman can derive all the advantages of having a participative political system; 5. To clarify what E-democracy is and how the facilities of E-Government can make E-democracy work; 6. To identify and briefly evaluate several cases of countries which have implemented similar E--Government websites, in order to learn from their strengths and weaknesses; The 7th objective is to evaluate the current situation of Oman’s ICT as it affects E-Government and the need of Oman’s Parliament for all the facilitations to reach out to the people and for the people to easily communicate and indirectly participate in decision making of government. This should answer whether or not the available budget will be sufficient to meet that requirement. And are the people capable of learning how to utilize such ICT resources? How long will it take to implement the delivery of E-Government to the majority and to teach people in general? What will be needed to get things done in the shortest possible time? 8.To design a framework for the E-Government facilities of Omani Parliament; 9.To present a flowchart of activities which can be utilized for the simulation of E-Government facilities for the Parliament of Oman. 2.3 Constraints In order to gather some information about the needs of Omanis and the need of MPs, communication with government officials will have to be done. This can be initiated through the E-Government Portals. But the response to questions cannot be rushed. The best that can be done is to follow up with further communications to get some answers. Obviously, a needs analysis of the people in various districts will be very expensive except if the MPs themselves provide the answers. They should know the answers since they represent their districts. The question is whether or not they can provide answers to questionnaires asking (a) How many people in your district already have their own computers with internet access? (b) Are there ICT free training centers in your district where people can be taught how to utilize computers and to access E-Government links online? (c) For those who do not have computers or mobile digital devices that can go online, do the people in your district have locations where they can go in order to avail of free access to E-Government? 3. Breakdown of Tasks 3.1 The approach of research will have to be through the use of authoritative books, journals, articles, Oman Annual Reports, and very recent news reports. This will be for the purpose of knowing the definitions of terminologies to understand them with some depth, and to know what is actually happening in Oman. Because the E-Government Portals will involve people trying to access the websites of MPs and trying to communicate with them online, information will have to be gathered through the people’s representatives otherwise known as the MPs. 3.2 Not much physical tools other than a good working computer will be needed to research. But in terms of skills, there will be the need to know how XHTML and CSS websites are programmed. Consultations would have to be done with someone who knows how to modify websites. 3.3 What will also be important to produce will be the analytical framework in a flowchart that will show the important activities expected to have some impact before and after the creation of a proposed modified E-Government Portal for the MPs. Along with the flowcharts should be the discussion and explanation of features and benefits, how the changes should be done to become most useful for the MPs and the people. 3.4 Major Tasks Breakdown 3.4.1 Research authoritative literatures to determine the relevant theories, concepts, principle involved. 3.4.2 Document whichever information will have a bearing on the project proposal. 3.4.3 Research about Oman. Discover facts about their needs in order to become participants of E-Government portals. Can the general public actually participate? If they don’t have computers or have no way to access portals, there is no point modifying the MP websites. 3.4.3.1 Test if MPs will bother to reply by actually communicating with some of them in the E-Government Portal that is existing for Oman. Write to them about this project. 3.4.3.2 Prepare a questionnaire for MPs to answer. Send the questionnaire via the E-Government Portal. Wait for replies. 3.4.4 Only after the needs are actually known and well-founded should there be a proposal to meet certain needs using a model. Design the model. 3.5 After much information is gathered, write a formal presentation of the findings. 3.5.1 What are actually needed? 3.5.2 Why are they needed? 3.5.3 What benefits will actually be gained? 3.4.5 Determine how much it will cost and how long it will take to implement? 4. Project Deliverables 4.1 What will be provided for the websites of MPs and for the people of Oman will depend on the results of the research. At best, the early model that can be thought of would be the following: Theoretical Framework of Desired Outcome Figure 1.1 Before and After E-Government Implementation 4.2 After determining the needs of MPs and the reasons why, a proposed website can be designed. 5. Requirements Primary data should come from the questionnaires to be sent to MPs. To ask them properly and professionally, writing a formal request will be one of the important requirements so that they will provide answers. Before asking, a preparatory requirement would be some familiarization about the terminologies that will be discussed in the project. That means research, understanding, and analysis of Literature Reviews has to be done. Assuming there will be response to questionnaires, the crucial requirements will include the flowcharts showing how a proposed modified MP website has been conceived. The flowcharts should show the factors involved, the results of needs analysis, the process foreseen once there are better MP Websites with corresponding features for their share of E-Government. And then, the formal documentation of this project proposal will have to be done so that analysis, findings, conclusions, and recommendations can be understood by the MPs. Who will ever agree to a proposed website design without a formal presentation of the rationale why there should be a modification? Why not just use the existing E-government Portals? There should be clear justifications for such questions. 6. Legal, Ethical, Professional, social Issues The research process will require communications with government officials via the available E-Government portals. It will not be possible to impose a deadline for their response. All that can be done is to follow up. In the preparation of web design, nothing personal about the government officials may be included. Only objective information important or significant to help the Ministers with the accomplishment of their roles in government should be included. Incoming communications or entries by contributors from among the public would have to be subject to approval by an administrator, in order to avoid unwanted feedback which should be known only to the recipient, namely the Minister. It is not that the information will be strictly controlled. But the purpose of compliance with certain rules that should be defined for all communications through the E-Government portal will have to be met. 7.Facilities and Resources Every system development requires planning and documentation to arrive at a presentation of a comprehensive analysis of the entire process prior to actual implementations. It is only after analyzing that conclusions and recommendations about the viability of having the E-Government facilities for the Majlis al-Shoora can be made. However, the hypothesis is that it will be viable. There are existing websites for the members of the Parliament at http://www.shura.om/ar/index.asp . Furthermore, the Information Technology Authority of Oman already has Electronic Services Initiatives found in another Oman website at www.oman.om/wps/portal which includes E-Government Services. It appears that the facilities and resources needed to complete this project will be a good working computer plus some knowledge in website development or the availability of a resource person who knows how to design a website that will accommodate the inclusion of links to Majlis al-Shoora websites. The computer will be utilized for further research of the situation in the various districts of Oman and to possibly communicate with the representatives of the people in Parliament. A short questionnaire will be sent to the MPs for them to answer. To back up the results of primary data gathering, research from Annual Reports will be done. 8.Project Plan Task No. Title Description Start Date End Date # of Days 1. Introduction A.Overview of Project Environment 4/06/12 4/15/12 9 B. Definition of Terminologies 4/16/12 4/30/12 14 C. Background for Choosing Topic 5/1/12 5/3/12 2 2. Problems, Opportunities, What to Prove A.Problems B. Opportunities C.What to Prove 5/4/12 5/8/12 5/12/12 5/7/12 5/11/12 5/15/12 3 3 3 3. Visions, Aims, Objectives A.Visions B. Aims C. Objectives 5/16/12 5/18/12 5/20/12 5/17/12 5/19/12 5/30/12 1 1 10 4. Methodology & Theoretical Framework A.Methodology B. Theoretical Framework C. Research Questions 6/1/12 6/9/12 6/13/12 6/8/12 6/12/12 6/14/12 7 4 1 5. Literature Review Theories, Concepts, Principles 6/15/12 7/25/12 10 6. Findings & Analysis A.Findings B.Analysis 7/26/12 8/2/12 8/1/12 8/10/12 5 8 7. Conclusions & Recommendations A.Conclusions B. Recommenda-tions 8/11/12 8/16/12 8/15/12 9/1/12 4 16 8 Formalization Review, Edit, Improve 9/2/12 9/10/12 8 9 Submission 9/14/12 0 9. Gantt Chart (See Excel File.) References Aljazeera (2011). Omanis Vote in Shura Council Elections. Aljazeera: Middle East. October 15, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2012 from Andy ( 2012). Unemployment Remains a Major Concern in Oman. Muscat. Retrieved July 17, 2012 from < http://andyinoman.com/tag/unemployment-in-oman/>. CIA (2012). Middle East: Oman. The World Factbook. Retrieved July 17, 2012 from ITA (2012). Electronic Services Initiatives. Oman’s Official E-Government Portal. Information Technology Authority. [Online] Retrieved July 17, 2012 from Janda, Kenneth; Berry, Jeffrey M.; Goldman, Jerry; and Hula,Kevin W. (2012). The Challenge of Democracy, Essentials: American Government in Politics, 3rd Edition. International: Cengage Learning Advantage Books. Meier, Andreas PhD. (2012). EDemocracy & EGovernment: Stages of a Democratic Knowledge Society. International: Springer, January 28, 2012 Sultan Qaboos bin Said (2008). His Majesty’s Vision. Speech at the Annual Session of the Council of Oman. Information Technology Authority. Retrieved July 17, 2012 from < www.oman.om/wps/portal> US Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (2012). Background Note: Oman. Secretary Hillary Clinton’s My State Department. January 5, 2012. 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