The E-Government Project - Case Study Example

Computer Science and Information Technology 2.3 Cooperation and Collaboration Factors Cooperation and partnership Factors are the factors that influence the collaboration and cooperation of the government department, which are involved in the program implementation process. E-Government program is responsible for the program implementation, and eServices developers. Cooperation factors are documented in this study as the main influencing factors on the execution of E-Government and the important ones to contribute on causing the setbacks of its initiatives at various administration organisations in Saudi Arabia (??). The aspects that determine the extent of collaborate and cooperation is as follows, 1) the government should collaborate with the Yesser E-Government program 2) government collaboration with e-service developers, 3) effective transfer of data and the comparison and implementation of procedures, 4) collaboration between top managers and the junior departmental managers, 5) facilitation of funding through the collaboration between the financial department with the technical departments undertaking the project work, 6) the incorporation of research institutes and universities in the project. 2.3.2 Organisational Factors These are aspects of organizational systems that influence the outcome of the e-government project. As exemplified in the diagram, it involves six major functions which are 1) raising public awareness about the project through public education 2) insufficient funds to the project employees to ensure they are adequately motivated and committed 3) inexperience management regarding change implementation programs 4) regulation procedures and plans that are not effectively understood and hence create unnecessary misunderstanding 5) the lack of an effective government link to the project which might hinder the quality of the project implementation process. 2.3.3 Staff and Managers Factors There are two main factors associated with staffing. These are 1) IT skills and IT professionalism and 2) the practical awareness and preparedness of the top managers. These two factors are regarded as crucial for the program. This is due to the recorded lack of ICT skills among many government workers and the citizens. The fact that the government sector has very few ICT skilled individuals is another problem identified in the project. Another impediment regarding the staff is that a good number of the staff lack effective professional training and as such will derail the implementation process for the program. Moreover, if the staffs have to be trained in preparation for the project, it will be more expensive and the government might not achieve that requirement. 2.3.4 Technical Factors Technical factors refer to the aspects influencing the ICT capabilities in government institutions that can assist in supplying of internet services as well as enhancing the collaboration among the sectors involved in the implementation of the projects. These factors include the technical issues that have been identified in the empirical data to have an effect on the implementation of E-Government at some government institutions. The two challenges are 1) e-readiness and 2) the ICT infrastructure. These factors also exacerbate the fact that government lacks effective inter-departmental collaboration that is useful in the attainment of the audacious goals of the project. Such factors might limit the opportunity the government might have in sharing data with other organizations and institutions. For the government to effectively implement the project, they must be able to work closely with the other sectors of the economy. 2.3.5 E-Government Implementation Challenges The implementation challenges of the program are those classified from the data that have emerged during the whole program phases regarding the desirable outcomes and persisting data handling challenges. The Yesser E-Government program has been challenged by the factors like the lack of effective program evaluation mechanism, the slow appreciation of change by the program officers in both the government and the private sector at the top managerial levels, the difficulty in selecting 150 government services to be addressed by the program, slow and unsystematic approach to engaging the private sector, weak consultative initiatives to determine the best approaches, ineffectual documentation systems for the project and the fact that universities and research institutions are not adequately engaged. 2.3.6 Project Success factors These are the factors that enhance the achievement of the outcomes deemed for the Yesser E-Government program. The factors can be enumerated as 1) the fact that government demonstrate commitment and intention to implement the project 2) the technological effectiveness of the project 3) the fact that beneficiaries of the project will be engaged throughout the implementation phase 4) provision of electronic services 5) continuous support by government towards the project success 6) the incorporation of existing skills in the sector of e-government in the program. It should be recognized also that both local talent and external expertise is being incorporated in the project and this will boost the technical expertise of both the sectors for the many years to come. These individuals will work across the industries with other players to find best ways of the project development into the future. The advantages of e-government 1. Enhances transparency: The E-Government enables transparency of government actions and makes the government answerable to citizens. Stirton and Lodge (2001) stated that transparency includes the capacity of citizens to apply influence or manage public services. 2. Reduces extent and incidences for corruption: the reduction of the scope of corruption is another important effect of e-Government. Combating corruption is a top priority and e-government can present an effectual tool for that purpose. Transparency helps to avert the abuse of power and corruption and present the citizens and members with informed choice. Currently, the view of transparency is that it is a product of the Information Age. Access to information is a principle implement to fight against bribery. Technological innovation can provide a wealth of information to stakeholders (Stirton and Lodge, 2001). 3. Helps augment investor confidence: transparency enhancements in the government also increases shareholder confidence, which will contributes to arias of foreign direct investment in the long term. 4. More resourceful governance: E-Government facilitates in making the governments interior processes more well-organized, thus saving time and property in the long term. 5. More efficient services to citizens: E-Government allows the government to give answer and replay faster and more efficiently to national demands and needs. 6. Helps improve the private sector: E-government helps supply boost to the private sector, particularly SMEs, by reducing the time and expense required for businesses to interact with the government. Furthermore, through simplification of government processes and services such as online procurement, the government can reduce barrier to entry for new businesses and also increase competition. 7. Allows for devolution of governance: E-Government makes devolution of government easier since data is stored in digital structure and can be obtained, retrieves and updated from any office inside the network. 9. Allows knowledge acquisition from the past: Since e-Government allows data to be stored and from previous projects can be easily used for new retrieval easily, experiences and statistics similar projects. Conclusion The adoption and implementation of e-governance programs require substantial recourses and subsequent budgetary allocation, collaborations with the private sector and effective implementation of the program infrastructure. Effective implementation will also call for effective commitment between the private and the public sectors. If properly implemented, the program will drastically improve service delivery in the country. The program has selected the major challenges to project success like infrastructure costs, low levels of computer literacy, privacy issues, accessibility and availability of the services. The fact of costs of the implementation of the project is one of the key demoralizing factors to the project success. The challenges to the project involve not only the citizens but also the government employees using the project in some ways. The project is expected to directly benefit a great number of citizens in various ways. First, it is expected that the project will have a positive impact on the culture. Culture has also been cited as one of the challenges to the implementation process. The cultural divide is also considered one of the leveraging factors for project success because it will facilitate the government to bridge the digital divide both in terms of the technology and on the financial front. Government employees have demonstrated a great commitment to the implementation of the project and its eventual success. Since the program is in its formative stages in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, more effort from the government should be considered to lay the ground work of all the activities. The government should also determine that the program shall be user friendly so that the expectations of the citizenry are met. Both the elderly and the young should be equipped with computer skills to ensure they are effective in using the project once it is completed. Furthermore, effective cooperation between many sectors and industries must be strengthened. Read More