The Choice of E-Government and its Rationale - Essay Example

E-Government Introduction – What is E-government? Governments have started to change. The different countries have adopted the E-government way ever since technological changes started to impact the lives and indeed the business of everyone. The shift was thus perceivable though a little bit difficult to achieve. The results have been pretty drastic ever since E-government was implemented within different nations thus showing the benefits loud and clear. Hence came a term by the name of E-government and with it there were a lot of changes to the conventional manner of going about doing things in the governmental environs. There was a revolution in the waiting to happen and it is only with the passage of time that everyone concerned with the governmental departments will understand the true potential and advantages of implementing the E-government initiative. Surely the times have changed – for the better. (Moulder, 2001) E-government is the short form of electronic government, also known as the ‘e-gov’ and has a number of other names in digital government, online government and even transformational government. (Riley, 2003) E-government discusses the manner in which government makes use of the exchange of information and services that are pertinent with regards to the citizens, individual businesses, and other governmental agencies to name a few. (Welch, 2005) E-government thus takes care of information and communications technology, which in this paper we will call as ICT. All these processes are carried out to ensure that there is improvement within the processes, efficiency is achieved, public services are better managed and delivered and there are plenty of tasks that are done in the right manner as far as processes of democratic governance is concerned. Thus to add to the same discussion, we see that the E-governments encompass a number of different models including the Government to Citizen, also known as the Government to Customer, Government to Business and lastly Government to Government. However to coin the most significant of these activities that E-government does in the related scheme of things, we see that E-government increases efficiency between the tasks, ensures there is convenience all around and there is a better accessibility factor related with the provision of basic public services. Hence the interaction between the private sector and that of the public sector is also improved as a result of the very same. The Choice of E-Government and its Rationale The choice of E-government lies in the fact that as it incorporates the use of information technology infrastructure within it, hence it is surely deemed as something which will eventually solve the matters keeping in mind the fast technological changes. Of course it means that the people who are at the helm are accountable to the general public with respect to their concerns and queries. They would be made to answer as to where the shortcoming has occurred and who was responsible for the same. E-government would thus address quite a few problems if not plenty in the first place. The problem thus lies here when we speak of the actual incorporation of E-government within the governmental departments, institutions and agencies. The need is to ascertain whether or not there are enough resources for it to be deployed. Next it needs to be found who are the people who can use the E-government services with ease and who are the ones who require extensive training to come up to the levels of using the different E-governmental software and applications. Thus it is an arduous task, one that requires strict discipline within the ranks and sheer hard work at all possible levels. The tackling of problems comes under the heading of the effort management. First of all the people need to be identified who will carry out these processes. Secondly, it is pertinent to outline the exact resources for it. Then there is a need to understand how the different processes will work in unison with each other and more than anything else how the citizens of the country, Jordan as we so may speak will benefit from the E-government initiative. Literature Review In the literature review, we have explained the features related with the E-government aspects of United Arab Emirates, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt where we have specifically dealt with the need of an E-government project to be implemented within the respective systems in the first place and the related emphasis of the regional countries with respect to the E-government initiatives. (Sullivan, 1999) It is thus seen in the context of both these differing perspectives. (Moores, 2005) believes that Middle Eastern countries need not take a leaf out of the book of United Kingdom. It might be possible that the people at the helm within the UK regime think of E-government being a successful thing but the same is implemented in a different manner altogether when we speak of the Middle Eastern nations and in the context of the five above-mentioned countries’ governments here. He believes that these nations are facing a problem with the ‘transactional government’ basis within their respective countries. E-government readiness index is on the positive side if a country is small and located in the Middle Eastern and Gulf region, which indeed Jordan is in the first place and hence it would be good for Jordan to have it deployed and eventually implemented within it in a successful manner. (Hampl, 2003) asserts that with the increase in the online government services with the passage of time, we have seen that the general public has had a greater acceptance level with the involvement of Internet on a broader level than ever before. They have started to accept the fact that Internet can account for solving their problems which they have in the wake of the provision of the government services. (Leatham, 2006) is of the opinion that E-government within the lengths and breadths of the New Zealand is not improving at all with the passage of time and there have been a lot of mistakes since it got implemented within the governmental regime. There is a general point of view that large projects like E-government and the like must be avoided because ICT projects somehow or the other fail and the money and efforts thus spent on the same go down the drain at the end. (DeParle, 2005) speaks in his opening plenary address to the ASPA’s 2005 National Conference that the role played by the public service sectors in advancing their performances is immense since a lot of the population depends on them for their needs and wants. This is met in a fair manner courtesy the E-government initiative adopted by several different countries and he is in full favor of them. (Muhlberger, 2006) states that the E-government efforts within a country can help boost the citizen deliberation acts as the same can have positive ramifications in the related scenarios. This is pretty much in direct contrast with what stealth democracy teaches us since the same is due to the apathy thinking mindset that is in place and a more engaged democracy is indeed holding no water for the people who matter the most – the general public. (DeYoung, 2005) mentions that United States of America has lost the E-government race to Canada and is at the moment head to head with Singapore for the second position. He suggests that there needs to be giant strides if not leaps so as to make up for the ground lost meanwhile in the E-government project. He is pretty optimistic about the actual implementation of E-government since he says that E-government offers a variety of avenues to explore for the American nation and the people in particular. (Riley, 2003) has raised a very interesting comment whereby he has mentioned the role of putting an “e” before the different services like e-health, e-participation, e-environment, e-voting and so on can make the people understand that the services are being provided courtesy the government on a wider platform and hence this creates to an identifiable area of discipline in their minds. This acts as a positive gauge since it widens the whole subject in the matter of different government boundaries and restrictions towards the larger canvas related with the civil society, different associations and unions that assist in the governmental tasks, the overall business regime present in the country and not to forget the foreign multinational enterprises as well. Role of Information Systems Technology The role played by E-government projects in the wake of the public sector management and service management is also something to highlight here since all the information technology focus is on providing more and more value to the citizens and add quality of life rather than the other way round. This has been achieved since the government has taken all necessary steps to ensure the activities meet the successful completion and tasks also see the light of the day. (Martin, 2000) Information technology regimes have made possible the quest of attaining latest and state of the art technological machines which have manifested for proper and sound growth within these countries. What this has in essence done is to make sure that information technology regimes are made in charge of the E-government initiatives and without any vision whatsoever of such an undertaking, there would have been problems for these countries at different levels. Limitations of E-government Initiatives One of the most basic limitations that we need to focus our attention towards here lies on the aspect of financing. This means that there is a grave issue with the financial basis of the E-government projects. The stance adopted by the government should be one that is geared more towards the utilization of the relevant resources as well as foreign aid in order to finance these very E-government related projects. (Al-Nahas, 2006) This guarantees that the adequate amounts of budgets be necessarily granted towards the projects which will ultimately result in the money being spent on a worthy cause, none the less. In the long run, this will form as the basis for the foreign expatriates and business concerns to invest within the organization with the technological know how and understandings that are so very necessary in the E-government frame of things. Thus the investment opportunities would increase manifolds and so would there be betterment in the present day job scenario within the country. It is thus very significant for the relevant E-government projects to be completed in advance within the state as it will help and assist in the proper planning measures that are already set in place and are being exploited in a good manner by the people at the helm of affairs. Moreover, this will incorporate a scenario which will see competitive advantage coming to the rescue of the E-government as well as the direct and indirect stakeholders which are attached with it. This will eventually help them blossom with the government of the country and thus bolster trade ties, virtual links and so on. (Peizer, 2000) For records, United Arab Emirates and Qatar have already established their own E-government projects and to follow suit, Jordan is also enacting measures which will incorporate its own E-government projects sooner rather than later. The competitive advantage can only exist within the region when these nations finally decide upon competing with the other countries in a vigorous manner. This will prove beneficial for the nation in the longer scheme of things as well as provide it a touch point from where it can exploit upon its strengths and overcome the weaknesses present in the E-government sector. The late entrance of E-government within the ranks of these countries suggests that there has been a hiccup or two in the present state of the governments’ machineries. For this we need to stress on the fact that there could be some restrictions in the wake of the wars that the country every now and then got itself into. Here it is important to assert that the country itself was not in a fighting mode, rather the Gulf Wars and the Middle East conflicts time and time again literally left the state in a lurch and thus there were hard answers to a lot of different questions which were asked in the wake of its economy, educational sectors, the private and public sector investments as well as the service management institutions. Implementation of E-government E-government is indeed of much significance when we speak of the establishment of a standard intranet within the government. This marks the successful implementation of E-government within the governmental ranks as well as ensures that the intranet paves the way for proper flow of information to and from the different channels present within the government. This also says a lot about the information that is flowing between the different government agencies, institutions and the like within these countries. Of late, there has been a traditional thinking mindset related with the governmental agencies which suggested that the same existed as separate entities. No more is the case in the present times as they need to interact and be with each other so that each one of these form the significant parts of the whole that we know as the government and more so the E-government that we are speaking about here. With the passage of specific time, the governmental agencies have developed their own computerized systems which have thus paved the way for their information to be transferred in a well timed and adequate manner. As we see in the Jordanian governmental ranks, the E-government has been incorporated and there has been change in the name of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, we expect positive changes to the whole manner in which these governmental agencies are interacting with each other, both on temporary basis as well as in the long run, the permanent approach towards E-government. This limitation has thus come in the wake of the ancient legislation which was in place for the establishment towards E-government projects. However there have been seen a number of developments in the related area where new legislations are being welcomed by the governments as these are being studied, reviewed and hence changed by the parliaments of the countries in due course of time. CRM in E-Government Customer relationship management (CRM) is quite important in the wake of the growth and success of the sales force when it is in the automated mode and even when it is not quite so. Similarly it takes an even more important seat within the domains of the E-government initiatives. Thus the productivity is achieved with a clear vision and setting goals in the proper direction. It is only with the passage of time that the effectiveness is actually checked upon and when the same is found to be close to perfect the sales force automation process is deemed to be correct and one that garners a sense of trust, understanding, empathy and encouragement across all the relevant channels. CRM for an E-government initiative tries its best to hunt the manner in which individuals spend their lives – in the most basic sense, from cradle to grave. All their records are maintained over a period of time and everything is documented in a fair manner. Information is tracked down for different purposes of governmental use. These include the birth dates, the different addresses of individuals, driving and passport information, the financial records and so on. What CRM in essence does is to maintain fine link between the government and the people through meeting their needs in a head on manner, it devises ways and means through which this research is calculated and thereby manifested in its different governmental undertakings. (Waisanen, 2002) CRM efforts result in removal of the duplicate information which is present in the ranks of the E-government initiatives planned by the governments. One of the biggest drawbacks related with CRM undertakings is the manner in which information is handled and sensitivity issues are at the peak of any such discussion. The role of IT within the related domains is one of significance and will continue to be the same in the years to come. ERPs in E-government Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP for short is a manner in which software providers find out the exact mechanism through which E-government initiatives are looked upon as potential market opportunities. This is because there are a number of government institutions and agencies around the world which lack the basic infrastructure of having Internet access within their regimes, thus posing as a serious problem of getting things online in an easy and quick way. Thus there is a dire need to have ERP systems implemented within E-government initiatives since they facilitate strongly in the government specific transactions which are happening on a proactive level, at all times. Tax management and even public-private linkages are looked upon with a greater level of interest as they seem to point out the relate strengths and weaknesses within the relevant regimes. The need of the hour is to discern as to how ERPs and CRM, hand in hand could work towards the facilitation of the E-government in essence and quick results for all and sundry could only be obtained if there is proper thought put into action. E-Policies in E-government The E-policies need to be in line with the E-government talk that makes the rounds of the related government institutions and agencies since these policies are in essence the line between implementing the E-government policies and to drop the same once and for all. However development policies need to be further strengthened with the passage of time so that there are no worries at different levels of the government machinery and that there are proper implementation of open Internet standards at the different stages of the E-government initiative which has been undertaken by the respective government of the place and at the time. The E-government Interoperability Framework released by the United Kingdom government in the year 2000 was significant since it outlined that XML would be the basic standard when it came to integrating data for all standards at the different levels, within the reach of the government institutions and agencies, businesses, the public sector and citizens so to speak. The different countries’ stance on E-government and related issues Bahrain We will first take the example of Bahrain which is located in the Gulf region. Bahrain launched the region’s first E-government center in Manama in the year 2005 with the assistance of computer giants IBM and Gulf Business Machines (GBM). This aimed at looking at the interests of the Bahraini government departments as well as the governments of the countries lying in close proximity of Bahrain whereby they made use of the current and up to date standards and measures. For the last one and a half years, the Bahraini government has witnessed positive changes to its governmental outlook where all and sundry can see the tasks being carried out between the different departments on a faster note. Also the activities have taken less time to reach to the concerned departments which speaks volumes about the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole E-government system and the projects that are attached with it as well. (Wert, 2002) The system has ensured that the infrastructure in place within Bahrain looks after the interaction between the governments of the Middle East countries and does not account for any lag as such since all activities and tasks are being looked at in real time and thus there stands no chance for any vital information missing out. Chances of misinterpretation have thus drastically been reduced with the passage of sufficient time (one and a half years) and the same will continue to be the case in the times to come. This project also formed as the initial basis for outlining the exact needs that have to be met by implementing open systems within the framework as well as to maintain systems that have no platform dependence. Open standards is the key word here which is being looked after by the Bahraini government and to meet the same all related efforts are being undertaken. These open standards are in view of the closed proprietary systems with respect to the E-government strategies where each one of the parties is getting a benefit or two out of the whole equation in terms of the reduced costs as well as increased flexibility. The E-government center within Bahrain has accounted for the provision of strategic resources as well as meeting the needs that are there in the wake of getting access in the wake of the practical advice and experience granted to the different teams and groups who are working endlessly across the horizons of the public sector within the Middle East. Thus it would not be wrong here to suggest that indeed the whole of public sector management is being taken care of courtesy these very E-government projects, of which one is fully functional and operational within Bahrain to say the least. A major challenge that the Bahraini government faces in the deployment of a proper E-government infrastructure lies in the fact that cross agency collaboration has to be made present at all times possible. (Darwish, 2001) The basic aim of the E-government automation projects with Bahrain lies in the rationale that workflow operations would be automatically checked upon as well as there will be pretty drastic reductions in the amount of activities that come under the banner of being labeled as paper centric than anything else. United Arab Emirates The E-government within UAE has moved in a very fast manner, so much so that the people at the helm claim it has ascended on towards the next level possible when we categorize our discussion in the light of the E-government projects. The E-government system within UAE has a steering committee which essentially looks after the approvals that are needed in the wake of the different E-government projects based on a certain criterion which is in accordance with the E-government standards that have already been set beforehand. UAE government looks at checking these implementation programs through a progress appraisal which is in the form of a ‘wave’ program that has a number of stages within it. Each wave within the projects looks at highlighting the different benchmarks that have been devised while at other times there are some projects that look at working in close harmony with others. This initiative was put forward by the E-government in charge personnel so as to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the UAE government as well as to become an important ingredient in the sustainability of the competitive nature that the E-government entails within it with respect to a single country, in this instance UAE is the example. Within the government of UAE, there are four significant initiatives that are being pursued. The E-government project is one amongst them. The vision for these four is to create an environment which can bolster greater efficiency as well as effectiveness within the governmental ranks when we speak about their day to day operations. The E-government project that is being undertaken by the UAE government is in the light of the similar projects that have already been executed in a successful manner by other developed nations like Australia, New Zealand and the UK. (Siddiqi, 2001) On the same footings, Dubai has rightly been acknowledged as the Capital of Technology by a number of world’s top technology companies. These companies see some sort of investment opportunities within the country and hence they become enticed towards the never ending possibilities which can exist within UAE. As far as E-government is concerned within the ranks of the UAE government, there have been solid steps which have ensured that the initiative thus taken has brought the complete system of governance under its control. The digital age which comes directly under the E-government platform has seen the systems going online in a bid to achieve complete connectivity and Internet access at all possible levels and unprecedented growth has been in consequence witnessed no matter how trying the circumstances have been in the wake of realizing the dream set thus forth. It is because of this region that the city of Dubai is regarded as the most wired city in the entire region. The E-enabled companies and businesses have thrived big time and gain from the incentives which have been there to take by one and all, so to speak of the major and minor players within the UAE economy. Syria The E-government steps taken in Syria to date include an agenda that discusses within it the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a tool which is there for the development of the Syrian government. The agenda also pinpoints the area concerned with the ICT’s status in the Syrian government on the whole and lastly the initiatives that are deployed in the field of E-government within the Syrian regime. (Smith, 1999) ICT is surely a tool that is on the rise (as far as development is concerned) within Syria. It acts as the most basic of vehicles which carry forward the manner in which modern day societies exist and interact with each other. The ICT has aimed at solving the problems in the public sector as well as the private sector in co-operation with the government as it directly comes under the jurisdiction of the state machinery. E-government is deemed as the single basic enabler here as the modernization of the Syrian society is directly proportional with the E-government projects and the manner in which they are handled in the first place. (Quataert, 1991) E-government is one important step towards transformation of the way in which the government of Syria drafts and indeed makes policy and then goes about amending them every now and then in the light of the suggestions thus received from the judicial bodies, local governments and the general public. The use of E-government ensures that there is a general transformation in the approach which develops courtesy the technological dependence on the part of the government and for these, Syrian authorities are doing their best possible efforts. The role of E-government is that it changes the way in which public service is basically seen by one and all within Syria and more so the whole of the region as a result as it forms a bridge amongst the different countries connected to each other through the E-government projects of Syria none the less. Egypt There have been a lot of developments within the Egyptian information technology infrastructure where a lot of planning has already been done. The developments in the field of E-government will make information easily available across all channels as well as foster trade ties with the different E-governments of the region. (Scarfe, 1958) The government to business relationships would also be enhanced as a matter of fact. E-government will queue in for the different government services that are already present within the governmental state machinery within Egypt. Within Egypt, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is doing its utmost to come to terms with the understanding that is needed in the field of E-government deployment within the country. The MCIT’s vision within Egypt is to ensure that the government to business relationship delivers to the public which can include the citizens, the investors as well as the companies which are a part of the business concerns. MCIT has put into place three separate E-government working groups whose responsibility lies in the fact that these provide for the legal, technical and financial aspects of the E-government projects. (Sineity, 2002) The Egyptian E-government environment entails a provision for getting a computer on the part of those citizens who do not have it already as well as making them receive government services from any post office, information technology club that might exist or even an Internet booth for that matter. The public will therefore be the winner in this case since there are already 23,000 postal service points working in the country at the moment. With the induction of E-government within the related ranks, computer literate individuals will have the facility to obtain the services sitting in the luxury of their homes with the help of the Internet, cell phones and even television sets in the near future. Jordan The last country for analysis will be Jordan. First of all there is a vision that we see in the light of the E-government project that has been undertaken by the government of Jordan. The long term vision of Jordanian government is to create an environment within the society that can see the progress of electronic development and the same becoming a major contributor towards the economic and social uplift of the developmental projects within the country. The vision is set in order to account for the empowerment and benefits that are provided to the whole society, be it from the private sector or the largely held and acclaimed public sector. In terms of the different businesses, E-government aims to facilitate in the improvement of their processes in an effective and efficient manner, one that builds by obtaining the readiness on the part of the government in terms of the underlying business needs. In order for the Jordanian government to achieve the goals and objectives that we have spoken about in this paper earlier, it is building upon some points which will ultimately support these very objectives. The government of Jordan needs to enact its policy in the wake of E-government where eight different scoping studies are needed to be established with respect to the needs of the citizens, businesses, the present day situations relating with the ISP business and its eventual planning and not to forget the status with regards to the technical and management readiness already in place. Within the Jordanian territories of the government’s domain, there are three significant aspects related with the legal obstacles in the E-government which include the transparency obstacles, the obstacles in the line of the legal regulation and lastly, the hurdles related with the information sharing and database integration aspects of the government to government link. The E-government approach within Jordan requires a complete list of different projects that need to be studied in detail and comprehensively coordinated. The different projects include the services, a proper infrastructure in place, the organizational perspectives and the management of the time. In order to implementing E-government, there is a dire need to address the issues related with the project management knowledge, the skills that are required as well as the experience which is so very essential in order to have it in an effective and efficient manner. Conclusion A number of different countries including that of ESCWA member nations, among them being Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have already started to roll out their plans with regards to the E-government initiatives, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates stand out as the two countries which have made it very clear with the adoption of a clear and lucid framework that says a lot about their respective E-government strategies. Even within these two nations, UAE has progressed further ahead whereby it has made sure that there is development in the wake of a fully operational E-government and e-procurement strategy. In the end it would be imperative to state here that the governments of these countries are calling the right shots. No matter how tough the competition is within the very region, all these countries are doing their very best to come to a position from where there is no looking back. It would be wise to fathom that the E-government initiatives taken by these countries is indeed a step in the very right direction as it aims to solve the issues related with slow processing of pending works, change of attitude towards the citizens on the part of the government officials, agencies, ministries and concerned departments, compete in a direct manner with the nations who already have E-government projects implemented within their respective ranks and achieving what has never been visualized before, at least within the traditional form of governance which was nothing short of mistakes, problems all around, long queues, processing times which equaled a life span of a man and so on and so forth. (Moores, 2005) Bibliography Al-Nahas, Noor. (2006). The Role of Knowledge and Capability Evaluation in E-Business Strategy: An Integrative Approach and Case Illustration. SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 71 Darwish, Adel. (2001). Bahrain leads the way. 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