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E-GOVERNMENT THEORY & IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDY EGYPTIAN E-GOVERNMENT MODEL

Dr. Emad El Din Eid Professor El-Zarka Academy Egypt Eng: Mohamed Mostafa Mohamed Abd El-Razek Executive Manager Advanced Solution & Consultant (ASCON)

Introduction In point-of-fact, E-Government aims to improve the interaction between governments and citizens/businesses for the provision of public services (Gil-Garcia & Pardo, 2005). Definitions :: E-government, Information and communication technologies (ICTs) were recognized to have tremendous administrative potential (for a discussion of limitations and failures of ICT in helping governments in information and service delivery, see Heeks, 1999a, 2001a). For example, ICTs could help create a networked structure for interconnectivity, service delivery, efficiency and effectiveness, interactivity, decentralization, transparency, and accountability. Electronic government, or e-government, has emerged as a popular catch phrase in public administration to cover all of these functions. There is not any universally accepted definition of the e-government concept. In order to cover the variety of uses and the nuances sufficiently, several definitions are presented below. Egovernment is defined as utilizing the Internet and the World-Wide-Web for delivering government information and services to citizens (UN & ASPA, 2002, p. 1). It may also include using other ICTs in addition to the Internet and the Web, such as database, networking, discussion support, multimedia, automation, tracking and tracing, and personal identification technologies Jaeger, 2003, p. 323). Fountain (2001) prefers to call this

phenomenon digital government or virtual state instead of e-government. Digital government is a government that is organized increasingly in terms of virtual agencies, cross-agency and publicprivate networks whose structure and capacity depend on the Internet and Web. The virtual agency, following the Web portal model used in the economy, is organized by client. Define egovernment as the relationships between governments, their customers (businesses, other governments, and citizens), and their suppliers (again, businesses, other governments, and citizens) by the use of electronic means. Similarly, e-government is Simply using information technology to deliver government services directly to the customer 24/7. The customer can be a citizen, a business or even another government entity. Other definition of the egovernment as the use of technology, especially Web-based applications to enhance access to and efficiently deliver government information and services. They categorize e-government efforts into three broad categories of Government toGovernment (G2G), Government-to-Citizen (G2C), and Government-to-Business (G2B). One may include two additional categories in this list: Government-to-Civil Societal Organizations (G2CS) and Citizen-toCitizen (C2C), if the interaction among citizens is related to the other three categories of e-government. These categories, along with their characteristics, definition, and examples. E-government is

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also perceived differently in connection with its theoretical background. According to Garson (1999), there are four theoretical frameworks within which egovernment is conceptualized. The first framework involves the potential of IT in decentralization and democratization. The second normative/dystopian framework underlines the limitations and contradictions of technology. Third, the sociotechnical systems approach emphasizes the continuous and two-way interaction of the technology and the organizationalinstitutional environment. The fourth framework places egovernment within theories of global integration.

functional area integrate their online operations. For example, database sharing by the FBI, CIA, and the NSA. The final stage is horizontal integration. Different functional areas are integrated within the same electronic system and put to use through a central portal. The last two stages focus on the integration of the provision of e-government activities within the existing governmental structure. Second model was introduced in a study conducted by the United Nations and the American Society for Public Administration (UN and ASPA 2002). It proposed a five-stage model of development. The first stage is the emerging stage, in which an official online government presence is established. Second, the number of government sites increase in number and become more dynamic in this enhanced stage. The third interactive stage enables the users to download forms and interact with officials through the Web. In the fourth transactional stage, users have the ability to make online payments for transactions. The final seamless stage makes the integration of electronic services across government agencies possible. The ASPA-UN model is very similar to that of Layne and Lee 2001. The ASPAUN emerging and enhanced stages roughly correspond to Layne and Lee's cataloguing stage. The interactive and transactional stages are comparable to transaction stage of Layne and Lee. The seamless stage covers both vertical and horizontal integration. Recognizing the overlap, organized a typology of e-government by using both models.

Models of e-government development E-government development is studied by building models of its stages. First model Layne and Lee 2001, argues that e-government projects evolve through four stages of development as their integration and technological and organizational complexity increase. The first stage is cataloguing, providing government information by creating government agency Web sites. At this stage, only one-way communication between the government and the governed is possible. The second stage is transaction. Agencies at this stage can provide online transactions with government agencies. This makes two-way communications possible. The cataloguing and transaction stages focus on creating an electronic interface for government information and services. The third stage is the integration of government operations within functional areas in government. Agencies working in the same

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Subcategories of e-government
Parties of communication Government-toGovernment (G2G) Content Dominant characteristics Communication, coordination, standardization of information and services Communication, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, standardization of information and services, productivity Communication, collaboration, commerce Definition Example

Government information and services

E-administration

Establishing and using a common data warehouse

Government-to-Citizen (G2C)

E-government

Government organization Web Sites, e-mail communication between the citizens and government officials Posting government bids on the Web, e-procurement, e-partnerships Electronic communication and coordination efforts after a disaster

Government-to-Business (G2B)

E-government, e-commerce, e-collaboration

Government-to-Civil Society Organizations (G2SC)

Communication, coordination, transparency, accountability

E-governance

Source: Yildiz, M. (2003). A general evaluation of the theory and practice of e-government (In Turkish). In M. Acar & H. Ozgur (Eds.), Cagdas Kamu Yonetimi-1 (pp. 305-328). Istanbul: Nobel Publications.

e-Service in e-Government Technologies and e-Service in the e-Government. Electronic government forms the foundation for digital or electronic service (e-Service) and depends upon a sound technology infrastructure. However, eService is not a technical exercise, but rather an attempt to improve the political and social environment and to drive a fundamental change in the ways in which functions are performed. The introduction of ICT in order to automate government functions and introduce e-Service will not automatically create a better or more open government - unless it is based on policies to promote the effective utilization of

technology. e-Service initiatives inevitably need to take into consideration issues such as new models of policy formulation; alternative forms of citizenship; different patterns and trends of relationship and power; new solutions for economic development; and alternative approaches for connecting people to the political process. Today, e-Services appear in various shapes and forms. Typical applications (within both local and national governments) can include: providing access; connecting to a service or a process; facilitating consultation; and enabling active citizen participation

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Typical applications of digital government and e-Service

Type of Electronic Service Providing Access Making information accessible to citizens (public kiosk, Internet, CDs, and so on)

Typical Application(s) Citizen access to general information Directory and directions to parks and community centers Calendar of city-sponsored events and activities Manual of policies and procedures Phone directories Property information License renewal and payment Payment of parking tickets, court fines Registration for class and sports activities Online permits, business licenses, court documents Online auctions Electronic posting of commodity products with purchase order and invoice transactions Sales tax collection Job postings; online application forms Self-service benefits administration Government functions and services Citizen services Business services (information) Employee services Employee newsletter Legislative agenda and pending legislation Posting of RFPs (Request for Information) and Bid Documents Distance learning resources Web casting of City/County Council Meetings

Phase Improved Access

Connecting to a Process or Service Provide information and/or access to government ICT based systems, information management solutions and true web-based services

Improved Access Electronic Integration of Services

Raising Awareness Provide information about the political process, services, and options that are available for the decision making process

Improved Internal Communications Improved Access

Facilitating Consultation and/or Communication Initiate and develop means of capacity building, exchanging prior gained experiences, access to experts, and any other information/knowledge of mutual interest. Active Citizen Involvement/Participation Involve citizens in government decision-making, problem solving and election processes.

Improved Access Electronic Integration of Services Electronic Democracy

Digital democracy Communications with Council Members

Electronic Integration of Services Electronic Democracy

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Limitations of the e-government concept In the light of the discussions presented above, the e-government concept is limited in four ways. The first limitation of egovernment is that there is still no standard definition of the concept. In other words, it is difficult to define what exactly e-government is. This difficulty stems from a couple of reasons: First, egovernment is a concept defined by the objective of the activity (transfer of government information and services among governments, their customers and suppliers), rather than by the specific technology used, provider of the service/information, or clear-cut activities of the related actors. Hence, many definitions of e-government are rather loose and gloss over the multiple meanings e-government might have depending on the specific context, regulatory environment, dominance of a group of actors in a given situation, different priorities in government strategies (Torres, Pina, & Acerete, 2005, p. 218), etc. Heeks (2003) offers a contrary argument in an e-mail correspondence with the author of this article: There is a very important implicit debate/difficulty that some see egovernment as a goal, some see it as a tool for achieving other, broader public sector reform goals. I would also add my own main distinction of definitionssome see e-government as the application of the Internet in government (and thus as something new and different); others including us here in Manchester see e-government as an application of digital ICTs in the public sector (and thus as something that has been going on for many decades even though we didn't used to call it egovernment). This makes one think whether it is wise to discuss e-government through the technologies employed in its making. Basically, technologies come and go. Technology is just a means to achieve e-government, which is a fundamental change in the way that governments do

business with the stakeholders of government information and services. Certain technologies do not fundamentally define what egovernment is and will be. Understanding the processes through which e-government end-products (government information and services) are determined saves us from unnecessarily focusing on the artifacts (contents of Web sites, use of certain technologies). A detailed understanding of the processes also helps us to recognize the key players in egovernment policy making and the consequences of inclusion and/or exclusion of certain political actors during egovernment policy making (Jonas, 2000, pp. 4445). If we just focus on the technology or technological artifacts, it is not possible to appreciate the evolving nature of the e-government concept (Hwang et al., 1999, pp. 279280) and understand that regardless of the technology employed to provide egovernment services, the main issue is to make government work better, faster, more convenient to use for its stakeholders and provide administrative and democratic channels that were not possible to open with the old technological tools. Second, e-government is one of those concepts that mean a lot of different things to a lot of different groups (Grant & Chau, 2005, p. 2). For instance, (Perri 6 2001, p. 7) identifies different parts of egovernment as e-service delivery, edemocracy, and e-governance. Rapid technological changes also make it difficult to fully grasp the meaning, opportunities and limits of the concept (Prins, 2001, p. 1). Therefore, there are many alternative definitions that each emphasizes a particular subsection of these relationships, such as those pertaining to issues of accountability, transparency, interactivity, participation, cost-effectiveness, etc. For example, in their study of the U.S. Department of Energy's dissemination of electronic information, Whitson and Davis (2001, p. 79) defined e-government as

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implementing cost effective models for citizens, industry, federal employees, and other stakeholders to conduct business transactions online. The concept integrates strategy, process, organization and technology. Such a seemingly limited definition of e-government is perfectly acceptable since this is the definition that reflects the characteristics of a certain context and application. Third, as if it is not enough for the real substance of the concept to be ambiguous, poorly defined and/or contextdependent, e-government contains much hype and promotional efforts/literature as well, similar to the concepts of knowledge management (Lev, 2000; Lissack,2000) or management by objectives (Miller & Hartwick, 2002). Hype is often accused of raising expectations above realistic levels, preventing people from seeing what is going wrong in an area, and thus delaying corrective action. Hype is not always dysfunctional, though. It can be functional if it mobilizes interest and give people a shared (although sometimes a quite distorted) vision to act upon. Finally, one might ask how substantial a change is required to meet the criteria for a government technology project to be titled as an e-government project. For example, are static Web sites or e-mail addresses of public managers enough? Or is some level of interaction required? Layne and Lee (2001) answer this question with their stages of egovernment growth model. Projects at any of these steps could be defined as egovernment projects. However, providing higher levels of conceptual clarity is necessary. Quality assessment & E-government model E-Government quality-based methodology, is organized in terms of two main macro-phases: (1) strategic planning and

(2) preliminary operational planning. Strategic planning is to define the general objectives to be achieved, and express them in terms of the improvement of a set of qualities. The preliminary operational planning identifies the general organization of projects and technological solutions that allow for the achievement of target qualities. The general objectives to be achieved are: 1- Efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative processes that deliver services to citizens and businesses, in terms of use of resources and achievement of the final outcomes. 2- Transparency of institutions, government, and public administration, i.e. the right of citizens and businesses to access all types of information and knowledge produced by institutions and administrations, not covered by secret (so called public data). 3- Simplification of administrative activities, i.e. the elimination of all types of interactions and burdens not strictly required by law from administrative activities. 4- eInclusion and overcoming of the digital divide, the establishment of the right of every citizen, independently from their gender, culture, language, economic, and physical conditions to access and benefit from E-Government services. Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fullls stated or necessary requirements. In the EGovernment literature, the focus on quality is considered a relevant issue providing a common ground for the

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different stakeholders in EGovernment initiatives (Klischewski & Scholl, 2006). Qualities considered in the methodology belong to four general categories 1- Efficiency: the balance between the output of service provision and the amount of resources required. 2- Effectiveness: the closeness of the provided service to user's expectations and needs.

3- Accessibility: the ease of service request and use in terms of technological and non-technological resources available, and user friendliness of the interactions. 4- Accountability: the assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies of the administration. It includes the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences of service provisions.

The strategic value of e-Technologies

Efficiency Time Distance Creativity Effectiveness Time Distance Creativity Growth Time Distance Creativity Obtaining early market entry/presence Introducing new products to new markets Developing new products and services Improving the flow of information and business intelligence throughout the supply and the value chain components Enabling integrated control of the supply and the value chain processes Enabling new (and/or modified) processes Accelerating business processes and activities Reducing geographical and distance inhibitors/barriers Enhancing existing business processes and activities

Egyptian E-Government Model Egypt has taken an e-Government initiative since the introduction of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) in 1999, as part of its plan to turn Egypt into an information-based society. To reach such objective, Kamel et al. (2002) believe that Egypt IT strategy should be based on the following building blocks: people, training, information, technology and the partnership between the public and

private sector. The vision of e-Government initiative in Egypt is delivering high quality government services to the public in the format that suits them. Such mission relies mainly on three principles that include: 1) citizen centric service delivery; 2) community participation; and 3) efficient allocation of government resources. With the new cabinet announced in Egypt in July 2004, a confirmation and commitment of Egypt to capitalize on the evolution of ICT for the purpose of government services and

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processes improvements were re-enhanced (Darwish et al, 2003). The official inauguration of the Egyptian eGovernment portal (www.egypt.gov.eg) took place in 25 January 2004 and was attended by Bill Gates during his first visit to Egypt, as Microsoft was chosen to be in charge of the projects implementation. Some services were placed in the portal to pilot test the project such as telephone e-billing, birth certificate issuing, etc. Egypts e-Government program has identified a number of objectives to realize a successful implementation of eGovernment and that includes (but not limited to): 1) Tailoring government services to meet citizens expectations; 2) Creating a conducive environment to investors (local and international); 3) Availing accurate and updated government information; 4) Increasing government efficiency through modern management techniques and new working models; 5) Reducing government expenditure; and 6) Fostering local competitiveness and increasing globalization readiness. Egypt e-Government program is in continuous progress; this can be deduced by monitoring its rank in several studies conducted regularly to evaluate EGR worldwide. For example, in the global eGovernment readiness by Darrell West, Brown University (2006), Egypt ranks 62nd over 196 countries compared to 69th in 2005. Similarly, in UNDESA eGovernment readiness report (2005), Egypt ranks 99th over 193 countries while it ranked 136th in 2004. It is expected that citizens will rely more on online services due to the growing number of: Internet users (increased from 300,000 in October 1999 to 9.29 million in April 2008), fixed telephone lines (increased

from 4.9 million in October 1999 to 11.28 million in December 2006), and mobile users (increased from 654 thousands million in October 1999 to 33.285 million in December 2006) (MCIT, 2008). Egyptian eGovernment project The eGovernment platform is being developed in a two-year research project (20012003) financially supported by the Egyptian government under the Information Society Technologies Program of the Fifth Research and Technology Development framework. The main objective of this project is to develop, deploy, demonstrate, and evaluate an integrated platform for realizing on-line one-stop government. To achieve this, the consortium has to develop a governmental portal that offers advanced features to the citizens: personalization, multilingualism, authentication, accessibility, etc; develop content and service repositories (both at the national and local levels), as well as a service creation environment used to administrate the repositories; implement a governmental markup language that describes public services and life events in XML format and that defines metadata used for searching, locating, and retrieving governmental digital resources; create and supply a number of administrative services to be used during the testing phase;

and deploy and evaluate the platform in Austria, Greece, and Switzerland at the national and local levels.

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Fig (1) architecture of the platform for e-government project (Egypt)

The general architecture of the platform is illustrated in the Fig. Citizens and businesses access administrative services through the portal where these services are categorized with life events and business situations metaphors. As the portal is linked through the Internet and governmental markup language to the national service repository and the local service repositories, users can obtain services from different administrations at various levels in a transparent and integrated manner. If they request information services, they will get the data from the relevant repository; and if they need transaction services, these will be executed in the service runtime environment before the results are send back to the users through the portal. On their side, the public administrations maintain their service repositories with the service creation environment. Details on one-stop government and on the eGovernment project are available at http//www.egypt.gov.eg/.

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The effective of e-government strategy will result in simplifying delivery of services to citizens; eliminating layers of government management; making it possible for citizens, businesses, other levels of government, and federal employees to easily find information and get service from the federal government; simplifying agencies business processes and reducing costs through integrating and eliminating redundant systems; enabling achievement of the other elements of the PMA (Presidents Management Agenda ); And Streamlining government operations to guarantee rapid response to citizen needs. Conclusion This article shows that it is of importance to develop such data models and to use appropriate supporting tools to help public administrations creating and delivering electronic administrative services. Hopefully, the development of ontology such as the one presented here will allow the provision of intelligent electronic services by supplying relevant knowledge to the users of a one-stop administrative portal. It is to be taken as one example for e-government projects. References
1Tambouris, E. (2001). An integrated platform for realising online one-stop government: The eGov project. Proceedings of the DEXA International Workshop On the Way to Electronic Government (pp. 359 363). CA: IEEE Computer Society Press; Wimmer, M., & Traunmueller, R. (2002). Towards an integrated platform for online onestop

government. ERCIM News, Special Theme: e-Government, Issue 48 (pp. 1415). France: Ercim. 2- U.S. Office of Management and Budget. (2002, February 27). Egovernment strategy (p. 4). Available: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/infore g/egovstrategy.pdf. Accessed (April 1, 2003). 3- U.S. Office of Management and Budget. (2003, April). Implementing the Presidents management agenda for e-government (p. 6). Available: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/egov/downloads/2003egov_strat.p df. Accessed (February 28, 2004). 4- U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Implementing the Presidents Management Agenda for EGovernment (p. 15). 5- Maxwell, T. (2002). The public need to know: Emergencies, government organizations, and public information.School of Information Science and Policy, University at Albany, Albany, NY (Unpublished manuscript). 6- Maxwell, T. (2003). Toward a model of information policy analysis: Speech as an illustrative example. FirstMonday, 8(6). Available: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_6/ maxwell/index.html. Accessed January 14,2004. 7- Klischewski, R., & Scholl, H. J. J. (2006). Information quality as a common ground for key players in egovernment integration and interoperability. hicss, 4, 72. 8- InfoDev. (2005). e-readiness for what? e-readiness in developing countries and the mdgs (Tech. Rep.). Information for Development Program, World Bank and Bridges.org. 9- Ross, J. (2005, December). Forget strategy: focus it on your operating model. CISR research brie.ngs, 5(3C). 10- Government Information Quarterly Volumes 26 & 25 & 24 issues (1&2&3&4) 11- -Garcia & Pardo, 2005 & UN & ASPA, 2002, p. 1 12- Jaeger, 2003, p. 323. Fountain (2001)

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