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2007:052

M A S T E R ' S T H E S I S

The Obstacles and Guidelines ofEstablishing E-government in Iran

Case Study: Ministry of Commerce

Mahsa Fallahi

Lule University of Technology

Master Thesis, Continuation Courses

Marketing and e-commerceDepartment of Business Administration and Social Sciences

Division of Industrial marketing and e-commerce

2007:052 - ISSN: 1653-0187 - ISRN: LTU-PB-EX--07/052--SE


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The Obstacles and Guidelines of Establishing

E-government in Iran

(Case Study: Ministry of Commerce)

Supervisors:

Dr. Gholamali Montazer

Referee:

Dr. Lennart Persson

Prepared by:

Mahsa Fallahi

Tarbiat Modares UniversityFaculty of EngineeringDepartment Industrial Engineering Lule University of Technology

Department of Business Administration and Social SciencesDivision of Industrial Marketing and E-Commerce

MSc PROGRAM IN MARKETING AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCEJoint


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I dedicate this thesis to my lovely husband Dr. Ali Fallahi, who has

been my best friend; his love has been a tremendous source of

pleasure, and relief.


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AbstractLike the developing and developed countries in the world, Iran also has been embracingand processing the various aspects of e-government particularly in its affiliated ministries

as well as Ministry of Commerce. However, in order to improve governmental services,

increasing accountability, accurate and effective delivery of services, reducingadministrative cost and time, capacity for planning management and increasing

governmentalstaff productivity, Iran has faced with some obstacles. The purpose of this

thesis is to distinguish the main obstacles for implementing e-government in the Ministryof Commerce. In this study, based on the literature review, different multi-stage models

for implementation of e-government and various e-readiness models are discussed, and

also according to the comparative studies and e-government architecture framework, ane-government readiness model is proposed. Basedon the proposed model, I provided a

questionnaire and then distributed among the managers and staff in the Ministry of

Commercewho were familiar with IT and e-government .after the statistical analysis,themain obstacles became clear as: IT infrastructure obstacles, Social and cultural obstacles,

Lack of IT skills, Legal obstacles and security obstacles. With regard to the obstacles, a

few guidelines and also a Model for implementing e-government within the Ministry ofCommerce of Irancan be proposed.


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Acknowledgements

I have learned a lot and really enjoyed while working on this master thesis. Iwould like

to sincerely thank all those who helped me with their valuable support during the entireprocess of this thesis.

I am deeply indebted to my supervisors Dr.GholamAli Montazer from Tarbiat Modarres

University for his valuable guidance, stimulating suggestions, patience and for

encouraging me to go ahead with my thesis.

I also thank Prof. Lennart Persson at Lulea University of Technology in Sweden.

I would like to express my gratitude to my parents for the love, affection and support;

they haveextended me every step for my life.

Special thanks for my kind husband for making this study possible.

Mahsa Fallahi.April 2007.


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Table of ContentsAbstract......................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgements...................................................................................... ii

Table of Contents ....................................................................................... iii

Chapter1 .......................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 11.1Background.............................................................................................................. 1

1.2Research Problem ................................................................................................ ...2

1.3Research Questions ................................................................................................ . 3

1.4Hypotheses ................................................................................................ ............... 3

1.5Disposition of the Study .......................................................................................... 3

Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................5

LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 5

2. Literature Review................................................................................................ 52.1The Concepts of State and Government ............................................................... 5

2.1.1 State....................................................................................................................5

2.1.2Government........................................................................................................ 62.1.3Reasons for government.....................................................................................8

2.2Definition of E-Government ................................................................................... 9

2.3The Advantages of E-Government ......................................................................122.3.1 Creating a better business environment ........................................................... 12

2.3.2Strengthening good governance and broadening public participation.............13

2.3.3Improving the productivity and efficiency of government agencies................ 132.3.4 Improving the quality of life ............................................................................ 13

2.4Models of the Stages of E-Government Implementation...................................14

2.4.1Howard's Model ............................................................................................... 152.4.2Chandler and Emanuel s Model ....................................................................... 15

2.4.3 Layne and Lee's Model .................................................................................... 15

2.4.4United Nations DPEPA Model ........................................................................ 172.4.5Deloitte's Model ............................................................................................... 17

2.5E-Readiness............................................................................................................ 202.5.1 Defining E-Readiness....................................................................................... 212.5.2 E-Readiness Objective ..................................................................................... 222.5.3Components of E-Readiness/Choice of Indicators .......................................... 22

2.6Comparative Studies ............................................................................................. 26

2.6.1E-Government in Cyprus ................................................................................. 26

2.6.2 E-Government in the United Kingdom ..................................................282.6.3 E-Government in Sweden ................................................................................ 312.6.4 E-Government in Italy...................................................................................... 33

2.7E-government Architecture Framework ............................................................ 35

2.7.1Access Layer .................................................................................................... 36


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2.7.2 E-government Layer.........................................................................................382.7.3 E-business Layer .............................................................................................. 382.7.4Infrastructure Layer.......................................................................................... 40

2.8Proposed E-Government Readiness Model ........................................................ 422.8.1Basic infrastructure and technology(IT Infrastructure)................................... 422.8.2Skills and human resources (ICT education) ...................................................42

2.8.3 Security infrastructure...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.2.8.4Legal and regulatory Environment................................................................... 422.8.5Social and cultural Infrastructure ..................................................................... 43

Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................44

Methodology................................................................................................................. 44

3. Literature Review.............................................................................................. 443.1Research Process and Design ............................................................................... 44

3.2Research Purpose ................................................................................................ ..453.3Research Philosophy ............................................................................................. 46

3.4Research Approach ............................................................................................... 473.4.1Quantitative Approach ..................................................................................... 473.4.2. Qualitative Approach ...................................................................................... 47

3.5Research Strategy.................................................................................................. 48

3.6Time Horizon ................................................................................................ .........48

3.7The Sample Design Process .................................................................................. 49

3.7.1Define the population ....................................................................................... 49

3.7.2Determine the sampling frame.........................................................................493.7.3Select a Sampling Technique...........................................................................49

3.7.4 Determining the sample size ............................................................................ 493.8Data Collection ................................................................................................ ......50

3.8.1Classification of Data & Data Collection Method ........................................... 503.8.2Collecting primary data using questionnaire.................................................... 53

3.9Brief History of Ministry of Commerce ..............................................................53

3.10Issues regarding Validity and Reliability.......................................................... 543.10.1 Reliability....................................................................................................... 55

3.10.2 Validity........................................................................................................... 56

Chapter4 ....................................................................................................57

Data Analysis & Result ............................................................................................ 57

4. Data Analysis & Result.................................................................................... 57

4.1Analysis .................................................................................................................. 574.2Descriptive analysis with usage of Frequency distribution and Binomial test

for IT Infrastructural obstacles ................................................................................. 58

4.2Descriptive analysis with usage of Frequency distribution and Binomial test

for Lack of IT skills obstacles................................................................ ..................... 73


for Legal obstacles ....................................................................................................... 82


for Security obstacles .................................................................................................. 96


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for Social and culture obstacles................................................................................ 1024.6Conclusion................................................................................................ ............112

4.6.1The main IT infrastructural obstacles............................................................. 1124.6.2The main Social and culture obstacles ........................................................... 1134.6.3The main Lack of IT skills obstacles ............................................................. 113

4.6.4The main Legal obstacles...............................................................................1134.6.5The main Security obstacles...........................................................................113

Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................114

Conclusion and Recommendations .................................................................... 114

5. Conclusion and Recommendations ........................................................... 1145.1Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................................. 114

5.1.1Respondents Specifications .......................................................................... 115

5.2The First round of Delphi for providing e-government solutions/guidelines 1155.2.1IT infrastructure guidelines............................................................................116

5.2.2 Social and cultural guidelines ........................................................................ 1165.2.3IT skills shortage guidelines........................................................................... 1165.2.4Legal and regulatory guidelines ..................................................................... 117

5.2.5Security guidelines.........................................................................................117

5.3The Second round of Delphi for implementing e-government Framework .. 117

5.4Proposed Model for implementing e-government within the Ministry of

Commerce of Iran ..................................................................................................... 118

References................................................................................................ .121

Appendixes................................................................................................126

Appendix A................................................................................................................. 126Appendix B ................................................................................................................. 132

Appendix C................................................................................................................. 133

Appendix D ................................................................................................ .................134

Descriptive Statistics.............................................................................................. 134Appendix E ................................................................................................................. 136

Persian Questionnaire........................................................................................... 136


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Table4.31Descriptive analysis for The lack of IT educational programmes for the state-

owned sector ..76Table 4.32 Binomial test for Q16 ..... .76

Table 4.33 Descriptive analysis for The low level of senior official IT

knowledge ..77Table 4.34 Binomial test for Q17 ..77

Table 4.35 Descriptive analysis for Inaccessibility to the human resources having high

skills in the English language ... .78Table 4.36Binomial test for Q18 ..79

Table 4.37 Descriptive analysis for Inaccessibility to the IT motivated forces in the

organization 79Table 4.38 Binomial test for Q19 ..80

Table 4.39 Descriptive analysis for Inadequate understanding of employee in the

organization of advantages and usage of e-

government 80Table 4.40 Binomial test for Q20 ..81

Table4.41 Descriptive analysis for Lacking security policies andlaws ... ... ..82

Table 4.42 Binomial test for Q21 . .83

Table 4.43Descriptive analysis for No protect by state and cultural makers of communityof e-government . .. ..83

Table 4.44 Binomial test for Q22 ..84

Table 4.45Descriptive analysis for the lack of a strategic plan for implementation of e-government ... .85

Table 4.46 Binomial test for Q23 . .85

Table 4.47 Descriptive analysis for Non grand and investment for makingtelecommunication and technical infrastructure ... .86

Table 4.48 Binomial test for Q24 ............ ..87

Table 4.49Descriptive analysis for Non-allocation of budget for meeting the expenses of

commissioning and the purchase of hardware and software to theorganizations ..87

Table 4.50 Binomial test for Q25 ... ..88

Table 4.51Descriptive analysis for Non allocation of budget for meeting the expenses of

connection to the internet network in the internationalorganizations . .89

Table 4.52 Binomial test for Q26 .89

Table 4.53Descriptive analysis for Financial weakness for holding training courses forthe employees of organizations ..90

Table 4.54 Binomial test for Q27 ... ..91Table 4.55 Descriptive analysis for Lack of law for respecting human

rights ..91


Table 4.57Descriptive analysis for Uncertainty of e-government incumbent ..93


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Table 4.58 Binomial test for Q29 .. 93Table 4.59 Descriptive analysis for Unavailability of people to the credit

cards .. .94Table 4.60 Binomial test for Q30 ..95Table 4.61 Descriptive analysis for Lack of co-ordination between different

organizations . .95Table 4.62 Binomial test for Q31 .. 96Table 4.63 Descriptive analysis for Non Security feeling towards personal data in e-

government ....96

Table 4.64 Binomial test for Q32 ..97Table 4.65Descriptive analysis for Lack of codification of information and using digital

signature . 98


Table 4.67 Descriptive analysis for Non-Utilization of different security facilitiesincluding filtering, logging and authentication . .99

Table 4.68Binomial test for Q34 100Table 4.69 Descriptive analysis for Non-Utilization of the softwares for fighting the

viruses ..100

Table 4.71Descriptive analysis for Lack of acquaintance of technical employees of theorganization with the issues concerning network security .. 102

Table 4.72 Binomial test for Q36 . ... 102

Table 4.73 Descriptive analysis for Lack of people s confidence in transaction inelectronic environment ... ..103

Table 4.74Binomial test for Q37 .................... 103

Table 4.75Descriptive analysis for Inadequate apprehension of high and middle rankingmanagers of e-government . ... ..104

Table 4.76 Binomial test for Q38 ... .104

Table 4.77 Q39: Unwillingness of supreme management to accept new initiatives

particularly to e-government .. . .105Table 4.78 Binomial test for Q39 .. ..106

Table 4.79Descriptive analysis for Lack of attempt of high and middle ranking managers

for making an adequate atmosphere for implementing e-

government ... ...106Table4.80Binomial test for Q40 ..107

Table 4.81 Descriptive analysis for Resistance against changes by senior

managers . .108Table 4.82 Binomial test for Q41 .. ..108

Table 4.83 Descriptive analysis for The resistance of the employees of organization

against the changes and new concepts .109Table 4.84Binomial test for Q42 ....109

Table 4.85 Descriptive analysis for The high speed of IT changes and inability of

organization in accompanying it ..110Table 4.86 Binomial test for Q43 111


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Table 4.87Descriptive analysis for The feeling of employees of organization regarding

acquisition of processes and unwilling to the transparency of processesand trends .111

Table 4.88 Binomial test for Q44 ... .112Table 5.1Respondents Specifications . 115


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Table of FiguresFigure 1.1Disposition of the Study ....9

Figure 2.1 Mapping technologies to e-government stages (Layne and Lee, 2001) .....16Figure 2.2Framework of e-government architecture ....37

Figure 3.1: Phase of Research Process: (Zikmund, 2000) .45

Figure 4.1: Bar chart of Non accessibility to Internet Connection ..59Figure 4.2Bar chart of Insufficiency of computers in an organization .60

Figure 4.3 Bar chart of the shortage or being inactive of informatics sector of the

organization 61Figure 4.5: Bar chart of insufficient accessibility of users to Internet network .63

Figure 4.6 Bar chart of Low speed of network ..64

Figure 4.7 Bar chart of Unavailability to the e-mail in the organization ... 65Figure 4.8Bar chart of lacking adequate system for responding to the users who contact

through e-mail .. ..66Figure 4.9 Bar chart of Non probability of exchanging information through internal

network (Intranet) .....68Figure 4.10Bar chart of lacking wireless communication in the organization .69

Figure 4.11 Bar chart of Divergence of internal networks between different units of

organization .. ..70Figure 4.13Bar chart of Lack of efficient banking system for e-payment ....72

Figure 4.14Bar chart of Shortage of literacy among the staff ..74

Figure 4.15Bar chart of Shortage of literacy among the user ...75Figure 4.16 Bar chart of the lack of IT educational programmes for the state-owned

sector ..76

Figure 4.17Bar chart of the low level of senior official IT knowledge ....77Figure 4.18Bar chart of Inaccessibility to the human resources having high skills in the

English language ... .78

Figure 4.19 Bar chart of Inaccessibility to the IT motivated forces in theorganization 79

Figure 4.20 Bar chart of Inadequate understanding of employee in the organization of

advantages and usage of e-government . 81Figure 4.21Bar chart of lacking security policies and laws .. 82Figure 4.22Bar chart of No protect by state and cultural makers of community of e-

government 84Figure 4.23 Bar chart of the lack of a strategic plan for implementation of e-

government ... .85Figure 4.24Bar chart of Non grand and investment for making telecommunication and

technical infrastructure ... 86Figure 4.25 Bar chart of Non-allocation of budget for meeting the expenses of

commissioning and the purchase of hardware and software to the

organizations . .88Figure 4.26 Bar chart of Non allocation of budget for meeting the expenses of connection

to the internet network in the international organizations .89Figure 4.27 Bar chart of financial weakness for holding training courses for the

employees of organizations 90Figure 4.28Bar chart of Lack of law for respecting human rights 92


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Figure 4.29Bar chart of Uncertainty of e-government incumbent 93Figure 4.30Bar chart of Unavailability of people to the credit cards 94Figure 4.31Bar chart of Lack of co-ordination between different organizations .........95

Figure 4.32Non Security feeling towards personal data in e-government 97Figure 4.33Lack of codification of information and using digital signature 98Figure 4.34 Non-Utilization of different security facilities including filtering, logging and

authentication .99Figure 4.35Non-Utilization of the softwares for fighting the viruses . 101Figure 4.36 Lack of acquaintance of technical employees of the organization with the

issues concerning network security .102

Figure 4.37 Lack of people s confidence in transaction in electronicenvironment .103

Figure 4.38 Inadequate apprehensions of high and middle ranking managers of e-

government .. 104

Figure 4.39Unwillingness of supreme management to accept new initiatives particularlyto e-government .. .105

Figure 4.40 Lack of attempt of high and middle ranking managers for making anadequate atmosphere for implementing e-government 107

Figure 4.41Resistance against changes by senior managers . ..108

Figure 4.42The resistance of the employees of organization against the changes and newconcepts ...... ..109

Figure 4.43The high speed of IT changes and inability of organization in accompanying

it .. .110Figure 4.44The feeling of employees of organization regarding acquisition of processes

and unwillingto the transparency of processes and trends ..112

Figure 5.1The five stages proposed framework for Iran .118


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Chapter1INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction

The purpose with thischapter is to present the problem area. Initially, an introduction,

and a background is provided in order to motivate the importance of the subject. Next,

the problem discussion is included, which result in a formulation of the research problem

and research question. Finally, a disposition of this study is provided to guide the reader

through the rest of the report.

1.1 Background

During the last decade a revolution in Information and Communication Technologies

(ICTs) is being witnessed. This revolution is not only changing the daily life of peoplebut also changing characteristics of the interaction between the governments and their

citizens. These changes, in turn, are rapidly being transformed into new forms of

government, namely, E-Government.

E-government is defined as the use of technology, particularly the Internet, as a means to

deliver services to citizens, businesses, and other entities. Operational benefits from the

introduction of Internet-based e-commerce, for government and public sector companies,include the reduction in paperwork, the provision of continuous service availability tocustomers, a reduction in response time, and a reduction in error rate. All of these factors

contribute to the general increase in the efficiency of government business. E-government

encapsulates a wide variety of meanings ranging from policies that foster thedevelopment of information infrastructures to particular measures for combating the

digital divide. It also involves a series of measures to improve the operation of the state s

administrative functions. E-government is often now seen as a synonym, or a conditionfor good governance, which has been linked to the presence of democratic institutions

and participation of its citizens.


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Though e-government has clear benefits for businesses and government themselves,citizens actually receive the widest array of benefits from e-government. For the citizens,e-government can offer a huge range of information and services including information

for research, government forms and services, public policy information, employment and

business opportunities, voting information, tax filing, license registration or renewal,payment of fines, and submission of comments to government officials. This means that

the key to making e-government work is not technology but the citizens as there are still

many people who do not or cannot access to computers and Internet. This is due to thegap between citizens attributes including gender, education, income, age, households,

business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels with regard to both their

opportunities to access ICTs and their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities(Jaeger, 2002).

Among the potential benefits of e-government are savings in money and time for the

government, citizens, and businesses. Moreover, users of governmental information

services will benefit by greater 24hours a day, 7 days a week access to higher qualityservices. Most importantly, the relationship between government and citizens can evolve

from its traditional hierarchical one to a more reciprocal one where citizens are genuinestakeholders in their government. Although the use of these technologies is rapidly

growing in the economic and production systems of the world, they are not available "off

the shelf ". They have to be understood, absorbed, and mastered (Schware and Deane,2003).

1.2 Research Problem

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are playing an increasingly vital

role in the daily lives of people, revolutionizing work and leisure and changing the rules

of doing business. In the realm of government, ICT applications are promising to enhancethe delivery of public goods and services to citizens not only by improving the process

and management of government, but also by redefining the traditional concepts of

citizenship and democracy.Although E-government promises some striking opportunities to improve the business of

any government, but this vision is not without a series of serious obstacles. Hurdles such

as citizen awareness of electronic services and information, the digital divide and anexodus of skilled workers must be overcome to get from where we are today to the vision

of e-government. Also, the multidimensionality and complexity of e-government

initiatives implies the existence of a wide variety of challenges and barriers to its

implementation and management.Nowadays, governments around the world are embracing electronic government. In every

region of the globe, from developing countries to industrialized ones, national and localgovernments are putting critical information online, automating cumbersome processes

and interacting electronically with their citizens. Also, Iran as a developing country has

been embracing e-government to meet the mentioned aims.However, there are obstacles against establishing e-government in our country. Since the

topic of my thesis is: The Obstacles and Guidelines of establishing e-government in the

Ministryof Commerce, so it is tried to distinguish the existing obstacles in order to make

a better environment for implementation of e-government.


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1.3 Research QuestionsTo fulfill the purpose of this research questions shall be addressed,

What are the main obstacles of implementing e-government in the IranianMinistry of Commerce?

Which obstacles have the most effect on implementing e-government in the

Iranian Ministry of Commerce?

What solutions or guidelines could be offered for the Iranian Ministry ofCommerce?

1.4 Hypotheses

H1= There are some obstacles for implementing e-government in the IranianMinistry of Commerce.

1.5 Disposition of the Study

In the first chapter a broader problem has been narrowed down to research problem and

main hypotheses. The literature review in chapter two, will give the reader an overall

review of different modelsconnected to the hypotheses. Based on the literature review a

frame of reference is presented where the theoretical framework is selected to assist thedata collection. In chapter three the methodology of this study is presented. Chapter four

presents the data analysis and results draw from the study and finally chapter five

indicated discussion, conclusions. A visualization of the disposition of this study isshowed in figure 1.1


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Chapter3Methodology

Chapter2

Literature Review

Chapter4

Data Analysis & Results

Chapter5

Conclusion

Figure 1.1 Disposition of the Study

Chapter 1

Introduction


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Chapter 2LITERATURE REVIEW

2. Literature Review

This chapter will have a review on literature and related models to the research

problem. In this chapter we will introduce the concepts of government, state, e-

government and models for implementing e-government e-readiness and comparativestudies, in order to give a clear idea about the research area.

2.1 The Concepts of State and Government

2.1.1 State

A state is an organized political community, occupying a territory, and possessing

internal and external sovereignty, which successfully claims the monopoly of the use offorce. It may or may not have an organized governmentto exist. Several states have had

episodes were two or more groups dispute control of the government, but they never lost

their state quality. Thus, a government is not necessary for a state to be a state as long asits existence is recognized by the international community (Huggins, 1997). The scope of

state is much more beyond its structure.In general state consists of four elements(Held,1998):

i. Territory: Territory is an area of land under the jurisdiction of a

governmental authority. Territory can, though, include any geographical areaunder the jurisdiction of a sovereign and does not have a political division

status. The remainder of this article deals with political territories.

ii. Authority: Authority is often used interchangeably with the termpower. However, their meanings differ. Power refers to the ability to achieve


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certain ends, authority refers to the legitimacy, justification and right toexercise that power.

iii. Population: Population is the collection of people, or organisms of a

particular species, living in a given geographic area, or space, usually bycensus.

iv. Government:Government is a body that has the authority to make and the

powerto enforce laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or otherorganizationor group. However, these are not physical laws. In its broadestsense, "to govern" means to administer or supervise, whether over a state, a

set group of people, or a collection of assets.

From another point of view, state differs from government by nature.As a matter of factthe nature of state is permanently, but the nature of government is temporarrily (Plano and

Olton, 1998).As a whole, we should make a difference between the form of governmentand form of state.The form of government is so-called political regime.Of course,we face

to some countries with the same form but different political regimes.For instance Swedenand Italy are unitary states,but the former has royal regime and the latter, republic.

A useful way to understand the current debates in political science is following StephenKrasner explanation. According to him, political scientists go around four different

conceptions of the state (Krasner, 1973):The state is government or as an actor on its own right. In some of these approaches the

state is a self contained unitary actor in which the state interacts with others to maximize

their interests.

The state is a public bureaucracyand institutionalized legal order. The pluralist theoriesof the state assumed that the state was composed of different political actors and that the

well-being of the state depended on allocating power to the most representative groups or

individuals.

1. The state is ruling class (Marxist theories of the state). In this view the state isa distortion of social life as it serves the interest of the ruling class,perpetuating the exploitation of humans against humans.

2. The state is normative order (symbolic and cultural theories of the state). Ingeneral, these views spouse the idea that the state is the resultant symbolic,

normative, cultural and moral expression of social life.

2.1.2 Government

A government is the body that has the authority to make and the power to enforce lawswithin an organization or group. In its broadest sense," to govern" means to administer or

supervise, whether over an area of land, a set group of people, or a collection of assets.

We often use the term "government" to mean everything connected with running acountry, including the people or parties in power and their laws, customs, and

institutions. In fact, that is what we mean when we talk about "levels of government" or

a "system of government" (Lockard, 1995).Two taxonomies are recognized for the categorization of government types. In the first

governments are described by who gets to rule. Monarchies have hereditary rules, less

chosen than nurtured into the post. Oligarchies are governed by a few wealthy membersof the community, democracies are governed by the governed, and anarchies are


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regulated by no one. A more useful taxonomy examines the concentration of power. A

continuum of government types may include a limited monarchy (post RunnymedeEngland), a constitutional monarchy, a representative democracy (The United States),

and direct democracy (Stewart and Stoker, 1995).

As mentioned before, effective governments possess two attributes: authority andlegitimacy. Authority is the ability to compel obedience. Authority can be derived from

naked force or terror as was the cases in Stalinist Russia or Baathist Iraq or from a socialcontract between governed and government as is the case in many western democracies. Legitimacy is the attribute of a government that prompts the governed to acquiesce

willingly to its authority. Legitimacy is gained through the acquisition and application of

power in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles. That is to saythat a legitimate government will "do the right thing" and therefore deserves to be

respected and obeyed. Authority can be upheld through violent means while legitimacy

must be earned. As legitimacy is challenged the use of violence to maintain authority

increases.From another point of view, governments perform three functions: They enforce the

rules, the executive function, and the judicial function wherein the rules are interpreted.Government concern themselves with regulating and administering many areas of human

activity, such as trade, education, medicine, entertainment, and war. However, there are

two main areas of concern (Blondel, 1969):

Enforcement of Power: Government use a variety of methods tomaintain the established order, such as secrecy, police and military

forces, making agreements with other states, and maintaining supportwithin the state, Typical methods of maintaining support and legitimacy

include providing the infrastructure for administration, justice, transport,

communication, social welfare etc. Claiming support from deities,providing benefits to elites, holding elections for important posts within

the state, limiting the power of the state through laws and constitutionsand appealing to nationalism. Different political ideologies hold different

ideas on what the government should or should not do.

Territory:The modern standard unit of territory is a country. In additionto the meaning used above, the word state can refer either to a government

or to its territory. Within a territory, sub national entities may have localgovernments which don't have the full power of a national government

(for example, they will generally lack the authority to declare war or carry

out diplomatic negotiations).

Government concern themselves with regulating and administering many areas of humanactivity, such as trade, education, or medicine. Government also employ different

methods to maintain the established other, such as secrecy, police and military forces,

making agreements with other states, and maintaining support within the state. Typicalmethods of maintaining support and legitimacy include providing the infrastructure for

administration, justice, transport, communication, social welfare etc. Providing benefits

to elites, providing shops for important posts within the state, limiting the power of thestate through laws and constitutions and appealing to nationalism. Different political

ideologies hold different ideas on what the government should not do. The modern

standard unit of territory is a country. In addition to the meaning used above, the word


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state can refer either to a government or to its territory. Within a territory, sub national

entities may have local governments which do not have the full power of a nationalgovernment.

2.1.3 Reasons for government

There are a wide range of theories about the reasons for establishing governments. The

four major ones are briefly described below. Note that they don't always fully oppose

each other; it is possible for a person to subscribe to a combination of ideas from two ormore of these theories (Blondel, 1969).

2.1.3.1 Greed and oppression

Many political philosophies that are opposed to the existence of a government (such asAnarchism, and to a lesser extent Marxism), as well as others, emphasize the historical

roots of governments. The fact that governments originated from the authority ofwarlords and petty despots who took, by force, certain patches of land as their own (andbegan exercising authority over the people living on that land). Thus it is argued that

governments exist to enforce the will of the strong and oppress the weak (Crewe andHarrrop, 1986).

2.1.3.2 Order and tradition

The various forms of conservatism, by contrast, generally see the government as a

positive force that brings order out of chaos, establishes laws to end the "war of all

against all" encourage moral virtue while punishing vice, and respects tradition.Sometimes, in this view, the government is seen as something ordained by a higher

power, as in the divine right of kings, which human beings have a duty to obey(Aberbach et al. 1981).

2.1.3.3 Natural rights

Natural rights are the basis for the theory of government shared by most branches ofliberalism (including libertarianism). In this view, human beings are born with certain

natural rights, and governments are established strictly for the purpose of protecting those

rights. What the natural rights actually are is a matter of dispute among liberals-both inthe sense of a definition of "rights", and in the sense of listing which rights are natural.

Indeed, each branch of liberalism has its own set of rights that it considers to be natural,

and these rights are sometimes mutually exclusive with the rights supported by other

liberals (Allett, 1982)

2.1.3.4 Social content

One of the most influential theories of government in the past two hundred years hasbeen the social contract, on which modern democracy and most forms of socialism are

founded. The social contract theory holds that governments are created by the people in

order to provide for collective needs (such as safely form crime, poverty, illiteracy) thatcannot be properly satisfied using purely individual means. Governments thus exist for

the purpose of serving the needs and wishes of the people, and their relationship with the

people is clearly stipulated in a "social contract" (a constitution and a ser of laws) whichboth the government and the people must abide by. If a majority is unhappy, it may


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change the social contract. If a minority is unhappy, it may persuade the majority tochange the contract, or it may opt out of it by emigration or secession (Bahro, 1995).

2.2 Definition of E-Government

E-governance, however, is a term which is used much less often and for which there are

fewer definitions. This is rather odd, given that the topic of governances has been very

topical for over a decade and many OECD governments have incorporated governanceissues in their reform programmes (Khosrowpour, 2005).

Richard Heeks propose that the term "e-governance" should be seen to encompass all

ICTs, but the key innovation is that of computer networks, from intranets to the Internet,which have created a wealth of new digital connections:

Connections within government, permitting "joined-up thinking."

Connections between government and NGO/citizens, strengtheningaccountability.

Connections between government and business/citizens, transformingservice delivery.

Connections within and between NGOs, supporting learning andconcerted action.

Connections within and between communities, building social andeconomic development.

As a result, Heeks suggests, the focus of e-governance shifts from just parts of e-

administration, in the case e-government, to also encompass e-citizens, e-services and e-society.

The joint UNESCO-COMNET-IT study of e-governance defines governance as "theprocess by which society steers itself." It goes on to state that :" in this process, the

interactions between the state, private enterprise and civil society are being increasingly

conditioned and modified through the influence of ICTs" (Aicholzer and Schmutzer, 2000)

Examples of these shifts in dynamics are exemplified by:

Use of the Internet by civil society, NGOs and professional associationsto mobilize opinion and influence decision-making processes that affect

them;

Increasing electronic delivery of government and commercial services andinformation;

Electronic publication of draft legislation and statement of direction for

public feedback;On the infrastructure side, the increased adoption of e-enabled community

centers, the liberalization of telecommunication markets and trends

towards web-enabled mobile telephony and digital television arefacilitating this evolution.

Jim Melitski describes the "e-governance journey" as a continuum which begins with

information provision when organizations and public agencies publish statistic

information to the Internet, but then moves on as public organizations become moreadvanced and are able to provide more dynamic, transactional services. Ultimately the

continuum leads to organizational transformation, the transparency of public agencies,

increased citizen participation in government, and facilitation of democratic processes. E-


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government is at one end of government, and facilitation of democratic processes. Kei Ho

claims that the early 1990s was the starting point of the concept of e-government. Thereason for this was the use of electronic mail, list-servers and the World Wide Web to

deliver services and information to its citizens. By the end of the 1990s, governments

worldwide were pursuing e-government projects to provide information and services tocitizens and businesses electronically (Kei Ho, 2002).

Since these early implementations of e-government, successive governments have

increasingly recognized the problems of successfully developing ICT systems that aresignificant when set against the backdrop of funding allocated to e-government project.

The terms used to define e-government are nebulous and it means many things to

different stakeholder groups. However, in extrapolating common strands from thetaxonomies proposed by Al-Sebie and in the various definitions that have been proposed

the following key issues feature prominently (Al-Sebie and Irani, 2003):

Technology to deliver government services electronically.

Transaction processes and the transformation of e-Government services.

Benefit portfolio for delivery of government services electronically to the

public.

Citizens as the central focus of service delivery.

Delivery of government services through a single online point of access.E-government is a concept that is in a seemingly constant state of development. Given

the diversity of concepts of e-government around the world, creating a workabledefinition of e-government is becoming very difficult. A simple definition of electronic

government is considering as such every governmental action that is based on the use of

computer networks. On this basis, different types of interactions can be distinguished:

G2C (Government to Citizen), G2B (Government to Business), G2G (Government toGovernment) and, recently, G2NGO (Government to Non-Governmental Organizations)

and G2NPO (Government to Non-Profit Organizations).Different countries have perceived the meaning and content of e-government differently,

which is related to their specific political systems. The New Zealand government

suggests that e-government is a way for governments to use the new technologies toprovide people with more convenient access to government information and services, to

improve the quality of the services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in

our democratic institutions and processes. The Italian government uses the term e-government to refer to the use of modern ICTs in the processes of modernizing the

administration of the state and suggests that it comprises the following categories of

activity:1.Direct provision of information for improving the internal operating efficiency of

administrative units;

2.Activities which lead directly to the information of the delivery of services to citizensand companies, which often implies the integration of services provided by several

administrative units;

3.Activities which lead directly to providing end users with electronic access to publicservices and to all relevant information about them.

The OECD states that the term e-government focuses on the use of new information and

communication technologies (ICTs) by governments as applied to the full range ofgovernment functions. In particular, the networking potential offered by the Internet and


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related technologies has the potential to transform the structures and operation ofgovernment.

These definitions have strong parallels with the definition adopted by some individual

OECD member governments. The Cabinet Office in the UK, for example, suggests that

e-government focuses on better services for citizens and businesses and more effectiveuse of the Government's information resources. The UK also make it clear thattransactions may be included in e-government, if certain conditions are met. Specifically,

it suggests that electronic service delivery means delivery through Internet protocols andother ICT methods and includes delivery by telephone if the transaction carried out is

electronically enabled.

Academics have suggested various definitions for e-government. For Lenk andTraunmuller, it can be seen as a guiding vision that includes all proposals for

modernization and reorganization of public administration (Montagna, 2005). Whitsonand Davis have defined e-government as implementing cost-effective models for citizens,

industry, federal employees, and other stakeholders to conduct business transactionsonline. Tapscott has defined e-governments as an inter-networked government, and

Nadler and Tushman emphasized that technology is only one of the structural mater ials.Sprecher considers e-government as a technology to help simplify and automate

transactions between governments and constituents, businesses, or other governments.

Burn and Robins explain e-government as governments' efforts to provide citizens withthe information and services they need, using a range of information and communication

technologies. Luling defines e-government as online government services, that is, any

interaction one might have with any government body or agency, using the Internet(Whitson and Davis, 2001). In a wide interpretation of this term, many authors include

projects related to e-Democracy, e-Voting, e-Assistance, e-Health ware, etc. In a more

delimited definition that is developed in this article, it refers just to the administrativeprocesses related to what is called e-Administration.Due to these views, definitions of e-government range from the use of information

technology to free movement of information to overcome the physical bounds of

traditional paper and physical based systems to the use of technology to enhance theaccess to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and

employees . The common theme behind these definitions is that e-government involves

the automation or computerization of existing paper-based procedures that will prompt

new styles of leadership, new ways of debating and deciding strategies, new ways oftransacting business, new ways of listening to citizens and communities, and new ways of

organizing and delivering information (Patricia, 2003).

In other cases, we come to the concept of e-government starting from e-commerce sincein both cases the same infrastructure, hardware and, sometimes, software are used. The

Internet has had great influence creating e-services. Boyer et al. define them as

comprising all interactive services that are delivered on the Internet using advancedtelecommunications, information and multimedia technologies (Fountain, 2001) .Also,

some recent definitions see e-government as the various ways government uses

information and communication technologies to remain relevant in the knowledgesociety. It may be concluded that the generic and broad term e-government includes

many various problems ranging from technical aspects to a series of organizational and

management problems: implementation, organizational change and behavior,


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bureaucracy, etc. It is an environment that is not completely defined from the academicpoint of view and that has been attacked both from the theoretical point of view by

specialists in political sciences, sociology and economics, and from the practical point of

view by disciplines such as public politics and management, organizational behavior, etc.

2.3 The Advantages of E-Government

E-government, if implemented properly, can improve current government services,

increase accountability, result in more accurate and efficient delivery of services, reduceadministrative costs and time spent on repetitive tasks for government employees,

facilitate greater transparency in the administration of government, and allow greater

access to services due to the around the clock availability of the Internet. E-governmentalso allows governments to offer enhanced services by creating new ways to interact with

the government, such as email, online meetings and forums for voicing opinion, onlinetransactions, and online voting. A positive relationship has been identified between

engagement on the Internet and participation in civic and political issues. By creating aviable Internet presence, a government can generate interest in the political process

among young citizens who frequently use the Internet (MacIntosh et al., 2003). E-

government is even used in some locations as a method to reduce corruption ingovernment functions, as a computer will not likely ask for a bribe to do its job.More

important, it aims to help strengthen government s drive toward effective governance and

increased transparency to better manage a country s social and economic resources fordevelopment.

The Working Group on E-Government in the Developing World has identified four

broad categories of goals commonly pursued for e-government. E-government is a meansto accomplish these broader social goals, goals that move beyond mere efficiency of

government processes to that of overall reform and development. The existence goals of

e-government are not listed in any particular order of importance, as each country mustdetermine its priorities in e-government:

2.3.1 Creating a better business environment

Technology is a proven catalyst in increasing productivity and economic growth,

especially in rural and underserved communities. The use of ICTs in government and the

establishment of an e-government infrastructure help create a business-friendly

environment by streamlining the interaction and improving the interface between

government and business, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). By cuttingout redundancies in procedures and emphasizing immediate and efficient delivery ofservices, e-government creates the conditions that attract investors and investment.

This goal is highly dependent on the country, its industry strengths and its global

competitive advantage. Once identified, these should be incorporated in the country s e-

government strategy, with agencies, the bureaucracy and public services aligned towardspromoting these sectors. E-procurement, for example, can open new markets to local

businesses by opening up the government procurement process, making it more

competitive, fair, effective and efficient.


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2.3.2 Strengthening good governance and broadening publicparticipation

Promoting transparency and accountability in government through the proliferation ofICT in management and operations also opens opportunities for citizens to be moreactively involved in the policy and decision-making processes of government. As a major

tool in building a tradition of transparency and good governance, e-government can

advance the fight against corruption. However, e-government by itself will not put an endto corruption. It must be accompanied by other mechanisms to be fully effective. At the

same time, e-government facilitates the swift delivery of complete information. The

broad dissemination of information helps empower citizens and facilitate informeddecision-making. The transparency of information will not only further democracy but

also instill a sense of accountability among government leaders and compel effective

governance (Seifert and Peterson, 2002)

2.3.3 Improving the productivity and efficiency of governmentagencies

Reengineering processes and procedures to cut red tape facilitate delivery of services,

increase productivity of the bureaucracy, and increase savings are inherent benefits in e-government. More specifically, e-government can help:

Increase government staff productivity, reduce overhead from fewer offices andless paper management, improve capacity for planning management by

government (using better tools and improving access to critical information, for

example, in city planning through the use of a GIS), and increase revenue asbusinesses and citizens actually apply for more licenses, due to the fact that the

process is much easier and less corrupt.Induce cost savings in the medium to the long term. In the short term, however,

staffing and costs tend to increase as government must offer multiple deliveryplatforms (both the traditional and e-government) during the initial transition.

Streamline the operations of government. Most government processes haveevolved over many years, and usually involve many steps, tasks, and activities.

Streamlining government processes through ICT eliminates redundant proceduresand helps to reduce red tape.

2.3.4 Improving the quality of life

ICT makes it possible for government to reach marginalized groups and communities

and improve their quality of life. This means empowering them through theirparticipation in the political process, as well as delivering much-needed public goods and

services.Ultimately, the goal of e-government is to enhance the interaction between three

main actors in society, government, citizens and business, in order to stimulate political,

social and economic progress in the country (Aicholzer, Schmultzer, 2000).

E-government has enormous potential to improve and advance the interactions betweencitizen, business, and government. A mature, effective e-government has the capacity to

create new methods and avenues for participation in government, acting as an endless

wire, electronically threading together citizens, businesses, and all levels of governmentin a nation. E-government covering changes of governance in a twofold manner: (1)


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Transformation of the business of governance, that is, improving service quality delivery,

reducing costs, and renewing administrative processes; (2) transformation of governanceitself that is, reexamining the functioning of democratic practices and processes.

E-government provides many opportunities to improve the quality service to the citizens.

E-government offers the agency the opportunity to examine its current operations andprocedures identify business processes and practices that can be streamlined, implement

those streamlined business processes, and implement new technologies that enhancethose improvements.The implementation of e-government facilitates citizen participation

in governance by increasing access channels to government. It broadens opportunities for

citizen participation, opening new channels of communication between constituents and

their representatives and bringing marginal groups (i.e., women, physically challenged,indigenous peoples) into mainstream participatory channels.

E-government can provide marketing and promotion services for women s businesses

such as handicrafts, garments and traditional arts. Female farmers can increase their

productivity and profits with access to information on improved agricultural inputs,weather, markets, new production techniques and farming technologies. E-government

has indirect effects that are no less important to the nation's wellbeing. These includegreater transparency and accountability in public decision-making, the ability to stimulate

local economies and the strengthening and development of democracy at its most locallevel and finally equity and inclusiveness.

2.4 Models of the Stages of E-Government Implementation

The traditional model of government is not working any longer and the emerging vast

networks of interacting public, private, and voluntary organizations could not be servedusing the traditional setups of single administrations for single services and specific

functions. Responding to complex problems of societies and providing solutions could

only be provided through collaboration between government body members, and alsowith internal as well as external entities, including other governments.

To develop a robust e-government infrastructure demands a staged approach, which

develops from the immature to the mature, where the latter offers full integration withpublic administration, will have required the fundamental re-think and change of

government and its constituent components. An advantage of having a staged approach is

the ability to generate momentum that can then be maintained. This will allow publicsector organizations to attract more and more citizens to using e-services to a point where

it becomes natural, as well as securing business trust and confidence to deal with an e-

government portal as part of their standard service chain operations.The process of implementing an e-government system passes through different stages

until it reaches its highest potential stage. That is the integration of government

information and services in different departments, for different functions and at differentlevels of the government system thus, enabling customers to obtain government services

and information online from a single point of access.

The normative literature is in agreement that there are different stages in e-governmentprovision. An evolutionary perspective where the information systems and grows and

evolves with confidence, acceptance and resources is one advocated, with governments

going through a number of stages before reaching maturity. The approaches can be


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divided into concepts that focus on aspects of development, i.e. simple informationportals, providing communication facilities, transaction process, and finally, fullyrealizing the integration of government systems (United Nation, 2005). There remains a

lack of consensus regarding how many stages of maturity an e-government system goesthrough. Some believe that only three stages are necessary, others believe that four, fiveor even six stages are required. The various models of the stages of e-government and

their perceptions can be seen below.

2.4.1Howard's Model

Howard divides the stages of an e-government system into three, namely: publication,

interaction, and transaction (Howard, 2001):

1-Publication Stage: means information about activities of government available

Online.2-Interaction Stage: enables citizens to have simple interactions with theirgovernments such as sending e-mail or chat rooms .

3-Transaction Stage: provides citizens with full benefits from transactions over the

Internet, such as applying for programs and services, purchasing licenses and permits.However,there is a shortcoming in Howard s study because it does not go as far as an

integration stage. This is important because it is only the integration stage that facilitates

any flow of government information between different levels of agencies anddepartments. This is essential to enable the citizens to obtain government services from a

single point. Although the integration stage of e-government has been given different

names, including transformation, almost all normative sources have included it as one oftheir final stages.

2.4.2Chandler and Emanuel s Model

Chandler and Emanuel divided e-government implementation into four stages (Chandlerand Emanuels, 2002):

1-Information Stage: delivery of government services online. One-way

communication between government and citizens.

2-Interaction Stage:simple interaction between citizens and governments.

3-Transaction Stage: services that enable transactions of value between citizens and

government.

4-Integration Stage: integration of services across the agencies and departments ofgovernment.

Chandler and Emanuel s, mention the stage of interaction. This makes an important

distinction between facilitating unrestricted two way communication, with technologieslike email and discussion boards, and explicit transaction processing whereby citizens

carry out a complete transaction via an online interface.

2.4.3Layne and Lee's Model

Layne and Lee have divided e-government implementation into four stages and most,

including (Layne and Lee, 2001):

1-Cataloguing Stage: creating websites and making government information andservices available online.

2-Transaction Stage:enables citizens to interact with their governments electronically.


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3- Vertical integration Stage:focuses on integrating disparate at different levels.

4-Horizontal integration Stage: focuses on integration of government services fordifferent functions horizontally.

Layne and Lee do not mention the interaction stage, instead, they move directly to the

transaction stage. However, they have provided a unique contribution to the division ofthe stages of e-government by dividing the integration stage into vertical and horizontal

integration phases. Traditionally government departments and organizations have

maintaining separate databases that are not normally connected to other governmentdepartments at the same level or with similar departments at a local or central level. The

integration stage addresses breaking down these barriers (Layne and Lee, 2001).

The successful development of an e-government infrastructure depends upon a clearimplementation programme and framework. Government development teams must lay

out a roadmap for the adoption process by fitting every stage of adoption into the

appropriate timetable and determining the ICT and organizational requirements and

barriers before starting to implement and adopt the initiative. Regardless of integrationtypes, both levels of integration demand specific integration solutions, which in figure 2.1have been mapped onto the work of Layne and Lee.

Figure 2.1 Mapping technologies to e-government stages (Layne and Lee, 2001)

Integration Level

InterationMaturit

DensSparse

Sim

le

Com

lex

CatalogueOnline presenceCatalogue presentationDownloadable forms

TransactionServices and formsonlineWorking databasesupporting onlinetransactions

Vertical Integration

Local systemslinked to higherlevelsystems

Very similarfunctionalities

Horizontal integrationSystems integratedacross differentfunctions

One-stop shoppingfor citizens


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2.4.4 United Nations DPEPA Model

A report prepared by the United Nations (Division for Public Economics and Public

Administration) divides e-government into five stages including (Howard, 2001):

1-Emerging Stage:creating a government website with limited or static information.

2-Enhanced Stage:updating information regularly.

3-Interactive Stage:provides users with reasonable levels of interaction enabling themto download forms.

4-Transactional Stage:enables users to complete transactions such as obtaining visas,

licenses, passports, birth and death records, etc.online safely and securely.5-Seamless or fully Stage: provides services across administrative and departmental

lines with the highest level of integration.

Division for Public Economics and Public Administration splits the publish stage or theinformation stage into two by adding a new enhanced stage that is not mentioned

within any of the three and four stages model discussed earlier.

2.4.5 Deloitte's Model

Research by Deloitte, cited in Silcock (Ebrahim et al., 2003), divides e-government into

six stages including:

1-Information Publishing Stage: creates websites by departments and agencies as anone-way communication.

2-Official Two-Way Transactions Stage: enables customers to have electronic

interaction with government services such as renewing television licences and paying

parking tickets.3-Multi-Purpose Portals Stage:enables customers to obtain government services and

information from a single point.

4-Portal Personalization Stage: provide customers with opportunities to customize

portals according to their need.

5-Clustering of Common Services Stage: with portals becoming better, governmentdepartments will disappear where government will seek to gather common services to

hurry the process of delivery.

6-Full Integration and Enterprise Transformation Stage: government departments

will disappear others will appear; some departments will keep the same names butbecome entirely different internally.

As with Layne and Lee, the interaction stage is not preset and the model moves directly

to the transaction stage from stage one (information). It should also be noted that fromstage three to stage five, the Deloitte focuses on delivery of government services from a

single point by using a portal which provides a full range of services and enables

customers to make easy and single access to government services without the need toknow which agency is responsible for which service. It seems stages 3, 5 and 6 have

similar functions, but do not make something like Layne and Lee s clear distinctionbetween vertical and horizontal integration, they could be embedded or encompassed intoone integration stage. Stage 4 (portal personalization) is clearly an enhancement to the

quality of service.


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The various models and the aforementioned stages of e-government and their perceptions

have been summarized in table 2.1the purpose of this table is to identify and locate thetransaction stage within the different models and the different models presented within

the table will be discussed briefly.


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Table 2.1 Different classifications of the stages of e-government implementation

ModelStage

Measuring Index

Stage 1:Publish Percentage of information about activities of governmentavailable online.

Stage 2:Interact

Number of citizens to have simple interactions with their

governments such as sending e-number of mail or chat

rooms .

Howard

Stage 3:Transact

Percentage of full benefits from transactions over the

Internet, such as applying for programms and services,

purchasing licenses and permits.

Stage 1:InformationPercentage of government services online. One-way

communication between government and citizens.

Stage 2:Interaction Amount of interaction between citizens and governments.

Stage 3: TransactionPercentage of Services that enable transactions of value

between citizens & government.

Chandler and

Emanuels

Stage 4:Integration Percentage of Integration of services across the agenciesand departments of government.

Stage 1:CataloguingNumber of websites and making government information

and services available online.

Stage 2:TransactionPercentage of citizens to interact with their governments

electronically.

Stage 3:Vertical

integrationDegree of on integrating disparate at different levels.

Layne and Lee

Stage 4:Horizontal

integration

Degree of integration of government services for different

functions horizontally.

Stage 1:Emerging Number of government website with limited / static

information.

Stage 2: Enhanced Percentage of updated information.

United Nations

DPEPA

Stage 3:InteractiveNumber of users with reasonable levels of interaction

enabling them to download forms.

Stage 4:Transactional Number of users to complete transactions such as obtaining

visas, licenses, passports, etc. online safely and securely.

Stage 5:Seamless or

fullyintegrated

Percentage of services across administrative and

departmental lines with the highest level of integration.

Stage 1:Information

publishing

Number of websites by departments and agencies. One-way

communication.

Stage2:Official two-

way transactions

Number of customers to have electronic interaction with

government services such as renewing television licenses &

paying parking tickets.Stage 3:Multi-purpose

portals

Number of customers to obtain government services and

information from a single point.

Stage 4:Portal

personalization

Number of customers with opportunities to customize

portals according to their need.

Stage 5:Clustering of

common services

Percentage of portals becoming better, government

departments will disappear where government will seek to

gather common services to hurry the process of delivery.

Deloitte Research

Stage 6:Full

integration

Number of government departments will disappear others

will appear; some departments will keep the same names

but become entirely different internally.


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With regard to the different classifications of the stages of e-government implementation,

we can summarize the advantages and disadvantages of these models: Howard dividesthe stages of an e-government system into three, namely: publication, interaction, and

transaction. However, there is a shortcoming in Howard s study because it does not go as

far as an integration stage. This is important because it is only the integration stage thatfacilitates any flow of government information between different levels of agencies and

departments (Howard, 2001). This is essential to enable the citizen to obtain government

services from a single point. Although the integration stage of e-government has beengiven different names, including transformation, almost all normative sources have

included it as one of their final stages.

Many studies such as Chandler and Emanuel s (Chandler and Emanuels, 2002) and

Layne and Lee (Layne and Lee, 2001) have divided e-government into four stages and

most, including Chandler and Emanuel s mention the stage of interaction. This makes an

important distinction between facilitating unrestricted two way communication, with

technologies like email and discussion boards, and explicit transaction processingwhereby citizens carry out a complete transaction via an online interface.

Interestingly, Layne and Lee do not mention the interaction stage, instead, they movedirectly to the transaction stage. However, they have provided a unique contribution to

the division of the stages of e-government by dividing the integration stage into verticaland horizontal integration phases (Layne and Lee, 2001).

A few studies, Deloitte's and DPEPA's, have divided e-government systems into five and

six stages. These methodologies split the publish stageor the information ones into

two by adding a new enhanced stage that is not mentioned within any of the three andfour stages model discussed earlier. Research by Deloitte (Ebrahim et al., 2003), divides

e-government into six stages. As with Layne and Lee, the interaction stage is not preset

and the model moves directly to the transaction stage from stage one (information). Itshould also be noted that from stage three to stage five, the Deloitte research focuses ondelivery of government services from a single point by using a portal which provides a

full range of services and enables customers to make easy and single access to

government services without the need to know which agency is responsible for whichservice. It seems that stages 3, 5 and 6 have similar functionality, but do not make

something like Layne and Lee s clear distinction between vertical and horizontal

integration, they could be embedded or encompassed into one integration stage. Stage 4(portal personalization) is clearly an enhancement to the quality of service.

Before reaching a conceptual framework for e-government model in Iran, we should take

Iranian challenges and problems in field of e-government into consideration.

2.5E-Readiness

There are many of factors that promote the countries to be e-ready;

The enormous advantages that ICT will bring along by. It will not only lead to aSimple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART)

Government, it will also lead to making the citizens life easy. ICT promises

various social and economical benefits as well.

Secondly, the countries are facing a threat of being left behind.


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Third, international leaders, foreign donors, and lending agencies are integratingICT into development and aid programs.

Again ICT is a key weapon in the war against world poverty. When usedproperly, it offers a tremendous potential to empower people in developing

countries to overcome development obstacles; to address the most important

social problems they face; and to strengthen communities, democratic institutions,a free press, and local economies.

An e-readiness assessment, when properly applied in a larger process of evaluation, is afirst step towards converting good intentions into planned actions that bring real changes

to people s lives. E-readiness assessments are meant to guide development efforts by

providing benchmarks for comparison and gauging progress. This is an old processadapted to today s technology realities; determining the current situation in order to plan

for the future and advocate specific changes.

E-readiness assessment can also be a vital tool for judging the impact of ICT, to replacewild claims and anecdotal evidence about the role of ICT in development with concrete

data for comparison (Center for International Development at Harvard University,2000).

2.5.1 Defining E-Readiness

The CSPP s guide to E-Readiness defines an e-ready community as one that has high-speed access in a competitive market; with constant access and application of ICTs inschools, government offices, businesses, healthcare facilities and homes; user privacy and

online security; and government policies which are "favorable to promoting

connectedness and use of the Network (CSPP, 2000)The Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group defines a country as e -ready that

is 'ready' for e-commerce, has free trade, industry self-regulation, ease of exports, and

compliance with international standards and trade agreements (APEC e-CommerceReadiness Initiative,2000).

McConnell International defines e-Readiness as the capacity of nations to participate in

the digital economy.World Economic Forum Consultation Report on E-Readiness defines E-Readiness as the

ability of the ICT networks to effectively adapt to the social and economic advancement.

Kable and Government Computing Report on Europe s Readiness for E-Government

says that Government becomes e-government or E-Ready when the public sectordigitizes its processes and interactions, whether internal or external with business or with

the public.

The Center for International Development at Harvard University the most acclaimedinstitution in e-Readiness research defines an E-Ready society is one that has the

necessary physical infrastructure (high bandwidth, reliability, and affordable prices);

integrated current ICTs throughout businesses (e-commerce, local ICT sector),communities (local content, many organizations online, ICTs used in everyday life, ICTs

taught in schools), and the government (e-government); strong telecommunications

competition; independent regulation with a commitment to universal access; and nolimits on trade or foreign investment.

Networked World, a study by Harvard s CID again acclaims that, a "networked world"

can be seen as a web of communications networks in which it is possible to send and


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receive information in a variety of digital formats anywhere in the world using a varietyof transmission media and E-Readiness is the preparedness for this Networked World.

A society s electronic preparedness can be seen as the degree to which the society can

participate in the advantages and opportunities of a knowledge-based society, and acceptthe challenges that such environments pose. We can formally define e -readiness as:The degree in which a community is qualified to participate in the Networked World. It is

measured by judging the relative advance of the most important areas for the adoption ofthe ICTs and their most important applications.

2.5.2E-Readiness Objective

The main e-readiness objectives are:

2.5.2.1E-Infrastructure:If the objective is on E-Infrastructure then the focus shouldbe on institutions, hardware and software. Here e-readiness equals computers and access

computerhardware and network access are required to be e-ready and bridge the digitaldivide, and government and private initiatives should supply them.

2.5.2.2E-Economy:If the objective is on e-commerce then the focus should be onICT Business. Here e-readiness equals computers, access, and economy, computer

hardware and network access are required for e-readiness, but the market will solve this

problem on its own.

2.5.2.3E-Society:If the objective is on the society then the focus should be completepopulation. Here e-readiness requires basic literacy, poverty, health and other social

issues to be addressed first , computers are useful, but nothing will make a society e-

ready and bridge the digital divide until basic literacy, poverty, and healthcare issues areaddressed.

2.5.2.4E-Governance:If the objective is E-Governance then the focus should be onGovernment Process Reengineering and faster and transparent means of delivering

government services to the citizens. Here e-readiness equals computers, access, and

effective usage of computers; hardware and access are not enough for real e-readiness,

there must be extensive training programs, locally relevant content, and a local ICTsector; and a Business Process Reengineering along with (Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2006).

2.5.3 Components of E-Readiness/Choice of Indicators

Depending upon the objective for Assessment, a model is chosen and indicators under thesame worked out for Assessment. The wide range of indicators can be classified in the

following main groups:

Network Access: What are the availability, cost and quality of ICT networks,

services and equipment?

Networked Learning: Does the educational system integrate ICTs into its

processes to improve learning? Are there technical training programs in thecommunity that can train and prepare an ICT workforce?

Networked Society: To what extent are individuals using information andcommunication technologies at work and in their personal lives? Are theresignificant opportunities available for those with ICT skills?


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Networked Economy: How are businesses and governments using informationand communication technologies to interact with the public and with each other?

Network Policy: To what extent does the policy environment p

E-Gov Iran

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