Toward Delivery of Effective Mobile Government: The Case Of Oman - Coursework Example

?Toward Delivery of Effective Mobile Government: The case of Oman  By [Presented to] of OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT Over the years, technology has changed the face of countries and organisations in a unique and innovative manner. With the advent of internet, world economies realised the importance of being technically advanced in order to create value and benefits for the masses and started using different kinds of technologies like the internet and mobile technology (Cordella, 2007, p. 265-274). E-government can be defined as digital interaction between the government and citizens through information and communication technology primarily internet and related devices. On the other hand, m-government is an interaction between the government and citizens through mobile technology. The project aims at assessing and exploring the delivery of effective mobile government in the context of Oman. Mobile Government can be defined as an extension of eGovernment to mobile platforms. It can be defined as the strategic use of government’s services and wide arrays of applications that are only possible through the use of mobile telephones, computers PDAs and wireless internet services. The importance of mobile government is immense in the social environment as wide arrays of government’s services can be accessed in no time. Moreover, not many people are internet savvy that makes mobile technology all the more important. Majority of countries have framework for mobile governance that aims at offering public services to citizens of countries in a fast and easy manner through mobile devices. The low internet and personal computer penetration can be considered as a major reason behind the use of mobile technology in offering public services to citizens of different countries. Moreover, people can go through their tax details, transport information and initiatives taken by the government pertaining to new and existing services. The importance of mobile government is based on easy and simple solutions being offered to people along with addressing their queries in an easy manner. Mobile Government has becoming popular largely because of its importance and convenience. There are more mobile telephone users than personal computer and internet users across the world. As per the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (2011), there are 2 billion internet users and 5 billion mobile users worldwide. Mobile government offers the freedom to access wide arrays of public services at any point of time in a hassle free manner without being dependent on the use of personal computers. One can access his tax details and information on transportation while standing in a queue. From governments’ point of view, it can be said that using mobile as an alternative delivery medium for public services has helped in addressing the masses along with delivering services in an effective and systematic manner. The popularity of mobile government is also driven by factors like enhancing public safety, mass notification and location based emergency calling offering great value to consumers. The popularity of mobile government is also based on the popularity of mobile devices that often act like personal computers. Electronic government is also defined as e-Government that is based on the digital interaction between the government and citizens, government and business houses, government and government agencies and government and employees. E-Government is based on the use of the internet and World Wide Web to deliver information on public services to citizens. On the other hand, mobile government is based on delivering information using mobile technologies (Kushchu, Kuscu, 2003, p. 253-260). With low personal computer and internet penetration, it can be said that the combination of mobile government and e-government will help countries like Oman, Turkey, Egypt and India to deliver information in a more systematic and easy manner along with empowering people. This combination will further help in creating more value for citizens along with strengthening the overall delivery system and approach of the government. Oman is an Arab state in southwest Asia. It is under absolute monarchy in which the Sultan of Oman exercises the power along with few legislative and oversight power being offered to the parliament. Oman is one of the most developed and stable Arab nations largely because of the effective utilisation of available sources and resources (Ammari, 2012). Oman has made substantial progress in embracing information technology. The government has created an environment where citizens can be more active and supportive to their government. However, the overall personal computer and internet penetration is quite less compared to the mobile telephones. Mobile government has been the recent initiative that has a history of a decade. Prepaid mobile services and SMS services were introduced in the year 2001 and have been greatly appreciated by the masses helping the government to deliver wide arrays of information in an easy and convenient manner. Research Problem The main problem pertaining to the delivery of effective mobile government in the case of Oman is to identify its usefulness and acceptance along with its value and feasibility. At the same time, mobile technology and similar technologies like payment and security can also act as a problem while delivering effective services and information through m-government. with growing numbers of internet and mobile technology users, the delivery of effective mobile government can only be analysed by conducting a thorough research at the macro level requiring too much of time and investment. In order to assess this issue, the researcher will focus on identifying the effective delivery of mobile government by underpinning past research papers and present information over the research topic. Aims and Objectives of the Project The project aims at identifying the feasibility and viability of mobile government for Oman. In order to achieve this aim, few objectives have been formulated. These objectives are as follow: To underpin the concept of mobile government in the context of Oman To identify need and opportunity for mobile government in Oman To assess the efficiency and efficacy of national mobile government projects of Oman To critically evaluate the challenges of mobile governance To identify factors that will lead to the success of mobile government Major Constraints Major constraints in achieving solutions to the problem are getting access to the Information Technology Authority of Oman and policies developed and designed by them. In order to eliminate this problem, focus will be on secondary data and information. However, it is important to analyse the Information Technology Authority of Oman in terms of its importance and acceptance but the problem remains in approaching them considering the privacy and other issues. Information Technology Authority is a governmental authority in Oman responsible for managing and running the e-governance services in Oman. It is mainly engaged in managing internet and mobile governance. However, with little internet penetration, the authorities are finding ways to deliver public services in a more refined manner and mobile governance has emerged as the mot feasible tool that is still taking time to be more productive in terms of value and benefits. Breakdown of Tasks The overall project has been divided into different sub parts and a complete illustration of each task is as follow: 1. Identifying the research topic- it is important to identify the importance and scope of the research topic in terms of its usefulness and for this purpose, the concept of m-government will be analysed critically. 1.1: Scope of the Research- this part will explain the scope of the research that can be broad or narrow by reviewing different literatures and past research papers. 1.2: An Overview of Oman’s m-Government- this part will illustrate the m-government of Oman along with initiatives being taken in a critical manner along with discussing the reach and acceptance of m-government in different countries. 2. Literature Review- this part will explain the importance of e-governance and m-governance in a critical manner in the context of Oman with prime focus on m-governance along with assessing the key importance of m-government in the context of Turkey and Egypt. 2.1: e-Government- this part will explain the importance of e-government and its usefulness in the social and political environment and for this purpose different books and research papers on e-government will be assessed. 2.2: m-Government- this part will explain the rise and relevance of m-government in the political and social environment of Oman and for this purpose different books and research papers on m-government will be assessed. At the same time, mobile technology and its related technologies (e.g. mobile payment, security etc), and their current state and where they are heading (both in the case of Oman and Egypt and Turkey will be underpinned. 3. Research Methodology- this part will explain the selected methodology in the form of research philosophy, approach, design, data collection methods and ethical issues in a descriptive manner. 3.1: Research Philosophy- this section will explain the research philosophy that can be positivism or anti positivism but the researcher will use anti positivism research philosophy 3.2: Research Design- this part will define the research design that can be quantitative or qualitative. The project will be based on quasi qualitative and quantitative design. 3.3: Research Approach- this section will illustrate the research approach that can be inductive or deductive but the researcher will prefer inductive approach based on personal observation. 3.3: Data collection Methods- this part will define the mode of data collection primarily in the form of primary and secondary data. The researcher will try to collect data from Information Technology Authorities of Oman along with referring to past and present research papers, literatures on the similar topic 3.4: Sampling- this part will define how samples will be identified for interviews and surveys. If the researcher gets access to few authorities of Information Technology of Oman, sampling will be designed accordingly 4. Findings and Analysis- this part will showcase the findings collected through primary and secondary data analysis. This will help in ascertaining whether the research aim and objectives have been accomplished or not. The researcher will present findings qualitatively and quantitatively. 5. Conclusions and Recommendations- this part will highlight conclusions and recommendations based on the understanding and underpinning of the primary and secondary data embedded with personal observation and understanding. Project Deliverables The prime objective is to analyse the importance and relevance of the delivery of effective mobile government and for this purpose a complete and detailed analysis of e-governance and mobile governance of Oman will be presented in the form of the research paper. Deliverable project report will include above mentioned sub tasks that will further help in understanding the role of mobile government in benefitting the society. Project deliverable will be available for the University and can be offered to government authorities for analysing its worth and importance. Requirements The major requirements to furnish the project in a useful manner are to collect data from the Information Technology Authority of Oman along with interviewing few authorities in terms of identifying the true value and importance of mobile government. In addition, conducting surveys from citizens will also help in assessing the efficacy of mobile government services. For this purpose, few samples from the available population of Oman will be identified and surveyed. Legal, Ethical, Professional and Social Issues There can be legal, ethical, professional and social issues pertaining to the completion of the project. All these issues have been identified and explained below: Legal Issues- as an independent researcher, it is extremely difficult to approach government authorities. Moreover, breaching the code of conduct can lead to legal actions and consequences affecting the entire project. In order to avoid legal issues, the researcher will not take any step leading to the breach of the code of conduct developed by the government authorities. Ethical Issues- while collecting data and information from respondents, it becomes very important to safeguard their interest by protecting their privacy and confidentiality. The researcher will not disclose the personal information of any respondent to any third party or organsiations. Moreover, consent will be taken before collecting the views and opinions of respondents in order to form an ethical, transparent and honest approach. Professional Issues- Professional issues can be in the form of presenting the information in a professional manner along with maintaining the desired standard. These issues will be taken care of by being acting in a professional manner along with presenting the information and data in an ethical, honest and transparent manner. Social issues- Every research or study is based on the social or business issues that need to be presented in a clear and honest manner. At the same time, it is important to safeguard the interest of the society by being ethical and transparent in the code of conduct. Social issues will be tackled by safeguarding the interest of the society along with making sure not to hurt the sentiments of people in terms of being bias and judgmental. It can be said that all these issues can affect the outcome the outcome of the actual project but the project will be based on honesty, transparency and ethics that will help in creating a favorable environment for the project report along with supporting in accomplishing proposed objectives. Facility and Resources Every project or research requires information technology facilities in order to avail information in an easy manner. The project will require internet facility and mobile technology to get in touch with respondents along with collecting relevant and important information pertaining to the project topic. The project will also require information to be collected from wide arrays of books and respondents. For this purpose, libraries will help a lot and collecting information from respondents will cost travelling expenses. The researcher wants to meet the authorities of Information Technology Authority of Oman and this will require travelling and other expenses in the form of stationeries. All these activities do not require good amount of fund and thus the researcher will fund them individually. Project Plan The project plan is a blueprint of activities that have been highlighted in the below table. Task No Title Description Start Date End Date Total Days 1 Introduction To identify project aim, objectives, scope and rationale for the study 10 June 24 June 14 Days 2 Literature Review To identify the importance of e-governance and mobile governance 15 June 10 Jul 25 Days 3 Research Methodology To present research philosophy, approach, design, sampling and data collection methods 25 June 25 July 30 Days 4 Findings and Analysis To present findings based on the analysis of primary and secondary research 20 July 5 August 15 Days 5 Conclusions and Recommendations To conclude the project based on the analysis of primary and secondary information along with offering recommendations based on the personal understanding 30 July 14 August 14 Days Gantt Chart References Ammari. S (2012) Oman's eGovernment progress recognised internationally, Accessed on June 19, 2012 from http://www.ameinfo.com/292168.html Cordella, A (2007) E-government: towards the e-bureaucratic form, Journal of Information Technology, 22, 265–274. International Telecommunication Union (2011) Global ICT Trends [Online] Accessed on July 6, 2012 from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ Kushchu; I, Kuscu; M (2003). "From e-Government to m-Government: Facing the Inevitable". The 3rd European Conference on e-Government. pp. 253–260. Read More