The Concept of E-Government - Essay Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL Implementation problems of e-government MAZEN ALRAJHI INTRODUCTION The concept of e-government is to have an integrated package ofdifferent governmental systems that assist in faster and more efficient delivery of a variety of governmental services and communications. The term has been adopted since this new governmental model allows for the electronic exchange of information and the provision of government services using information and communications technologies (ICT). E-government is typically divided into four categories: government to citizen (G2C), government to employee (G2E), government to government (G2G), and government to business (G2B). E-government not only helps provide service to citizens, it is use a system of ICT hardware and software to improve internal and external government functions. Even though some countries have found improved systems and efficiency using e-government tools, there are many problems with design and implementation that are both internalized and externalized. These problems range from improper systems emphasis, changing visitor needs at the citizen level, interoperability problems between different software packages, outsourcing issues and problems with procurement. The research literature suggests that implementation of e-government services poses challenges even for more developed country. The subject is a fast-growing one with important consequences for national economies and competitiveness. In a sense, it represents a revolution in the way that services are provided to citizens. THE CURRENT STATE OF E-GOVERNMENT E-government is a fast growing industry. Like all such things that expand rapidly, there are great gains to be made, but also periodic setbacks. For example, in India, a country with a well-established governmental system, e-government has posed problems with regards to the process of electronic procurement. This country has a bidding system for purchase of governmental goods and services and the e-procurement system has increased average bidders from three to 4.5 (Payne, 2006). By moving governmental procurement to the Internet, it has managed to complicate the supply chain, therefore leading to the need for more database storage ability and more information technology support. This example is a useful illustration of one of an important issue relating to e-government. In the United States, e-government has created a need for internal organizational changes that demand decentralization, rather than its traditional top-down leadership hierarchy. In a decentralized structure, decision-making is filtered throughout the organization instead of in a vertical structure where choices are made at the higher executive levels. A decentralized organization is more flexible, has better response times, is more innovative, and tends to build higher employee morale, more commitment and higher levels of productivity (Melitski, 381). Combining services in a country with many different governmental systems and agencies, the United States has created the need for more communications between various government groups and the systems to support them that cannot necessarily be managed independently. Also in the U.S., there is a phenomenon known as islands of automation, describing interoperability problems with many different software packages. This problem exists not only in the United States, but as it relates to e-government illustrates a potential concern. Systems are often purchased that address internal needs and these software programs rarely have the ability to communicate or inter-operate with other agencies’ software (Forman, 5). This has led to complications with citizens having to search many different websites to get their demanded services or information because of the limitations in cross-sharing agency data. At the G2C level, visitors have high expectations and their behaviors have them quick to reject certain sites that do not meet their needs for quick information delivery and cause them to search many different search engines (West, 6). This can be a large problem in satisfying citizens, and may give the perception that e-government cannot easily serve their needs. LITERATURE REVIEW – MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Building a worthwhile e-government system relies on information technology support experts to combine services and provide a stable online system of service delivery. However, in many developed countries, there has been too much emphasis on the actual construction of these systems instead of their application (Jianhua, 6). IT specialists rely on the internal knowledge from management officials in order to build a proper architecture and systems map for data and communications software. It should be the objective of managers to ensure that these specialists are not too knowledge starved or too flooded with knowledge (Gerogiannakis 2003). Also, because many government organizations do not have the internal talent to build complicated e-systems, they are forced to outsource projects to external IT support teams. While this might be an age-old problem, this fact illustrates that e-government is no panacea. IT outsourcing is common and “gives access to skilled staff in a particular IT service area with the added benefit of economies of scale” (Chen & Perry, 405). In developed countries such as Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and China, where e-government is already in use, the costs of outsourcing can be extensive and require high labor commitment to work with systems experts who do not have first-hand knowledge about the internal workings of a particular organizational structure. This could reduce productivity. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The research objective of this study is to determine best practices for e-government. 1. What are the actual implementation problems for e-government today? 2. How can an organization be decentralized in order to maximize success in e-government delivery and design? 3. What kinds of problems exist in terms of management of these systems and how have they been overcome in a real-life government organization? All of these questions are required to find how governments can use e-government in the most effective way possible. RESEARCH DESIGN In order to address these questions, a primary research study is necessary that looks at the internal needs of a real-life governmental organization that currently uses e-government tools. A full-on literature review will also be required. A series of qualitative interviews will be conducted with various public officials in the Saudi Arabian government, at different levels of authority, and will be conducted on appointment. Their experience will help to determine what has worked and what has failed. A recruited sample of five managers will be chosen. The interview will consist of a series of close-ended questions asking about outsourcing needs and costs, interoperability of current systems, visitor needs, procurement, and about the current organizational structure (centralized or decentralized). These interviews will be designed to last approximately 30-45 minutes. In addition, a brief survey will be created that should be distributed to a small group of recruited government employees to identify their lower-level views and opinion about e-government systems and their efficiency. The survey will have a one-through-ten ranking scale with approximately 10-15 questions related to visitors, software efficiency, communications with the internal and external environment, and their individual role in developing or working with e-government systems. This will give the employees views as well as managements opinion with regards to identifing the current state of e-government. There are no ethical issues to consider since the surveys will be distributed based on current management approval and will be returned after the interviews are completed. RESEARCH ANALYSIS The goal is to find out whether implementation problems are still occurring and where these problems lie. This is part of the objective to determine best practices in e-government. The chosen interview sample group will give a management perspective which can be compared to lower-level employee views, since all of these individuals are actively involved in e-government processes and systems. Managers can identify issues related to cost and executive decision-making while the end users (employees) can give their values or concerns about areas of software usage and communications that they are involved with on a daily basis. The results of the interviews and the surveys will be compared, identifying where differences exist or where similarities are obvious and present. The goal of the research is to provide new information that can be used by current organizations that have an e-government system so that they can avoid problems with implementation and stay clear of situations that could be costly in terms of budget, outsourcing, or perhaps even in areas of map building during the project design phase. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chen, Y. & J. Perry. “Outsourcing for e-government: Managing for success”, Public Performance & Management Review, vol.26, Iss.4, 2003: 405. Forman, Mark. “E-government strategy: Implementing the President’s management agenda for e-government”, 2002: 5. http://www.cio.gov/Documents/egovreport.pdf (accessed September 2, 2010). Jianhua, Wang. “E-government in China: Performance, Problems and Prospects”, 2008: 6. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan031352.pdf (accessed September 1, 2010). Melitski, James. “Capacity and e-government performance: An analysis based on early adopters of Internet technologies in New Jersey”, Public Performance & Management Review, vol.26, Iss.4, 2003: 381. Payne, Judy. “E-government: A critical anti-corruption tool”, 2006: 11. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADM957.pdf (accessed September 1, 2010). West, Darrell. “State and federal e-government in the United States”, Brown University, 2004. http://www.insidepolitics.org/egovt04us.pdf (accessed September 2, 2010). Gerogiannakis, S., et al. “Collaborative Knowledge.” In Wimmer, Maria A. ed. Knowledge management in electronic government: 4th IFIP international working conference, KMGov 2003, Rhodes, Greece, Springer, 2003. Read More