Electronic information sharing in local government authorities: Factors influencing the decision-making process

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in International Journal of Information Management. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are mainly characterised as information-intensive organisations. To satisfy their information requirements, effective information sharing within and among LGAs is necessary. Nevertheless, the dilemma of Inter-Organisational Information Sharing (IOIS) has been regarded as an inevitable issue for the public sector. Despite a decade of active research and practice, the field lacks a comprehensive framework to examine the factors influencing Electronic Information Sharing (EIS) among LGAs. The research presented in this paper contributes towards resolving this problem by developing a conceptual framework of factors influencing EIS in Government-to-Government (G2G) collaboration. By presenting this model, we attempt to clarify that EIS in LGAs is affected by a combination of environmental, organisational, business process, and technological factors and that it should not be scrutinised merely from a technical perspective. To validate the conceptual rationale, multiple case study based research strategy was selected. From an analysis of the empirical data from two case organisations, this paper exemplifies the importance (i.e. prioritisation) of these factors in influencing EIS by utilising the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. The intent herein is to offer LGA decision-makers with a systematic decision-making process in realising the importance (i.e. from most important to least important) of EIS influential factors. This systematic process will also assist LGA decision-makers in better interpreting EIS and its underlying problems. The research reported herein should be of interest to both academics and practitioners who are involved in IOIS, in general, and collaborative e-Government, in particular

Interoperability, Trust Based Information Sharing Protocol and Security: Digital Government Key Issues

Improved interoperability between public and private organizations is of key significance to make digital government newest triumphant. Digital Government interoperability, information sharing protocol and security are measured the key issue for achieving a refined stage of digital government. Flawless interoperability is essential to share the information between diverse and merely dispersed organisations in several network environments by using computer based tools. Digital government must ensure security for its information systems, including computers and networks for providing better service to the citizens. Governments around the world are increasingly revolving to information sharing and integration for solving problems in programs and policy areas. Evils of global worry such as syndrome discovery and manage, terror campaign, immigration and border control, prohibited drug trafficking, and more demand information sharing, harmonization and cooperation amid government agencies within a country and across national borders. A number of daunting challenges survive to the progress of an efficient information sharing protocol. A secure and trusted information-sharing protocol is required to enable users to interact and share information easily and perfectly across many diverse networks and databases globally.Comment: 20 page

Towards an integrated model for citizen adoption of E-government services in developing countries: A Saudi Arabia case study

This paper considers the challenges that face the widespread adoption of E-government in developing countries, using Saudi Arabian our case study. E-government can be defined based on an existing set of requirements. In this paper we define E-government as a matrix of stakeholders; governments to governments, governments to business and governments to citizens using information and communications technology to deliver and consume services. E-government has been implemented for a considerable time in developed countries. However E-government services still faces many challenges their implemented and general adoption in developing countries. Therefore, this paper presents an integrated model for ascertaining the intention to adopt E-government services and thereby aid governments in accessing what is required to increase adoption

Supporting public decision making in policy deliberations: An ontological approach

This is the post-print version of the Paper. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 SpringerSupporting public decision making in policy deliberations has been a key objective of eParticipation which is an emerging area of eGovernment. EParticipation aims to enhance citizen involvement in public governance activities through the use of information and communication technologies. An innovative approach towards this objective is exploiting the potentials of semantic web technologies centred on conceptual knowledge models in the form of ontologies. Ontologies are generally defined as explicit human and computer shared views on the world of particular domains. In this paper, the potentials and benefits of using ontologies for policy deliberation processes are discussed. Previous work is then extended and synthesised to develop a deliberation ontology. The ontology aims to define the necessary semantics in order to structure and interrelate the stages and various activities of deliberation processes with legal information, participant stakeholders and their associated arguments. The practical implications of the proposed framework are illustrated.This work is funded by the European Commission under the 2006/1 eParticipation call

E-Government Applications And Methodologies: Turkey on the E-Government Way

The recent changes in the technology, especially the use of Internet and the World Wide Web resulted in a new way of doing business for the governments. Governments worldwide face with the challenge of transformation and the need to reinvent government systems, which are based to deliver more efficient and cost effective services for the citizens. The developments and the studies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) resulted in E-Government projects and applications. This paper tries to analyze E-Government projects by analyzing their methodologies and strategies; and it is mainly based on the underlying key points in success stories. Also within this paper the reader will get information on E-Government projects in Turkey, successes and failures, IT vision of the administrations and the future plans.

Government-to-Government E-Government: A Case Study of a Federal Financial Program

The problem with the study of the concept of electronic government (e-Gov) is that scholars in the field have not adequately explored various dimensions ofthe concept. Literature on e-Gov is replete with works on the form of government to consumer e-Gov. Much less work had been done on the government to government (G2G) e-Gov. This qualitative case study was predicated on the concepts of intergovernmental relations and intergovernmental management, and it sought to fill the gap in the literature by providing a clear understanding of G2G e-Gov by exploring a federal program in the United States. The central research question determined how G2G e-Gov enhanced accountability, efficiency, and public service value. Data were collected using face to face and email interviews, documents, and archival data. Data were analyzed with a modified content analysis technique. Findings from the study indicated that improvements in communication, process, technology, and legislative proposals are linked to programmatic success in G2G e-Gov. The study has implications for social change as the knowledge of G2G e-Gov is useful to governments because of its emphasis on accountability, efficiency, collaboration, and information sharing. It also has the potential to assist public policy officials and academics to better understand the importance of G2G e-Gov for public service delivery, and help developing countries in their e-Gov implementations

G2G interaction model of information sharing among local agencies based on phenomenology approach: Dhi-qar province employees’ viewpoints

The exchange of information electronically has help local agencies to increase their productivity and performance. At the same time, it improves the process of policy-making by providing better public services to citizens. However, only a few studies that examine the factors influencing the electronic interaction among local agencies in developing countries, including in Iraq. In fact, government agencies usually rely on information provided by other government agencies, making the electronic interactions crucial for effective inter-organizational operations management in the government. This study aims to determine the factors affecting the interaction among local agencies in Dhi-Qar, Iraq. Thus, it proposes a government-to-government (G2G) interaction model among local agencies from the environmental, organizational, and technological contexts, using phenomenological approach based on the Diffusion of Innovation and Social Exchange theories. Data were collected in two phases. First, a series of interviews with local egovernment employees were carried out to discover the factors that influence the G2G interaction in Dhi-Qar, Iraq. Later, another series of semi-structured interviews focusing on extracting the main issues that influence G2G interaction was followed. The collected data were validated through triangulation and member checking. A case study was used to confirm the findings. The study has discovered the factors that influence the electronic interaction among local agencies in Dhi-Qar. The factors are benefits, compatibility, complexity, costs, information security, inter-agency trust, internal resistance to change, information technology (IT) capability, legislation, physical security, and top management support. Based on these factors, the government-to-government interaction model (G2GIM) is proposed. This model can be applied to different local agencies in implementing e-government projects

Public universities employees perception of electronic information sharing between universities and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Electronic information sharing benefits organizations and institutions in various aspects including increasing the level of information accuracy and timeliness, improving the accountability and decision making, and minimizing the cost of information management. There is a high degree of information sharing between Iraqi public universities and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), however, limited electronic information sharing exists between them, which brings difficulties and delay in making decisions. This limitation also creates challenges and barriers in supporting the decentralization principle taken by the public universities in universities’ governance. Thus, there is a need to conduct a study to identify the possible steps and strategies to increase electronic information sharing between the ministry and universities. The main objective of this study is to propose a model of electronic information sharing between Iraqi public universities and MOHESR. Social Exchange Theory, Critical Mass Theory and Transactive Memory System Theory have been used to solve the problem and achieve the objectives. Purposive sampling has been used and multiple linear regression analyses were applied for data analysis. A total of 660 questionnaires have been distributed in five universities in Iraq and the returned response was 274 (42%). From the 16 factors proposed, ten factors are found to be significance which are IT capability, information quality, compatibility, complexity, data warehouse, top management, policy/legal framework, interagency trust, upper level leadership and social network. Based on the results obtained, the study presents a model of electronic information sharing between public universities in Iraq and MOHESR. A comprehensive understanding of this model will contribute to the improvement of the planning and implementation of three dimensions; technological, organizational and environmental of the public universities in their way forward to improvise electronic information sharing in the future. According to the findings, it can be concluded that three dimensions and ten factors can essentially increase the electronic information sharing among public universities and MOHESR