The adoption of e-government in the Kingdom of Bahrain

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The last two decades have seen rapid evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities in the public sector which facilitate the adoption of several IT innovations. E-government is one of these strategic innovations that many government organisations have considered adopting to deliver government information and services to citizens and to support the modernisation of their business processes. This work therefore investigates this issue through a study of the impact of e-government on government organisations and their capabilities towards the e-government adoption. This has led to developing a framework for e-government adoption that outlines the implementation process, determines critical factors influencing adoption, and identifies barriers that could keep government organisations behind the advanced stages of the implementation process. The research also proposes a novel architecture framework for e-government that offers a clear picture of ICT requirements, along with a business process model needed for the implementation for e-government. This framework also supports the researcher in terms of validating the proposed conceptual framework in case organisations. The researcher, by adopting a qualitative case study strategy, examines the proposed framework in three government organisations in the Kingdom of Bahrain.. The analysis of empirical data comes up with a novel comprehensive framework for e-government adoption in the public sector that can be a benefit in multiple ways. The major benefit of this framework is to reduce the confusion surrounding e-government adoption in the public sector by understanding the implementation process, identifying the requirements of ICT tools, and highlighting the importance of organisational readiness and the impact of the environment. The framework can also help decision makers in government to provide a clear strategic action plan for e-government. Finally, the proposed framework can be used by IT experts to estimate the progress level of their e-government projects

The Evolution Of Smartcard And EMV Migration In Bahrain

Within the improvement of Information Technology era, many business enterprises, academia institutions and banks in various regions around the world are enthusiastic and looking into the future by producing an all-in-one smart card with Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) protocols for their employees, students or customers. This smart card can be used in different fields such as ID card, debit/credit card, transportations, healthcare, communication networks, loyalty, etc., with high level of security.  This paper gives the reader an overview of the evolution of smart card and the important benefits derived over the existing traditional magnetic stripe card. The paper aims to study the following five key elements: Importance of EMV, EMV Implementation in Bahrain, Obstacles and Constraints, Customer Satisfaction, and EMV Future in Bahrain.  The results of the study reveals that Bahrain is on its approach towards the EMV migration and will definitely be ready for rollout in the coming few years. It was also demonstrated that even though adopting EMV smart card technology may cost the organization a lot, it would be on the other hand very beneficial to them in many different aspects. Furthermore, it was provided that moving toward smart card in general will differentiate Bahrain and will put her among the leader.  This paper can be used as a basis for further researches to improve specific aspects of the evolution of smart card and EMV Migration in the Kingdom of Bahrain or elsewhere. It will also provide a useful input for other local banks and/or organizations that have not proceed towards smart card adaptation yet

Usability and Trust in Information Systems

The need for people to protect themselves and their assets is as old as humankind. People's physical safety and their possessions have always been at risk from deliberate attack or accidental damage. The advance of information technology means that many individuals, as well as corporations, have an additional range of physical (equipment) and electronic (data) assets that are at risk. Furthermore, the increased number and types of interactions in cyberspace has enabled new forms of attack on people and their possessions. Consider grooming of minors in chat-rooms, or Nigerian email cons: minors were targeted by paedophiles before the creation of chat-rooms, and Nigerian criminals sent the same letters by physical mail or fax before there was email. But the technology has decreased the cost of many types of attacks, or the degree of risk for the attackers. At the same time, cyberspace is still new to many people, which means they do not understand risks, or recognise the signs of an attack, as readily as they might in the physical world. The IT industry has developed a plethora of security mechanisms, which could be used to mitigate risks or make attacks significantly more difficult. Currently, many people are either not aware of these mechanisms, or are unable or unwilling or to use them. Security experts have taken to portraying people as "the weakest link" in their efforts to deploy effective security [e.g. Schneier, 2000]. However, recent research has revealed at least some of the problem may be that security mechanisms are hard to use, or be ineffective. The review summarises current research on the usability of security mechanisms, and discusses options for increasing their usability and effectiveness

The State of the Electronic Identity Market: Technologies, Infrastructure, Services and Policies

Authenticating onto systems, connecting to mobile networks and providing identity data to access services is common ground for most EU citizens, however what is disruptive is that digital technologies fundamentally alter and upset the ways identity is managed, by people, companies and governments. Technological progress in cryptography, identity systems design, smart card design and mobile phone authentication have been developed as a convenient and reliable answer to the need for authentication. Yet, these advances ar enot sufficient to satisfy the needs across people's many spheres of activity: work, leisure, health, social activities nor have they been used to enable cross-border service implementation in the Single Digital Market, or to ensure trust in cross border eCommerce. The study findings assert that the potentially great added value of eID technologies in enabling the Digital Economy has not yet been fulfilled, and fresh efforts are needed to build identification and authentication systems that people can live with, trust and use. The study finds that usability, minimum disclosure and portability, essential features of future systems, are at the margin of the market and cross-country, cross-sector eID systems for business and public service are only in their infancy. This report joins up the dots, and provides significant exploratory evidence of the potential of eID for the Single Digital Market. A clear understanding of this market is crucial for policy action on identification and authentication, eSignature and interoperability.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

Citizen's Adoption Of Mobile Land Record Information Systems (mLRMIS): A Case of Pakistan

By implementing a prolonged social cognitive theory (SCT) this article investigates factors including outcome expectation, affect, anxiety, self-efficacy, social influence, trust, facilitating conditions, e-satisfaction, information quality and e-service quality impacting citizen’s intention to adopt a mobile based e-government system called mobile Land Record Information Systems (mLRMIS) with respect to Pakistan. The prolonged social cognitive theory (SCT) was actually affirmed by analyzing gathered data periodically accumulated over time from 10 different cities in Pakistan. Verifiable results of the proposed model represented mutual significance of relationships of 12 hypothesized relations between 10 different types of constructs. Only a few studies have previously used SCT model to investigate the adoption of an e-government system globally while in case of Pakistan it is the first ever study using SCT model to figure out the adoption of an e-government system. Outcome significance and digital policy substance exhibited in this article can assist e-government planners and practitioners to reform up quality and effectivity of mLRMIS system. This research also contributes to elevate relevant awareness and utilization of mLRMIS system

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT): a literature review

YesPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to perform a systematic review of articles that have used the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Design/methodology/approach – The results produced in this research are based on the literature analysis of 174 existing articles on the UTAUT model. This has been performed by collecting data including demographic details, methodological details, limitations, and significance of relationships between the constructs from the available articles based on the UTAUT. Findings – The findings indicated that general purpose systems and specialized business systems were examined in the majority of the articles using the UTAUT. The analysis also indicated that crosssectional approach, survey methods, and structural equation modelling analysis techniques were the most explored research methodologies whereas SPSS was found to be the largely used analysis tools. Moreover, the weight analysis of independent variables indicates that variables such as performance expectancy and behavioural intention qualified for the best predictor category. Moreover, the analysis also suggested that single subject or biased sample as the most explored limitation across all studies. Research limitations/implications – The search activities were centered on occurrences of keywords to avoid tracing a large number of publications where these keywords might have been used as casual words in the main text. However, we acknowledge that there may be a number of studies, which lack keywords in the title, but still focus upon UTAUT in some form. Originality/value – This is the first research of its type which has extensively examined the literature on the UTAUT and provided the researchers with the accumulative knowledge about the model

Smart Card Systems: Development of a Paradigm for a University-Wide Smart Card Student Identification System

College and university campuses present an ideal environment for smart card systems and offer one of the best opportunities for the early adoption of smart card technology in the United States. This study investigated the design, development, and implementation of a smart card system in the university environment, specifically Nova Southeastern University. Additionally, this dissertation investigation developed a paradigm for a university-wide smart card student identification system capable of providing multiple applications such as portable identity, secure access, and electronic purse function. This dissertation investigation employed a Modern Systems Development Life Cycle (MSDLC) methodology along with a case study strategy. Through case study analysis, in concert with an MSDLC methodology, this researcher determined how other colleges and universities implemented smart card systems and examined smart card capabilities and constraints. The proposed model is based on an analysis of 23 colleges and universities currently utilizing smart card technology as part of their campus card systems. In this multiple-case study, the goal was to build a general paradigm that fits each of the individual cases, even though the cases varied in their details. This paradigm documents the development and implementation of a smart card system in a university environment. As noted in this paradigm, the campus card combines magnetic strip and smart chip technology and is a managed card system. In addition, the campus card system includes strategic partnerships with merchants, banks and long distance carriers and is implemented in a phased process. The findings and conclusions of this dissertation inquiry can be generalized to other academic institutions investigating the viability of a smart card system. It is important to note that this paradigm is based on an investigation of the small number of colleges currently utilizing smart card technology. However, this paradigm represents key considerations that should be addressed by academic institutions contemplating the installation of a multi-application smart card student identification system. The paradigm is subject to change as a consequence of innovations in the technological domain. Therefore, the smart card information system paradigm should be regularly reviewed and revised to reflect technological advancements

The adoption of e-government in the Kingdom of Bahrain

The last two decades have seen rapid evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities in the public sector which facilitate the adoption of several IT innovations. E-government is one of these strategic innovations that many government organisations have considered adopting to deliver government information and services to citizens and to support the modernisation of their business processes. This work therefore investigates this issue through a study of the impact of e-government on government organisations and their capabilities towards the e-government adoption. This has led to developing a framework for e-government adoption that outlines the implementation process, determines critical factors influencing adoption, and identifies barriers that could keep government organisations behind the advanced stages of the implementation process. The research also proposes a novel architecture framework for e-government that offers a clear picture of ICT requirements, along with a business process model needed for the implementation for e-government. This framework also supports the researcher in terms of validating the proposed conceptual framework in case organisations. The researcher, by adopting a qualitative case study strategy, examines the proposed framework in three government organisations in the Kingdom of Bahrain.. The analysis of empirical data comes up with a novel comprehensive framework for e-government adoption in the public sector that can be a benefit in multiple ways. The major benefit of this framework is to reduce the confusion surrounding e-government adoption in the public sector by understanding the implementation process, identifying the requirements of ICT tools, and highlighting the importance of organisational readiness and the impact of the environment. The framework can also help decision makers in government to provide a clear strategic action plan for e-government. Finally, the proposed framework can be used by IT experts to estimate the progress level of their e-government projects.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo