Factors Influencing E-government Implementation in Least Developed Countries: A Case Study of Yemen

Few - if any- studies have investigated the factors that might contribute to the implementation of Yemen e-government. A sample of 169 government employees from different ministries in Yemen responded to our survey to identify important variables that governments must consider when delivering services online. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of five important factors affecting Yemen e-government: ICT infrastructure, government employee’s adoption of e-government, government portal websites, social network websites and external assistance. In addition to the survey, an empirical investigation of several official websites in Yemen has been studied to from different perspectives. The research findings suggest that implementing ICT not only involves a step towards an increase in the use of e-government services by people, but also provides numerous opportunities for their civic engagement. The main conclusion of this study is that although ICT can leverage the adoption of e-government, it cannot create alone engagement with traditional activities of the local government. Keywords: Adoption, external assistance, least developed countries, portal websites, Yeme

The mediating effect of good governance on the relationship between e-government and public trust in Lebanon

The main objective of this research is to study the mediating effect of good governance on the relationship between e-government and public trust in Lebanon. As an effective tool for economic reform, there is a need to adopt e-government practices to enhance the public trust towards the government. Based on extensive literature review and conceptual background including the theories of institutional-based trust and the diffusion of innovation, the theoretical research framework was developed. Primary data was collected using survey involving 400 Lebanese employees in Beirut. The data have been analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The research findings revealed that eight hypotheses were accepted while five hypothesis were rejected indicating that e-government practices including e-services have a significant and positive effect on both good governance and public trust in Lebanon. However, e-administration has a positive effect on good governance but not on public trust. E-procurement has insignificant effect on both good governance and public trust. Good governance has a positive and significant effect on public trust, but it has no mediating effect on the relationship between e-government including e-administration and public trust. The findings also show that good governance mediates the effect of both e-service and e-procurement on public trust. This research contributes practically by offering practitioners and policy makers in governments the guidelines on how they can empower and build citizens‟ trust by providing efficient, transparent and accountable government services. Future studies are suggested to extend the research empirically in terms of respondents, geographical location and methodology of analysi

E-governance in the new democracies: the case of Taiwan

It is expected that the ICTs can maximise the benefits for improved governance and electronic democracy in the information age. This study explores the impact of e-government upon citizens and demonstrates how this kind of electronic medium affects the quality of democracy in the context of the new democracies. Taiwan's peculiar characteristics, which combine a Confucian context, a new democracy and a leading performance in e-government, offers an interesting example of the conceptual diversity of e-government in itself, especially in relation to the level of democracy. Thus, this study uses the Taiwanese experience of developing, using and understanding e-government to identify the effect of e-governance in the new democracies. It integrates larger theoretical and empirical evidence, drawing upon several disciplines, including political science and public administration, communications studies, education and the sociology of technology. The research methods deployed are: documentary analysis, secondary analysis, content analysis and interview. The data are cross-referred and the analysis is presented in different sections. In this study, four themes are discussed: civil education, the policy initiatives, the public use and the public understanding of e-government. I first indicate that civic education in Taiwan has gradually paid more attention to the mode of participation, but the values supporting democracy have not yet been fully instilled. Secondly, the Taiwanese government has been more inclined to use e-government to reorganise itself than to incorporate more of the public in its operation. Thirdly, democratic participation has not yet extended in the public use of e-government in Taiwan. Fourthly, e-government in Taiwan has a modem format, but lacks political efficacy, since it lacks the mechanisms through which people can affect public policy. I conclude that e-government has been used as a modem means to rework authoritarianism. People suffer from a 'democratic deficit' in their understanding and use of e-government. The effects of e-governance have been constrained by the legacy of authoritarianism and the public's democratic deficit. Therefore, in the new democracies, the prospects of electronic democracy should not be overestimated. E-government may be over-rated as a weapon for consolidating democracy

Identification of attributes for evaluating the content of e-government websites: a systematic literature review

In the last twenty years, e-government has become a strong complement to traditional public services. This study involved a systematic literature review to select studies enabling the identification of the attributes used to evaluate how content is delivered to users. The search strategy was limited to four databases to cover egovernment multidisciplinary areas. The sources of information used were books, book chapters, conference papers, and articles in peer-reviewed journals, written in English or Portuguese, and which subjects included e-government research, published since 2000. The PRISMA statement has guided the research methodology. The lack of explanation of the role of the attributes found in the studies and the diversified terminology used, can be pointed as the main limitations of the study. On the other hand, since the interpretation was based on author past experiences and convictions, there may be a bias in the understanding of the less clear attributes with consequences on their description and the interpretation of similarities among attributes. The research resulted in the identification of 139 attributes, from which 56 are considered main attributes, and 83 similar attributes. Attributes such as quality, interface, content, information, user experience, usability, and accessibility appear as the most relevantinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sistemas de gestão de destinos turísticos: contribuições para a sua adoção e implementação

The growing competition between tourist destinations, the progressively demanding tourist source markets, as well the complexity of the strategies to attract them, has led Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to expand their attributions to assume themselves as central actors in the coordination of the stakeholders of respective destinations. Thus, some DMOs have implemented collaborative online networks, referred to as Destination Management Systems (DMSs), which connect all relevant tourist agents in a destination, facilitating communication and cooperation between them. These systems also provide online tourist portals for tourist destinations that offer more personalised travel planning experiences, including the possibility to purchase tourist products. However, only a residual number of tourist destinations has ever tried to adopt a DMS and a considerable portion of the them were unsuccessful. The challenges to the success of a DMS require a careful analysis of the factors that influence the willingness of the tourist agents of a destination to adopt them, as well as of the factors that determine the importance that these agents attribute to the functionalities of those same DMSs. However, research in this area is still limited. The main objectives of this thesis are to obtain an in-depth knowledge about the factors mentioned above, as well as on the characteristics and role of DMSs, in order to promote the implementation of these systems in tourist destinations. To achieve these objectives, a mixed methodology was adopted, starting with an extensive review of the literature on DMSs, exploratory interviews with the main companies providing DMS solutions and with DMOs that have successfully implemented these systems. At content analysis of those same DMSs was undertaken. This qualitative approach provided an in-depth knowledge regarding the characteristics of DMSs, the current business and management models of these systems, as well as their recent developments and future perspectives. Then, a quantitative approach was used to identify the factors that explain the willingness of destination-based stakeholders to adopt a DMS, as well as those influencing the importance attributed by these agents to the specific functionalities of DMSs. Thus, a questionnaire survey was applied to different types of tourist agents from a regional destination lacking a DMS: The Portuguese Centre region. The results of the quantitative investigation indicate that the predisposition to adopt a DMS is positively influenced by factors such as: (i) cooperation within the destination; (ii) pressure from the external environment (e.g. from competing destinations); (iii) perceived benefits and usefulness of the DMS; (iv) DMO's leadership and strategic vision; (v) resources and strategic vision of the tourist actors in the destination. On the other hand, two factors which are still absent from research on this topic were found to negatively influence the predisposition to adopt a DMS, namely: (i) alternative online platforms and (ii) the lack of a DMS in neighbouring regions or at the national level. The results also demonstrate that the importance attributed to the specific functionalities of a DMS by destination-based stakeholders is positively influenced (i) by its resources and strategic vision, (ii) by its knowledge on the DMO’s initiatives in the field of the Information and Communication and Technologies, (iii) the condition of affiliated member of a DMO; and (iv) by the tourist agent sub-sector, since it was found that tourism accommodation providers value collaborative functionalities of a DMS less than others. The thesis ends with conclusions and implications for the tourism sector, mainly for agents responsible for the development of tourist destinations.A crescente competição entre destinos turísticos, bem como a progressiva exigência da procura turística e da complexidade das estratégias para a atrair, levou as Organizações de Gestão de Destinos (OGD) a ampliarem as suas atribuições para se assumirem como atores centrais na coordenação dos stakeholders dos respetivos destinos. Assim, algumas OGDs implementaram redes colaborativas online, designadas de Sistemas de Gestão de Destinos (SGDs), que interligam todos os agentes turísticos relevantes de um destino, facilitando a comunicação e a cooperação entre eles. Estes sistemas também proporcionam à procura turística portais online de destinos turísticos que oferecem experiências de planeamento de viagens mais personalizadas, incluindo a possibilidade de comprar produtos turísticos. Porém, apenas um número residual de destinos turísticos tentou adotar um SGD e uma parcela considerável dos SGDs não tiveram sucesso. Os desafios para garantir o sucesso dos SGD exigem uma análise cuidada dos fatores que influenciam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para os adotar, bem como dos fatores que determinam a importância que estes agentes atribuem às funcionalidades dos SGD. No entanto, a investigação neste âmbito é ainda limitada. A presente tese tem como principais objetivos obter um conhecimento aprofundado sobre os fatores anteriormente referidos, bem como sobre as características e papel dos SGD, no sentido de promover a implementação destes sistemas nos destinos. Para alcançar os objetivos estabelecidos, adotou-se uma metodologia mista, começando com uma extensiva revisão da literatura sobre SGD, entrevistas exploratórias às principais empresas fornecedoras de soluções de SGD e a OGD que implementaram estes sistemas com sucesso, bem como análises de conteúdo de SGD. Esta abordagem qualitativa permitiu um conhecimento mais aprofundado relativamente às características dos SGD, aos atuais modelos de negócios e de gestão destes sistemas, bem como aos seus recentes desenvolvimentos e perspetivas futuras. Seguidamente uma abordagem quantitativa foi utlizada para identificar os fatores que explicam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para adotar um SGD, bem como os fatores que influenciam a importância atribuída por estes agentes às funcionalidades específicas dos SGD. Assim, um inquérito por questionário foi aplicado a diferentes tipos de agentes turísticos de um destino regional que não dispõe de um SGD: a região Centro de Portugal. Os resultados da investigação quantitativa indicam que a predisposição para adotar um SGD é influenciada positivamente por fatores como: (i) cooperação no destino; (ii) pressão do ambiente externo (ex. de destinos concorrentes); (iii) benefícios percebidos e utilidade do SGD; (iv) liderança e visão estratégica da OGD; (v) recursos e visão estratégica dos atores turísticos do destino. Por outro lado, dois fatores até agora ausentes da investigação influenciam negativamente a predisposição para adotar um SGD, nomeadamente: (i) as plataformas alternativas online e (ii) a falta de um SGD em regiões vizinhas ou a nível nacional. Os resultados demonstram ainda que a importância atribuída às funcionalidades específicas de um SGD pelos agentes turísticos de um destino é influenciada positivamente (i) pelos seus recursos e visão estratégica, (ii) pelo seu conhecimento sobre as iniciativas da OGD no âmbito das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, (iii) por ser membro afiliado da OGD; e (iv) pelo subsetor do agente turístico, observando-se que os fornecedores de alojamento turístico valorizam menos as funcionalidades de cariz colaborativo do que outro tipo de agentes. A tese termina com conclusões e implicações para o setor do turismo, principalmente para agentes responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento turístico.Programa Doutoral em Turism

Factors influencing ICTs acceptance and usage for e-government services in public organizations in Jordan

E-government in public organisations in Jordan has been in existence for more than two decades. However, there is still lack of studies in discovering the aspects of attitude and behavior of public organisation employees towards e government services. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the determinants of the ICT usage from the perspective of attitude and behavior of the employees in the e-government services. This study employed the Model of Readiness for Organizational Change proposed by Holt as the underpinning theory and further enhanced it to the technology acceptance model III proposed by Venkatesh, and Bala as the additional predictors of ICT acceptance via the intervening effect of attitude towards intention to use for e-government. The study setting was based on three main public organizations from Jordan, namely; Municipality of Zarqa, Municipality of Irbid, Municipality of Mafraq and systematic random sampling of data collection was done through self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done by using the PLS structural equation modelling as the statistical tool. The findings show that principal supports, motivation valence, appreciation, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and current usage have a positive significant effect on current usage of e-government services. The findings further reveal that attitude to change positively intervene through current usage and intention to use of ICT acceptance and usage for e-government services. These results are immeasurably valuable to practitioners for managing and executing their strategies in public organisations. Furthermore, it contributes and enriches knowledge pertaining to the predictors of e-government usage

Decolonisation of e-Government research and practice exploring contextual issues and opportunities in Africa

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Transparansi Keuangan dan Kinerja pada Website Pemerintah Daerah Kabupaten/kota di Indonesia

E-government in Indonesia is starting since the issuance of Presidential Instruction No.3/2003. The objective of this research to analysis the development of e-government whichfocuses on the financial and performance information transparency. Using a descriptiveanalysis on the 429 Indonesian local government websites during mid-May to July 2013,this research finds that the level of financial and performance information transparencyis 15%. Most local government website disclose financial and performance informationin the form of news and Local Government in Figures. While for the most importantfinancial and performance information in the form of budgets, financial statements andperformance reports are disclosed only by not more than 10% local government. Fromeleven local government with the best score, seven are located in Java and in the form ofcity

How accessibility guidelines are used in Spanish World Heritage Websites: an exploratory study

This paper presents an exploratory study on the accessibility of Spanish World Heritage website homepages in the Spanish language. The study sample comprised 78 homepages from the institutional websites of the 47 cultural, natural and mixed assets considered as World Cultural Heritage by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). These homepages have been analysed using online accessibility validator tools, following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 recommendation for the different levels of priority. The compiled data were employed in a quantitative study on adherence to WCAG guidelines. Furthermore, the types of errors made using the perspective of accessibility and usability were identified, and the application rate was calculated for these accessibility guidelines according to the type of entity managed by the websites and pages. The results show that more than 25% of the cases analysed had 10 accessibility errors or fewer. Moreover, it was only necessary to correct one or two types of errors in close to 40% of them. The paper draws the conclusion that, despite technological and legislative advances that make public entity websites accessible, there is still much to do before complete web accessibility and usability at AA and AAA level can be achieved. Identifying accessibility problems on institutional websites constitutes the first step towards creating web content that is easy to access and manage for users with disabilities. In this regard, this study contributes to improving web content according to objective guidelines such as those encouraged by the WCAG 2.0. This article provides information on how accessibility and usability guidelines are implemented by institutional websites for Cultural Heritage deemed especially important. This is an issue with significant implications for users and for which, however, there is a lack of prior studies. As a result, the value and originality of this paper can be considered evident

E-government in Lesotho: a policy analysis of the government websites with reference to service delivery.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The upsurge in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in almost all facets of human endeavour has forced governments to think of innovative ways of serving and interacting with their citizens. E-government has been proposed and adopted by many governments around the world as an important system and a framework for transformation and reform. Properly designed and implemented e-government provides governments with effective tools to improve public sector efficiency, thereby enhancing access to quality services and strengthening relationships with citizens and other stakeholders. The primary aim of this study was to analyse the status of e-government in Lesotho and the context within which it is implemented. The purpose was to understand the progress of e-government implementation since the adoption of the ICT policy of 2005. In particular, a content analysis study was conducted to determine the current status of the websites of the ministries of the Government of Lesotho in relation to their level of maturity to deliver e-government services. The results were matched with the 2001 United Nations five-stage model of e-government assessment from simple to sophisticated features. The study also focused on exploring organisational perspectives in respect of issues affecting the implementation of e-government services in the country. This facilitated in identifying main factors important for egovernment success and failure in the Lesotho context. The study employed qualitative methods to provide a better understanding of the research issue and address the research questions. It triangulated data collection methods by observing and evaluating government websites and interviewing purposively sampled government officials. The findings revealed that Lesotho has not given due attention to the issue of e-government service delivery. This is evidenced by the fact that the websites of the ministries of the Government of Lesotho are either not fully developed or do not yet exist, which clearly impedes the government objective to reap and seize maximum benefits from the opportunities brought by ICTs. The results also revealed important factors affecting the adoption and implementation of egovernment in the Lesotho context. These issues, in which their presence encourages success and their absence encourages failure, include vision, policy and regulatory laws, political uncertainty, political will, leadership support and resource mobilisation, resistance to change, digital divide and policy monitoring and evaluation. Recommendations based on the findings of the study have been made to address the challenges encountered