The e-government implementation directions in Oman: A preliminay investigation

Electronic government has established itself as the primary enabler for transforming the way government services are offered to citizens. In the gulf countries, public sector transformation efforts are focused towards increasing accessibility, availability, competitive advances and enhancing services in civil administration. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example of the Gulf countries where large investments have been made since 2003 to implement electronic services in the public sector. Using a qualitative research approach, this research investigates the improvements that have been made to facilitate these electronic services in three public organisations, and their resulting impact within the organisations. The empirical results reveal that among others, top management support, integration and IT staff skills and capabilities are the most important factors that facilitate e-government initiatives in the Omani public sector

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

The role of intermediaries in facilitating e-government diffusion in Saudi Arabia

Recent studies of e-government activity have highlighted adoption and diffusion issues as important subjects for rating e-government success. However in developing countries inadequate resources and limited citizens’ capabilities regarding new e-government have resulted in low diffusion and adoption of e-government services. This paper examines the role of intermediaries, which can be played by a third party; in bridging the gap between e-government implementation and social reality, and looks at the roles a third party can add within the e-government services mechanism. This paper uses a case study approach in order to reflect e-government progress within the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as one developing country. The result of this paper shows that intermediaries play an important role in the diffusion of e-services in relation to improving the availability, accessibility and enhancing privacy and security

Civic Engagement and Institutional Trust among South Africans

The importance of institutional trust and its key determinants have been widely acknowledged in developed countries. However, in developing countries, where institutional trust has not been well established, its structural causes have not received adequate research emphasis. The aims of our study are: (1) to examine the direct effect of civic engagement on institutional trust; and (2) to examine the mediating effects of government dysfunction and government performance on the relationship between civic engagement and institutional trust. We conducted a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis using data from the 2004 Afrobarometer Round 2.5 survey in South Africa (N = 2,400). We found a positive direct effect of civic engagement on institutional trust and indirect effects of civic engagement on institutional trust, mediated by government dysfunction and government performance, both individually and sequentially. Findings suggest that the development and implementation of policies enhancing civic engagement and good governance are needed to increase institutional trust. South Africa, a country with over 20 years of democracy, is on the path to enhancing civic engagement and building institutional trust. These goals can be achieved through building a society in which government is based on democratic values and civil society

In-active citizenship and the depoliticisation of community development in Ireland

At a time of rising stress for communities, families and individuals coupled with a growing disillusionment with government, the concept of ‘active citizenship’ has arrived as a salve to many of the social ills of our time. Emphasising citizen’s own responsibilities, and espousing values of solidarity, community and neighbourliness, active citizenship embodies all that is good, rendering it somewhat immune from criticism. While agreeing that community values of solidarity and neighbourliness are indeed critical, this paper takes issue with what it argues is a significant revisioning of the three core concepts embodied within active citizenship - citizenship, social capital and community development - and argues that active citizenship, as it is currently promoted by state and select civil society organisations alike, substitutes self-help for redistribution and self-reliance for state accountability, in the process depoliticising the principles and practice of community development and denying community actors a voice in their own development