Mobile phone and e-government in Turkey: practices and technological choices at the cross-road

Enhanced data services through mobile phones are expected to be soon fully transactional and embedded within future mobile consumption practices. While private services will surely continue to take the lead, others such as government and NGOs will become more prominent m-players. It is not yet sure which form of technological standards will take the lead including enhance SMS based operations or Internet based specifically developed mobile phone applications. With the introduction of interactive transactions via mobile phones, currently untapped segment of the populations (without computers) have the potential to be accessed. Our research, as a reflection of the current market situation in an emerging country context, in the case of mobile phones analyzes the current needs or emergence of dependencies regarding the use of m/e-government services from the perspective of municipality officers. We contend that more research is needed to understand current preparatory bottlenecks and front loading activities to be able to encourage future intention to use e-government services through mobile phone technologies. This study highlights and interprets the current emerging practices and praxis for consuming m-government services within government

Evaluating m-government applications: an elaboration likelihood model framework

Mobile government application and services refer to governmental functions that are available to mobile devices, such as smart phones or personal digital assistants, to the users anytime/anywhere. M-Government and m-Participation are emergent concepts used to represent the evolving field of public administration functions provided as mobile services and the provision of participation to public consultations via mobile devices accordingly. In this paper we present an evaluation framework for m-government tools. The evaluation approach is grounded on the assumption that m-government tools should not only provide access to governmental information and functions, but they should also motivate users to participate to public policy making processes. The evaluation approach is based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Its novelty lies on a) its ability to capture the actual performance of a system instead of the users’ perceptions, and b) its capacity to assess the motivational and persuasive ability of a system.EU FP7 Marie Curie People Project “CEES - Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Systems (reference IAPP-2008-230658) and EU FP7 Project “UbiPOL- Ubiquitous Participation Platform for Policy Making” (Reference INFSO-ICT-248010)

A framework for accessible m-government implementation

The great popularity and rapid diffusion of mobile technologies at worldwide level has also been recognised by the public sector, leading to the creation of m-government. A major challenge for m-government is accessibility – the provision of an equal service to all citizens irrespective of their psychical, mental or technical capabilities. This paper sketches the profiles of six citizen groups: Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Motor Impaired, Speech Impaired, Cognitive Impaired and Elderly. M-government examples that target the aforementioned groups are discussed and a framework for accessible m-government implementation with reference to the W3C Mobile Web Best Practices is proposed

An Evaluation of Mobile-government Websites in Indonesia

This research evaluates 20 mobile-government websites in Indonesia based on the evaluation framework consists of four aspects, namely General Characteristics, E-Content, E-Services and E-Participation. Based on the evaluation result, all the mobile-government websites focus on e-content and e-participation. The content here is updated regularly especially about news and information, however the low e-services scores provide evidence that the content and e-participation provided are one-way communication method only. Mobilegovernment implementation in Indonesia seems still in the first stage of e-government development model. Most of the mobile webs are only informational. It is suggested to improve and develop further to reach the transactional level where all the services are integrated

Understanding the introduction and use of a mobile device-supported health information system in Nigeria

Copyright @ 2014 The Authors.This paper presents an in-depth analysis of efforts to introduce a mobile health information system in Nigeria as part of a development initiative aimed at improving maternal and child health. Specifically, it examines the use of mobile devices to facilitate maternal health information accessibility and exchange among health practitioners in order to reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality. Further, it also looks at the challenges raised while introducing mobile devices into work practices in the healthcare sector. The study adopts a case study approach, relying on semi-structured interviews and document analysis as its main methods for collecting data. The specific case examined is a mobile phone-based information system introduced to support a national government effort in Nigeria, known as the midwives service scheme. The findings of this study show that this integrated approach of using mobile phones to support (health) information systems has vast potential; for instance increasing the timeliness of (health) data available to stakeholders for monitoring and planning purposes. However, we also find that over time, attaining the potential of development efforts such as this remains difficult as initiatives involving the use of mobile devices is not just about getting the technical aspect right. It is equally dependent on deep seated social-cultural influences such as poor political and financial commitment. These two mutually reinforcing influences have been identified in this study as significant impediments to efforts of this kind. Therefore, this paper argues for, first a strong political commitment across all levels of government whereby their words are backed with action. Second it is important that the government maintains financial integrity by releasing the funds budgeted to support the smooth running of these efforts, for such initiatives to thrive and ultimately contribute to development

Apps for local government and mobile web usage

Introduction Australia is slowly shifting to the concept of open and transparent governance that relies on a two-way communication system between the Government and citizens. One of the ways in which councils are engaging more with citizens is through the use of smart phone applications, or “apps” as they are more commonly known. App is a term used to describe Internet based applications that run on smart phones and other mobiles devices. Apps help users by connecting them to internet services more commonly accessed on desktop or notebook computers, and can make a website mobile phone viewer friendly. Over one billion of the world’s four billion plus mobiles phones are now smart phones, and at least three billion of all mobile phones are SMS enabled. By 2014, mobile internet-usage will overtake desktop internet usage and already in 2011 and currently more than 50% of all “local” searches are done from a mobile device. Councils can benefit from developing mobile apps as they can provide “…social networking platforms, content creation and sharing tools, weblogs and micro blogging tools that allow for a bidirectional information exchange within governmental organizations and government’s interactions with citizens.” This preliminary report is based upon a desktop search of apps (completed in two stages during Feb-June 2012), some extracts from the draft discussion paper From explanation to engagement: Application and use of social media to enhance local government performance (Anne Howard, ACELG-University of Canberra December 2011) and conclusions of the co-authors. Every effort has been made to compile lists of all relevant apps (Apple iPhone and Android platforms). However, this area of mobile web applications is moving very quickly. New apps are being released every day, and this includes many specifically for local government

Canadian development and commercialization of a North American mobile satellite service

Canada recognized early the value of mobile satellite communications, originally through the planning of a military system and subsequently through the development of the Canadian Mobile Satellite (MSAT) systems. Acting on behalf of the government, the Department of Communications (DOC) defined and carried out a complete plan for the implementation of Mobile Satellite Services (MSS). Based on an extensive dialogue between government, industry, and users and encompassing all technical, economic regulatory, and institutional aspects, this plan resulted in the completion by 1986 of a comprehensive business plan and a decision for commercial MSS delivery. The Canadian lead for a commercial system was quickly followed by others, and in particular the U.S., giving rise to the concept of North American MSS

Public responses to precautionary information from the department of health (UK) about possible health risks from mobile phones

Understanding public perceptions of health information is of increasing importance in the light of the growing imperatives upon regulators to communicate information about risk and uncertainty. Communicating the possible health risks from mobile telecommunications is a domain that allows consideration of both public perceptions of uncertain public health information and public responses to precautionary advice. This research reports the results of a nationally representative survey in the UK (n = 1742) that explored public responses to a leaflet issued by the Department of Health (DoH) in 2000 providing information about the possible health risks of mobile phones. The aims of the study were twofold: a) to assess awareness of the leaflet and the extent to which participants could identify the precautionary advice that the leaflet contained as coming from the Government; and b) to examine publics’ responses to the current Government precautionary advice about mobile phone health risks; was this associated with increased concern or reassurance? The results indicate the importance of policy makers developing a clear understanding of the possible effects of communicating precautionary advice.Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programm

Community perception of mobile payment in e-Government services

Mobile payment and e-Government are emerging topics in the research area of Information Systems. This research addresses the preferred e-Government services for mobile payment, the suitable payment methods of mobile payment, and adoption factors of e-Government services. The research derives the notion of technology adoption and related constructs, however, as no particular Information Systems adoption theory was adequate to study emerging systems of electronic payment, the research did not utilise any specific theory. Rather, the research uses the characteristics of mobile payment as revealed in the contemporary research to develop an adoption model based on user perceptions regarding mobile payments in the context of e-Government services. A survey study on the use of mobile devices to pay for e-Government services was conducted in Western Australia. The findings of this research contribute conceptually and practically by recommending suitable services and mobile payment methods. This paper also addresses the positive and negative factors impacting the adoption of mobile payment for e-Government services.<br /