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

E-Government Implementation in Oman: A Comparative Study of Three Public Agencies

The concept of electronic government has established as an effective mechanism for increasing government productivity and efficiency and a key enabler of citizen-centric services. In Gulf countries, public sector transformation efforts are focused towards increasing accessibility, availability, competitive advantage and enhancing services in civil administration. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example of 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 attempts to answer the question why the progress of e-government has been slow in some governmental ministries, whereas other ministries have implemented e-government in a successful manner. The paper investigates the improvements that have been made to facilitate these electronic services in three public ministries and their resulting impact within the organisations. The results of the empirical study reveal some of the generic issues faced by the Omani government in implementing e-services and how other specific challenges faced by the individual ministries such as top management support, integration and IT staff skills and capabilities are impeding e-government in the Omani public sector

Evaluating the institutional factors affecting e-government implementation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis focuses on e-government implementation and related institutional adoption and diffusion factors in Omani public sector organisations. With the advancement of the Internet and supporting Information and Communication Technologies, e-government has emerged as an effective means of delivering government services to citizens. While most early e-government efforts were concentrated on developed countries, in the recent past, it has also become popular in many developing countries. Most notably are the Middle Eastern countries that have continued to invest significantly into e-government initiatives in the last five years. However, compared to the West, the progress of e-government implementation and diffusion has been laggard in the Middle East region. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example, where, although large investments have been made since 2003 to facilitate the implementation of its electronic services, limited progress has been made in terms of realising fully functional e-government. The aim of this thesis is to examine the institutional factors influencing the development and implementation of e-government in the context of Oman using case study based research. From an institutional perspective economic, political and social as well as technological issues signify the most fundamental pressures that organisations face when initiating e-government implementation led change. Using institutional theory as a conceptual lens, this thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the internal and external pressures that influence the success of e-government projects. This research identified nineteen different factors influencing the progress of the national e-government project, e-Oman, from a public sector organisational perspective. Further, a conceptual model for examining e-government implementation has been developed and evaluated empirically within the context of Oman. By doing so, this research contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying the institutional factors that contributes to the success of e-government implementation and explaining its paradoxes.Oman, Ministry of manpower, sponsored Doctoral programme in the UK 2007-201

The Legal Nature of the Concessions and Investments Contracts Concluded by States in accordance with B.O.T. System

Different States conclude contracts for running public utilities or for investing public money. These contracts are known as concession contracts. The introduction of modern legalmethods: the BOT and the BOOT have complicated the arguments as to the legalnature of these contracts: are they classified under administrative contract or are they categorized as private law contracts? The main purpose of this research is to analyze the legalnature of these contracts. The research concludes and affirms administrative nature of the concession contracts concluded by States in accordance with the BOT system. These contracts require: A- Administrative authorizations b- Their procedures are lengthy and subject to administrative law rules. c- The subjects of the contracts are public utilities or public services and public constructions. d- They include unfamiliar and unknown conditions in private contracts. e- Governments entering into these contracts as public power

Factors Influencing eGovernment Progress in Oman: An Employee\u27s Perspective

While most early e-government efforts were concentrated on developed countries, in the recent past, it has also become popular in many developing countries. Most notably are the Middle Eastern countries that have continued to invest significantly into e-government initiatives in the last five years. However, compared to the West, the progress of e-government implementation and diffusion has been laggard in the Middle East region. The Sultanate of Oman is one such example, where, although large investments have been made since 2003 to facilitate the implementation of electronic services in the public sector, only limited progress has been made in terms of realising fully functional e-government. The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that are currently influencing the development and implementation of e-government in Oman using a quantitative survey-based empirical study in three key public service agencies. The research identified thirteen different factors that were influencing the progress of the national e-government project, e-Oman, from the viewpoint of government employees. The most salient of these factors were the Omani IT workforce capability and the citizens’ trust and confidence in using e-services

Clinical Relevance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria, Oman

Little is known about the clinical relevance of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in the Arabian Peninsula. We assessed the prevalence and studied a random sample of isolates at a reference laboratory in Muscat, Oman. NTM cause disease in this region, and their prevalence has increased

Clinical Relevance of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria, Oman

Little is known about the clinical relevance of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in the Arabian Peninsula. We assessed the prevalence and studied a random sample of isolates at a reference laboratory in Muscat, Oman. NTM cause disease in this region, and their prevalence has increased

Lumpy skin disease of cattle : an emerging problem in the Sultanate of Oman

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a highly infectious disease of cattle caused by a virus belonging to the Capripoxvirus genus of the family Poxviridae. The purpose of this study is to place on record the first confirmation of LSD in the Sultanate. The disease was diagnosed and confirmed using polymerase chain reaction, histopathology, transmission electron microscopy and serum neutralization testing. The epizootic occurred in 2009 involving a large number of animals and covering a wide area including Nezwa, Alqabel, Sohar, Saham and Burimi. Morbidity and mortality rates of 29.7 and 26.3 %, and 13.6 and 15.4 % were observed at Nezwa and Sohar, respectively. The clinical signs were much more severe in Holstein–Friesian cattle compared to indigenous breeds and were characterized by multiple skin nodules covering the neck, back, perineum, tail, limbs and genital organs. Affected animals also exhibited lameness, emaciation and cessation of milk production. Oedema of limbs and brisket, and superficial lymph node enlargement were highly prominent. It is not known from where the virus originated, or how it spread to the Sultanate. The disease has become endemic in the country and is liable to extend to other Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and cause a pandemic. It is of major concern to the Omani dairy industry. Due to the widespread presence of screw worm, serious economic losses can follow outbreaks.South African ARChttp://link.springer.com/journal/11250hb201

Molecular identification and characterization of two proposed new enterovirus serotypes, EV74 and EV75

Fil: Oberste, M. Steven. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Michele, Suzanne M. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Maher, Kaija. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Fil: Schnurr, David. California Department of Health Services. Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory; Estados Unidos.Fil: Cisterna, Daniel. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Junttila, Nina. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Uddin, Moyez. Institute of Public Health; Bangladesh.Fil: Chomel, Jean-Jacques. Centre National de Référence des Entérovirus; Francia.Fil: Lau, Chi-Shan. Queen Mary Hospital. Department of Health; China.Fil: Ridha, Walid. National Polio Laboratory; Irak.Fil: Al-Busaidy, Suleiman. Ministry of Health. Department of Laboratories; Oman.Fil: Norder, Helene. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Magnius, Lars O. Swedish Institute for Disease Control. Department of Virology; Suecia.Fil: Pallansch, Mark A. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch; Estados Unidos.Sequencing of the gene that encodes the capsid protein VP1 has been used as a surrogate for antigenic typing in order to distinguish enterovirus serotypes; three new serotypes were identified recently by this method. In this study, 14 enterovirus isolates from six countries were characterized as members of two new types within the species Human enterovirus B, based on sequencing of the complete capsid-encoding (P1) region. Isolates within each of these two types differed significantly from one another and from all other known enterovirus serotypes on the basis of sequences that encode either VP1 alone or the entire P1 region. Members of each type were greater than or equal to 77(.)2% identical to one another (89(.)5% amino acid identity) in VP1, but members of the two different types differed from one another and from other enteroviruses by greater than or equal to 31% in nucleotide sequence (25% amino acid sequence difference), indicating that the two groups represent separate new candidate enterovirus types. The complete P1 sequences differed from those of all other enterovirus serotypes by greater than or equal to 31% (26% amino acid sequence difference), but were highly conserved within a serotype (< 8% amino acid sequence difference). Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that isolates of the same serotype were monophyletic in both VP1 and the capsid as a whole, as shown previously for other enterovirus serotypes. This paper proposes that these 14 isolates should be classified as members of two new human enterovirus types, enteroviruses 74 and 75 (EV74 and EV75)