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

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

EVALUATING E-GOVERNEMNT IMPLEMENTATION USING AN INSTITUTIOAL PERSPECTIVE: A CASE STUDY OF OMAN

Electronic government has been established as an effective mechanism for increasing government productivity and efficiency as well as a key enabler for citizen-centric services. Although e-government efforts in most developing countries started in the early 2000’s and huge investments have been made by respective governments, implementation and diffusion has been extremely laggard compared to Western nations. However, there has been no universal model for evaluating the effectiveness of e-government implementation and adoption. From an institutional perspective though, economic, political and social as well as technological issues signify the most fundamental pressures that organisations face when implementing change. Using institutional theory as conceptual lens, this paper aims to provide a better understanding of the pressures that influence the success of e-government projects. This is achieved using an empirical study in a large ministry in Oman by reflecting on their e-government implementation efforts

The Roles of Intermediaries in the Diffusion and Adoption of E-Government Services

Many developing countries are in the initial stages of implementing electronic government to improve public sector services and deliver them in an effective and efficient manner. Some cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are focusing on public sector transformation efforts to increase accessibility and availability of their services and to enhance services in civil administration. Madinah City is one such example where large investments have been made since 2003 to implement electronic services and develop various delivery channels in the public sector. Thus, the government of Madinah has launched the “Khdamatec” electronic offices (e-offices) concept under their national electronic government (e-government) modernisation agenda to facilitate service delivery to citizens and seamless interaction to communicate their needs. This paper uses an empirical study to examine the role of intermediaries in facilitating the adoption and diffusion of e-government in Saudi Arabia. A survey of citizens in Madinah City is used to examine perceptions of using online public services through the Internet. The survey is complemented by a case study to identify issues that influence the progress of the Madinah local egovernment project from the viewpoint of government officials responsible for managing intermediaries. These empirical findings highlight computer literacy, Internet access, trust (perceived security and privacy), and awareness in using e-services as the most salient factors currently influencing e-government diffusion and adoption in Saudi Arabia