Charles Sha’ban
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organizations
(TAGOrg)
 
 UN Workshop on E-Participation and E-Government
Agenda:
􀂃 Statistics
􀂃 Issues & Challenges
􀂃 Case study: Jordanian SMEs
􀂃 Implemented Applications
􀂃 Success criteria
 
Statistics from the UN Global E-Government readiness report 2005
􀂃 None of the Arab Countries either in Western Asia or North Africa reached 0.6
􀂃 Only two above 0.5: UAE (0.5718) & Bahrain (0.5282)
􀂃 Still some good efforts in some countries
􀂃 Egypt: “The Government now delivers”
􀂃 Qatar: “Government services made easier”
􀂃 Although Africa average was 0.2642 but the African Arab Countries average is: 0.2978
 
E-Government Readiness index
Country                Index
􀂃 UAE               0.5718
􀂃 Bahrain          0.5282
􀂃 Qatar             0.4895
􀂃 Jordan            0.4639
􀂃 Lebanon                 0.4560
􀂃 Kuwait           0.4431
􀂃 Saudi Arabia  0.4105
􀂃 Oman            0.3405
􀂃 Iraq               0.3334
􀂃 Syria              0.2871
􀂃 Yemen           0.2125
 
Average 0.4124
 
E-Government Readiness index (2)
Country              Index
􀂃 Egypt             0.3793
􀂃 Tunisia           0.3310
􀂃 Algeria           0.3242
􀂃 Morocco          0.2774
􀂃 Djibouti          0.2381
􀂃 Sudan            0.2370
 
Average 0.2978
 
Other indexes
􀂃 Web measure: UAE (0.6115)
􀂃 No Arab country received good ranking for online payments (although there is already some good solutions: E-dirham in the UAE &
E-payment gateway in Jordan)
􀂃 Gender indicators: Women’s participation is low, e.g. in Jordan, the literacy rate for women is 84.7%, they are only 6% of the
Internet users and less than 0.5% of the technical workers
 
Issues & Challenges
􀂃 Digital Divide (within the country itself most of the times)
􀂃 Language Barrier (Arabic contents and Arabic Domain Names)
􀂃 Literacy rates
􀂃 Hardware and software prices
􀂃 Limited connectivity
􀂃 Awareness
􀂃 Telecommunications infrastructure
Issues & Challenges for implementing E-Government
􀂃 National vision and planning
– Still need more commitment, collaboration and awareness
􀂃 National culture and internet penetration
– Resistance to change and Internet usage
􀂃 National security challenges
– Trust in online transactions in general
– Some governmental procedures needs long steps, how will it be online?
 
Case study: Jordanian SMEs
Internet Usage in SME – Jordan
 
 
Credit Cards - Jordan
􀁺 Security of online transactions and payment issues:
21.9%   do not trust the electronic environment
27.1%   Electronic signature is not important
72.4%   not aware of Jordanian
Electronic Transactions Law
 
IT training – Jordan
 
 
 
Implemented Applications
 
Implemented Applications 1
􀂃 UAE
– Human Resources Management System (HRMS):
Provides a tool for planning and managing employee related activities
– Financial Management Information System:
Comprehensive financial systems for the Federal government agencies
– E-Stamps: The e-Dirham payment tool devised by the Ministry
of Finance Industry in order to facilitate collection of revenues and
provide secure payment method.
– E-Tender: Electronic tendering system used by the government
– Other specialized systems related to some Ministries and authorities
 
Implemented Applications 2
􀂃 Bahrain
– Financial and Human resources systems in 30 ministries and governmental department
􀂃 Jordan
– Financial, purchasing and inventory systems in different governmental agencies
– E-Payments in the telecommunications sector
– E-Tendering
– Wideband network in 18 Ministries (will be the infrastructure of the e-Government services)
 
Implemented Applications 3
􀂃 Lebanon
– Document Management and Archiving System
– Business Automation
– E-Procurement (with Italian Government assistance)
􀂃 Kuwait
– Financial and HR systems (in government educational universities too)
 
Implemented Applications 4
􀂃 Egypt
– ERP in 6 ministries
– Archiving systems in 6 ministries
– Workflow in more than 28 governmental agencies
􀂃 Oman (still in progress)
– Disaster Recovery system
– E-Tendering
– E-payment Gateway
– Technology park
– CRM (Oman Municipality)
 
Measures of Success
􀂃 Leadership support and advocacy for E-Government
􀂃 Clear goals and specific performance targets
􀂃 Willingness and ability to change
􀂃 Knowledge sharing
􀂃 Starting small and growing quickly
􀂃 Developing acceptable privacy and security safeguards
 
References
􀂃 UN Global E-Government Readiness Report 2005
􀂃 Arab Countries e-Government Programs report by SavvyTek 2006
􀂃 Arab Advisors Group reports
􀂃 Forums and Seminars we participated in, related to the topic
􀂃 Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Information Technologies International (TAGITI) studies
 
 
Thank you
Charles Sha’ban
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGOrg)
cshaban@tagi.com

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