Electronic Government, an International Journal (19 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Does Trust have an impact on system and operational effectiveness? The implementation of e-government in Colombia  
  by Thomas Tegethoff, Ricardo Santa, Diego F. Morante, Juan C. Valencia 
  Abstract: The purpose of this research is to investigate whether trust plays a relevant role in the alignment between system effectiveness and operational effectiveness after the implementation of e-government systems as these are becoming essential in integrating government operations with organisations in Colombia. The findings, after the application of structural equation modelling (SEM), suggest that there is a predictive relationship of trust with operational effectiveness, and with quality of the system, quality of the information, and quality of the service. Trust is built through the effectiveness of the operations that e-government systems bring to organisations, and trust has a relevant role in the effectiveness of the e-government systems. Quality of the information showed the most significant impact on operational effectiveness, but quality of the system and quality of the service had no impact on operational effectiveness; consequently, in order to build up effective operations, the government needs to improve these two factors.
  Keywords: e-government system; trust and user satisfaction; operational effectiveness.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10016082
   
  
• The Institutionalization of Social Media in Politics: Dynamics, Applications, Critiques, and Challenges  
  by Dedy Permadi, Umar Abdul Aziz, Fidya Shabrina 
  Abstract: Nowadays, the role of social media in politics becomes more crucial due to the increasing importance of political communication and network technologies. Some scholars have confirmed that social media can be applied as an effective and efficient political communication instrument. However, many criticisms and challenges should be considered in social media use, particularly in regards to its informality and irregularity in the political system. This paper presents a comprehensive discussion on the dynamics of social media in politics, surrounding its applications in the policy process, critiques of its existence, as well as various challenges that might be encountered in the future. By adopting the term of 'three development stages' which are intrapreneurship, order from chaos, and the institutionalisation stage; and by reviewing various researches that have been done before, this paper argues that the 'institutionalisation' of social media becomes the main issue for the future of social media in politics.
  Keywords: social media; politics; technology; interaction; democracy; instrument.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10016169
   
  
• Challenges in Implementing Citizen-centric e-Government Services in Rwanda  
  by Solange Mukamurenzi, Ake Gronlund, Sirajul Islam 
  Abstract: Electronic government (e-government) faces challenges impeding its successful implementation. In the least developed countries, where e-government initiatives are developing but little research is done, it is difficult to know how to move forward with the development. As a contribution to increased knowledge, this study identifies e-government challenges in Rwanda. To this end, the study takes an interpretive approach and, from interviews and document analysis, identifies key e-government challenges. Those challenges include lack of a change management strategy, limited cooperation, language and literacy barriers, incomplete automation, difficulties with system integration, and a lack of intermediaries' management mechanisms. This paper analyses the challenges service providers would have to manage for e-government to improve and informs policymakers of the areas that need their attention for Rwanda to evolve towards the desired e-government. The study contributes to the yet scarce literature of e-government in Rwanda.
  Keywords: challenges; citizen-centric e-government; developing country; digital government; East Africa; electronic government; e-government development; e-government services; Rwanda.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10016243
   
  
• Systems Analysis of Implementing an Electronic City in Bojnord, Iran  
  by Omid Ali Kharazmi, Lia Shaddel 
  Abstract: This article performs a systems analysis of implementing an electronic city in Bojnord, Iran. Based on a review of the literature, related indicators were extracted, classifying them into five sub-systems including individual, social, institutional, technological, and political. The interaction of these sub-systems formed a primary conceptual systems model. To identify the challenges using quantitative method, questionnaire was designed and inferential chi-square test was utilised. Furthermore, to explore the cause and effect relationships of these factors using qualitative method, interviews with urban managers were conducted to complement the relevant subsystems. This research used Vensim software for modelling. Results indicated that in the final systems model based on the conditions of Bojnord, there is a relationship between subsystems, forming an integrative system. Based on this system, most influential variables were identified and the current condition of electronic city in Bojnord was evaluated as not favourable.
  Keywords: Bojnord City; Challenges; Electronic City; Systems Thinking; indivisual subsystem; social subsystem; organizational subsystem; technological subsystem; political subsystem; Vensim® software.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10016666
   
  
• E-Voting System: The Pathway to Free and Fair Election in Nigeria  
  by Ayodele Adebiyi, Adesola Falade, Charles Ayo, MARION ADEBIYI, Olatunji Okesola 
  Abstract: Voting is a critical component of any election. In most developing countries, this process is usually marred with multiple irregularities such as falsification of results, identity theft, stolen of ballot boxes, multiple voting and electoral fraud among others. This research aimed at solving these multifaceted problems associated with manual-based voting processes by using agile development and components-based software engineering (CBSE) principles to evolve a usable electronic voting system that can be used to conduct national election and any other election in the country. This will enhance and guarantee the credibility of the electoral processes and show a true reflection of the wishes of the people. The system was implemented using Visual Studio .Net and Microsoft SQL Server with attendant benefits of increased level of participation by the electorate, drastic cost reduction in organising election, voter's convenience, and faster release of election results.
  Keywords: EVM; i-Voting; M-Voting; e-Voting; K-Voting; e-Government; CBSE; INEC.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10017079
   
  
• A multi-criteria decision making model for the selection of open data management systems  
  by Martin Lnĕnička, Renáta Máchová 
  Abstract: A selection of advanced open and linked data technologies is very important in improving the impact of open government. This paper seeks to provide a multi-criteria decision model assessing open data management systems that are being deployed to enhance the e-government development. More precisely, it aims to provide a solution to the existing selection problem. The proposed evaluation framework consists of criteria identified through a systematic literature review focusing on selected open data management systems and their various quality dimensions. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was applied to validate the proposed modelling an illustrative case study. For this purpose, an expert panel was established. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to understand the effects of the chosen priority weights. The results imply that open-source CKAN is the most suitable system (platform) that fulfils the requirements and characteristics of open data.
  Keywords: open data management system; data quality; multi-criteria decision making; fuzzy analytic hierarchy process; case study.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10017080
   
  
• Modeling the cloud adoption factors for the Government organizations in India  
  by Sanjay Dhingra, KSHITIJ KUSHAGRA 
  Abstract: Cloud computing is the major tectonic shift in the IT dimension. The cloud computing is doing good for the private sector and a similar corollary can be drawn for the government too. It is believed that the cloud will prove to be beneficiary to the government as the internet was in the 20th century. The growth of private sector, start ups in Indian ecosystem together with the IT savvy Indian government has created the perfect climate for government adoption of cloud computing. This paper discovers and models the critical factors responsible for the cloud computing adoption in the Government Organisations of India by using interpretive structural modelling (ISM). This will assist in establishing the relationship among the critical factors thus identified, and also to establish the factor having the higher impact on the cloud computing adoption (CCA) in the Government Organisations of India. The results of the ISM methodology and analysis highlighted three critical factors namely security, data protection, and awareness as the top significant factors for the CCA in the Government Organisations of India.
  Keywords: cloud computing (CC); cloud computing adoption (CCA); interpretive structural modeling (ISM); infrastructure as a service (IaaS); platform as a service (PaaS),.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10017081
   
  
• Modelling the Effect of Knowledge Management Performance on Organizational Effectiveness: A study of E-Governance in India  
  by Rama Bhardwaj, Hardeep Singh 
  Abstract: Knowledge is vital resource for government that feats as foundation stone for streamlining decision making. Role of knowledge management in customisation of knowledge required actually defines its efficiency leading to satisfaction of stakeholders. The study formulates comprehensive model measuring antecedents required in formulation of better managed KM performance, and its consequential affect on beneficiaries of e-governance in India. The credibility of proposed model and causal effect of model was tested by using SEM. Empirical evidences revealed that attributes of KM performance are significant in defining it precisely. The study also revealed increased effect of knowledge sharing on knowledge performance which in turn helped in enhancement of satisfaction thus making the organisations more efficient in terms of KM practices. The study provides an integrated solution explaining the realistic measures to be adopted in the form of sharing and collaborations for achieving overall effectiveness of knowledge management performance.
  Keywords: E-Governance; Knowledge Management Performance; Knowledge Satisfaction; Structural Equation Modeling; Effectiveness; Sharing.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10017771
   
  
• E-government Adoption: A Literature Review and A Proposed Citizen-Centric Model  
  by Abeer M. Ghareeb, Nagy R. Darwish, Hesham A. Hefney 
  Abstract: The governments around the world have implemented e-government systems due to external pressures from the international organisations or internal pressures because of citizen dissatisfaction with public services. However, supply-demand disconnect is a common problem in e-government. This paper aims to provide a literature review in the area of e-government adoption to put the groundwork for the development of a conceptual model. In addition, it aims to propose a citizen-centric e-government adoption model that reflects the multi-dimensional and multi-stages nature of the acceptance of e-government services. The proposed model assumes that intention to use e-government services does not describe the full spirit of adoption. The inclusion of actual and potential use explains the adoption process from the citizen's point of view. The proposed model expands the theoretical knowledge by identifying the critical factors that are likely to affect citizen adoption and organising them in a manner that clarify the usage behaviour of the citizens regarding e-government services.
  Keywords: Keywords: electronic government; e-government; adoption models; application quality; e-service quality; adoption factors.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10017772
   
  
• Evaluation of Accessibility Standards on Ugandan e-Government Websites  
  by Joyce Nakatumba-Nabende, Florence Kivunike, Benjamin Kanagwa, Michael Tuape 
  Abstract: In spite of the efforts made by the Government of Uganda through the National IT Authority Uganda (NITA-U) to provide many of the government services online, web accessibility is still not considered as a major factor by the developers of the e-government websites. As a result, people with disabilities cannot use websites as effectively as people without disabilities. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the extent by which Ugandan e-government websites meet the internationally accepted WCAG 2.0 standards. The analysis was done for 63 websites belonging to government ministries, departments and agencies. Website accessibility assessment was carried out using two automatic evaluation tools: TAW and AChecker. The results presented in this paper indicate that all the websites not do not satisfy the level AA accessibility guidelines. Although NITA-U has developed guidelines for building websites, there is still great need to improve accessibility on e-government websites.
  Keywords: accessibility; e-government; MDAs; developing country; Uganda.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10019011
   
  
• Social Media Strategy Framework Formulation and Implementation: A Case Study of Indonesian Government Organization  
  by Ave Pinem, Achmad Nizar Hidayanto, Puspa Sandhyaduhita, Arief Donie Prasetya, Kongkiti Phusavat 
  Abstract: This study aims to formulate a social media strategy framework that appropriate in government organisation that has a low interaction rate with public through their social media accounts. The research methods used was qualitative and quantitative on a government organisation which has already use social media however the utilisation was still low. The process of data collection was done by interview, observation and documents studies. The social media strategy was formulated using framework developed by Karl Werder combined with SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and 7S model. The strategy priority was determined by using AHP analysis. Three stages of social media framework formulation have been identified and the implementation results suggest that the organisation need to prioritise the strategies that have the objective to improve the complaint handling and then followed by the strategies related to engagement and awareness.
  Keywords: Social media strategy; social media framework; SWOT; AHP.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10019012
   
  
• Factors Influencing the Adoption of E-government Services among Jordanian Citizens  
  by Mohammed Almaiah, Yacoub Nasereddin 
  Abstract: This work aims to study effective factors that could play an important role in the decision of Jordanian citizens to adopt e-government services. The study employed the UTAUT model with introducing new constructs, namely; website quality, trust of internet, trust of government, to study the adoption of e-government services in Jordan context. The data was collected using online survey from a total of 320 Jordanian citizen who are from both public and private sectors. The research model was evaluated using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Based on the results, website quality, trust of internet, trust of government, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions factors were shown to have a positive effect on behavioural intention to use e-government services. However, the influence of social influence was found to be insignificant on the participants behavioural intention to use. Additionally, the website quality factor was found to have a positive effect on the performance expectancy of e-government services. The findings of this study will guide researchers, policy makers and professionals towards the Jordanian citizen priorities in improving website design, website functions, website content quality, ease of use and security; thereby increasing the adoption of e-government services.
  Keywords: E-government services; UTAUT model; website quality; SEM; Jordan.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2020.10019265
   
  
• Electronic Government and its impact on corruption perceptions in Latin America  
  by José Carlos Vázquez Parra, Florina Guadalupe Arredondo, Jorge De La Garza 
  Abstract: Corruption is a serious problem for the Latin American region, which means that governments make great efforts to reduce this malaise afflicting their countries. This article examines if there is a difference in the levels to which electronic government (e-government) and transparency are being implemented in two blocks of Latin American countries through conglomerate analysis and ANOVA analysis. In the results of the study, countries were divided into two groups, making it possible to verify that the first block, which has driven digital government more decisively, has lower levels of perceived corruption than the second block. It is therefore concluded that e-government can become a differentiator of corruption perceptions in this selection of countries.
  Keywords: Transparency; corruption; government; governance; participation; citizenship; Latin America; inclusion; technology; good governance.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2020.10019266
   
  
• E-Government in the Public Cloud: Requirements and Opportunities  
  by Andreas Abraham, Felix Hörandner, Thomas Zefferer, Bernd Zwattendorfer 
  Abstract: Cloud computing promises various advantages compared to classical provisioning models and is therefore highly interesting for e-government services. For security and data protection reasons, adoption of cloud computing in public sectors has focused on private or community clouds so far, underusing the great potential of public clouds. In this article, we tackle this issue and show opportunities to unleash the full potential of public clouds also to the public sector. First, we perform a thorough literature survey to identify a comprehensive set of requirements for e-government services in public cloud environments. Then, we assess cloud-related technologies and propose strategies to satisfy these identified requirements, providing decision makers from the public sector a comprehensive overview that helps during design, migration, and development of e-government service to be deployed in public clouds.
  Keywords: electronic government; e-government services; public cloud; cloud computing; e-government service requirements; implementation opportunities.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2020.10019537
   
  
• Predicting trust in e-government: two competing models  
  by Emad Abu-Shanab 
  Abstract: The efficiency of public sector in addressing e-government requirements depends on the number of constructs they focus on. The adoption process depends on many factors that governments cannot handle in an efficient fashion. This study focuses on two models to predict the level of trust in e-government, the personal model and the technical model. The personal model included social influence, internet experience, and ease of use as predictor variables. The technical model included perceived usefulness, security and privacy concerns, and information quality as predictor variables. Both models used trust in e-government as their dependent variable. Both models include variables previously proposed by research, but never been compared in this context. A sample of 690 surveys were analysed to test our proposed models. Results supported both models, but yielded stronger prediction by the technical model.
  Keywords: trust; e-government; ease of use; usefulness; social influence; security; privacy; experience; information quality; competing models.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10015730
   
  
• Semantic analysis - internet of things, study of past, present and future of IoT  
  by Snigdha Gharami, B. Prabadevi, Anupama Bhimnath 
  Abstract: Internet of things is a telecommunication market with a variety of significant and affirmative approach of connecting everything into one single dimension. Going through the need to connect these objects to one another RFIDs are being considered for unique identification on a self-proposed gain CoAP is used as a protocol submit a wide range. Here, we are providing the application variance, areas where IoT has gained its importance and self-proposed ideas to implement them in some axis. It also speaks of travelling the importance of IoT in the present scenario and future experiences. IoT forms easy and efficient implementation at the cost of time specific and device compatibility. To apply effective semantic analysed technology on the physical data, the dynamic and resource-constrained nature of the IoT requires a special design to be considered. The basic drawback behind IoT implementation at greater extent is the absence of compatible devices, user privacy and security issues. This paper constitutes all the semantic study of real-world examples of present scenario in IoT and future presences that can be taken into play for a better and digitalised environment.
  Keywords: internet of things; radio frequency identity; RFID; constrained application protocol; CoAP.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10015729
   
  
• Digitising government payments in Bangladesh: a mobile banking approach  
  by Md. Jahir Uddin Palas, Ramiz Uddin, Mahmudul Hassan 
  Abstract: In the era of digitalisation, process simplification and automation are the calls of the day. The Government of Bangladesh has also been prioritising the digitalisation factor in each sector of public administration. Taxes and utility bills contribute to the public revenue, which has a great role in infrastructural and other development goals of government. However, citizens have to undergo many a difficulty in paying the municipal tax and water bill through the longstanding manual system of document distribution and payment process. In this case, the widely accepted and globally proven financial model of mobile banking can eliminate quite a number of hassles in the citizens' tax and bill payment in the contemporary system. This study examines the concurrent payment mechanism of municipality tax and water bill in Bangladesh. The study results confirm the citizens' manifold inconveniences in prevalent tax and bill payment process. The study respondents also supported the replacement of the manual system with the mobile banking process as it ensures more convenience in payment of taxes and utility bills.
  Keywords: mobile banking; government payments; digitisation; access to information; a2i; Bangladesh.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10015914
   
  
• Qualitative system dynamics modelling of the impacts of maintenance, effort, competence and collaboration on e-government website availability  
  by Gunadi Gunadi 
  Abstract: E-government websites have become the main gateways for accessing government services. To be constantly or highly available, these websites require ongoing quality maintenance. E-government websites are complex; its maintenance necessitates a complex undertaking. Further understanding about e-government website maintenance remains necessary, especially relating to the required effort and competence of government staff and organisations, as well as collaboration. This research aims to propose a qualitative system dynamics model which conceptualises the feedback relationships of website maintenance, staff and organisational effort as well as competence, and the collaborative factors in influencing e-government website availability. As part of the broader context of system dynamics study, the conceptual model needs to be validated with actual data and will be used as a basis for developing a system dynamic simulation model.
  Keywords: e-government; website availability; website maintenance; staff and organisation effort; staff and organisation competence; collaboration; qualitative system dynamics.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10015963
   
  
• What can enterprise architecture do for healthcare? A framework of antecedents and benefits  
  by Mikael Gebre-Mariam, Bendik Bygstad 
  Abstract: The aim of this study is to provide a consolidated knowledge of the organisational impact of enterprise architecture (EA) healthcare and the factors affecting its adoption and maturity. In this paper, we provide a synthesis based on a systematic review of the EA literature which has implication for both research and practice. First, we provide an overview framework of the antecedents and benefits of EA in healthcare. Second, we present a conceptualisation of four EA activity streams: 1) negotiation; 2) coordination; 3) descriptive; 4) prescriptive activity streams. For researchers, the healthcare EA framework, benefits, factors and lessons described in this review provide the necessary components to make sense of EA adoption and maturity in healthcare. For practitioners, we highlight the need to concurrently build EA capabilities of the four activity streams in order to adequately engage with the techno-organisational change in healthcare.
  Keywords: healthcare enterprise architecture; eHealth architecture; healthcare IT governance.
  DOI: 10.1504/EG.2019.10015964