A Suggested Framework for Assessing Electronic Government Readiness in Egypt

Abstract

Electronic Government (e‑Government) is becoming a global phenomenon that is increasingly attracting the attention of community citizens including politicians, economists, decision and policy makers amongst others. Once only regarded as a means for modernizing the public sector and increasing government productivity and efficiency, e‑ Government is presently recognized as a driver and a key enabler of citizen‑centric, cooperative, and seamless modern governance implying not only a profound transformation in the way government interacts with the governed but also the reinvention of its internal processes and how organizations carry their business both internally as well as externally while interacting with the other segments of the community. Based on the literature, it is frequently claimed that the availability of an effective e‑Government assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e‑Government proper implementation. The objective of this article is to develop an e‑Government appraisal framework encompassing several components such as people, technology, processes, and strategic planning. The article examines the relations and interactions of these components in an emerging e‑Government environment using a case study on an agency affiliated to the government of Egypt as a primary step in the process of testing the framework presented.