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The purpose of this paper is to present a mapping of the evolution of the United Nation's (UN's) e‐Readiness assessments. The mapping highlights underlying assumptions and frames a set of recommendations for new secondary indicators to strengthen e‐Readiness indices.

This exploratory case study applies triangulated document review for the analysis.

The UN's e‐Readiness assessments have evolved from a focus on Member State governments as “controllers of information and services” to “facilitators of information”. The mapping highlights the dynamic nature of understanding of e‐Government and the role of information and communication technologies in transformation efforts. It also allows for new understanding of the influence of context‐dependent imperatives, rankings, views and suggestions on Member State efforts to leverage technology toward the realization of transformation agendas. Framing assumptions for issue‐based UN surveys pose a series of limitations in terms of interpreting the results. The case study highlights the evolutionary character of the e‐Readiness assessment efforts and provides new insight for governments that rely on the assessments for decision making and planning.

The UN e‐Readiness assessments serve as a widely used point of reference for government officials, public administrators and researchers around the world. This study provides them with new understanding of the evolution of perspectives which frame and the tools used to assess e‐Readiness.

The paper provides an original examination of the evolution of perspectives and tools used in UN's e‐Readiness assessment efforts. This examination supports the identification of a set of secondary indicators in the form of a risk‐to‐reward indicator, an adoption indicator and a satisfaction indicator, to better inform and strengthen the UN e‐Readiness indices.

This paper aims to identify the reasons for the lower ranking of the Online Service Index of Sri Lanka under the United Nations E-Government Readiness Index. The study is conducted as a comparative study on selected Asian countries and suggests remedial measures for the improvement of the status of e-government of Sri Lanka.

In this regard, as the sample of websites ranked according to the Online Service Index of the United Nations, five government websites of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Singapore were selected. They are the national portal and the websites of the five Ministries: The Ministry of Education, Finance, Health, Labor and of Social Services. Asian countries selected are India, Bangladesh and Singapore including Sri Lanka. Observation method was the mainly used method for data collection. The websites were evaluated in contrast with the help of the “Main features reviewed by the United Nations E-government Survey” as the checklist. Substantial description and scoring methods were used for the analysis of the data and the presentation of the findings of the study.

Thus, several weaknesses of the online services of the government websites of Sri Lanka were identified. Among them, the major reasons identified for the lower rank of the Sri Lankan Online Service Index were, for example, the inability to identify the exact website of national portal, the lack of accessibility or usability features, the weaknesses in the active maintenance of the “Contact us” feature, service-delivery capability features, citizen participation and also interconnectedness features. The above weaknesses have been the key/root causes for the decline of the rank of the Online Service Index of Sri Lanka.

From five government websites, selected three foreign Asian countries were in focus because of practical limitations. Another difficulty faced in the analysis and comparison of the websites was that the information with regard to the United Nations evaluation methodology/criteria has not been adequately provided.

The findings of this study provide information for the policy makers, web standards, evaluation criteria developers and almost all the government organizations to address key issues related to this field for the maximization of citizen participation, the enhancement of the service-delivery capabilities and accessibility features of websites to improve the online services of the government. This study unfolded several areas for the future researchers. Those researches can also be conducted based on sub indexes of the United Nations E-Government Readiness Index. The same method could be used to examine Human Capital Index, Telecommunication and Infrastructure Index and Citizen Participation Index. This research could also be expanded through observations of foreign countries.

This paper provides an overview of the quality of government websites of Sri Lanka compared to the selected Asian countries. Through the utilization of this scoring method, four major weaknesses that contribute to the lower ranking of the online service of Sri Lanka were identified with suggestions indented for the improvement of the government websites.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and evaluate the “E-Readiness” of the citizens of India which is imperative to make such large scale e-government initiatives a success. The researchers tried to compare India with some developed and developing countries where the e-government model have been implemented successfully, looking at the prime factors for the successful implementation.

The methodology adopted for this study is exploratory in nature. A comprehensive questionnaire was adapted and the survey was conducted mostly in online format. The data were found reliable for further analysis. Exploratory factor analysis provides us five factors covering approximately 50 per cent of the variance explained. So, the authors can infer five dimensions to be the major constituents of e-readiness as per this study.

The findings are quite significant as end users and citizens were found to be quite involved in the usage of technology. Thus, user’s proactive participation in technological assimilation also augurs well for the e-readiness of the society. But people are worried about the safety and security of the automated and online services.

The questionnaire was developed by the authors and the data analysis was also done on the basis of responses received. The paper adds value to the existing literature by capturing the issues behind the acceptance of the several technologies backed government initiatives. The authors believe that the findings will help the government to implement digital initiatives with more success.

This study aims to describe an assessment methodology of e-Government readiness through an empirical study that investigates collaborative needs in operating effective governance at root-level public service delivery in a developing country context. Broader methodology that accommodates collective functions of the government should be used while assessing the readiness of e-Government implementation.

The study is based on interview data collected from a total of 13 government officials, 21 elected representatives and 106 targeted citizens in the local government of Bangladesh.

Through a qualitative case study, this paper empirically investigated a proposition of e-Government readiness within local government cases. The findings of the study may help rectify existing assessment methodologies in e-Government implementation.

The data analysis used a collaborative perspective subjectively rather than focusing on the objective manner to capture technological aspects.

This finding could benefit various e-Government initiatives in developing countries, especially for addressing critical collaborative needs of e-Government implementation.

The findings of the paper represent social perspectives of new e-Government system implementation.

The study proposed a holistic methodology of e-Government readiness assessment that can broaden existing assessment methodologies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges encountered in e‐government implementation, as well as the potential opportunities available in the context of Jordanian society.

A detailed examination and analysis of Jordan's published e‐government vision and strategy is presented, together with a review of other relevant literature.

The findings and implications of this study reveal Jordan is still lagging behind in utilising information and communication technologies for delivering government services online.

An understanding of the current status of e‐government in Jordan can help policy makers in the country pursue development of the public sector organisations on the one hand, and would be of importance for Jordan's economic future success on the other.

This is believed to be the most up‐to‐date and comprehensive analysis of Jordan's plans and assessment of its level of readiness for delivery of e‐government services.

Citizens are substantial stakeholders in every e-government system, thus their willingness to use and ability to access the system are critical. Unequal access and information and communication technology usage, which is known as digital divide, however has been identified as one of the major obstacles to the implementation of e-government system. As digital divide inhibits citizen’s acceptance to e-government, it should be overcome despite the lack of deep theoretical understanding on this issue. This research aimed to investigate the digital divide and its direct impact on e-government system success of local governments in Indonesia as well as indirect impact through the mediation role of trust. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of digital divide, this study introduced a new type of digital divide, the innovativeness divide.

The research problems were approached by applying two-stage sequential mixed method research approach comprising of both qualitative and quantitative studies. In the first phase, an initial research model was proposed based on a literature review. Semi-structured interview with 12 users of e-government systems was then conducted to explore and enhance this initial research model. Data collected in this phase were analyzed with a two-stage content analysis approach and the initial model was then amended based on the findings. As a result, a comprehensive research model with 16 hypotheses was proposed for examination in the second phase.

In the second phase, quantitative method was applied. A questionnaire was developed based on findings in the first phase. A pilot study was conducted to refine the questionnaire, which was then distributed in a national survey resulting in 237 useable responses. Data collected in this phase were analyzed using Partial Least Square based Structural Equation Modeling.

The results of quantitative analysis confirmed 13 hypotheses. All direct influences of the variables of digital divide on e-government system success were supported. The mediating effects of trust in e-government in the relationship between capability divide and e-government system success as well as in the relationship between innovativeness divide and e-government system success were supported, but was rejected in the relationship between access divide and e-government system success. Furthermore, the results supported the moderating effects of demographic variables of age, residential place, and education.

This research has both theoretical and practical contributions. The study contributes to the developments of literature on digital divide and e-government by providing a more comprehensive framework, and also to the implementation of e-government by local governments and the improvement of e-government Readiness Index of Indonesia.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine empirically whether national culture has an impact on e‐government development in 84 countries around the world.

We used statistic methods of correlation and multiple regression to analyze the two sets of indexes – E‐government Development Index from the United Nations E‐government Survey 2010 and Hofstede's culture dimension index scores of 84 countries.

We found that there is a correlation to a differing degree between e‐government development and the five culture dimensions defined by Hofstede, although only individualism, power distance and long‐term orientation are significantly correlated with e‐government development.

The findings of this study and most importantly, the strategies proposed based on the findings by this paper would help government policy and decision makers design and implement policies and strategies to improve e‐government services and their overall development.

The study not only provides empirical support and validates the findings of previous research but also extends the scope and updates the results of similar studies in the study field.

This chapter studies Digital (or Electronic) Government in Latin American (LatAm) countries from a comparative perspective. It analyzes a group of countries with a significant degree of economic diversity and public administration heterogeneity. This chapter presents data about the development of the Information Society in Latin America, regarding the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet in the countries of the region and taking into account the digital divide phenomenon. It also analyzes Digital Government from a regional perspective, pinpointing intergovernmental institutions and international organizations devoted to design and define, and, in some cases, implement, shared perspectives and a common agenda within this region. This overview is brought forward by a comparative approximation to the development of e-Government readiness in LatAm countries, using data from the United Nations reports. Additionally, this chapter analyzes sectional e-Government dimensions, including digital public administration national agendas, electronic public service delivery websites, interoperability initiatives, social media technologies, open data and open government strategies, and the future of technology in public sector of the region. Therefore, this chapter is important to understand the role of ICTs as one of the most recent sources of innovation and reform in public administrations Latin America.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the maturity level of the Jordanian electronic Government (e-Government) program from the citizen’s perspective. This assessment aims to help in determining whether the Jordanian e-Government strategy, set back in 2002, has achieved its main objectives which are delivering services to people across society, irrespective of location, economic status, education or ICT ability; improving the ICT readiness and infrastructure; and developing new service delivery channels and increase the involvement of citizens through the use of ICTs. Jordan started a national e-Government initiative aiming to streamline government procedures and provide government information and services to the public online. This paper reveals the levels of citizens’ awareness, acceptance, usage and willingness to use the e-Government services in Jordan. It investigates issues such as Jordan’s e-Government maturity level, citizen’s preferences when dealing with e-Government, citizen’s attitude toward using various e-services, citizen’s concerns and the required services.

To achieve the research purposes, which needed a high rate of respondents to generalize the findings, we opted for quantitative research through questionnaires as an appropriate instrument base to address the citizens’ awareness and usage of e-Government services. In total, 7,238 distributed surveys were conducted across Jordan. The average of the responses rate in the three regions was 58.6 per cent.

The citizen’s interest in e-Government services is declining, as the citizens’ level of awareness of e-Government and its services is still modest after more than ten years of the start of the e-Government program in Jordan. Citizens’ attitude toward using e-Government services is changing and determined by various factors and issues reported in the paper.

The selected governorates might not be the best governorates to represent the three regions of Jordan, the data took almost 15 months to be collected and analyzed which may have resulted in some changes to the reality. Finally, developing countries are not a homogenous group and, therefore, the results of this paper may not be generalizable.

The findings present a number of key factors that hinder Jordan’s e-Government development. These findings can be useful for researchers and practitioners, as they provide rich insights on e-Government development. The findings can be also useful to other developing countries, as they can help them in understanding citizen related challenges when designing, planning and implementing their e-Government initiatives.

Based on data collected over a 15 year period (2000–2015) for 89 countries selected across nine geopolitical regions of the world, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of economic development and the Hofstede index of national cultures in influencing level of government effectiveness and ICT diffusion; as well as the impact of ICT diffusion on government effectiveness. The level of economic development and a country’s ranking on the E-government index were found significant in explaining ICT diffusion and level of government effectiveness, respectively. But the findings also indicate that only the cultural factors such as Indulgence and long-term orientation (LTO) were quite significant in explaining level of government of effectiveness and ICT diffusion, respectively. The findings conclude that while some cultural factors may provide partial explanations for a country’s level of government effectiveness or ICT diffusion, but for other cultural elements, the path of influence is still unclear and at best debatable. Hence, in light of the growing emphasis placed on it in the literature, the effect of culture is limited and may have been overstated. ICT diffusion, while a necessary tool for administrative efficiency, is only but one piece of a larger puzzle and should be developed in consideration of and in the context of a broader framework of economic development, institutional design and behavioral practices.

This study examines how existing ICT diffusion and infrastructures among a set of 89 countries spread across nine world geopolitical zones has been able to improve their government effectiveness – as measured by their relative scores or rankings on the global “government effectiveness index” over a 15 year period (2000–2015); and also how specific cultural factors may influence the level of ICT diffusion. Drawing data from the United Nations e-Government knowledge database, the United Nations Development Program, the GlobalEconomy.com, as well as other socio-demographic sources, I examine key and associated indicators that influence information technology diffusion and its contributory effects on level of government effectiveness; as well as the impact of national cultures on ICT diffusion.

Overall, the finding from this analysis point to the fact that only two of the Hofstede national culture variables were significant (LTO and Indulgence). The other four national culture variables (Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity/Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance) were not. Indulgence has a negative effect on level of government effectiveness, while LTO has a positive effect on ICT diffusion. The other culture variables were not significant in any of the regression models, but they seem to congregate much closer to or around the mean.

This is the only work of its kind that has utilized the seven Hofstede indicators to test for the relationship between culture and technology over a long period of 15 years.