E-Government in the ESCWA region

Transcription

1 Dr. Haidar Fraihat Tel; Fax: E-Government in the ESCWA region 2012 Global e-government Forum Korea October 2012

2 Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia An overview of UN-ESCWA

3 Regional Commissions Economic Commission of Europe (1947) Economic And Social Commission of Western Asia (1973) Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (1947) 3 Economic Commission of Africa (1958) Economic Commission of Latin America & the Caribbean (1948)

4 4 The ESCWA Region

5 Information and Communication technology for Regional integration Statistics for evidence-based policy making Promoting women issues and gender mainstreaming Integrated management of Natural resources for Sustainable development Social integrated Policies Economic development and Globalization 5 Alleviation of the Impact of Conflicts on Development

6 National and regional policies and Strategies Follow of the Development Of The Information Society Electronic Government Electronic Services Current Areas of work Private-Public Sector partnerships Measuring the Information Society Digital Arabic Content Cyber legislation Arabia Domain Names

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8 Characteristics of countries of the ESCWA region Small + Rich Population Governance Economy Large + Poor

9 E-Government approach is affected by Small Rich 1 Population Governance 2 3 Economy Large 4 Four types of e-government development in the region 1 - Small and Rich 2 - A little small and not so rich 3 - A little large and not so poor 4 - Large and Poor Poor

10 e-government should: Transform the way government makes policy, Transform the way services should be delivered, Transform the way government uses technology, Change the way the public service is valued. ESCWA countries are: A long way to go yet succeeding in type 1 Slowly showing in all types on limited scale Not happening clearly yet

11 To use e-government: Professional use of ICT ESCWA countries are: Developing well in the majority of the region Train People on the use of computer and internet Improve the penetration rate of ICT Increasing rapidly in all countries Proceeding in different levels and paces

12 To use e-government: ESCWA countries Development of integrated software for the back offices in the government bodies Development of applications Have relatively slow progress Vary from country to another Development of Web sites and e-services Have increasing and progressing

13 Legislation Issues 1. electronic signature law 2. electronic document exchange law 3. e-commerce law 4. Electronic payment ESCWA countries Very little work has been going on in the Arab countries ESCWA has launched a major project to enable such harmonization of laws successfully 1. Intellectual Copyright law, 2. Privacy & security 3. Consumer protection 4. Electronic Cyberspace Laws Work is progressing, led by ESCWA and they Arab League

14 e-government, website or portal? Characteristics of most of the current portals or sites or e-government sites are: Well developed web sites Promote Government information Additional information (such as weather, etc.) Very little online-based database applications Political News Some include even commercial news!

15 Implementing e-government To enhance implementation of e-government in the ESCWA region, more attention to the following would be helpful for many of our member countries: Clearer vision statement and plan (for type 3 & 4) Minor changes to front office technical approach Stronger back office technology to be applied Stronger government agencies action cohesion and integration

16 Most critical concerns: Most critical shortcoming of e-government applications is the back office requirements: Organizational change Leadership Central coordination Collaboration Ensuring skills Public-private partnership Managing risk and costs Monitoring and evaluation Lack of vertical e-government integration

17 Obstacles and challenges External obstacles to e-government : Legislative and regulatory issues Budgetary barriers can restrict Technological change Digital divide Internal obstacles to e-government : Efficient management of projects Technology problems Security levels Financial problems Political support and scrutiny

18 Summary E-Government sites in ESCWA member countries can be summarized as follows: Weak Moderate Very Good Very Good Level 4: Data sharing level: agencies share info with user s prior consent (transaction maturity) Level 3: Transaction level: users securely engage in transactions with the government (two-way interaction) Level 2: Interactive Information level: users access and interact with data (one-way interaction) Level 1: Information level: government agencies publish info to the web (start-up)

19 Arab countries ranking since 2008 UN DESA reports

20 Rank changes between 2010 to 2012

21 Conclusion New challenges for e-government in the ESCWA region are driven by the following factors: In tandem with smart e-government development:

22 Factors affecting current development of e-government in the region Changes in governments and regimes Inception of social media and social networking in the political life of the citizen Intensification of international role playing in the region: political and developmental Widening digital divide between the groups of countries in the region due to economic, priorities and political factors

23 Thank You 감사합니다