Fadi Salem

Benchmarking the E-Government Bulldozer: Beyond Measuring the Tread Marks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of international benchmarking studies as drivers for e-government development. Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows that after reviewing 44 published e-government benchmarking reports (2000-2006) and evaluating their validity and acceptance in academic and practitioners literature, the paper systematically compares and contrasts ten established international e-government benchmarking methodologies. The comparative analysis is conducted utilizing a proposed conceptual framework (CMBP), which specifically assesses the context, methodology, type of benchmarking and social paradigmatic tendency of each of the reports studied. Findings – The paper finds that regardless of the methodology adopted-international e-government benchmarking does have an imperative role in driving e-government development, only when the exercise is accompanied with a long-term iterative adaptation and reform mechanism. Originality/value – The framework proposed in this paper provides public administrators with a valuable conceptual lens for understanding the value of each benchmarking study to better assess its applicability in driving development of their e-government initiative. The paper also contributes to the limited body of academic literature investigating e-government benchmarking and proposes a methodical framework for understanding the role of international benchmarking reports in e-government development.

Information communication technologies and the millennium development goals

This special issue of the Journal of Information Technology for Development focuses on specific cases of how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can facilitate the attainment of the millennium development goals (MDGs). As a result, perhaps we are subject to the criticism of jumping on the MDG bandwagon – “the juggernaut of all bandwagons” (Saith, 2006). However, consideration of how ICT can serve developmental objectives and goals opens crucial debates. For instance, there is realistic skepticism on whether scarce resources should be used on ICT expenditure when there are so many competing priorities and the infrastructure for the effective and efficient utilization of ICT is often substandard (Thompson & Walsham, 2010). So why a special issue on the MDGs? We are nearly two-thirds of the way to the 2015 deadline of achieving the MDGs and the attainment of these goals remains elusive or “off-track.” ICTs have potential to contribute to meeting the MDGs as part of the MDGs themselves (Goal 8, Target 18) and/or impacting the achievement of other MDGs. ICTs can be used to more effectively tackle the MDGs through improved monitoring and surveillance systems on progress toward the MDGs, improving economic growth and reducing poverty, and more efficient and effective provision of basic social services (UNDP, 2008). However, the first full articulation of the MDGs (UN, 2000) was criticized for portraying a very narrow agenda for development. For example, MDG 1 can be critiqued for reducing poverty to those below the US

Government 2.0? Technology, Trust and Collaboration in the Uae Public Sector

1 a day income poverty line rather than inability to meet basic needs (Saith, 2006). Relative poverty positions and structural inequalities are not addressed. Additionally, it can be argued that like the precedents to the MDGs, they are subject to the same criticism – the MDGs remain hegemonic (“one-size-fit-all”). They were imposed by the north and are “denying developing countries the very paths to development that industrialised countries used” (Heeks, 2005, p. 9). Additionally, the measurement of progress, or lack thereof, toward the targets imposes huge data requirements on developing countries, in addition to requiring some form of baseline to start with. But, commitments to improving and assessing progress on human development are to be welcomed. The critiques above largely pertain to the reduction of the MDGs to these targets when assessing progress in development. To obtain a more accurate picture of the global developmental landscape necessitates an awareness of embedded structures, the influence of global and national economic, social and political powers and recognition that development is a global, not a developing country, issue. The papers in this issue illustrate that a contextualized, multi-disciplinary and multi-leveled approach to MDG attainment is required. Achieving the MDGs is not just a matter of measurement of the targets, but recognizing and integrating the social and cultural dimensions of development into an assessment of progress and embracing the opportunities ICTs can offer. The socio-technical focus of all the papers interrogates the goal-oriented vision of the MDGs and the complexity of assessing development through the measurement of the targets for each of these goals. Deeper understanding of the institutional logics embedded in ICT and information

The role of ICT in cultivating innovation: the case of the UAE

Increased use of the Internet and related technologies in government seems to hold out promise for a collaborative governance model, derived from cross-agency information and knowledge sharing, but many governments struggle to attain this goal. Over the past decade, many local and federal government entities in the United Arab Emirates witnessed a shift from the traditional, hierarchical silos mode of governance into a competitive mode, heavily influenced by New Public Management approaches. Although competition has had a relatively positive impact on government efficiency, there is evidence that it has increased institutional and policy complexity, reduced levels of trust and decreased knowledge sharing in government, thereby reinforcing information silos and hindering collaboration and cross-government innovations. This article reports a national survey of UAE government employees in federal and local government institutions which found that technology, leadership and trust are perceived as the top three interconnected enablers of collaboration in the UAE government. The article concludes that there is now a possibility to move towards a more collaborative mode in governance, using technological innovations to bring down the cost of social transactions in government, with three key prerequisites: fostering a comfortable level of political trust between society and government, achieving a threshold of social acceptance of technology (technological trust) within the public sector and reforming the social trust dynamics in society.

Exploring E-Government Barriers in the Arab States

This paper addresses policy implications arising from issues hindering the full exploitation of ICTs to promote innovation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).