Expected Benefits Of Egovernment Agency

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Chapter 3

Methodology

At the end of the war in 9th of April 2003 and the end of the economic embargo on Iraq. As one of reconstructions of Iraq is to build new schools because of the severe shortage in the number of school in and the continuous increasing of population, ministry of education is responsible to support these schools with teaching and administrative staff this operation usually done by announcement for unfilled jobs then citizens applying for these jobs to the offices and general directorates distributed in the provinces of Iraq. Often in applying process citizens bring with them a copy of the official documents and stands in very long queues to get a chance to make apply for job, after end of the period set for submission. Ministry of education recruits a large number of employees to enter all the papers information to the computers (convert paper based information to digital information) and then extract reports about the applicants by scheduling information by (competencies, gender, residence site, etc.), usually all this operations as overall takes months and both government and citizen suffering from this old routines. In this research we use information and communication technology to develop an electronic interactive employment agency as one of the e-government application to make the employment process much easier. In this section of study we review our e-government application "Employment Agency", strategies in design, tools that used and technology and methodology of application.

3.1 e-government application "Employment Agency"

As advantages of e-government we mention about in the section 2.5 and the suffering of government and citizen mention in chapter 1, we need to develop an electronic version of employment agency based on electronic forms "e-forms" to handle the employment process in which citizen will interact with the government using any computer connected to the internet.

Our employment agency web application relies mainly on the electronic form and there are three mainly types of e-forms, the main different between them is the automation.

Print and fill: this type is simplest and famous that be used by governmental and privet organizations. Models of the forms can be placed on the internet or intranet users can print forms to fill in these vacancies.

Fill and print: in this type the user will fill the form on-screen and print it before the submission, this type may include validators, calculations, account, check itself for errors and missing information and directed users to make correction before submitting the form by processing. This type of forms makes significant improvement in overall quality of the completed forms by catching errors before they submitted. This eliminate the need to send it back to correct and resubmit, reducing the time and cost of the process.

Fill and submit: responsibility of entering data transmitted from organization to the users who filling the forms, information in this type of forms electronic so it’s can be transferred directly to the backend systems of the organization to store, analyze and significantly shorten the time it takes between the entry the information and tack action. Forms of this type in less confusing to complete because it’s need all relevant information which applies to an individual user. Therefore, there is less chance would be waste among the users the section do not apply to their situation. This means, forms can fill very quickly, and increase the quality of information provided by users since they thinking they are doing the right think.

3.2 Expected benefits of e-government agency.

In our application we use the "form filling and submission" technic. We develop e-form that required specific information from user to apply to a certain job and publish it on the internet by using several tools to complete this application and we expect several benefits for both government and citizens. The expected advantages of using the e-form in our application can be descripted as following.

Cost factor: use of e-forms can reduce the processing costs up to 90% compared to the traditional form manual processing according to Accelio (Accelio, 2002). Bill Gates also described the cost of processing paper based form manually with processing automated electronic forms in his own book that released 1999, "Business at the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy", (Entrust, 2002).

Table 3-1: comparison between cost of paper and automated forms

Individual Form

Electronic form

Saving

Preparation and warehouse

$15

$1

$14

overfilling and reprocessing

$145 [1] 

$5 [2] 

$140

Cost for Completed form

$160

$6

$154

The cost factor may reduce in another way by using e-form:

Reduce printing cost.

Reduce duplicated data entry that result in cloning errors.

Collect accurate database far from the need of correction by human intervention to modify the data.

The use of electronic forms will reduce the resources needed to correct the possible error may happen in the traditional forms.

Error factor: collecting data using e-forms may significantly reduce data entry errors. When forms was designed, can make each field to hold only a specific model or data style. These masks facilitate the process of collecting data and information from users in an organized, accurate, all on the same format and also reduce the time that the user needs. If the users enter information is not in the forma that required in the fields of the electronic form, the electronic form returns to the user immediately to re-correct the information either content or the shape of information, which helps to save time and cost associated with traditional paper form processing with human intervention. Additional errors are avoided since the data is captured correctly the first time, helping to eliminate the need to manually re-keying after receipt of a form for treatment.

Reduce processing time: e-forms can be put online helps to reduce processing time because data must not be transferred manually from paper based forms to another database or processing system. This information re-keying, cost time and money and perhaps increase the error rate. When reduce error during the data collecting front, growing time is minimized due to the forms are incomplete or incorrect, result in fast completion of this activity. When users send data electronically and provide information instantaneously. Finally, when the e-forms can be accessed through the e-government gate 24-hour per day allows citizens or companies to complete and submit forms at their convenience.

3.3 tools of developing employment agency

In development of the e-government application "Employment Agency" we use several tools, new technologies, development assistance software and also programing language to complete the application. We take into consideration that the application must easy to use and well-defined, use clear terms to be suit for all classes of society. The application designed to integrate with itself no need any further application or tool in his performance, in this time it’s just need a computer with internet browser and a connection to internet. Also we take in consideration in the selection of tools and method for designing the pages of the application that are scalable to cope, updatable and move from a technology to another easily and without any sensation from users.

3.3.1 Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (ULTIMIT)

Visual Studio (VS) is an integrated development environment (IDE) form Microsoft. Is used to develop console and graphical user interface (GUI) such as windows form application, websites, web application and web services in both native code with managed code for all platforms supported by Microsoft.

Also include code editor and integrated debugger works both as a source level debugger and a machine-level debugger. Other built-in tools include a modeler to build graphical user interface application web designer, class designer and database schema designer.

Visual Studio support different programing languages through language services, which allow the code editor also debugger to support nearly any programing language, provide a language-specific services exists. Built-in languages included: C/C++, VB.NET, C# and F#, and also supports XML/XSLT, HTML/XHTML, JavaScript and CSS. (Joe, 2010).

3.3.2 ASP .NET Framework 4.0

ASP (Active Server Pages) is a server side web application to designed for web development and produce dynamic web pages by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, web application and web services. It’s started in the first time in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET framework. ASP.NET includes necessary service to build web application at the enterprise level with a minimum of coding, it’s part of the .NET framework, when coding with ASP.NET application have to access to classes in the .NET framework so we can code for the application with any language compatible with the common language runtime (CLR). ((ASK DR. MURAT 5)).

C/C++

C#

Jscript

VB

Common Language Specification

ASP.NET

Windows Forms

.NET Framework base classes

ADO.NET

XML

Threading

IO

Net

Security

Diagnostics

Etc.

Windows

COM+ services

Common Language runtime

Visual Studio .NET

.NET (dot net) framework is software development kit (SDK) developed by Microsoft. It includes a large library and provides interoperability language across many programming languages. Programs written for the .NET framework implement in a software environment known as common language runtime (CLR), an application virtual machine provides services such as memory management, exception handler and security, the class library and the CLR together formed .NET framework as shown figure (3-1) (India Community Initiative, 2002).

Figure 3-1: .NET Framework Architecture.

.NET provides solid bases for developing even more than simple application it is possible to develop and create many types of application. The list below will give us an idea about the application that we can develop using .NET framework (India Community Initiative, 2002).

ASP.NET web applications: includes web sites, dynamic website and web application.

Web services: they are "web requisition" functionality available with standards like HTTP and XML.

Windows form application: indicates to traditional client application.

Console application: refers to DOS type applications such as batch scripts.

Windows custom controls: such as ActiveX controls.

Web custom controls: refers to customization of controls to be work with web application so allowing code reuse and modularization.

Windows services: they refer to services that run in the background and starts when the system boots up.

3.3.3 C sharp – C#

C# "see sharp" is a simple modern, object-oriented and type safe programing language. C# has its root in the C family languages, and will be immediately familiar to programmer C, C++ and Java. C# is an object oriented language, but C# further support to include component-oriented programming. Contemporary design software is increasingly dependent on software components in the form stand-alone and self-describing packages of functionality. The key to these components is that it offers a programming model with properties, method and events, also they have the attributes that provide information about the components induction, and they include their own documents (Microsoft Corporation, 2007).

The reasons that make us chose C# as programming language in our web application "Employment Agency", it’s involve many advantages were as follows (ECMA, 2006):

C# is simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language.

Language and applications, it provide principles for software engineering such as strong type checking, array bound checking, detection of attempts to use uninitialized variables and automatic garbage collection. Robustness software, durability and programmer productivity are necessary.

The language suitable for development distributed environment application.

Source code and programmer portability.

Support for internationality.

C# is suitable for very large application down to the very small application, also suitable for developing application for both hosted and embedded systems.

C# application economical resource such as memory and processing power requirements.

3.3.4 jQuery

World Wide Web today is a dynamic environment, and users set the bar high for both style and function of the site. To build interesting, interactive site, developers are turning to jQuery automate the common tasks and simplify the complex tasks. One of the reasons make jQuery libraries famous is the ability to help in a wide range of tasks (Jonathan and Karl, 2007).

The official definition and brief description of its functions by jQuery community Experts in their book said: "jQuery is open source JavaScript library that simplifies the interactions between as HTML document or more precisely the Document Object Model (also known as DOM), and JavaScript".

In clear statement, jQuery makes the deal with Dynamic HTML (DHTML) more easily. Specifically, jQuery simplifies HTML document cross document manipulation, browser handling, DOM animation, AJAX interaction and cross-browser JavaScript development (jQuery Community Experts, 2009).

3.3.5 Internet Information Service (IIS) version 7.0

Formerly called Internet Information Server, a web application server software and a set of models to extend the advantage created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. IIS support to hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), HTTPS, file transfer protocol (FTP), FTPS, simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) and network news transfer protocol (NNTP). It is an integrated part of the windows server 8 operating system family of products. IIS is much more than just a web server, because fully integrated into operating system level, it integrated well with Microsoft .NET applications, and allows organizations to add to add internet capability that weave directly in the rest of the infrastructure (Microsoft IIS Team, 2008).

3.3.6 SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition

SQL server it is software product for managing database system developed by Microsoft. The mainly function is to store and retrieve data as required by other applications, weather those on the same computer or those that run on another computer over a network (including the internet). There are different editions of Microsoft SQL server aimed at different audiences and workloads of different (ranging from small applications that store and retrieve data on the same computer, millions of users and computers that can access vast amount of data from the internet at the same time).

Microsoft SQL server 2008 Enterprise is the most advanced database, reliable and scalable platform release so far. Building on success release SQL server 2008 original, made SQL server 2008 has impact on organizations all over the worlds with their leading, and enable end user through business intelligence (BI) self-services and strengthening and enhancing the efficiency and cooperation between database administrators (DBAs), application developers and scaling to accommodate the most demanding workloads data (Ross and Stacia, 2010).

3.3.7 Windows Server 2008

Windows server is a brand name for server operating system developed by Microsoft Corporation, indicate any type of server instance that was installed and operated and managed by any of the Windows Server family of operating systems. It is based on windows server exhibitions and provides the same ability, and the feature of the operating mechanism of a standard operating system and server on the structure of Windows NT.

Windows server operating system is generally able to provide server-oriented services, such as, the ability to host a web site, user management, security, management of resources across users and applications, messaging, authorization and a lot of other services that focus on the server.

3.4 methodology of the employment agency

In the early days of the World Wide Web, and web servers offers static content to end user and visit the sit with web browsers. But today, static web servers more and more replaced by web applications: dynamic sites that use browser as a user interface for the application server resident). Typical examples of web applications such e-government and e-commerce sites, that deal with citizens and business in relation with databases.

A variety of technologies to build web applications exit today. Older technologies such as CGI (Common Gateway Interface) and a simple unified interface between the web server and an application. Start the application on a web server for each application to address the dynamic demand in order to process the demand. In the latest technologies such as Java Servlets, JSP and ASP.NET application are dealt with vital components that can be plugged into the web server, can be delegated real processing work to a separate application server, leading to improved performance and easy administration. Moreover, application server can provide support for non-functional requirements of the application, such as transactions and concurrency behavior and access control and so forth.

Web applications are distributed applications, using the HTTP protocol. The system architecture for web application is a client-server model. Bothe the client and the server can take part in the processing of information, known as client side and server side processing (Coulouris, Dollimore and Kindberg, 2001)

3.4.1 Three-Tier application architecture

Three-tier applications architecture, that consist of clients, application servers and database management systems (DBMS), have becomes mainstream in dynamic web applications. The structure of three-tier architecture matches the logical decomposition (client, application and data) of applications. The front-end of users provide a user interface for service access. The application servers implement the business logic. The database servers manage data and transactional operations at the back-end. Usually, one or more transactions are initiated by an application server when it receives a request from client. After processing the request, the result is returned to the client. It is critical that the services provided by the tree-tier architecture are reliable and continuously available (Zhao, Moser and Melliar-Smoth, 2001).

A three-tier structure is conceptual. In practice, there are different applications of databases applications on the internet that fit this structure. The most common implementation has a web server (which includes a script engine that handles text and performs actions that define) and database management system installed on one machine "it is simpler to manage and secure". With this type of application on modern hardware, can our application handle perhaps ten thousands of requests every hour.

For popular web sites, and the implementation of the common is to install a web server and database server on deferent machines, so we are committed to resources to allow the application more scalable and faster. For very high-end applications, we can use a combination of computers, where the database is copied and web servers and load distributed over many devices. Describe database applications on the internet and building of three-tier architecture makes it look formally structured and organized. However, it conceals the fact that the applications should combine the various protocols and software, and that programs need to be installed, configured and insurance. The figure 3-2 shows the three-tier model architecture for web applications (Lane and Williams, 2004).

Client Tier

. . . . .

Application Tier

Internet

Database Tier

Database Management System (DBMS)

Scripts

Web server

Database

Figure 3-2: three-tier architecture model for web applications.

3.4.1.1 Client Tier

The client tier (or presentation tier) is the highest level of the architecture; client tier provides the user interface for application user interface (UI). Usually this involves the use of graphical user interface to interact smart client interactions and web-based technologies to a browser-based interface. Information in client tier displayed to related services such as all e-government services. It communicates with other tiers by outputting the results to the browser or UI of the client tier and all other tiers in the network. In the client tier the user interaction takes place as define before. The user enters the address in the web browser and in the browser the URL into protocol/host/file, i. e. host name converted to IP address. Then an issue request is send to remote server using appropriate protocol (usually HTTP) over the internet serves (Ask Dr. Murat 16).

3.4.1.2 Application tier

The application tier (also called logic tier, business logic tier, data access tier or middle tier) is pulled out from client tier and it controls an application’s functionality by performing detailed processing. Application tier is where mission-critical business problem are solved. The elements that make up this layer can exist on a server machine, to help in resource sharing. These components can be used to enforce services rules, such as businesses algorithms and legal or governmental systems, and data rules, which are designed to preserve the structure of the data, consist within either specific or multiple databases. Because these application tier elements are not tied to a specific user, can be used by all applications and can be moved to different locations, according to the response time and the rules required. For example, some specific edits can be placed on client side to minimize network load, or data rules can be made in stored procedures. In this tier the application’s functionality is applied to the application by performing detailed processing of data form the client tier. The server such as IIS or server script such as ASP can be used to support this functionality.

3.4.1.3 Data tier

This tier consists of database servers, is physical access layer to DBMS. And can be reached through the application tier and sometimes by the client tier. Here the information is stored and retrieved. This layer maintains a neutral and independent data from application servers or application tier. Data tier give its own tier improves scalability and performance. Tis tier consists of data access components (DBMS instead of raw communications) to assist in the sharing of resources and to allow customers without installing configuration libraries and data management systems ODBC drivers on each client. An example would be a host computer database management system (DBMS) such as Microsoft SQL database server. The interaction with this tier database using standard languages such as SQL queries using a specific database protocol on TCP/IP. Data structures are defined (i.e. tables) and adjust themselves for example inserting, updating, and deleting of data. The data must be keep backup and maintain by recovery, and should be optimized with indexing or replication of data. The example of this technology using .NET embedded in the framework.NET and ADO.NET contains a mechanism to query data from database and return it to caller connected or disconnected mode.

The key benefits of using of three-tier architecture for web application are:

Maintenance: because each tier independent of the other tiers, so can be updates or changes without affecting the application as whole.

Scalability: because based on the levels of development of tier, expand the scope of application of the reasonable and straightforward.

Flexibility: three-tier allows the management of each tier independently, flexibility is increased.

Availability: application can exploit the flexibility structure to enable systems using reusable component and resources easily, therefor availability increase.

3.5 Technology of employment agency

Our e-government application "Employment Agency" consists of two parts depending on which it will deal with users (citizens) and administrators.

3.5.1 User case

In this part in which user can be interacting with web site (Web Application) to get e-governmental services, initially, user must register in the system by using personal information and e-mail, after that he/she must confirm the used e-mail by confirmation code that has been send by the system automatically in registration process after this step the user can be regular member in the system and go to login, in the first login to the user he/she will redirected to the e-form to submit required information of the employment demand, in the second login to the user he/she will redirected to status page not to the e-form page in which the user can edit some specific information such as address, academic information, marital state and so no. in the status page the user also can print a report about the submitted information in the form of PDF file type which is consist on a barcode QR type which is important to easily reach user information in administrator case. The following flow chart in figure 3-3 can clarify the user case to use the system.

New User

If Registered?

Fill the registration form and send unique code by e-mail after submission

Confirm the code

If submit the required info for job?

Fill the e-form and submit it for a certain job.

Status page, in which user can edit information or print report.

No

Yes

Login

Yes

No

Figure 3-3: user case to use the employment agency system.

3.5.2 Administrators case:

In the case of administrators use the system to manage user information and accounts, data collected from users and examine the submitted information form users. This overall process can be achieved by windows application. The application consist on login facility to know the authorities of application user’s, the authorities divided to three types: super administrator, report administrator and information check administrator, to distinguish between the accounts type we set authority ID in the administrator database to (1, 2 and 3) sequentially. Also there is an indicator to the account activation status.

Super administrator: when this account login it’s redirected to windows form application that enable to create users, enable and disable users and set the authorities of the new users.

Report administrator: this account redirected to another windows form application that enable to prepare reports about the submitted and checked information through web application and e-form, which stored in different database.

Information check administrator (optional): this account enables windows form application user to examine the data submitted by the users form web application, the examination of the data conclude on comparison between the data in the database and the official document with report printed form web application in user case that must submitted to any office of the directorate concerned in job appointments, after the comparison the data will save in different database with the name of person that checked the data, this database cannot be reached with any account just only with report administrator accounts for reporting issue. This process is considered as optional in the implementation, which is prepared to overcome the fraud and plagiarisms in the official papers that could happen.

The following figure 3-4 represents the flow chart of the administrator’s case for using windows application.

Login

What is the authority ID?

If enable?

If enable?

If enable?

Generate Reports.

Check data and send it to another database and sign it with the name that checked it and the data check.

Logout

Create user, enable or disable users and set authorities ID’s.

Account is disabled

Account is disabled

Account is disabled

ID = 1 (Super Admin)

ID = 3 (Data check Admin)

ID = 2 (Reports Admin)

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Figure 3-4: administrators’ case for using windows application for the employment agency.

3.6 Functional and non-functional requirements

One of the fundamental goals of any project is to collect all needed requirements. These need to be sure they are in equalize and regularity, and most importantly, without prejudice as the project progresses. In general, requirements are divided into functional and non-functional requirements. Where functional requirements associated with specific functions, tasks or behavior system must support, while non-functional requirements are restrictions on the different features of these functions or tasks. Functional requirements address the distinctive quality jobs and other quality characteristics are concerned with the different type of the non-functional requirements. since non-functional requirements inclined to be mentioned in terms of the restrictions on the results of the tasks that are given according to functional requirements (for example, restriction on speed or efficiency of a particular task), a task based on a statement functional requirements is structures useful upon which to build a statement requirements full. This is the approach taken in this work. It can be useful to think of the non-functional requirements in relation to task or circumstance functional requirements: how fast, how efficiently, and how to safely (17).

The functional requirements are a description of the required facility or feature, functional requirements it deal with what our system should do or provide to system’s users. It includes a description of the tasks required, required functions, outlines or associated reports or online queries, and the details of the data held in the system. It’s also the capability must carry the system to solve the problem (Escalona and Koch, 2004). Our system requirements can be classified in the following functional requirements:

The user interface requirements: also known as interaction requirement or user requirement. They give an answer on how the user is going to interact with the employment agency. In our web application user should fill the application from a device (computer device) connected to the internet and supported with any web browser.

Transactional requirements: also known as internal functional requirements or the requirements of the services, and express what a web application to calculate internally, without considering the interface aspects. In the employment agency must calculate the age of users (applicants) automatically depending on the birthday entered by the user itself.

Personalization requirements: also known as customization or adjustment requirements. Describe how a web application to adjust itself, depending on the user or the environment profile. So user should register to the system and confirm the used e-mail in the registration process and then the user must login to personalize the web application and for right use to the system.

Data requirements: also known as conceptual requirements, content requirements or storage requirements. These requirements describe hoe information is going to store and managed by application. Our system user’s information, stored in SQL server database in deferent tables or indexes to manage it more effectively, also there is separate SQL database to store administrator information.

Navigational requirements: represent the needs of navigation loots for the users.

Web application should allow the public easy to access and get services.

Also should be designed to reduce the amount of time required for the user and also for better management and operation of the system.

Automatic e-mail, SMS or announcement for registered users when new statuses add to their data in the database.

Monitoring the status and the use of the system for administrative issues.

The (help) link in the system provides simple instructions for the use of the employment agency. In addition can provide a link form the basic definitions of the terms used throughout the site and information about creating accounts, as well as basic information to contact.

The system must support (update) button to enable the facility of update information that submitted previously.

The (print) button must be provided by the system to enables the user from printing the final information submitted to the system to save it the user side in an electronic form (PDF) or hard copy.

Non-functional requirements: a description of and, where possible, and target values of the non-functional requirements associated with them. Non-functional requirements describe the characteristics of the system unrelated functions. These requirement shaped form the structure of the system during the design phase. The non-requirements functions in our system can be described in the following upcoming (Villegas and Sadjadi, 2011):

Response time: this describes condition how long it takes from a moment a user submits a request to the system, in order to provide the complete response. In our web application, and this concept of transmission and processing of the request, the transfer of the response. Factors that are resource capacity (processing power, memory, disk, and network bandwidth latency) produced by other connections that work on the same server or the number of concurrent requests. For complex web applications, this may also include call to external systems or other subsystems, in this case can be taken the properties of host’s internal network and other resources’ load into consideration.

Uptime: total time the service is available. Uptime can be described as a percentage. When considering the uptime, it is necessary to bear in consideration the readiness of services provider uptime. For example, if the provider uptime 99.5%, it would be impossible to deploy a web application with high uptime. Other factors have potential to recover the system (such as, how much time it takes to restart the service after the failure occurs).

Response per unit of time: this describes a number of requests that system can handle successfully per unit of time, also it can be refers to as a productivity of the system. Resource allocation and use influence in this parameter. In addition, the number of requests can have an impact on response time requirement (a large number of requests will lead to the deterioration of the overall response time).

Performance: one of the characteristics of the system is the manner in which errors can afford. Weather hardware or software based. In case of web application, we cannot provide a web application without errors at the physical or servers that hosting the services. While the firs case is usually out of the developer’s control, servers faults can be handled by different means, for example by increase the resource (CPU, memory and disk) of the server, or having backup to response to failures.

Security: another non-functional requirement is a security that can be applied to the hosting provider or to the system developer. In the first case, the web application host providers under security measures such as physical infrastructure policies or isolation network access mechanisms.

Operational cost: usually, it was decided to build on the initial application hardware requirement. Changes in requirement usually results is expensive upgrades involves high cost to provide new machines, install and configuration of the application to run. In the cloud system, resource can be upgrade almost immediately; this means that the cost can be considered variable change.