Mgovernment Operation And Applications

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Governments around the world are faced with new demands, new expectations and a fast-growing array of new technologies and tools. A current example is the Middle East, where a youth revolutions built on the global ICT revolution is demanding immediate reform. The challenges faced by governments require resources and expertise to be responsiveness and mobilized to cope with the increasing demand and expectations. During the past decade, an exponential growth has seen in the usage of mobile phones by the common person, many of those who are still untouched by the multiple facets of internet. Therefore, Mobile government services delivery channels are gradually becoming an integral component of Government’s service delivery model to serve citizens as its offers tremendous potential to initiate transformative services related to key government /citizen issues and ensuring transparency, accountability, communication, decision making and collaboration which would lead the overall objective of promoting deeper levels of citizen engagement.

In this chapter, the researcher gives a brief about the evolution of mobile government’s initiatives in order to show how the market demand for m-government services has increased for all newly adopted applications.

2.2 Overview of M-government

2.2.1 Definition of M- Government

Mobile government (mGov) is commonly referred to the strategy and its implementation involving the utilization of mobile technology, services, applications and devices for citizens and business benefits improvement for sake of leveraging the highly penetrated mobile communication in improving governments basic functions (Kushchu, I. and Kuscu, H , 2003).

In another definition, mobile government may be defined as the use of mobile wireless communication technology within the government administration and in its delivery of services and information to citizens in order to enabling access to e-Government services at any time and from anywhere (Östberg, 2003). Mobile government enables government to actively engage citizens in real time, allowing them to communicate and collaborate with public administration systems through their mobile devices in a transparent and trusted environment. And, to understand the diverse public views which support informed decision making in order to eliminate the barriers associated with physical distance, travel costs and other obstructions facing citizens who want to have their voices heard. Therefore, mobile government is seen as an emerging discipline based on the emergence of advanced mobile and wireless Communication technologies in order to improve government service quality (Arazyan, 2002).

Key Objectives of m-government

Mobile government aims to improve the information flow, participation and engagement between citizen and Government and to offer affordable access by wider segments of society I more efficient way without language barriers. And, It is narrowing down probability of corruption, Provide added value to citizens and create win-win situation for everyone.

Governments around the world are undertaking several eGov initiatives, but, mostly they have been unable to reach the rural population especially in developing countries. However, mobile phones have reached them as they are covered by mobile networks and they are using mobile sets. So, mGov helps governments to reach the rural population which none of the other service delivery channels could reach them.

However mGov can provide the same services provided through eGov , but it couldn’t be considered as an alternative to eGov but a complement to it due to its own limitations in terms of volume of information that can be shared due to limited number of text characters, etc. That is why sometimes it just acts as an interoperable solution between eGov applications and the mobile phones. It is important to have mGov linked with the eGov initiatives in order to avoid duplication of work and to create synergy. An example is a citizen applying for a driving license. Once the application is submitted, it goes through several rounds of approvals and also appointment is given for driving test etc. This requires lot of coordination. Finally, mGov helps in keeping the citizen updated with the progress of requested service through SMS or mobile app’s, in order to keep them updated in a real time.

M-government operation and applications

The framework for m-Government contains several information modes. However, there are five basic classes of information modes involved in mGov services which is Information, Communication, Transaction, Coordination and collaboration. Information mode is mainly focuses on delivering the information, as government has access to a lot of information which is needed by the citizens. Since the amount of information is huge, it is a difficult task to maintain and share the information, however, mGov services helps in breaking down the key information into granular capsules, which contain specific information desired by the citizen. Communication mode provides a two way flow of information between citizen and government which helps citizens use mobile in asking queries and to know status updates etc. Communication through mobile gives citizens the power to inform and questions the government agencies in a real time.

Transaction mode enables citizen to make financial transactions through mobile phones or make a payment through mobile payment or through credit/debit cards. Coordination mode aims to involve citizens in decision making process , allow the most under served and least heard citizens in decision making by allowing them to vote through their mobile phones. Collaboration mode provides full participation of citizen in the running of government, as the citizen can participate in discussion, work together; share information’s in order to reach decisions on various issues.

The framework given below in table 2.1 highlights the various dimensions of usage of mGov services.

Table 2.1: mGov information modes and its applications

Class of information mode

Service Definition

Mobile key tools

Level of citizen involvement

Importance to citizen

Example of services

Information

Access to Governmental database

SMS , MMS

Low

High

Disaster Alert , weather update , Warning

Communication

Two ways information flow , ask quires and know status update

SMS , MMS , IVRs , GPRS

Medium

high

Info. about Gov. scheme , tracking application status , traffic update

Transaction

Enable to make financial transactions

SMS , MMS , IVRs , GPRS

High

High

Payment for services

Coordination

allowing citizens to vote through mobile

SMS , MMS , IVRs , GPRS

High

High

e-Petition , e-voting

Collaboration

Allow citizen to work together , share information and reaching decision

SMS , MMS , IVRs , GPRS

High

High

Participating in policy formation

mGov Value Chain model

In order to implement a successful mGov services, government should pay attention to each part of the mGov value chain model in order to insure a better readiness and a successful implementation of mGov service delivery channel. The basic constructs of that value chain model are Government and citizens, telecom operators and mobile devices providers, mobile applications developers and content developers and enablers.

Government is accounted for development of policies, regulations and standards required to shape the market. And it should advocate in engaging citizens and create market demand by choosing the best mobile application and providing responsive services. Whereas, Citizens are the customers of the provided mGov services and they play the critical role in service adoption and improvement.

Telecom operators are providing mobile coverage services that make the transport channel considered as a point of sale for mGov services and they have to generate substantial revenue adequate to encourage them to invest more in the services and mobile coverage. Whereas, Mobile devices providers, who’s providing the supportive mobile devices and mobile network infra structures that met demand of subscribers and service providers.

Mobile Application developers are creating the applications that help mobile users to conduct transactions and to support personalization and synchronicity of provided mobile services. And, Content developers and enablers whose playing a pivotal role in compelling mGov service portal into mobile-ready formats that enabling users to do a transactions and have a personalized services on their mobiles.

Characteristics of M-government

Studies of mGov found that mGov services around the world are characterized by Power of pull, power of push and power of reach.

Power of Pull as mGov providing more convenient accessibility and availability of government services. It enhances the adoption of m-government services by citizens as they can use mGov services anytime and anywhere which improves citizen’s convenience. And, Government can push instant information to citizen mobile anytime anywhere as well, for example, send out warnings during emergencies.

Power of Pull as mGov provides better precision and personalization in targeting users and delivering content to them. Mobile devices are considered as a personal device, this means that personalized information can reach the same user at any time through it.

Power of reach as mGov can reach a larger and wider user base as it reaches a larger number of people through mobile networks that had a high penetration rate than wired internet services. Also, mGov reaches a variety of audiences as it doesn’t need sophisticated training or internet literacy, except being active users of mobile communication.

2.2.5 M-government Challenges and critical success factors

Many studies addressed challenges that are facing mGov services are cited that the main challenges of mGov are, considering user perspective and readiness while assessing utility of a mobile service, ensuring accessibility, security and reliability , transforming content and applications to suit Mobiles platform , dealing with an "always-on" society and workforce which is overwhelming for government , training and supporting users , protecting privacy and providing security for the data and interactions and regulating and developing the legal aspects of mobile applications and services uses. While,(Caroll, 2006) cited that, for citizens as service users, they perceives mobile phones as an entertainment tools not for serious services like mGov and some peoples can use it to send a fraud messages especially by unanimous unregistered mobiles.

(Al-khamayseh & Lawrence, 2006) through their extensive literature review of journal articles, web sites, conference papers and contacts with government officials, they defined fourteen factors that could be considered as a critical success factors for mGov that affecting adoption of mGov services, those factors are perceived ease of use of provided services , service efficiency in time and distance , value for money , convenience, availability of adequate devices and infrastructure , Service usefulness, service responsiveness , Service relevance to citizen needs, Quality and reliability of services & information provided, Inherent risk in using provided service for citizen privacy , risk in losing money , Reliability of the mobile network and the SMS-based system ,Service compatibility, Trust in the mobile service technology & the government that providing service, Trust in the government providing service and perceived quality of public services, Self-efficacy in using mobile technology and Inadequate level of digital literacy among the targeted users, lack of confidence in the new technologies, Traditional caution , as a bureaucratic virtue , risk-avoidance and lack of innovation.

Primary Delivery model of mGov services

In general, there are four primary delivery models of mGov services which are government-to-citizens (G2C), government-to-government (G2G), government-to-business (G2B) and government-to-employees (G2E).However Mobile applications and services are G2C oriented, G2G, G2B and G2E mGov services also exist. Figure2-1, depict the definition and usage of each type of mGov service delivery model.

Figure 2.1 : Primary delivery model of m-government

Source: Oui-Suk, Uhm (2010), Introduction of m-Government & IT Convergence Technology, KAIST Institute for IT Convergence.

2.2.3 Evolution of mobile wireless communication

Research demonstrates a dramatic increase in the use of and access to mobile technology, in both developed and developing countries. By the beginning of 2013, there were an estimated 6.8 billion mobile cellular phone subscribers, represent globally 98% of the world population (7.1 billion populations). The Mobile services, which are provided to fulfill market, demand for voice communication and data services, are recently growing rapidly with mobile penetration stands for 96% globally. And, almost 80% of the global population living in rural areas has access to mobile networks. In many developing countries, fixed telephone lines are largely limited to urban areas, but more than 89% of populations have a mobile telephone subscriptions in compared with 128% in developed countries. Globally, mobile cellular is the most rapidly adopted technology in history and the most popular and widespread personal technology worldwide.

Figure 2.3: Mobile cellular subscription penetration rate

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT indicators database, 201

2.2.4 Overview about M-Government world wide

As Access to mobile networks is available to 98% of the world population, and to 80% of the population living in rural areas (ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database, 2013) governments are turning to m-government to realize the value of mobile technologies for responsive governance, measurable improvements to social and economic development, public service delivery, operational efficiencies and active citizen engagement. The interoperability of mobile applications, which support quick access to integrated data and location-based services, paves the way for innovative m-government models.

The EC has developed and published a list of 12 mobile government public services (Table 2.2 ) offered for citizens that list constitutes a basis of benchmarking the progress of the EU member states in the sector of e-government

Table 2.2 : EU member list of eGov services

Service category

e-Government Services for Citizens Definition

Income taxes

Income taxes: declaration, notification of assessment

Job search

Job search services by labor offices

Social security benefits

Unemployment benefits , Child allowances , Medical costs (reimbursement or direct settlement) , Student grants

Car registration

Car registration (new, used, imported cars)

Building permission

Application for building permission

Declaration to the police

Declaration to the police (e.g., in case of theft)

Public libraries

Public libraries (availability of catalogues, search tools)

Certificates

Certificates (birth and marriage): request and delivery

Personal documents

Personal documents: passport and driver’s license

Enrolment in higher

education

Enrolment in higher education/university/college

Announcement of

moving

Announcement of moving (change of address)

Health-related

services

Health-related services (interactive advice on the availability of services in

different hospitals; appointments for appointments for hospitals)

Worldwide M-government best practice:

Indian m-government services

As an integral part of its e-government strategy the Indian government devoted effort to build the foundation policy frame work for m-government. Indian government realized the growth in the mobile coverage and penetration overall the country as well as m-government initiative around the world and its benefits to interact with citizens in rural areas, especially for the benefit of the economy.

Though, Indian government put m-government service channel as essential part from its vision to connect unconnected. India’s launched e-governance plan in 2006, since that most of national database and services has been digitized and thousands of forms of each state authority made On-line available through e-government service portal. But with lower penetration of internet, most citizens rely on some public service centers, 100,000 over India & e-gov access kiosks.

Indian government latterly realized that it could reach most of citizens especially in rural areas by extending services to a mobile platform. According to Indian government m-government policy document, the driver behind that are, the limited reach of e-governance and the huge user base of mobile phones in India.

Indian government released a consultation paper in March 2011, and then held several meetings with interested stakeholders. Then, it created a framework for mobile government implementation. Indian government developed a Mobile Service Delivery Gateway (MSDG), to act as a middleware between existing e-governance infrastructure and mobile service users. The MSDG hosted the mobile applications for public services and it enabled delivery of services on various mobile channels such as SMS, USSD, WAP/GPRS, 3G, IVR and STK.

Now, India's m-gov initiative in terms of G2C category includes the following:

Notification service of available employment to citizens supported by "the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme".

Advisory services "known as Life Lines": providing mobile support to farmers.

SMS-based m-health information on health resources and facilities available in Kerala.

SMS gateway for the provision of various services to citizens in Goa.

SMS tracking service for passport applications.

From Indian case, its realized that, m-government initiative made the service provided by government more effective and able to reach almost all citizens everywhere and it closed the jap made by the lower penetration of internet broadband especially in developing countries.

M-government services best Practice all over the world

Following table depict the mobile government best practice all over the world (OECD report, 2011)

Table 2.3 : mGov best practice around the world

Country

mGov Provided Service

Austria

SMS Rail Ticket & Mobile phone signature "Handy Signature"

Bahrain

Bahrain: Mobile Information Gateway , provide selected information services for visitors

Brazil

citizen register at the State Agency to receive SMS When a new position is available and the job description matches

Canada

Canada : Wireless Portal of the Government of Canada , a service designed for the public, available by cell phone, to access the Member of Parliament directory service

China

Taxation Department in Beijing uses SMS to deliver information about

Estonia

visitors can get tourist information through

Estonia

SMS Parking Payments , M- government @ m- city , Mobile Voting

Finland

SMS Public Transport Tickets

France

SMS Results of the Presidential Elections Alert

Hong Kong , China

SMS were sent to some 6 million mobile phone & Telephone Booking Service

Hungary

students receive exam results and scholarship decisions, and

India

enables citizens to follow the movement of their complaint with the help of a mobile phone (IVRS and SMS) & SMS based services for Challan status enquiry

Indonesia

SMS-based vehicle detail system enables citizens inquire about a vehicle (tax, model, and owner) & SMS broadcast general election information

Ireland

SMS Claiming Tax Credits

Italy

Italy: MiaPA: your voice to enhance PA an innovative service accessible by smartphone trough app. enable citizens to find public offices addresses, deploying geo-localization; give assessment of the services , & share comments with other citizens leveraging on a social check-in paradigm , Vivifacile: services for school and motoring & Trenitalia mobile

Kenya

SMS-Voter registration

Malawi

Dowa Emergency Cash Transfer Project (DECT)

Malta

Providing examination results by SMS. Other applications include notifications of court deferrals to clients and their lawyers, and sending , citizens and business can file complaints using mobile , about government agencies’ actions, or inactions , SMS rescheduling an appointment & Gozo Channel SMS Notification

Mexico

sends alert SMS to citizens in the district regarding meteorological and high rain risks, low temperatures, potential disasters, and emergency locations as well as contact numbers and Citizens send SMS by their concerns directly to the president or mayor

Netherlands

repeated police notices SMS sent to the stolen mobile phones

Oman

Oman’s Tender Board and Ministry of Manpower send notification messages to clients about their transactions and/or other issues such as new tenders and job vacancies

Philippines

Mobile App. Allows teachers to download short videos to a mobile device and screen their classroom , AMS anti-corruption and transparency initiative , SMS system enable police officials nationwide to receive daily management tips, operational instructions from the office of PNP chief Director General , sending complaints, comments, or recommendations; or as specialized as reporting crimes or paying taxes

Singapore

Singapore MyeCitizen SMS Alerts Subscribers can receive timely and personalized SMS alerts and notifications for CPF account; Passport Renewal; Road Tax Renewal; TV and Vehicle Radio License; URA Parking Offences and Season Parking

Spain

Spain: Information service on government offices, Mobile version of most of government web sites. These sites offer basic information about their powers, services offered, organization, press releases , National Tax Agency sends SMS ,Payment gateway for services in the Basque region , Ticket payment online , Booking medical appointments and Open government

Swedish

Access Public Services via Mobile Digital Signatures & Jobs openings via SMS

The Republic of Korea

Smart phone app. provides patent information on a list of patents, terms , Comprehensive Tax Services , e-People: The People’s Online Petition & Discussion Portal and Internet Civil Services

Turkey

Turkey: E-Government Gateway a new mobile application enables citizens to access government

UK

Security warnings sent to all mobile phones in a certain area of the city , SMS to email channels and Voting through the use of text messaging using mobile phones

USA

app. Enables citizens to GEO-TAG photograph problems around the city, add a description and send the information to the council’s complaints , Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Venezuela

SMS to find the polling station

Source: (OECD report, 2011)

Egypt E-Government

Egypt E-GOV History

In 1999, the Ministry for Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) was formed to build momentum to create an information society and to improve the information infrastructure in Egypt which announced the Egyptian National Communications and Information Technology Plan (NCITP) (Hashem, 2002).

The NCITP has paved the road for launching the Egyptian Information Society Initiative (EISI), which has been structured around seven major related mechanisms, each developed, to facilitate Egypt’s evolution into an Information Society (MoCIT, 2004).

Table 2.4:

Initiative

Slogan

Description

E-Readiness

Equal Access for All

Built to provide all citizens, easy and affordable access to the opportunities and benefits offered by ICTs through developing ICT infrastructure

E-Learning

Nurturing Human Capital

Aims to improving citizens' skills and productivity through promote and encourage the use of ICT in education for the new generation

E-Government

Government now Delivers

Aims to provide citizens with high quality government services. It is targeted to deliver a convenient collection of information and e-services and enable citizens to participate in the decision making process, and improve efficiency and quality of government services

E-Business

A New Way of Doing Business

Aims to make ICT to contribute in creating new opportunities for economic growth, evolving e-commerce and e-business, improving labor skills and developing e-payment infrastructure.

E-Health

Increasing Health Services Availability

Aims to provide citizens with a better quality of life and create a more healthy work environment for Health service providers & Medical staff

E-Culture

Promoting Egyptian Culture

Aims to offering affordable worldwide access to Egypt's cultural heritage and historical materials, and generating and promoting interest in Egypt's cultural life

ICT Export Initiative

Industry Development

Aims to foster the creation of an export-oriented ICT industry targeting export growth & job creation

E-Government Development in the Egyptian Context

Egypt's e-government program was launched by MoCIT in partnership with Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MoSAD). This program was divided into two stages.

The first stage (2001- 2007) incorporated setting and approving the e-government strategic plan, implementing and assessing pilot projects, and starting geographical & sectorial deployment of some projects.

The second stage (2007-2012) aimed at expanding successful pilot projects on national level, and the development of government administrative body (MoSAD, 2006).

Egypt e-gov portal (www.egypt.gov.eg) was launched in January 2004 as a pilot test with some services such as telephone e-billing, birth certificate, issuing, etc. (Azab et al., 2006). Egypt's e-government vision comprises three main pillars, Citizen centric service delivery, citizen participation in service development and optimal utilization of government resources. This program aims to reduce government expense and increase efficiency (MoCIT, 2004).

In 2004, the following programs were launched by MoSAD : (MoCIT, 2007; Site 2).

Institutional Development Program: aims to institutionalize policies, plans, regulations.

Governmental Services Development Program: Aims to providing citizens, businesses, government employees and other entities with government services.

Enterprise Resource Planning Program: aimed to improve and automate governmental work flows processes and procedures to reduce government expenditures.

Establishing and Integrating National Databases Program: aims to establish a unified automated data base to serve all government bodies.

Egypt's E-Government Portfolio (Ramzy and Gebba , 2012).

Ramzy and Gebba, 2012 categorize Egypt e-gov portfolio as follows:

Category

Category Description

Egypt e-gov portfolio %

C0: No-Presence category

e-service not exist either broken link or service under construction notification

14%

C1: Informative category

One way information flow such as directions , form downloading & published information

14%

C2: Transactional category

2-way flow includes non-financial services such as filling forms C2A and Financial request e-payment C2B

42%

C3: Participatory category

Collecting customer feedback such as customer satisfaction survey and e-service used in political activity such as online voting

30%

Egypt's E-Government Readiness Ranking

E-Readiness is briefly defined as the degree to which a country is prepared to participate in the networked world and it’s a function of three element Web Measurement index, telecom infrastructure index and the human capital index (McConnell International Report, 2000). Following table will address Egypt's e-government readiness ranking compared with other Arab countries over the period from 2005 up to 2012, which might reveal some challenges faced by the country in its efforts to implement e-government program.

Table 2. : Egypt e-gov readiness index compared to Arab countries

Country / Ranking

2005

2008

2010

2012

United Arab Emirates

42

32

49

28

Bahrain

53

42

13

36

Saudi Arabia

80

70

58

41

Qatar

62

53

62

48

Kuwait

75

57

50

63

Oman

112

84

82

64

Lebanon

71

74

93

87

Jordan

68

50

51

98

Tunisia

121

124

66

103

Egypt

99

79

86

107

Source: UN E-Government Survey, 2012

Egyptian government has made some efforts to improve its e-government readiness ranking in terms of:

Telecom infrastructure, 3 mobile operators are fully operated and internet broad band is currently accessible in main cities. And, Mobile uptake penetration increased from 25 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 2006 to 90 at the end of 2010. Also, The number of mobile or USB modem internet access has increased from 7 million end of 2009 to 8.6 million at the end of 2009 to 8.6 million end of 2010 (United Nations, 2011).

Human capital: the country has been ranked amongst the top ten emerging markets for its IT skills. And, government has launched some initiatives in education field, such as the Smart Schools Network (around 5% of all schools) which extended IT skills to around 12 million undergraduates.

However, Egypt was a pioneer among Arab countries in launching its e-government in 2000. This ranking might be attributed to several barriers to implement e-government program in Egypt. According to UN e-government surveys, 2012 and the assessment of the Egyptian ICT sector conducted by the UN teams (Almarabeh and Abu Ali, 2010), and SME’s interview’s, the challenges that are facing e-Gov in general could categorized into social, economic and technological issues. And, the following issues might represent the challenges for Egypt e-gov program specifically.

Lack of e-government awareness either for citizen’s side or public organizations employees. And, Reluctance and Mistrust of Automation as citizen fear of consequences and results of the process of transition to e-government.

Un-appropriate current government regulations and structures.

Lack of trust in accomplishing tasks online amongst government employees. And, Government employee fears that e-government program will result in a decrease in the role of intervention

Limited number of studies and researches regarding e-government.

Computer Illiteracy, lack of computer and internet training programs and Low Internet Penetration Rate. The Internet penetration rate in Egypt reached 32.18% in June 2011, which is still low (MoCIT, 2011). In addition to English language illiteracy as English language dominant in e-content.

Citizens security and privacy concerns (the lack of security of information)

Lack of legislation frame work and essential policy such as e-payment, e-signature laws and m-payment regulations. And, multiple auditing bodies, which might lead to a slowdown in workflows.

E-Payment Transactions Challenges (Low Penetration of Credit cards- Lack of Payment Tools for Simple Citizens)

Inconvenience of delivery mechanisms and its effects on reputation of e-Services Quality.

Reluctance to modify workflows, which might be attributed to inflexibility or fear of change.

Overlapping authority and lack of integration and information sharing among government bodies, which might hinder cooperation, coordination and integration of government e-content..

The Lack of Unified Standards and the Overlap among Service Providers

Although Egypt eGov are faces all above challenges, it was internationally recognized as Egypt’s eGov web services rank is 23 out of 192 countries on the 2010 UN-PAN report and the Egyptian eGov program received the best service award both from the UN in New York (2009) and the African Union in Johannesburg (2008). And, Dr. Darwish (Minister of State for Administration Development, 2004-2011) was selected by Singapore to receive the Middle East Eminent Persons Award (MEEP, 2007) in recognition for his work and he was an invited speaker to numerous international events such , "Making Reform Happen", OECD Paris 2010, UNIDO general conference, Vienna 2011 and World e-ID, Nice 2012.

Mobile Service evolution in the Egyptian market

The first Mobile services launched in Egypt in 1996 by government company telecom Egypt before Mobile telecom sector privatization in 1998. 1st mobile operator Mobinil inherited 83,500 subscribers and a waiting list of 25,000. By September 2001, the number of subscribers in Egypt reached 3 million (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2001). In 2007 , a new license was awarded to Escalate. This resulted in a 50% cut in prices to 0.35 LE/min.

3G mobile services launched in Egypt in 2007 and it pushed a continued growth in mobile subscribers during the past years to increase from 41.27 million subscribers in 2008, to 55.35 million subscribers in 2009 with annual growth rate of 34.12%, then to 58.97 million subscribers in June 2010. Mobile Penetration also increased steadily from 54.8% in 2008, to 72.13% in 2009 and finally 76.2% in June 2010. (MCIT Egypt, ICT indicator report 2007 – 2011)

By 2011, mobile penetration rate reached 102% of populations with geographical coverage for 95% of populations compared to 10.91% population coverage for fixed lines (ministry of telecommunication and information technology, Egypt, ICT indicator report 2007 -2011).

Figure 2. : Fixed line , Internet & Mobile phones penetration of Egypt, Per 100 inhabitant

Source: MoCIT, ICT indicator report, 2013, http://www.new.egyptictindicators.gov.eg/en/Indicators/, accessed on 20th , Feb 2013)

However, Internet user’s penetration in Egypt by 2011 was 35.72% of populations while mobile internet users through USB modems counted for 36.61% from overall internet user’s percentage in Egypt. Also, MoCIT ICT indicator, 2011 report shows that mobile becomes the lowest and most affordable communication means in Egypt by 2011.

Table2. : provide a comparison between fixed line and mobile and internet usage on Egypt based on a standard price basket

Cost US$

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Internet

4.4

4.58

4.47

4.42

4.2

Fixed line

4.4

4.71

4.38

4.38

3.52

Mobile

4.8

4.56

4.24

3.31

2.69

Source: MCIT Egypt, ICT indicator report 2007 – 2011,

From above analysis for the Egyptian telecommunication market, it could be concluded that, Mobile communication becomes the best distribution channel for governmental services as it covers 95% of citizens with the lowest and affordable cost for both citizen and government. So, high attention must be given to the provision of services and content development using mobile platforms.

Egypt M-government Services

The Egyptian Government portal has been working on providing some of its services through SMS or mobile apps. Services such as announcements for government job vacancies, announcements for doctors' charges and government tenders are now launched and work is constantly underway to launch new services over SMS or mobile apps such as traffic fines update. Following are some services already available on mobile Apps. As well as SMS based services:

Doctors Charging Services: any medical staff (doctor, dentist, nurses…) can send SMS by the graduate numbers to 91405 from any mobile to receive their charging results, SMS rate: 1 EGP. (mhealth.cu.edu.eg)

Government job vacancies service: Vodafone subscribers can send SMS by "govjob" or 10 to 9999 to receive announcements for government vacant posts. (SMS rate: 50 pts on daily basis upon receiving the 1st SMS (www.jobs.gov.eg )

Government tenders service: Vodafone subscribers can send SMS by tender or 20 to 9999 , to receive announcements for Egyptian government tenders , SMS rate: 50 pts plus 30 Pts daily charge (www.etenders.gov.eg)

The Egyptian Government portal has also been working on providing some of its services over WAP on mobile.egypt.gov.eg . The Appeal Courts Services as well as Electricity Bill Inquiry are now launched and work is constantly underway to launch new services over WAP. (Hot line is 19468 can be called for further inquiries)

RELEVANT MODELS AND THEORIES

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) ( Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980)

As per (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980), for theory of reasoned action which is based upon intention rather than attitude. TRA stated that Intention is driven by Attitude and subjective norms where attitude is a set of beliefs towards the requested topic for investigation while social norms consist of the influence of the society and surroundings. Intention is defined as the willingness behavior towards the investigated topic. While, according to Ajzen in 1985, TRA is limited only to behavior where the user is conscious for doing certain action in certain circumstances not spontaneous reactions are included (Sheppard, Hartwick & Warshaw, 1988; Ajzen, 1985)

Figure 2.9: Factors determining behavior (TRA Model)

Source: Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980 P8

2.3.2 Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1985, 1991)

The theory of planned behavior TPB is considered as an extension for theory of reasoned action where the perceived behavioral control is added to include spontaneous uncontrolled behavior by the user (Ajzen, 1991). TPB assumes that behavior is function of relevant beliefs and its determine the consumer intention and actions.

Considered limitation of TPB is, it doesn’t include other variables such as habit, self-identity which are proven to exist (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Also, it doesn’t demonstrate, how individual plan for certain behavior . Decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) Stated that, TPB requires a motivational factor that biases a certain behavior for doing an action (Taylor and Todd, 1995a). DTPB added some motivational factors by including diffusion of innovation perspective.

Figure 2.10: Theory of planned behavior

Source: Ajzen, 1991

2.3.3 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1986; Davis, 1989)

TAM theory introduced by Davis in 1986 replacing TRA factors to address mainly the technology and computer acceptance. TAM factors are

perceived usefulness (PU): is the degree to which an individual beliefs that using technology to what extent would enhance his performance

Perceived ease of use(PEOU): is the individual beliefs to what extent that using technology is easy (Davis,1989).

TAM doesn’t include Subjective norms or attitude as it was proven no mediate effect on PEOU with intention. However Davis & Venkatesh, 1996, explained that, there are external factors, which affect PU & PEOU such as user involvement & system characteristics (Davis & Venkatesh, 1996).

TAM Limitations: TAM Theory is only limited to user self-reporting for actual usage , the sample taken and conclusion deduced couldn’t be generalized (Legris et al, 2003) and sometimes inconsistency of construct variables (Sun .Zhang, 2006)

Figure 2.11: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Davis, 1989

Source: Davis, 1996

2.3.4 TAM2 Model (Extended TAM)

Introduce by Davis and Venkatesh in 2000 to include more variables such as subjective norms and inducing the moderating variables, which affect the behavior to use. It was adopted for several studies and researches to the acceptance of internet and internet based health applications (Chismar & Wiley-Patton, 2003)

Figure 2.12: TAM 2 Extension of TAM

Source: Venkatesh & Davis, 2000

2.3.5 Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) (Rogers, 1995)

Diffusion is a process where a new idea is shared among the society to generate a common understanding to consumers through certain channels (Rogers, 2003).It is used for technology evaluation and adoption. Attributes of DOI (Rogers,2003) , Consumer perception to the innovation are related to the advantages such as the competitive advantage that innovation presents, compatibility which defined as to what extent is the innovation compatible with existing values and consumer needs, trial-ability which is to what extent the innovation could be experimented, complexity is the degree of difficulty of the innovation to use and understand , observe-ability is to what extent are the innovation results could be observed by the customers.

Figure 2.13: Diffusion Process

Source: Rogers, 1995

Consumer adoption patterns differ when new idea or innovation is used which are innovators (2.5%) who play an important role for any new ideas to flow into market, they have substantial financial resources, risk takers to cope with new inventions and they are technology savvy. Early adopters (13.5%) are the ones who stamp the approval for any new idea to be adopted and used in the society, their acceptance is considered as a trigger for mass adoption as per their approval of the new innovation, early majority (34%) are characterized by being deliberate as they take some time before adopting any new idea and they are important link between early adopters and late majority. Late majority (34%) they are risk averse and cautiously adopt any new innovations, laggards (16%) they are the last category for adoption, they have limited resources as they cannot risk adopting any failing idea and they are not opinion leaders.

There are many researches and models evolved for diffusion of innovation such as (Agarwal & Prasad, 1998) for personal innovation in information technology for information technology to measure the willingness to experiment new technology.

Figure 2.14: A hypothesized relationship between PIIT and other technology acceptance constructs

Source: Agarwal & Prasad, 1998

DOI limitations: it doesn’t provide evidence of how the attitude evolves either reject or accept the innovation and innovation characteristics fit into the project (Karahanna, Straub & Chervany 1999;Chen et al,2002), but it could be used in conjunction with TAM (Chen, Gillenson & Sherrell ,2002) or SCT (Social cognitive Theory ) (Bandura,2006)

2.3.6 Self Service Technology Adoption (SSTA) (Curran and Meuter, 2005)

SSTA model was developed to compare adoption between three banking technologies, which are ATMs, bank by phone and online banking. The results revealed that marketing strategies should be developed along with diffusion process to overcome customer un-certainties. SSTA stated that not every technology induced in the market especially in self-service could succeed and it should be developed along the adoption process. The developed model is in figure 2.14 based upon TAM model independent variables for ease of use EOU and usefulness PU then added two other independent variables which are perceived risk PR and need for interaction NFI which affect Self Service technology used and attitude , that accordingly affects intention .

Figure 2.15: Self Service Technology Adoption (SSTA)

Source: Curran & Meuter, 2005

2.3.7 TAM3 Model (Venkatesh, V., and Bala, H. 2008)

This model aims to understand how various interventions can influence the known determinants of IT adoption and use. It draws from the vast body of research on the technology acceptance model (TAM), particularly the work on the determinants of perceived usefulness PU and perceived ease of use PEU, and it’s developed a comprehensive integrated model of the determinants of individual level of technology adoption and use. The proposed integrated model focused on potential pre- and post- implementation interventions that can enhance adoption and use of IT.

Figure 2.15 TAM3 Model

Source: Venkatesh, V., and Bala, H. "Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions, Decision Sciences, 39, 2008, 273-315.

2.3.8 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003)

Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis (2003) developed the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to consolidate previous TAM related studies. In the UTAUT model, performance expectance PE and effort expectancy EE were used to incorporate the constructs of perceived usefulness PU and ease of use PEU in the original TAM study. Moreover, the UTAUT model attempts to explain how individual differences influence technology use. More specifically, the relationship between perceived usefulness, ease of use, and intention to use can be moderated by age, gender, and experience. For example, the strength between perceived usefulness and intention to use varies with age and gender such that it is more significant for male and younger workers.

The effect of perceived ease of use on intention is also moderated by gender and age such that it is more significant for female and older workers, and those effects decrease with experiences. The UTAUT model accounted for 70% of the variance in usage intention, better than any of TAM studies alone. Venkatesh et al., (2003) have tested the UTAUT model in four different organizational settings for a period of six months and the study showed significant predicts intention (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions), whereas attitude toward using technology, self-efficacy, and anxiety were theorized not to be direct determinants of intention.

Figure 2.16 UAUT MODEL

Source: Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, F.D., and Davis, G.B. 2003

After its introduction, the UTAUT model was tested and applied to several technologies, such as online bulletin boards and instant messengers. However, most of these studies simply applied the UTAUT model to different technologies in a single country.

Moderating variables examined for the UTAUT model, have found that experience, gender, and age as most significant. As discussed above these constructs have been established in the literature as relevant predictors of technology acceptance (Dwivedi and Irani 2009; AlAwadhi and Morris, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Wang 2003).

UTAUT critiques found that, although the UTAUT model posits that the Effort Expectancy EE construct can be significant in determining user acceptance of IT, concerns for ease of use PEU may become non-significant over extended and sustained usage. Therefore, perceived ease of use can be expected to be more salient only in the early stages of using a new technology and it can have a positive effect on perceived usefulness of the technology

2.3.9 Mobile government diffusion studies around the World

M-Government is an emerging discipline and it is in its early stages of development (Antovski & Gusev, 2005) and it has been regarded as the next inevitable direction of evolution of e-Government (Amailef & Lu, 2008). The discipline is growing in terms of research that focuses on the areas of diffusion and acceptance of m-gov services. So, its worth benefit to review the e-gov service adoption studies as it will shad the light on he factors contributed in the diffusion of m-gov services.

2.3.9.1 E-government diffusion studies

Following table depict some useful studies in the area of e-gov diffusion around the world with focus on Arab and developing countries in specific. The researcher reviewed the researches similarities and differences and summarized to identify the key specific factors that are applicable on the m-government diffusion study in the Egyptian context. Literature on m-Government domain discusses a wide range of issues which empower this research as m-government is an emerging phenomenon and is influenced by other research domains.

Research Reference

Findings

Tung and Rieck , 2005

Perceived benefits, management readiness, and sensitivity to cost, external pressure, and social influence.

Hung et al. , 2006

Perceived usefulness, ease of use, perceived risk, trust, compatibility, external influences, impersonal

influence, self-efficacy, and facilitating conditions.

Van Dijk et al , 2008

Social–demographic factors, psychological factors, availability of internet services, knowledge of availability of internet services, preference to digital channels, ability and experience to use digital channels

Horst et al. ,2007

Perceived usefulness, personal experiences, risk perception, and trust.

Kumar et al.

(2007)

User’s characteristics (perceived risk, perceived control, internet), website design (perceived usefulness

and perceived ease of use), service quality, and satisfaction

Cater and Belanger , 2005

Relative advantage, image, compatibility, and ease of use.

Al-adawi et al. , 2005

Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and perceived risk

Belanger and Carter 2008

Disposition to trust, trust of internet, trust of the government, and perceived risk are significant elements of e-gov adoption

Wangpipatwong et

al 2008

Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, computer self-efficacy.

Warkentin, M., Gefen, D., Pavlou, P., & Rose, G., 2002

Citizen trust is an important predictor of e-gov usage.

Gilbert, D., Balestrini, P. & Littleboy, D. , 2004

Trust, financial security, information quality (adoption barriers) and time and money (adoption benefits) all predict potential usage

S. AlAwadhi & A.Morris , 2009

Usefulness, Ease of use, Reforming Bureaucracy, Trust in the Internet are positively support e-gov adoption in Kuwait. However, Connections (wasta) & Face-to-face interaction, Lack of awareness are negatively affecting such adoption. Cultural and social influences has no effect

Shafi Al-Shafi & Vishanth Weerakkody , 2009

Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence all had a significant impact on intention to use the Qatari e-government services. However , Gender, age, and internet experience were found to be insignificant in terms of predicting the behavioral intention to use e-government services

Mohammad Kamel Alomari, Kuldeep Sandhu, Peter Woods , 2010

website design, beliefs, perceived usefulness, complexity, trust in e-government, trust in government are the main component of e-gov adoption in Jordan

Alzahrani.M.E, Goodwin.R.D, 2012

Culture , Privacy & Trust were amended to UTAUT constructs to examine the user acceptance of m-gov services in Saudi Arabia

Tony Dwi Susanto1, 2 and Robert Goodwin , 2010

Proposed six Level model of SMS-based e-government acceptance , found that Simplicity is the main reason of adoption , Perceived value for money: citizens are sensitive in SMS cost , perceived efficiency in time and distance , Perceived responsiveness , Perceived convenience , Trust in SMS technology , Perceived relevance, quality and reliability of the information , Perceived risk to user privacy , Perceived reliability of the mobile network and the SMS-based system , Perceived reliability of the mobile network and the SMS-based system

2.3.9 M-GOV ADOPTION STUDIES IN EGYPT

In this section researcher will examine some studies that focused on m-government adoption and acceptance issues in the Egyptian context.

The Adoption of Mobile Government Services in Developing Countries: The Case of Egypt (H. Abdelghaffar et Y.Magdy , 2012)

In order to answer the research questions "What are the factors that affect the youth adoption for m-government services in Egypt?" (Hany Abdelghaffar, Yousra Magdy , 2012 , used a model constructed mainly from UTAUT model constructs consists of several independent factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, personal connections , awareness , facilitating conditions , Trust and pervious internet experience in order to integrate the social influence and cultural factors to understand the adoption of m-government services between youth in Egypt.

Research Findings:

The study found that increasing the youth awareness significantly affects the youth intentions to use m-government services. Also, Awareness should be combined with the feeling that there are perceived usefulness from using such services. Findings showed that ease of using is insignificant. An explanation could be that Egyptian users are more concerned with how they will benefit from the services delivered regardless the website or application usability

Social influence had a great contribution to the youth intention to use m-government services as the Egyptian is widely affected by their families and friends. Also, the compatibility to the life style has a significant impact on m-government usage as Egyptian users do prefer to transact and interact with a m-government system that complies with their culture and level of experience.

The study proved that face-to-face interaction has significant participation in hindering the adoption of m-government services in Egypt as citizens prefer to get their services face-to-face manner as they used to do for many decades (Egyptian E-Government Portal, 2004).

The internet experience doesn’t affect the adoption of m-government services. This might be referenced to the chosen sample as the majority of sample has a long internet experience.

Personal connections and Trust doesn’t affect m-gov adoption between youth. As users have to request services from the government regardless the degree of trust.

So, The researcher suggest that the government have to focus on providing more useful services for users rather than focusing on increasing trust between users. When users use their services, they will trust it later on. Also, government should focus in selecting the useful services for users and delivering it instead of focusing on having easy services interface.

The main researcher critiques on this research is its target sample as its focus on the youth student in GUC university in Cairo , which limit its finding to the highly educated youth group who has a high computer & internet literacy and their demand may vary from other citizens in Egypt especially the citizens with low or non-internet literacy. So, the study couldn’t be generalized for other citizens, age groups or even can’t be generalized over other youth segments in Egypt.

Proposed Model

The proposed Theoretical framework relies mainly on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model (Dwivedi and Irani 2009; AlAwadhi and Morris, 2008; Venkatesh et al., 2003; Wang 2003) in addition to 3 constructs as suggested during & SME interview and many studies in literature review as follows:

Public Awareness: Public awareness about the availability of the e-government services is considered as a significant success factor to the adoption of such services (Al-Khamayseh and Lawrence, 2006; Choudrie and Dwivedi, 2005). Despite all its promise though, m-government has no effect unless potential users utilize it to acquire public services (Hu et al., 2011).

Perceived Responsiveness: that could be defined as the degree to which individual perceives that using m-government services respond any incoming request quickly and satisfactory (T.D. Susanto and R. Goodwin & P. Calder: A six-level model of SMS – based e-Government, in International conference of e-government, Melbourne , 2008 ). Also, Responsive imply reliability of service provided, Schay et al. (2002) define service reliability as the "ability to perform the promised service dependably, accurately, and consistently". Reliability is then a measure of an m-Government service’s potential for failure since mobile users expect it to be reliable and sustainable any time / anywhere. As an example, take the case of a person paying a traffic fines fee to the local traffic authority through m-payment via a mobile device , After paying via mobile, the service provider send a receipt number on the mobile device as an output. This is feasible and operational in Egypt and provides the citizen with a unique receipt number is a vital in the Egyptian culture according to the SME’s interviews in order to be as an evidence on service request in the Egyptian culture.

Perceived Trust: trust is among the most significant factors affecting e-government adoption (Titah and Barki, 2006). Trust has been known as a critical success factor of e & m-Commerce, and has received significant attention in private sector e-commerce research. Lack of trust in online entities can prevent mobile users from providing personal information (Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999) and hinder adoption of e-commerce (Bhattacherjee, 2002). Mayer et al. (1995) define trust as "the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control the other party".

Perceived Risk : Given the uncertain environment of the wireless communications, security and privacy concerns were also found as a key challenges facing the implementation of m- government services (Abu-Samaha and Abdel Samad, 2007; Al Thunibat et al., 2011; El Kiki & Lawrence, 2007; Kuscu et al., 2008). The most vital risk factor in m-government is the risk of privacy invision, privacy is defined by (Legnini, 2006) as "the right to be left alone and to control the conditions under which information pertaining to you is collected, used and disseminated". If users’ privacy is not protected when using a mobile service, they simply will not use it again, making it very difficult to achieve critical mass. Users are becoming more aware of privacy issues and comparing the privacy policies of government sites with those of the private sector. As outlined by Ng- Kruelle et al. 2002, a serious concern for the concept of "location/context awareness" is the confidentiality of information concerning a person’s position. Indeed "Misuse could lead to increased intrusion on privacy by exposing an individual’s real-time movements with possible negative implications." Citizens would normally react badly to such surveillance of their movements by a government although it is should be used in order to enable emergency services to locate mobile phone users.

Perceived lower Cost, as the high cost accessing mobile internet, cost of owning mobile device is one of the major constraint for m-government service proliferation (Ghyasi and Kushchu, 2004 , El Kiki & Lawrence, 2007). That construct could be considered as moderating factor not a direct factor according to SME interview as the cost of e-gov services in Egypt are very low compared to the traditional services.

The combined proposed model in figure 3.1 includes factors which would be applied in testing m-government service acceptance factors. It includes consumer traits such as need for interaction and taking demographics (age, gender, education, income and professional background, Experience with E-gov & perceived lower cost) as moderators.

2.3.11 Model Factors Definitions

A further discussion of each construct is provided in next chapter while formulating hypotheses for this research. While the aforementioned theories and their constructs were examined and proposed in beneath table:

Construct

Definition

Reference Theories

Performance expectancy PE

Performance expectancy is defined, as the degree an individual user believes that using the m-government services will assist in enhancing his/her performance (Venkatesh et al., 2003). This construct was reported as the most influential among all the UTAUT in predicting behavioral intention and remains significant at all point of measurement regardless of environmental settings

(Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Effort Expectancy PE

Effort Expectancy is related to the degree of simplicity associated with the use of m-government services. This construct has theoretical foundation from the three Theories/Models used by (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Venkatesh et al., 2003

Social Influence SI

Social Influence is defined as the extent to which an individual user perceives that important other believe he or she should use m-government services. Social influence has basis from six Theories/Models used by (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Venkatesh et al., 2003

Facilitating Conditions FC

Facilitating conditions are defined as the degree to which a user believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exist to support use of m-government services (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The theoretical foundation of Facilitating condition is derived from four Theories/Models used by (Venkatesh et al., 2003)

Venkatesh et al.,2003

Behavioral Intention to use BIU

The Behavioral intention construct originated from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) by Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975. The construct is defined as "a measure of the strength of one’s intention to perform a specified behavior" (Ajzen, 1991). Research has shown that behavioral intention has a direct impact upon the individuals’ actual use of a given technology (Ajzen, 1991). The behavioral intention construct was introduced to the MIS discipline through the technology acceptance model, an extremely important construct in the information management, due to its importance; it is, referred to "as a key criterion in user acceptance research’’ (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

User acceptance UA

Use behavior is used in this study as the indicator of user acceptance; as it is quite challenge to have data about actual usage. Study by Venkatesh et al., (2003), focuses on individual acceptance of technology by using intention or usage as a dependent variable

Venkatesh et al.,2003

Perceived Awareness PA

Public awareness could be defined as citizen awareness about the availability of the e-government services is considered as a significant success factor to the adoption of such services (Al-Khamayseh and Lawrence, 2006; Choudrie and Dwivedi, 2005). Despite all its promise though, m-government has no effect unless potential users utilize it to acquire public services (Hu et al., 2011). it was found that experience, where those who already use e- Government services are more likely to do so again. In this case, the mostly cited reason seems to be a higher degree of trust resulting from an increased familiarity with such systems (OECD, 2007).

Al-Khamayseh and Lawrence, 2006; Choudrie and Dwivedi, 2005 , Hu et al., 2011

Perceived Responsiv