Introduction
According to the World Bank website (2009), e-government is the use of modern technologies in information and communication such as the internet, wide area networks, and mobile computing by the government to improve and promote efficiency, service delivery, improve access to government facilities and interaction with the public. It is the performance of governance using the electronic medium to ensure an efficient and transparent government that is informing the public and performs government administrative duties (Schwester, 2009).
Transparency and accountability are the objectives that governments put forward concerning e-governance within their operations. This is aimed at providing opportunities that transform the relationship between citizens and the outside world concerning access to government services and information through the internet. A survey conducted by the United Nations (2010) on global readiness for E-Government services established that the United Arab Emirates was leading amongst Arab countries. In the category of international ranking, the United Arab Emirates is ranked 25 in the development of telecommunication infrastructure, position 49 in e-government development and maturity, 86 at e-participation, and 99 in the provision of online services worldwide. The survey was aimed at raising the standards of the United Arab Emirates in connection with its citizens, private sectors, and the government (Schwester, 2009).
The research problem of e-government
E-governance is faced with challenges that hinder implementation (Schwester, 2009). In this research, some consideration for the challenges must be examined. Sometimes, issues, both internal and external, end up affecting the changes that governments undertake to transform their operations regarding using new technologies. This study examines the challenges and the barriers that the government of the UAE is facing while trying to adopt new technologies for e-governance in the country. After establishing the issues, the report will also find possible ways through which the UAE government can overcome the issues and establish effective e-government in the country. From the recommendations made, the UAE government will come up with a viable decision regarding the establishment of e-governance and how the new system of governance will help all stakeholders in all emirates. The projects need proper planning, time, and efforts to be successfully implemented.
The challenges that hinder a successful implementation of e-government projects are examined in this research. This research investigates internal challenges hindering the implementation of e-governance in the UAE. The research is to help to come up with a guideline to overcome and avoid challenges in the implementation of e-government. The model was to categorize the main factors that may hinder the success of implementing e-government projects.
The approach of the Research Problem
Carter and Weerakkody (2008) note that it is important for the UAE government to establish e-governance for its emirates, especially for the purposes of executing its duties in the emirates. Lack of trust is a challenge that reduces the implementation of e-governance. In order to develop and increase trust among all stakeholders involved, it is necessary for the government of the UAE to engage other local agencies from the country rather than involving external agencies only.
Research Designs (formulation & objectives)
The research on e-government in the United Arab Emirates is concerned with the problems that the UAE government experiences when implementing the e-government. The research will use qualitative and quantitative forms of research designs. The qualitative design will deal with the relationship between the government and its citizens in implementing the e-government, whereas the quantitative design deals with the social investigation that assesses its limitation. Therefore, in this survey, the research design recommended being used is the cross-section approach under the quantitative research design (Schwester, 2009).
The cross-section method used will apply a descriptive research approach in the category of planning, study inquiry, and information scrutiny to make the study reliable and functional. Descriptive research will be used to gather the information that will be utilized during the implementation of e-governance in the United Arab Emirates. It will also be used to collect information such as the type of interaction when using the e-technology on the citizens. Therefore, descriptive research involves collecting information that illustrates procedures that portray, tabulate, categorize, and explain the data collection process.
Descriptive research is helpful in reducing the information to a manageable form and systematizing it the outcome for the study. Such images will help the researchers to understand the quantitative study and its consequences. Therefore, in realizing the need for e-governance to the citizens and government of the United Arab Emirates, descriptive research will be used to provide relevant information to the government of the United Arab Emirates on how to implement and improve its governance styles on its citizens (Schwester, 2009).
Methods of Data Collection
Data collection is a method used to simplify a procedure of gathering and organizing information in research work. The main function of data collection is to gather data that can be used to generate information for this study, which is used to generate findings of the study for future reference. In this research, data were collected from secondary sources to meet the main objective of implementing the e-governance to the government and citizens of the United Arab Emirates. The data were to help find ways of improving the relationship of the public and the government and providing information on the provision of public goods and services. Through the information that was collected, it was easier to implement some improvement strategies that could help the in implementation of e-governance in the United Arab Emirates (Carter & Weerakkody, 2008).
Therefore, the preferred methods of data collection include study of secondary materials such as the internet sources, newsletters, journals, and scholarly books that are relevant to the e-governance. Secondary sources are effective because they enable the researcher to establish the authenticity of the information provided by other researcher on a similar or related topic. They encourage the researches to convey the findings at length. Therefore, by using the descriptive research method for data collection on this research, the researcher is sure of getting detailed outcomes concerning the benefits of implementing e-governance to the government to the United Arab Emirates (Schwester, 2009).
Data preparation and analysis
Data analysis is the procedure used to investigate, clean, transform, and model data with the aim of emphasizing important information, recommending on the way forward and maintaining good decision making. This research used the descriptive data analysis technique to provide well planned explanations more refined details concerning the research problem. The quantitative study examines the satisfaction of the information on government given to its citizens on the e-governance. Questionnaires were used to determine the satisfaction of the citizens on their government transparency, accountability and accessibility of its services (Carter & Weerakkody, 2008).
The research was aimed at establishing the perfect ways of implementing e-governance in the UAE for the good of the public and the world. The research measured the expenses the government has incurred on e-governance and expectations of the citizens for implementing the e-governance in the country. Therefore, the data analysis techniques were geared on the need of transparency and accountability of the government of the United Arab Emirates on its economy’s growth, and increasing the living standards of its people. The research was conducted with the purpose of discovering the importance of e-government on the citizens and the government of the United Arab Emirates (Schwester, 2009).
Descriptive statistics were used to describe, arrange, summarize, and display the data for use in the form of numbers, tables, graphs, and charts. This eased on the summary, interpretation, and presentation of the data collected. The use for descriptive statistics helps in future use for more advanced statistical methods. Therefore, the research was to make use of numerical interpretations, such as the standard deviation, mean, and the variable correlation making it necessary to have a perfect base for statistical data (Creswell, 2009).
The research was aimed at ensuring that the statistical data were completely calculated and analyzed to enhance reliability and accuracy of the data. The research was arranged in a systematic way to add up to the source for distribution. Confirmation data were analysis technique that was used to get the important concept of the research to make a final copy of the data collected from the research. This helped to improve the satisfaction of the data user by ensuring that the necessary data are analyzed (Carter & Weerakkody, 2008).
Research Conclusion
There are many challenges that can lead to the failures of e-government, such as, unskilled ICT employees, resisting transformation within the organization; implementation of e-government is a big project that needs a careful proper evaluation and time to develop. In order to implement the project in the UAE, it is important for the government to understand all challenges that could affect the effective implementation and execution of the e-government. Some of the challenges that need to be tackled include utilization of external technologies and expertise. For the locals to adopt the new system, they have to be trained on how the system works and how it can be used to maximize the outcomes (Schwester, 2009).
References
Carter, L., & Weerakkody, V. (2008). E-government adoption: A cultural comparison. Information Systems Frontiers, 10(4), 473-482.
Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. New York: Sage Publications.
Schwester, R. (2009). Examining the Barriers to e-Government Adoption. Electronic Journal of e-Government, 7(1), 113-122.