A suggested e-government framework for assessing organizational e-readiness in developing countries

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been presented in the government sector all over the world last two decades in an effort to accomplish better operational efficiency and effectiveness. This study focuses on the main internal factors in the assessment of e-government organizational readiness in developing countries and how do they lead to successful e-government adoption. Consequently, this study contributes an integrated e-government framework for assessing the e-readiness of government organizations. Most assessment models are more appropriate for the assessment of the overall growth of e-government in each country; they are not focusing on the difficulties that exist in the internal factors affecting transformation of a government organization caused by ICT diffusion. Most of these modules disregard the vision of external stakeholders and employees, although they represent the basis in the success of any e-government project. The suggested e-government framework consists of seven dimensions of ereadiness assessment for government organizations including e-government organizational strategy, user access, e-government program, portal architecture, business process, ICT infrastructure, and human resource. This article extended the previous work particularly in the literature review and the processes dimension. This article is significant to management in assessing organizational e-readiness to improve the effectiveness of e-government initiatives. The next step of this study is to test the relations of these factors in an emerging egovernment environment using a case study on an government organization as an essential step in the process of testing the framework suggested. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.