The e-Government in Jordan: Progress, Problems and Way Forward
Mohammad J Sear
Digital Gov. & Public Sector Consulting Leader, Middle East and Africa (MENA) at EY
While over the last decade, numerous initiatives have been introduced to develop and enhance Jordan's e-Government, results indicate that there's still room for improvement in effectiveness and efficiency. In this article, I will explore the progress, problems, and way forward for e-government in Jordan.
The e-Government in Jordan
e-Government in Jordan can be described as the process of connecting citizens to government and businesses through the use of Information Technology (IT). His Majesty King Abdullah II was the first to give attention to the e-Government program's importance in 2001 when he announced the initiative and assigned the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology implementation.?
According to the Jordan Commission for Information and Communication Technology (JCICT) website, "Government e-Services is the government of Jordan's website providing services, information and publications to citizens and visitors, including government services; taxes; fines and judicial affairs; consular affairs; education; public health; employment; employment and labour; health; public works; land affairs and ownership; social security; and electricity.”
Progress of the e-Government in Jordan
e-government in Jordan has made significant progress since its establishment, especially when it comes to electronic transactions. More and more public services are available online. The main objective of e-government is to provide easy access for citizens to use such services that can be done without physical visits to government offices. Furthermore, organizational changes and changes in IT systems play a significant role in implementing any project. For this reason,? the e-Government in Jordan has undergone massive organizational changes over the years. It started with establishing the e-Government Department, the Department of Electronic Services and Human Resources, and finally, the General Directorate for Information and Human Resources.
In the Official Site of the Jordanian e-Government, people can access the governmental portal, which aims to give citizens and businesses better service delivery and transparency. However, there is still much room for reforms, such as increasing governmental websites' usefulness and security from cyberattacks. According to the UN’s EDGI Index, Jordan's e-government ranking has been falling since 2014. In 2020 it dropped 19 places compared to 2018, now ranking 117th out of 193 countries.?
Problems of the E-Government in Jordan
The e-government program in Jordan is facing severe challenges, and demands a total revamp and rebranding. The concept of e-government has lost its appeal among ordinary citizens due to their lack of trust and confidence. This has happened due to long years of low service quality and poor online experiences at various government departments. The government needs to transform itself into a modern institution that provides easy access, and a unified and enhanced experience through the adoption of digital and emerging technologies.
As a developing country with a small economy (considering its population and GDP), Jordan struggles to keep up with technological advancements that could help significantly enhance its e-government program. In other words, even though there is a concerted effort from the government to improve delivery of services by adopting new technologies, it still faces barriers due to lack of budgets and shortage of IT professionals. Also, there are security issues as well, which make it difficult for all governmental websites to be connected and share information.?
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The Way Forward
While e-government initiatives have advanced over time, a lot of work remains to be done, and in my opinion Jordan needs to start thinking differently and raise its level of ambition to wanting to become the leading digital government in the Middle East region.
This requires an urgent need to review the strategies that are currently being employed for digital government transformation. The solution to the majority of Jordan's problems is found in revamping and modernizing the information infrastructure in the country and taking a more experience-led approach to digital government transformation. Doing this requires a mindset change and mobilization of a massive financial investment to meet the requirements for connecting people and addressing the needs of institutions for managing the growing volumes of information and service needs in the country.
Also, the government needs to educate the population on what digital government is about and how it will transform their interactions with state entities. As mentioned, at present, there is still a lack of trust in e-services from both citizens and public sector officials alike.?
In order to create an environment where citizens embrace digital government services more readily, authorities need to develop mechanisms that build trust between them and the people while fostering an atmosphere that encourages innovation within public institutions.?
In addition, strong coordination between stakeholders at different levels is fundamental —national ministries and agencies, municipalities, society organizations; academia; business sector—to ensure maximum benefit from digital initiatives while mitigating risk associated with technology adoption.
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