User:Feps e-gov/sandbox

= Egyptian E-government =

Definition and history of E-Government
 Definition according to the Egyptian government portal   Definition according to Authorized government published papers 
 * 1)  Definition of E-government According to OECD: 
 * 2) *E-government is defined by the OECD as “the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), and particularly the Internet, to achieve better government” (from OECD The e-Government Imperative, 2003). This definition focuses attention on why countries are implementing e-government rather than on the ICT tools themselves. Faced with the pressure of increasing government performance while being responsive to citizens needs, OECD countries have realized that e-government goes beyond the simple exercise of putting information and services online, and can be used as a powerful instrument to transform the structures, process and culture of government and make it more efficient, user-oriented and transparent.
 * 3) * OECD countries have identified a number of reasons for embracing e-government as a means of reforming public administration and achieving broader policy objectives. E-government can help improve efficiency in government and improve online access to information and service quality, enabling the delivery of services to citizens and businesses on their terms and at their convenience, rather than following the logic of internal government structures.
 * 4) * E-government acts as a driver in speeding organisational change, including facilitating greater teamwork, flexible working arrangements and remuneration, and enhanced knowledge management practices. E-government can also help built trust between government and citizens, by enabling citizen engagement in the policy process, promoting open and accountable government, and helping to prevent corruption.
 * 5) * E-government can help achieve specific outcomes in key policy areas (e.g. online information can help boost use of an educational or training programme) and ICT is expected to contribute to broad policy objectives (e.g. the use of ICT can contribute to other economic policy objectives by reducing government expenditures through more effective programmes, improving business productivity through administrative simplification, and promoting the information society and ICT industry).
 * 6)  Definition of E-government According to the World Bank: 
 * 7) *E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.
 * 8)  Definition of E-government in context of Egypt: 
 * Modernizing the Egyptian Government and putting Egypt at pace with the latest governmental technologies worldwide.
 * E-Government aims to deliver services to citizens in their whereabouts in the appropriate form and manner, with the required speed and efficiency. The Egyptain Government Portal is the first step towards establishing an Egyptian e-government that keeps pace with modern global systems, supported by the latest findings in communications and information technology.
 * Delivering efficient interactive services to the public over the telephone and internet.


 * E-government is defined as the ability of different government sectors to provide traditional government services to citizens by electronic means, with absolute speed and accuracy, through the e-government portal website.Consequently, the basic concept of e-government is to terminate all required service procedures by the beneficiary of government service outlets via the electronic computer without moving to it from its location (at home, at work, etc.), and in doing so this concept establishes the foundations of relationships among government units as well Between them and the business sector.
 * To obtain the maximum benefit from e-government requires a complete understanding and complete engineering of the processes by which public services are produced, systems are created, and electronic systems are prepared and used.Based on the foregoing, we can say that the e-government needs to re-engineer the various processes performed by public administrations, and this requires a careful analysis of the various functions that the government performs in order to align the concept of e government with what the government focuses on in its plans for administrative reform.

The term of E-governance
The term e-Government (e-Gov) emerged in the late 1990s, but the history of computing in government organizations can be traced back to the beginnings of computer history. A literature on “IT in government” goes back at least to the 1970s [Kraemer, et al, 1978, Danziger and Andersen, 2002]. This literature concerns IT use within government, while the recent e-Gov literature more often concerns external use, such as services to the citizens [Ho, 2002]. While some earlier e-Gov computer issues, such as office automation, may not be highly relevant to research today, many issues are, for example decision making, service processes, and values. As we shall see in Section IV, all definitions of e-Gov go beyond services to the citizen to include organizational change and the role of government. Therefore, the two strands of literature need to be considered together as the basis of the e-Gov field. Just like the term e-Commerce, the term e-Government was born out of the Internet boom. However, it is not limited to Internet use or publicly accessible systems for direct use by customers or citizens. e-Gov started as a practitioner field, basically convening practitioners struggling to meet the new challenges of the Internet medium by implementing new systems creatively. For example, in the United States the (then) Vice President Gore led the National Performance Review, which placed a strong emphasis on the role of e-government in federal services [Gore, 1993; Salem, 2003].

ORIGIN
Just like the term e-Commerce, the term e-Government was born out of the Internet boom. However, it is not limited to Internet use or publicly accessible systems for direct use by customers or citizens. e-Gov started as a practitioner field, basically convening practitioners struggling to meet the new challenges of the Internet medium by implementing new systems creatively. For example, in the United States the (then) Vice President Gore led the National Performance Review, which placed a strong emphasis on the role of e-government in federal services [Gore, 1993; Salem, 2003]. Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2004)713-729

E-GOV LITERATURE
A large number of publications appear outside of scientific journals and conferences. We now present this literature, which is mainly of a practical nature. A huge number of e-Gov projects are undertaken in most countries around the globe. Many attempts are made to assess e-Gov development based on these projects. Analyses cover both geographical areas and various topics. There is a distinction in production, as most scientific papers cover developments in the industrialized world whereas the developing world is largely covered by research and development sponsored by major organizations such as the World Bank and UN. These two strands of development are merging, and will most likely continue to do so as For example, conferences arranged by G8, Telecities, and national associations of municipalities 716 Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 15, 2004)713-729 Introducing E-Gov: History, Definitions, and Issues by Å. Grönlund and T.A. Horan technology rapidly spreads across the globe and as experiences from early trials can be disseminated. In this subsection we therefore do not distinguish between them. The following discussion is designed only to indicate the scope of literature in the field. We do not claim to be complete or even to cover the most important publications.

History of E-governance in Egypt(portal)
In 2001, The Egyptian e-government program In Egypt began within the Ministry of Communication And Information Technology (MCIT) and was a Component of the Egyptian Information Society, Egypt Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy. In 2004, the program was transferred to the Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD), as an element of administrative reform and Development, together with the institutional reform of Public administration. In January 2004 the Egyptian Prime Minister And Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates started the e- Government solution using Microsoft technology. It is Based on three different tiers. The front-end userInterface is the upper tier. This is the Portal (www.egypt.gov.eg), which has an Arabic- English interface and acts as the entry point for all Government-related services. The middle tier is the Portal Gateway, It represents as a bridge between the upper tier and the Lower tier. Through the gateway, central authentication, Registration, and service routing are performed It uses extended Mark-up Language (XML), Single Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and Web services to integrate Seamlessly with any ministry’s back end to deliver Cross-platform application integration. The last tier Involves the development and integration of multiple Government-to-business online services at several Ministries.

Vision of E-Government in Egypt
= Introduction : = Electronic government, or, in short e-government, can contribute significantly to strengthening the efficiency, productivity, and transparency of government institutions. However, the potentials of the new information and communication technologies (ICT) are not always so easy to translate into practice. Rapid successes can be achieved above all in cases where a solid institutional base is already in place and good expert and infrastructural resources are available – a set of conditions not given in many developing countries.

The aim of e-government is to open up new internal and external communications channels, to simplify administrative procedures, to improve the accessibility of public actors and services, and to enhance access to information. This often also means that these new technologies are vehicles of democratic, customer-oriented, and decentralized models of political decision-making and public administration. If these models are to be translated into practice, reforms must be embedded in an overall concept that takes account of both customer and target-group demand and the challenges posed by internal administrative cooperation and networking.

The obstacles to modernization of government institutions must often be sought less in financial or infrastructural bottlenecks than in blockades in the political sphere.

Vision of  e-government in Egypt
E-governance vision : was to insure that IT support the business transformation of government itself so that can provide better, more efficient, public services National e-Governance Plan has been launched with the aim of improving delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses, is guided by the following vision:

“Make all Public Services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man.

E-governance vision stated and aimed to :

 * 1- Be clear and simple
 * 2-Reflect the specific condition and the ambitions of the organization
 * 3-State what will be and will not be done
 * 4-Consider needs and opportunities
 * 5-Be aligned with the overall development strategy
 * 6-Don’t let anyone behind
 * 7-Assessment of departments functions and services


 * 8-Service listing and patronizing based on vision and objectives
 * 9-Definition on expecting benefits and objective
 * 10-Definition on implementing road map and timelines
 * 11-Monitoring and evaluation frameworks
 * 12-Risk assessment and mitigation measures definitions

Egypt's Vision 2030
The vision is on the Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS): Egypt Vision 2030 which represents the way towards inclusive development through which cultivating prosperity, achieving economic and social justice, and reviving the role of Egypt in regional leadership can be realized. SDS represents a road map for maximizing competitive advantage to achieve the dreams and aspirations of the Egyptians in a dignified and decent life.

By 2030, the new Egypt will achieve a competitive, balanced, diversified and knowledge based economy, characterized by justice, social integration and participation, have a more electronic services like e-government and e –commerce with a balanced and diversified ecosystem, benefiting from its strategic location and human capital to achieve sustainable development for a better life to all Egyptians

ICT advances in Egypt
The steady advance of ICT over the past decade has left Egypt’s tech industry in a strong position, despite the nation’s ongoing economic and political challenges. The country has seen a significant rise in internet penetration in recent years, as a result of growing usage among middle class Egyptians and the business community, rapidly expanding international bandwidth, as well as the accompanying lower tariffs. From November 2014 through October 2015 the country reported a significant increase in international internet bandwidth of nearly 38%, according to data provided by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT).

Objectives/Strategy of E-Government in Egypt
The Arab Spring uprisings and the revolutionary democratic and social changes gave a great push to ICT development and citizen's engagement in the Arab region. According to the OECD e-government studies, ICT had a significant role in Egypt in increasing democracy, justice, and freedom, and its role in the 2011 revolution was noteworthy. Moreover, countries like Egypt has recognized the role of e-government as a tool for achieving good governance.

●Strategy Pillars:

Egypt will achieve its strategy (2030 strategy) with 2 main pillars:

The human development pillar: concerned that the Egyptian government should capitalize an ecosystem that encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and supporting the new creative initiatives, having well-educated skilled labour by giving them training, internships, courses, etc. Also, it is about improving the telecom infrastructure. And we should seek investors by giving them incentives and motives to invest.

Digital economy pillar: is mainly about the role of the ministry in building projects to realize a digital economy. They try to have a digital government that offer digital services to the people in different fields and types of services like notarization, renewing driving licenses, utilities and electricity, municipalities, Agriculture and Marriage officiants

●Objectives of Egyptian E-government:

As stated officially on the Egyptian government service portal, the main objectives of the Egyptian e-government are as follows: 1. To Provide services efficiently to Citizens, companies, and Investors through ensuring:

-Outreach to all beneficiaries, the aim is to extend congregated services to citizens regardless of their location or proximity to governmental service provider bodies, thus, eliminating the need for a physical location in governmental offices.

-Timely and efficient delivery Services will be provided to citizens, companies, and investors in a way that satisfies their expectations- and within a convenient time framework.

-More Productivity/ quality performance, the target of efficient service provision can be achieved through restructuring services dynamically to meet citizens' expectations and personalizing delivery to each recipient's demands.

2. To deploy a new philosophy and work methodology in government offices in a move that would help:

-Smooth transition of the Egyptian government operations to accommodate changes in the new globalization era and in compliance with Egypt's participation in international agreements ( e.g. the European Union partnership agreement) requires that government performance be maintained at a level equivocal to governmental systems worldwide.

-Government expenditure reduction accurate updated Information to Decision Makers Providing decision-makers with accurate and updated information.

●Implementation Path:

The implementation path of the government portal is to provide electronic government services through networks such as the internet and telephone. This is by expanding the scope of service providers to include postal offices, Kiosks, IT clubs, and community telecasters. Also, the implementation path includes modernizing work in government offices by automating workflow and enterprise resource planning in ministries and authorities. It also includes establishing a governmental network to allow the flow of data and information and also implementing electronic archiving systems.

●The policies according to the Egyptian Government Portal:

➔Issuing a law for E-signature and transactions through networks.

➔Setting standards for E-payment.

➔Applying the Public key Infrastructure mechanism.

➔Polarizing IT specialists to work for the government, and implementing an incentive scheme.

➔Establishing and updating national databases.

➔Developing applications, and enhancing existing systems.

➔Setting the standard specifications for the government network.

➔Encouraging Private sector participation.

Egypt ranking in UN E-Government Survey
Egypt ranking through the years Egypt current ranking is 114 The following table shows Egypt ranking through years:

UN survey 2018

We can see that Egypt ranked in the top 10 African countries.

The following table shows Egypt’s score in the indices forming the (EGDI):

So we can say that Egypt ranking was high before 2010 and then declined to reach a trough in 2012 and then it started to take its way back to reach a peak in 2014 (it raked 80), finally it got worse and declined again to be 114 in 2018.

provide service
== Hokomty application ==

What is Hokomty application?
"Hokomty is an e-government mobile application that is an easy, safe, free and convenient way to pay your bills through your mobile. Through this application you can perform Bill Inquiry and soon Bill payment and Top-up."

Who is the developer of this service/application?
"FAWRY for banking & payment technology and ministry of planning, follow-up and administrative reform."

Date of launching the application.
"It was launched December 31st 2015, and since then, it has been developing and upgrading."

Objectives of Hokomty application:

 * Providing services to local citizens and access to fast and inexpensive service


 * Increasing the efficiency of local units, which entails saving time and reducing the time needed to complete transactions
 * Achieving effective communication and minimizing administrative complications

Accordingly, this application supports the electronic means and contributes to strengthening the quality, speed and ease of the work it provides to the three parties concerned (businesses, government, and individuals)

=Social, Technical and Economic challenges facing e-governance =

Social challenges:
we can conclude that there are social challenges that face the E-government of Egypt, the first one is the difficulty of accessibility , the second is the potential acceptance , To ensure the success of e-government we have to concern with the usability by a large variety of people. This implies that the interface must be accessible by disabled or elderly people, understandable by low literacy or non-native language people, etc.

Accessibility
The challenge of access to information is linked to the concept of equity. The successful use of ICTs depends on the access and acceptance of ICTs among citizens. Much has been said about the Egyptian urban and rural gap, which is translated into a gap between the information ̳haves and have-nots,‘ and the concern that inequities existing among citizens will be reproduced or even exacerbated in the information age.

Any service should be accessible by anybody from anywhere anytime. The concept of e-government is claiming for increased efficiency and effectiveness of government, but these goals will be achieved only if service will be available to one hundred percent of citizens. Even if Internet population is exponentially growing, there is a significant portion of the people who may not be able to access e-government for various reasons. Some users may have physical or cognitive limitations, both permanent as well as temporary. Some others can have limited access to ICT technologies and devices. Therefore, universal access is still a mirage. Similar services must be maintained outside the web, such as physical service facilities and automated telephone response systems. Governments may want to provide Internet access through public terminals as a part of their universal access efforts

Usability
Users are often non expert users, or, at least, they may use applications in a sporadic way, and need guidance to find the right way to perform their transactions. Governmental web sites must be usable, to be effective. To ensure the success of e-government we have to concern with the usability by a large variety of people. This implies that the interface must be accessible by disabled or elderly people, understandable by low literacy or non native language people, etc.

This aspect has to be considered in the technical aspect in the Law to provide for a minimum accessibility level (objective/heuristic) and higher quality levels (subjective/empirical).

Acceptance
Successful implementation of e-government requires a reconceptualization of government. As e-government becomes a reality, the public sector organizational structure will change accordingly both internally and externally. The focus of change will be on the system efficiency and the citizens. Internally, the power conflicts over departmental boundaries and control of services will become more apparent as integration progresses. Externally, government processes will be organized for citizens’ convenience instead of the convenience of the government. In other words, the integration should not be driven by efficiency and effectiveness alone. A relevant issue will be to have all the citizens well aware of the facilities offered by the e-government infrastructure, and have them to trust in it. This task may require appropriate marketing actions and education of less skilled people.

protection of information
the Protection of information resources and infrastructure from fraud, errors, hackers, and cyber attacks is one of the main fears about new ICTs Because Web 2.0 technologies are controlled by users and operate outside established structures, they are more complex to regulate and thus the protection of citizens becomes a complex and difficult task. In recent months, big public opinion scandals are rampant in the media. Scandals were related to protection of electronic documents, multimedia materials, private communication, transactions, etc. One of the loudest during 2013 year was the NSA spying case. In recent months, big public opinion scandals are rampant in the media. Scandals were related to protection of electronic documents, multimedia materials, private communication, transactions, etc

This challenge is linked to the concept of equity. The successful use of ICTs depends on the access and acceptance of ICTs among citizens. Much has been said about the Egyptian urban and rural gap, which is translated into a gap between the information ̳haves and have-nots,‘ and the concern that inequities existing among citizens will be reproduced or even exacerbated in the information age.

Lack of Awareness
participation and Study for both sides (citizens and the government itself). As sometimes it’s found that government and private sector employees have very limited idea about what e-government is and how to benefit from it. So how a successful e government system can be done when the principal itself is not efficient, how it can lead the process?

social recommendations
1- implement advertising campaign including broadcast media (TV and Radio programs), print media (newspapers and magazines articles and columns), and e-media (Internet materials) where citizens can learn about e-government benefits and opportunities. ♣	For more effectiveness and efficiency: Special treatment must be delivered to those who have difficulties to integrate (women, old people and disabled ones) 2- A very basic and easy to be implemented and prevailed is to: Deliver some basic educational materials on e-government at the school level. 1- Work in partnership with the private sector in conducting joint projects and sharing skills which can help government bodies in providing e-government services. 2-Security and Privacy Concerns: Egypt's Citizens are unlikely to use e-government services without a guarantee of privacy and security .So it is central to e-government implementation success to make balance between respecting accepted privacy concerns and must work in close cooperation with the private sector and citizens for ensuring secure use of e-government portals. General and formal government speaking from time to time that can make citizens feeling more secured. 3- Computer Illiteracy which hinders the majority of The people from benefiting from e-government and that most people in our modern era use mobile phones instead of PC.
 * For Citizens:
 * -For Government:

Technical challenges
The lack of a common database storing citizens' interaction in all governmental organizations, where, several services require collaboration with more than one Ministry, which makes it obligatory to provide a unified database for citizens in all governmental agencies, especially with the large number of ministries in Egypt (around 33). However, integration between these government institutions is a real challenge. Unified service transfer problems could be motivated from the lack of information exchange among the government organizations. In Egypt each governmental organization is handled separately without coordination with the others; therefore, each citizen's actions and activities are not documented within all interaction networks. The Egyptian government still does not have a government communications network where different government bodies can interact and exchange the information and documents.

Implementation of e-government system faces technological challenges such as lack of shared information or standards and lack organized infrastructure between different departments and agencies.

ICT infrastructure
the lack of efficient infrastructure is one of the main barriers of e-government implementation. Moreover, there are certain applications can’t be implemented without modern infrastructure.

Privacy
It’s a critical issue in developing and developed countries. Privacy is the level of protection to the confidential personal information. As the confidence of the users in the dealing with e-government will lead to more interaction and usage of it as the citizens deeply concerned with the privacy of their data. Therefore they insisted that and confidentiality must be a priority when establishing and maintaining websites in order to ensure the secure collection of data.

Security
it’s one of the main obstacles of implementation of e-government. Security means protection of all information and systems against any disclosure to unauthorized access, or unauthorized modifications. •	The fear that e-government will lead to reduce the role of employees accomplishing work. also The dominance of English language in Electronic content development and Egypt is Arabic country.

Technical recommendations
-high attention must be given to the provision of services and content development using mobile platforms as well. -To develop action plans to enhance new initiatives such as the free Internet and PC for each student or home, which can help in solving e-service access problems. -The government in partnership with the private sector must develop and deliver free executive training programs to help citizens access, such as IDCL: Internet driving computer license). -To provide e-government services through kiosks, IT clubs, cyber cafes, and community centers, to ensure the benefit of the majority of the population from e-services.

The government must create a favorite environment that supports the development of e-content and company websites in local language. •	The limited number of studies and research regarding e-government. •	The lack of trust in accomplishing tasks online amongst government employees.

-Develop customer–centric strategies and policies, where the greater use of market and demand studies would help to identify citizens’ needs with regard to information and services. 1)	Governments should work closely with the private sector to reach the disconnected groups by providing modern infrastructure. 2)	They should make auditing independent so they would eliminate any type of corruption. 3)	Create a legal framework to organize the telecommunication infrastructure

E-payment transaction Challenges
The e-payment framework in developed countries, which is highly dependent on credit cards, is not yet adequate for developing countries including Egypt, where penetration of credit cards is low and where many users are still hesitant about using credit cards for paying on line, along with, the lack of a wide spectrum of simple payment tools, such as payment on fixed and mobile phone bills that facilitate using e-services on the part of simple citizens.

Inconvenience of Delivery Mechanisms and its effects on Reputation of E-Services Quality
Some e-government services are more likely not to be used or utilized due to difficulties in having     access to them or in completing transactions due to technical problems. These difficulties might result in having negative perceptions and attitudes to e-services quality on the part of some users. As well as, the lack of eservice quality measurement, which might be attributed to the unavailability of information required for measuring the performance of the service delivered to users.

Computer Illiteracy and Low Internet Penetration Rate
The Internet penetration rate in Egypt reached 32.18% in June 2011, which is still low .However, some progress has been made in terms of the number of people accessing the internet using mobile phones, but more needs to be done with regard to the low penetration of PCs in the Egyptian context .also the high rate of Computer illiteracy, which prevent the majority of the people from benefiting from e-government, and the Internet remains English language dominated, which results in a particular challenge for Arabic language speakers

Lack of qualified personnel and training
The lack of ICT skills is a major challenge to an e-government implementation, especially in developing countries like Egypt. The e-government system can be implemented successfully if qualified personnel are available to take the role of start and develop the e-government system, In general, it is vital to focus on training and education programs for enhancement the progress of e-government projects

Financial Barriers
the lack of financial support is considered as significant obstacle to the implementation of e-government in many countries. It is necessary to ensure the availability of the existing and expected budgetary resources in order to achieve the goals. The most serious and significant barrier to the implementation of e-government is a lack of money. , Egypt become in dilemma of funding e-government programs

Infrastructure

 * 1) Government side : Developing the infrastructure is probably the most costly element in implementing e-governance, how the site (portal)  will connect to the Internet. Internet connections are provided by ISPs (Internet Service Provider). The bandwidth requirement for the site is the main issue and very costly
 * 2) Hosting Center: A bit like the servers of any database, this is the question of where to house the gear powering to the web site. As bigger firms opting to build specially designed equipment rooms, e-governance also may look for co-location services, which are specialized, cost effective facilities for hosting the equipment and to connect to the Internet.
 * 3) Another cost is spending on R&D to continue on developing the websites and securing any online transactions as most of the Egyptians are afraid to pay online (either Fawry or by Credit cards). Hiring a support staff available 24/7 to receive people’s complains to make the services more trustworthy and ensure the citizens that if anything goes wrong the staff will have their back.

Economic Recommendations
1) Government must work in close cooperation with the private sector and citizens for ensuring secure use of e-government portals.

2) To develop a comprehensive e-payment framework that allows for several payment techniques. This type of payment requires a close cooperation with Telecom Egypt to meet all citizens' needs and expectations.

3) to extend e-service access, and benefits from CITs through enhancing infrastructure coverage in underserved areas, and launching innovative ways to reach to Arabic speaking users.

4) To provide e-government services through kiosks, IT clubs, cyber cafes, and community centers, to ensure the benefit of the majority of the population from e-services

5) Make advertising campaigns including through media like TV and Radio programs and print media like newspapers and magazines, e-media (Internet) where citizens can know and learn about e-government benefits and opportunities.

6) Study business process re-engineering to ensure efficiency and cost reduction,through the use of CITs

7) To harmonize and integrate all governmental bodies' activities, eliminate red tapes,to achieve Egypt's e-government vision

8) Technical design : The choice of the software, the creation of a website from scratch starting from the language used, to coding and ending with how to secure the websites.

9) Users side : Providing citizens in rural areas ( the excluded people) with high bandwidth internet connection and offering them computers at a discounted price is the a burden on the government but a must since these people are the main target from e-governance.

10) Some researchers say that part of the cost of e-governance is teaching people how to access the online government portals and use the provided services.

=Policies and implementation of ICT in Egypt=

The policies of ICT in Egypt include: Green ICT, Arabic digital content, Cloud computing, Digital Identity Management, access to information, e-commerce, mobile applications for development, using ICTs in education through the tablet computer, open-source software and empowering people with special needs.

One of the implementations of ICT in Egypt is e-governance projects. E-governance projects are long‐term projects and thus requires a long‐term financial support to be provided. Hence, for a healthy political framework any country must ensure communicative, accountable, transparent, and effective leading government. This has been reflected in the Egyptian initiative "Enhance Efficiency and Accountability of the Public Sector in Egypt through Information and Communication Technology" targeting an enhanced political and governmental operations. the project is designed as a multi-level intervention where e-Government solutions are applied so as to expand efficiency and accountability of Public Sector’s processes, improve the delivery of services to the citizen, and enhance coordination among different government entities. It provides technical assistance to Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD), with regard to the following areas:


 * Integration of national databases to enhance inter-agency coordination.
 * Modernization of existing Personnel Offices on the model of Human Resources offices.
 * Enhancement of Government to citizen services and establishment of new channels for service provision.
 * Communication strategy to promote the use of e-Government services.
 * Enhancement of MSAD South South cooperation strategy on e-Government.

The project has proven quite effective and efficient as it helped with:
 * Supporting the democratic transition by providing informational and technical support to the electoral process in Egypt starting with the referendum of March 19th, the People’s Assembly and consultative council elections and the presidential elections. That was achieved by creating a database of voters, which gave great credibility to the elections, and providing service inquiry committees for election through the website during both elections.


 * Improve law enforcement by increasing the ability to monitor the implementation of provisions. This is achieved through reviewing, re-engineering and documenting the procedural cycle of litigation and the implementation of judgments. A national database of judicial provisions was also established as well as an information system to manage suits. Administrative procedures are managed by the Judicial Information Center.


 * Implement a One-Window system for government services in many service offices including:


 * 1) 132 city councils
 * 2) 75 courthouses
 * 3) 150 Traffic Units in 25 governorates


 * The creation of Bawaba Egypt to facilitate the procedures and automation of government services by providing 200 electronic services including: vacant government jobs, mortgage support fund services, medical care, e-government tenders, among many others.

The project was funded by Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). .

ICT policies in Egypt are divided into three groups according to the audiences they address. These groups are the government sector, the civil society and the private sector.

Government sector
The government sector is the main demand driving sector of the state. So, certain policies are diffused through it to ensure their dissemination and spread. These policies are:


 * 1) Green ICT
 * 2) Arabic digital content
 * 3) Cloud computing
 * 4) Digital Identity Management
 * 5) Access to information and data
 * 6) E-commerce

Green ICT
One of the government priorities is to depend on the Green ICT to mitigate the effects of climate change through the adoption of national policies that correspond to the global trends, while taking into consideration national needs and priorities.

The main Green ICT policies that the government adopts are:


 * Linking ICTs, the environment and energy policies to improve environmental performance.
 * Development of indicators to assess the potential of green and smart ICTs in reducing the negative impact of other sectors on the environment.
 * Fostering an environment friendly business cycle through the use of smart application, such as teleconferencing and video conferencing.

Arabic digital content
The development of and diffusion of Arabic digital content is of primordial importance for Egypt. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology adopts a set of policies in this regard, including:


 * Availing the necessary infrastructure through the national Broadband Initiative E-Misr.
 * Safeguarding the freedom of expression and freedom of access to information and ideas.
 * Cooperation with other Arab states with a view to achieving synergies and avoiding duplication.
 * Development of value-added digital content for Egyptian and Arab consumers.
 * Facilitating e-commerce through e-payments, e-signature and authentication.

Cloud computing
Cloud computing is considered one of the recent technological solutions aiming at achieving maximum benefit from the information infrastructure. The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology adopts some policies in order to promote the utilization of cloud computing benefits such as:


 * Stimulating the use of cloud computing through awareness-raising, skills development and education.
 * Examining possible cooperation frameworks with regional and international organizations.
 * Boosting confidence in the use of cloud computing technologies.

Digital Identity Management
The growing local, regional and international economies led to the rapid evolution of internet based activities an services. Digital Identity Management emerged as a concept to regulate the privacy and security of such activities. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology adopts the following policies in the area of digital identity management:


 * Shifting from a paper based identity card system to a digital system.
 * Raising awareness of the benefits associated with digital identity management, such as e-signature and authentication.
 * Developing the Open Government Data industry.
 * Facilitating access to national databases via the internet.
 * Promoting interoperability of the different e-services provided by the diverse entities through reliance on regional and international standards.

Access to information and data
Many of the leading knowledge economies pursue a policy of availing government information and data to the public in an attempt to reinforce communication and exchange with the beneficiaries. The Egyptian government is on its way to provide portals to facilitate the access to the public data and information about government through what is called "Egyptian Open Data Initiative". The purpose of this initiative is to make data publicly available and visible.The following principles provide a general framework for the use of of wider and more effective national databases.


 * Raising public awareness of the importance of national databases and clarifying usage conditions.
 * Promoting the use of technology particularly in archiving,searching and retrieving data, and the development of related skills.
 * Promoting the use of databases and boosting confidence in electronic transactions.

E-commerce
Egypt is the first country to benefit from the UNCTAD ICT Policy Review program to support countries seeking to formulate a national e-commerce strategy. The strategy is based upon six sub-strategies and recommendations aimed at strengthening Egypt's performance in key policy areas. These sub-strategies are as follows:


 * Empower businesses through e-commerce.
 * Leverage e-commerce to incentivize formalization of the informal sector.
 * Exploit strengths for the ICT sector for e-commerce.
 * Boost Egypt's logistics sector into a regional hub.
 * Stimulate growth of payment sector.
 * Build Egypt's e-commerce market.
 * Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the development of applications supporting online and mobile financial transactions on the internet and on mobile phones to stimulate demand for e-commerce, taking advantage of Egypt's high mobile penetration rate.

The civil society
Government acquaints the people about government portals, websites, and other e-services. In addition to initiating strong campaigns through all the possible communication channels to help higher rate of citizen participation. Such campaigns can be in the form of mailing newsletters, advertisement in the news‐papers, sponsoring workshops and seminars, displaying posters and banners, use of media services etc. These kinds of awareness initiatives encourage citizen participation and involvement and thereby incentivize them for e‐governance service usage.

Egypt enhances citizen awareness through campaigns and field tours targeting different municipals starting from the country side to increase the understanding and acceptance of e-services and what it has to offer, also according to prime minister Dr. Moustafa Madboulythere will be periodic meetings with various media channels in order to explain to the people new policy changes and disclose the government`s plan. Mokhtar. H, ( 20/Sep/2018), “رئيس الوزراء: حملة توعية لتعريف المواطنين بالخدمات الإلكترونية وتشجيعهم عليها “, date of access 1/12/2018, retrieved from: https://www.youm7.com/story/2018/9/20/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%87%D9%85-A number of policies are already adopted and implemented by civil society view their popularity among citizens.These policies are as follows:


 * 1) Mobile Phone Applications
 * 2) Empowering people with disabilities

Mobile Phone Applications
Mobile Phone Application was used in Egypt in preparation for voting and election processes such as the parliamentry elections and constitution referendum. In partnership with Google, the MSAD (Ministry of State for Administrative Development) paved the way for mobile phone applications to be developed by civil society and the private sector by allowing them to use the information available on the official elections websites. Mobile applications such as "Sawtak" and "We3almobile" were established to provide Egyptian voters with access to comprehensive and impartial information on the elections (such as voting dates, registration processes, etc.). The application also allows citizens to allows citizens to check whether they are elgible to vote, which is their constituency, which parties and independent candidates are competing in their constituency using their national ID number.

Empowering people with disabilities
The Egyptian ICT Trust Fund, in collaboration with civil society organizations, relevant governmental and international bodies and supporting businesses , seeks to launch projects and initiatives that promote the rights of people with disabilities (PwD), in particular the right in education and employment.

Through its activities, the Fund seeks to address the needs of PwDs in terms of knowledge and information in order to ensure their full participation and integration into the society through the construction of websites and electronnic portals such as Irada Gate.

Private sector
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Egypt paves the way for private sector investors in order to improve the infrastructure of ICT in Egypt. In July 2019, The Ministry announced offering 250 feddans for the private sector investors in the prospective Knowledge City that is under construction in the New Administrative Capital.

The Smart Village is another example of public-private partnership (PPP) in Egypt. Smart Village is an ICT-focused business park hosting companies and organizations from around the world in a tailor-made environment that allows them to excel.

=Legislation=

Law no.15,2004
Law No. 15 on the Regulation of Electronic Signature and the Establishment of the Information Technology Industry Development Authority was issued after its approval by the House of Representatives. This law is the first Egyptian legislation to regulate electronic transactions, whether governmental, commercial or administrative transactions.

The law enables using electronic means in the editing, exchange and archiving of documents in a manner that preserves the rights of customers and ensures the credibility and legality of electronic transactions at the same time. The main features of the Electronic Signature Regulation Law are:


 * 1) Giving legal proof of electronic writing and electronic signature in the scope of civil, commercial and administrative transactions, so that they have the same legal validity as proof of ordinary writing and ordinary signature provided for in the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Articles.
 * 2) Establishing and defining the so-called electronic document and giving it the same concept as a written document, whether it is considered to be a customary electronic document or an official electronic document in accordance with the concept of customary and official documents found in the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Materials.
 * 3) The wide scope of application of the electronic signature in accordance with this law includes all transactions that may be completed electronically, namely civil, commercial and administrative transactions, provided that they are signed electronically in accordance with the conditions and controls set by the law and its executive regulations.
 * 4) The law established a public authority called the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), which has a public legal entity, and it is mainly responsible for issuing the necessary licenses to practice the activity of electronic signature services and other activities in the field of electronic transactions and information technology. The electronic transactions sector in general and even in the control of licensees to work in this sector and take the necessary measures towards ensuring the proper functioning of this sector in accordance with the public interest and the state policy in this regard.
 * 5) The law stipulates that the entities that will provide e-certification services or services related to e-signatures must obtain the necessary licenses for this activity from the ITIDA, in order to ensure the confidence and control necessary for the health and safety of electronic transactions.

The most important areas of e-signature applications are:


 * E-government: This includes government administrative transactions and services of citizens in general, including various permits and services provided by customs, taxation authorities and the Civil Status Authority, as well as requests submitted to government agencies, which, in accordance with this law, can be done through electronic documents issued by the said authorities and signed by public officials in these bodies, which gives these e-government documents the status of official documents because of the public official to sign them electronically.
 * Electronic Commercial Transactions: This includes all transactions of a commercial nature in the various fields of dealing such as sales and other contracts, legal commercial transactions, import and export and the rest of the contracts, the booking of tickets and hotels, and banking transactions of all kinds, which are in the form of an electronic document signed by an electronic signature.
 * Electronic civil transactions: Include each electronic transaction with a civil nature, whether with a view of its parties, or only one of its parties, which depart from the concept of commercial transaction.

= See also =
 * Egypt 2030
 * [E-democracy]
 * [E-voting]
 * [E-participation]
 * [E-government in Europe]
 * [E-government Factsheets]
 * [Open Government Data]
 * [Data Governance]
 * [Data Management]
 * [Open Source Government]
 * [Machine Readable]

= References =