According to the United Nations’ 2008 e-Government Readiness Report, ranking countries by e-government development, Oman has jumped 28 points up in this ranking to 84th position in 2008 from 112th in 2005.
A detailed e-Government survey report ‘From e-Government to Connected Governance’, prepared by the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Public Administration and Development Management, indicates that all governments are moving forward in e-Government development around the world and most developed/developing countries have advanced from e-government applications to a more integrated connected governance stage.
“The rise is a reflection of the pace of progress through initiatives to build ICT infrastructure, offer electronic services and building capacity within the country to harness the power of technology” said Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA.
According to the report, “the approach to public sector service delivery has evolved over time from the traditional model of government dispensing services via traditional modes to an emphasis on e-Government and e-Services per se, and to an integrated approach for enhancing the value of services to the citizen.”
In many countries around the world, public sector development strategies are being revisited to address the issue of how to enhance the value of the public services.
There were large differences between the five regions in terms of e-Government readiness, with Europe (0.6490) having a clear advantage over the other regions, followed by the Americas (0.4936), Asia (0.4470), Oceania (0.4338) and Africa (0.2739). Asia and Oceania were slightly below the world average (0.4514), while Africa lagged far behind as stated in the report.
The e-readiness index comprises three indices namely: Web Measure Index, Infrastructure Index and Human Capital Index. Oman ranks 60th in the e-participation index (out of 192 countries) with an index value of 0.2045. This has been the result of government websites that offer information on policies and programmes, budgets, laws and regulations; and other briefs of key public interest.
E-participation index measures whether tools for dissemination of information exist for timely access and use of public information, including web forums, e-mail lists, newsgroups, and chat rooms. Oman has several public sector organisations, which use emails and SMS services to reach its citizen with timely updates on services and related information. The prime objective of this survey is to provide a comparative assessment of the willingness and ability of governments in the use of e-Government and ICTs as tools in the public delivery of services and serve as a benchmarking tool for monitoring the progress of countries as they progress towards higher levels of e-Government and e-participation service delivery.
This considerable leap in ranking signifies the acceleration of e-governance-related activities spurred by the public and private sectors of the Sultanate. There is a move to automate the business processes and re-engineer current processes in order to deliver services through modern means that can be reached easily by the public. E-Oman has given a special thrust in the way public sector organisations reach out to the public with information, interaction and higher levels of awareness.
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Quelle/Source: Times of Oman, 17.02.2008
