E-GOVERNMENT: LOTS OF POTENTIAL BUT LITTLE ACTUAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003654 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA STATE PASS USAID STATE PASS USTDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EINT PGOV TINT KMPI JO SUBJECT: E-GOVERNMENT: LOTS OF POTENTIAL BUT LITTLE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION TO DATE ¶1. (U) Summary: After years of effort with few results, Jordan launched several e-government projects this summer, including those that will allow businesses to check their tax records online and citizens to review draft legislation. Among the projects in development are an online business trademark registration application and an online payment system for government services. Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) employees, private sector consultants, and other ministries' information technology (IT) professionals have criticized the e-government initiative's pace, blaming the Government of Jordan's (GoJ) poor e-readiness and MoICT's leadership and staff. Jordan's growing internet penetration and high mobile penetration will, however, continue to make these tools more useful. End Summary. e-Government Projects - Very Few Live; Many in Progress -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) After the GOJ announced its intent to work on the e-government concept in 2001, MoICT was assigned the lead role in coordinating interagency GoJ efforts. Hassan Hourani, Director of e-Government at MoICT, has described the e-government initiative as a national program designed to enhance the performance of government in terms of service provision, efficiency, accuracy, cost-effectiveness and transparency. In an August 20 meeting with Econoffs, Minister of MoICT Basem al-Rousan said that the e-government initiative was part of a larger national IT strategy to grow internet use, grow IT-related revenue, and increase the number of IT professionals. He saw e-government as a way of encouraging internet use. ¶3. (U) Some of the e-government initiatives have already been launched, and a Jordanian government portal was established in November 2006 with links to all government websites. These websites vary in their interactivity, with the majority providing only text-based information. On July 19, the Ministry of Planning launched an interactive website of draft laws and regulations, allowing the public and civil society organizations to submit comments. Other interactive websites include the Department of Land and Surveys which enables citizens to request land drawings to be used in planning. The Ministry of Finance has an online database where businesses and citizens can check their income tax records. ¶4. (U) Based on a 2006 e-government strategic plan, MoICT has been focusing its efforts on payment systems, procurement systems, and system-wide change management. E-government projects are also in development at other ministries. Mohammhad Abu Asal, Head of Information Technology at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), told EconOff that MoIT is finalizing online applications for its three most common processes: sole proprietorship registration; trademark registration; and trade name registration. Other GoJ projects are focused on passport renewal and online income tax payment for large businesses. Criticisms of e-Readiness, Leadership, and Staff -------------- --- ¶5. (SBU) Despite these advances, Bissan Ramahi, Director of Change Management at MoICT, lamented that the number of active projects is still very low across ministries. One of the biggest challenges, according to Hourani, has been limited staffing, given that the e-government department has 37 on-going projects and only 35 employees. Although the high-profile project initially attracted talented staff, low salaries and bureaucratic lethargy have contributed to poor retention and created obstacles for further recruitment. ¶6. (SBU) Another issue has been e-readiness at the ministries. In 2006, an e-readiness assessment reviewed GoJ and its individual ministries on connectivity, infrastructure and human capital. Many of the ministries received very low scores and Bashir Zoubi, Head of IT at the Income and Sales Tax division of the Ministry of Finance (MoF),said that the status has not changed significantly in the last year. The e-government projects that have already launched or will launch soon were all sponsored by ministries with high e-readiness scores. Ruba Kajo, MoICT Director of Strategic Planning, said a great deal of foundational work such as improving the government's networks, system security, and capabilities of IT staff needed to be undertaken before customer-facing e-government services could be launched. ¶7. (SBU) Nearly all of the ministry and private sector officials also blamed the slow pace on the revolving door of ministers at MoICT and at other ministries. The owner of a private equity investment firm in Jordan, Nashat Masri, commented that the small size of Jordan meant that ministers, especially those with short terms, often need to focus on maintaining relationships with the AMMAN 00003654 002 OF 002 private sector, and as a result are not held accountable for project implementation. e-Gov in a Country with Low Internet Penetration -------------- --- ¶8. (U) One area of optimism for the GoJ is the e-government initiative's attention to mobile phone services and improving internet access. Several of the e-government initiatives are beginning to look at text messaging rather than email communications because cell phone penetration in Jordan is near 50 percent. Asal of MoIT said that mobile text notification is an easy addition to most online processes. ¶9. (U) Post's private sector interlocutors identified internet penetration as a significant obstacle to e-government adoption. Hourani estimated internet penetration at 13.5 percent, which he said was sixth in the region. Minister al-Rousan said that the barriers to penetration are the cost of computers, the cost of internet access and a lack of Arabic-language content. In order to improve access, MoICT has set up 134 "knowledge stations" inside community centers across the country and provided computer training to center staff. In addition, in 2008, MoICT hopes to install PCs in all of the country's post offices, but Hourani said many of them do not have internet access and a significant amount of training will be necessary. MoICT Secretary General Abdul Karim Fraihat described a program to provide laptops to 40,000 Jordanian university students for $10 per month this year. These laptops are expected to increase computer access nationwide. USG Involvement in e-Government -------------- ¶10. (U) To address some of the e-readiness challenges, USAID has been involved in the e-government initiative in Jordan as part of its goal to improve government back-office operations and processes. Through a $20 million court automation program, USAID has computerized and reengineered the case management system for 65% of civil court cases in Jordan. By August 2008, USAID will have automated all 74 civil courts in Jordan and several special courts related to customs and economic sectors. Lawyers will be able to submit cases on line; be updated on court dates through email and SMS; and automated kiosks will be installed in Jordan's largest court, the new Palace of Justice, to provide up-to-date information on cases and hearings. USAID has also launched a state-of-the-art data center for Jordan's schools which connects the kingdom's 3,200 public schools to the internet. USAID and the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) have jointly invested about $10 million to develop digital content, connect model schools, and train teachers. Training for several MoICT project managers at an October 2007 USTDA e-government seminar also aims to develop expertise and provide additional momentum for the e-government initiative. Most recently, the Embassy, with support from the Department's Office of International Information Programs sponsored the August 27-28 visit of Steven Strauss, a noted e-commerce expert. He presented to approximately 250 government, business, and student audience members at a variety of venues including MoICT. His visit received extensive press coverage in all of the Arabic dailies, particularly his message of Jordan's potential for economic growth using e-commerce. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) There is clearly a high level of activity at the MoICT generated by professionals who are clearly committed, trained in computer science, have significant and applicable private sector experience, and are familiar with change management and project planning. In spite of these talents, however, the initiative's outputs thus far are underwhelming. Expectations for the future are also modest, with interactive online tools being deployed by only the most technologically-savvy ministries and most ministry websites not yet having interactive applications. Visit Amman's Classified Website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman HALE