No abstract

Electronic Government (e-Government) has rapidly become a political imperative at local, national and international level. The drive to implement e-government has become of critical importance globally. The e-government revolution offers the potential to reshape the public sector and remake the relationship between citizens and government. Several developing nations, including Egypt, having witnessed the benefits realized by e-Government in developed countries, took e-Government initiatives and achieved different success rates. It is frequently claimed that proving an effective e-government assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e-Government. The objective of this chapter is to present a framework that assesses e-Government readiness (EGR) in Egypt, focusing on electronic administration (e-Administration) within a public organization through obtaining its employees’ feedback. The suggested framework investigates the internal factors affecting e-Government readiness which are: strategy, processes, people, and technology. The chapter applies this framework on 2 public organizations in Egypt to test it and to set a comparison between both organizations in terms of the internal factors effect on e-Government readiness.

There has been a growing debate about the extent to which social media has influenced the Arab World's recent revolutions described as the "Arab Spring". Despite difference in views concerning this issue, the role that social media played in enacting socio-political change is undeniable, a matter which attracted the interest of academia. Here, the power of social media in widening and strengthening relationships renovated and reinforced the concept of "social capital", which could lead to integration or acculturation amongst affected societies.Underpinned by a social capital theory and the acculturation process, this commentary article adopts a critical approach and draws on historical events from the 2011 Egyptian revolution and beyond. We claim that, social media lead to social capital creation and integration when some fundamental associated factors exist namely: the bonding, bridging and linking factors. Social media adoption lead to political integration when these factors existed during the Egyptian revolution and lead to polarisation when there was no contextual triggering factor before the revolution and no access to resources after the revolution. We provide some insightful perspectives on the role of social media in social-political change.

The second wave of the World Wide Web, referred to as Web 2.0, has affected every sector of the society including the public sector as well as the government, now often referred to as Government 2.0. Specifically, Government 2.0 can have a great impact on improving learning and research activities in public universities. Governments have recognized the role that Internet plays in education; they have made the use of ICT a substantial component in any government agenda. In addition, many governments have recognized the importance of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies in higher education. Being characterized by fostering an interactive and user generated content, Web 2.0 can usefully assist both students and faculty. Web 2.0 could contribute in overcoming budget constraints that constitutes a common problem among public universities especially in developing countries. This research argues that adopting Web 2.0 in public universities should start first by assisting faculty in their research and communication tasks through an easy and convenient way. This could reduce their resistance to change (which is considered one of the main barriers in adopting technologies) by being used to it and perceiving its value. Therefore, this chapter aims to investigate the use of Web 2.0 among academic staff in public universities. Such objective was reached through distributing a survey targeting a sample that represents faculty in some of the leading Egyptian public universities. Findings revealed a high use of Web 2.0 by faculty members in collaboration and information sharing. In addition, the main barriers of use are due to a lack of awareness or perception of the value of such technologies. Moreover, it has been proved that the level of Web 2.0 adoption varies among academic disciplines, but does not depend on age or academic position.

There has been a growing debate about the extent to which the Internet influenced the Arab World’s recent revolutions described as the “Arab Spring”. This belief that the Internet had a contribution is supported by several events and evidences that occurred prior to these revolutions and provided clear indications about the Internet’s power. This paper investigates the effect of the Internet on shaping politics in Egypt. Research was conducted a few months before the revolution (January 25, 2011) covering the relevant literature, and the news and events that took place. A questionnaire was sent to a sample representing different segments of Internet users in Egypt to recognize their perceptions towards the value of the Internet in politics. Findings indicate a high interest among Egyptians in accessing news online, especially international and privately owned media. In addition, survey participants recognize the Internet’s potential for committing political change. Survey results show that the Internet is perceived in Egypt as a strong tool that political candidates could use to communicate with citizens; however, it is still used primarily for mobilization and information dissemination. Moreover, it was proven that age, gender, education and reading frequency of online news all have varying effects on civic engagement and perception of the role the Internet can play in politics in Egypt.