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Government Information Quarterly xx (2007) xxx xxx

A context-based integrative framework for e-government initiatives

Mohamed A. Nour a,, AbdelRahman A. AbdelRahman b , Adam Fadlalla c
Department of Management Information Systems, the University of Sharjah, PO Box 27272, United Arab Emirates b Department of Public Administration, the University of Sharjah, PO Box 27272, United Arab Emirates Department of Computer and Information Science, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 44114, USA
a

Abstract The recent advances in the Internet technology have propelled the development of related applications in electronic communications and transactions, including electronic commerce and electronic government (e-government). There has been a proliferation of e-government initiatives worldwide undertaken under different forms of government, socioeconomic settings, and technological conditions. Nonetheless, the relationship between an e-government initiative and its context has not received adequate attention in the e-government literature. This paper provides an organizing framework that maps the core values (goals) of e-government to two fundamental factors; namely, the degree of e-government readiness and the level of democratization. The framework addresses the importance of the relationship between the context within which e-government initiatives are undertaken and the goals of those initiatives. From a conceptual perspective, this framework underscores the pivotal importance of the context of an e-government initiative in influencing the goals of this initiative. From a practical viewpoint, the framework provides a roadmap for policy makers to formulate policy goals of e-government initiatives commensurate with their respective environments. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Framework; Context; E-government values; Goals; E-government; Readiness index; Democratization index

Corresponding author. E-mail address: mnour@sharjah.ac.ae (M.A. Nour). 0740-624X/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.giq.2007.02.004
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1. Introduction E-government is increasingly becoming an important public service tool of many governmental departments around the world. The promise of significant efficiencies in the provision of governmental services, reduction in paper work and cycle times, and more satisfied citizenry has fueled the growth and widespread interest in e-government applications. The worldwide growth and success of e-commerce in the private sector have provided substantial stimulus to the use of the Web technology in the public sector for social and non-for-profit applications. Consequently, there has been a steady increase in research activity, both empirical and conceptual, in e-government in the last few years. The literature on e-government identifies several political and economic values, including efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, democratic responsiveness, equity, etc. The discussion of these values in the literature seems to imply contextual isomorphism; that is, such e-government values are equally important to an e-government initiative regardless of its context. Yet, in reality, e-government initiatives are undertaken in many asymmetric economic, political, cultural, and technological environments. Important though they are to the effectiveness of these initiatives, contextual factors are not meant here to be deterministic. To be more realistic and effective, e-government initiatives must take into account the diversity of government systems, cultures, economic conditions, technological infrastructures, and sociopolitical factors, which collectively represent the context within which e-government initiatives are undertaken. The success of e-government initiatives, we argue, depends to a large extent on the match or compatibility between the stated goals (economic, political, etc.) and this context. Such a context, if ignored, could mean that an e-government initiative's goals are not attainable within their given context, a situation that might lead to failure of the initiative achieving its stated political goals as well as its economic objectives. Thus, setting the goals for e-government initiatives should take into consideration whether the context is capable of supporting such goals. Perhaps an example that signifies the importance of context to the success or failure of achieving a goal is the failure of transplanted liberal democracy to survive in a number of developing countries. This paper proposes a framework that relates the political goals and economic objectives of e-government to the specific context in which an e-government initiative is undertaken. More specifically, we argue that the form of government as indicated by the level of democratization, the state of information and communications technology (ICT), and the stock of human capital of a country all represent a vital context that influences not only the choice of which values to pursue through an e-government initiative under such a context, but also the achievability of such values under that context. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of related work. Section 3 describes the proposed framework. A discussion follows in Section 4. Section 5 provides concluding remarks and some future directions.

2. Literature review A brief review of the literature on e-government reveals that it is rich and diverse. Several thematic strands are discernable in this literature. We highlight a few such strands that are not
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meant to be exhaustive but rather illustrative. One strand deals with the values to be achieved through e-government initiatives. Those values encompass, inter alia, efficiency, economy, public accountability, effectiveness, transparency, service quality, integrity, democratic responsiveness, rule of law, and citizen participation and empowerment (Hazlett & Hill, 2003; Holliday & Kwok, 2004; Kossick, 2002; Netchaeva, 2002; West, 2004; Wong & Welch, 2004). Another strand addresses issues and challenges facing egovernment initiatives (Deakins & Dillon, 2002; Doty & Erdelez, 2002; Edmiston, 2003; Jaeger, 2003; Jaeger & Thompson, 2003; McDonagh, 2002). Notable issues identified in this strand include privacy, security, the digital divide, accessibility, citizen awareness, and confidence, in addition to other barriers to the use of computers and the Internet. Some of these issues (e.g., digital divide) have become recurrent themes in the literature on egovernment (Netchaeva, 2002). A third strand examines factors helping or hindering the adoption of e-government (Clark, 2003; Gilbert & Balestrini, 2004; Ho, 2002; Ho & Ni, 2004; Kaylor, Deshazo, & Eck, 2001; Ke & Wei, 2004; Moon, 2002). In this strand, models, incorporating internal/organizational and external factors, have been developed to explain the adoption/non-adoption of e-government or specific e-government features, particularly at the municipal or county level of government. A fourth strand focuses on the technical and infrastructural aspects of e-government (Bakry, 2004; Lambrinoudakis, Gritzalis, Dridi, & Pernul, 2003; McGregor & Holman, 2004; Scherlis & Eisenberg, 2003; Sepic & Kase, 2002; Strejcek & Theil, 2002), including technological infrastructural alternatives, security techniques for e-government services, development and evaluation strategies of e-government Web sites, etc. Each of these strands provides important insights into a specific angle of e-government. The values strand addresses the core of e-government initiatives. These values are, as should be expected, professed or intended policy goals behind e-government initiatives. The other strands deal with the unintended consequences of e-government (as in the case of the issues strand), factors helping or hindering the introduction of e-government (as in the case of the adoption strand), and the technological dimension of e-government (as in the case of the technical strand). These research strands are not independent of each other; on the contrary, they are closely interrelated and complementary. In the context of the values strand, e-government may be viewed as simply an instrument that enhances the capacity of government to achieve those values which are fundamental goals of government in general. Viewed in this perspective, e-government is akin to bureaucracy as a necessary tool for the achievement of governmental goals. A recent view emphasizing this point is that there is an ongoing shift from the bureaucratic paradigm to the so-called e-government paradigm (Ho, 2002). Furthermore, the close affinity between managerialism and e-government initiatives (Chadwick & May, 2003) underscores the notion of e-government as an instrument to achieve governmental objectives. The effectiveness of e-government initiatives achieving their goals (economic or political) may hinge crucially on the congruence between the goals these initiatives seek to achieve and the underlying contextual environment (setting) within which these initiatives are undertaken. For instance, one would not expect an initiative that seeks to realize Webenabled policy discourse to succeed in an environment where both technology infrastructure
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and democratization levels are low. By the same token, an initiative that aims to achieve transactional efficiency may not be successful in an environment characterized by a low level of e-government readiness (an indication of limited computer and Internet penetration and low levels of human capital). However, we should hasten to add that congruence between the goals of e-government initiatives and their contextual space may be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for successful initiatives. Such congruence notwithstanding, a plethora of potential impediments (e.g., mid-course unintended consequences, including, for instance, change-management problems, resource shortages, policy shifts and discontinuities, etc.) may seriously undermine the success of those initiatives. To the best of our knowledge, previous e-government research does not provide a framework that addresses the interrelationships between goals of e-government initiatives and contexts within which these initiatives are undertaken. This paper intends to fill this gap by proposing such a framework. Our proposed framework is structurally somewhat similar to Bozeman's multidimensional framework of publicness (Bozeman & Barry, 1987). However, the two frameworks are substantively different in terms of purpose, unit of analysis, dimensions, and implications of the various blends of the dimensions. For example, while Bozeman's model purports to explain the degree of publicness of an organization and its impact on organizational behavior, our framework aims at explaining the relationship between the goals of e-government initiatives and their contexts. Furthermore, Bozeman's model is pitched at a microorganizational level and has economic and political authority as its two dimensions. In contrast, our model focuses on the macro-level and has e-government readiness and democratization levels as its two macro-dimensions.

3. An analytical integrative framework The proposed framework is based on e-government values as discussed above and two macro-dimensions: e-government readiness index on the x-axis and democratization index on the y-axis (see Fig. 2). Both dimensions are macro-measures in that each is an aggregate of a number of other indicators. 3.1. E-government goals We present below a systematic treatment of the goals (values) of e-government. These goals are classified into individual, societal, organizational, or political (see Table 1). This classification helps to better understand the goals of e-government and formulate strategies for e-government initiatives. For instance, four types of strategies may be proposed based on this classification: individually focused (increasing accessibility of government services to individuals), society focused (better utilization of society's scarce resources), organizationally focused (empowering organizational members), and politically focused (enhancing governmental accountability). The classification in Table 1 provides a heuristic device for better organization of e-government goals.
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M.A. Nour et al. / Government Information Quarterly xx (2007) xxxxxx Table 1 Classification of e-government goals (values) Goals (values) Efficiency/economy Effectiveness Access Accountability Equity Empowerment/participation Transparency Availability of services Responsiveness Integrity Individual Societal Organizational Political 5

3.2. Macro-framework dimensions The e-government readiness index is a weighted average (composite) measure based on a number of subindices: e-government Web site assessment index, telecommunication infrastructure index, and human capital (UN Global E-Government Readiness Report, 2004). The Web site assessment subindex is based upon the level of sophistication of a government online presence and the online offerings of citizen services. There are five stages of e-government presence in ascending order of sophistication: emerging, enhanced, interactive, transactional, and networked (UN Global E-Government Readiness Report, 2004). The telecommunications infrastructure subindex is an indicator of a country's ICT infrastructural capacity. It is a weighted average measure of six lower level primary indices. These indices are PC's/1000 persons, Internet users/1000 persons, telephone lines/1000 persons, online population, mobile phones/1000 persons, and TV's/1000 persons. The human capital index relies on the UNDP education index which is a composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio, with two-third weight given to adult literacy and one-third to gross enrollment ratio. Fig. 1 summarizes the components of the e-government readiness index. It should be noted that the e-government readiness index is to some extent an indirect reflection of a country's level of economic development. In other words, a highly developed ICT infrastructure requires a fairly high level of economic development. For example, all countries high on this index are developed countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Finland. On the other hand, most countries low on the ICT infrastructure index are developing countries. The democratization index is a measure of political development and also a composite of five subcomponents: political process, civil society, independent media, governance, and public administration ([http://humandevelopment.bu.edu/dev_indicators/start.cfm?header_id=13]: accessed April 8, 2005). Countries high on this index generally have democratic form of government whereas those low on the index generally have authoritarian form of government (Kaplan, 1994). The advantage of using these macro-dimensions is that they represent a summary of multiple important sub-dimensions. By using aggregate dimensions, the framework in fact
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Fig. 1. Components of the e-government readiness index.

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indirectly takes into account all the subcomponents represented by such aggregates. Another advantage of using aggregate dimensions is that the framework becomes less complex. 3.3. The proposed framework Generally speaking, e-government initiatives embrace political values as well as efficiencyrelated values. The latter are arguably common to all initiatives, as resource scarcity is, in all probability, a common denominator in all countries and government systems. For instance, efficiency in government is an important value whether a government is democratic or not and whether the country is rich or poor. The political goals of an e-government initiative are the function of the government's democratization level. The question of which subset among those goals to include in a specific e-government initiative depends on the level of e-government readiness (see the discussion in Section 4). Thus, the framework proposed in this paper is predicated on the above distinction that efficiency-related values are common among e-government initiatives while political goals of an e-government initiative are contingent on two major dimensions: democratization and e-government readiness. One would expect that countries high on democratization are likely to pay more attention to political values in their e-government initiatives than those low on democratization. By the same token, countries with high e-government readiness have greater capacity to achieve both political values and efficiency-related values than those with low e-government readiness. Thus, a more rational approach to political goal setting for an e-government initiative needs to take into account levels of both of these dimensions. Assuming two levels (high and low) for each dimension, four possible combinations are discernable and can be represented by four quadrants in a two-dimensional space (see Fig. 2). Each quadrant characterizes the set of dominant goals of an e-government initiative and, consequently, suggests a unique strategic disposition (informational, transactional, consultational, or participational) of the initiative.

Fig. 2. An analytical integrative e-government framework.

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3.3.1. Informational disposition This disposition is suggested by the first quadrant which is delineated by low levels of democratization and e-government readiness. The overriding and realistically achievable egovernment goal here is to provide ready and efficient access to government information (informational efficiency). Countries in this quadrant (e.g., Sub-Saharan African countries) are likely to be characterized by extreme scarcity of resources which dictates a paramount focus on efficiency. Political goals (e.g., democratic responsiveness, public accountability, transparency, etc.) are virtually a luxury for countries in this quadrant. A principal concern here is that e-government may be used as an instrument of control and manipulation. For example, in a dictatorship the government may provide such information that will serve its hidden goal of maintaining or enhancing its grip on its population. Thus, the strategic disposition of e-government initiatives undertaken by countries in this quadrant should be informational and mainly emphasizes access to government information. 3.3.2. Transactional disposition This disposition results from the second quadrant which is represented by high e-government readiness and low democratization levels. Three values are likely to be dominant in this quadrant: transactional efficiency, effectiveness/quality of service, and integrity in the delivery of public services. In contrast to the countries in the first quadrant, countries in this quadrant (e.g., Malaysia and Singapore) seek to provide not only efficient access to information but also efficient and effective delivery of public services and integrity in the provision of those services. Here the focus is on the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity in public service delivery. This emphasis may be a response to the possibly high expectation of citizens in an environment of high e-government readinessan environment characterized by high literacy and diffusion of computer and Internet usage in the society (see Fig. 1). Focus on effective service delivery may be a pragmatic policy option in an environment where a higher democratization level is not viable for one reason or another. Thus, the strategic disposition of e-government initiatives undertaken by countries in this quadrant should be transactional and hence mainly emphasizes the aforementioned dominant goals. 3.3.3. Consultational disposition The third quadrant represents a combination of a high level of democratization and a low level of e-government readiness which suggests a consultational disposition. E-government political values are more likely to be paramount, though the limited e-government infrastructure here poses a real constraint on the realization of these values. Nonetheless, democratic values (e.g., transparency and integrity) that do not require policy dialogue between the government and the citizens are still achievable under this context. In contrast, values such as democratic participation and responsiveness presume citizen-government dialogue or interactivity, values which may not be fully supportable by the technological and educational levels in this quadrant. Thus, the strategic disposition of e-government initiatives undertaken by countries in this quadrant should be consultational.
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3.3.4. Participational disposition The fourth quadrant is high on both democratization and e-government readiness indices, suggesting a participational disposition. What sets this quadrant apart from the preceding three quadrants is that it represents a setting in which the realization of all the goals (both political and efficiency related) of e-government is feasible. Although political goals are paramount here, efficiency-related goals are also important, especially in the context of prolonged economic stagnation and concomitant chronic fiscal deficits. In addition, public accountability, which is expectedly the outcome of high democratization, dictates not only the efficient and effective use of public resources but also integrity in the use of this aspect of public trust. A high level of e-government readiness allows a higher level of Web-enabled citizen participation in public policy discourse or dialogue in the broadest sense in comparison to the previous dispositions. 3.4. Relevance of the framework The framework serves as a heuristic device that should help researchers and practitioners alike in dealing with the phenomenon of e-government. For example, the framework should assist researchers in (1) determining and appreciating the importance of the goal-context compatibility for the success or failure of e-government initiatives; (2) evaluating e-government initiatives in terms of the congruence, or lack thereof, of the stated goals with the given environment or context; and (3) formulating empirically testable hypotheses relating e-government initiatives to their environments. For policy makers and practitioners, the framework may be useful in (1) setting a priori realistic goals (i.e., goals congruent with the environment) for new e-government initiatives; this may result in greater fairness in the accountability for results; (2) re-alignment of goals of existing initiatives with the context, or altering the context itself, where the framework shows that there is a mismatch; and (3) understanding and dealing with the issues associated with an e-government initiative. For instance, the position of an agency's initiative in a specific quadrant helps identify mismatches, if any, between the stated goals of the initiative and goals conceptually identifiable in that quadrant. This may help practitioners deal with issues such as devising a cost-effective change management and an implementation strategy. It may also be useful in determining whether to continue with, re-adjust, or even abandon the initiative altogether.

4. Discussion The framework presented here underscores the importance of context for e-government initiatives. The goals or values such initiatives seek to achieve are not independent of the
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settings in which those initiatives are undertaken. The fact that national e-government initiatives differ in terms of the goals they are designed to achieve is a reflection of the influence of the varied contexts of those initiatives. Among the myriad of contextual factors influencing the goals of e-government initiatives, technical and political factors appear to be the most important. The level of e-government readiness, the technical or infrastructural factor, indicates the degree of computer and Internet penetration in the society and, concomitantly, the feasibility of using these digital technologies to realize public policy goals. Thus, a low level of e-government readiness may substantially constrain what a government can seek to achieve through the Internet. The political environment in which e-government initiatives are undertaken is of paramount importance. The primacy of politics here stems from the view that politics represents the authoritative allocation of values or goals for the society. Such values comprise public accountability, citizen participation, efficiency, effectiveness, economy, democratic responsiveness, integrity in public service, service quality, security, public health, and public safety. These values are likely to receive differing degrees of emphasis as public policy goals. In a setting where a high level of democratization exists, one would expect a greater emphasis on democratic values: political accountability, democratic responsiveness, transparency and integrity in public service, citizen participation, etc. On the other hand, such values are unlikely to be emphasized in an environment of low level of democratization. From this perspective, the level of democratization appears to be an important contextual factor influencing the relative emphasis on democracy-related values. Thus, in a context of a high level of democratization and a high level of e-government readiness, one would expect democracy-related values to be dominant values in e-government initiatives, as are such issues as privacy, security, and confidentiality. Such issues are important in this context inasmuch as they are related to personal freedoms which are likely to be important in an environment of high democratization. In such an environment, the mode of interactions between two of the principal stakeholders (namely, government and citizens) is discursive or interactive. Both government and citizens engage in policy dialogue. In terms of e-government terminology, the interactions are not only G2C but also C2G. More specifically, citizens are not passive recipients of government proposals or actions; they actively seek to influence government policy outputs. In this environment also, resource scarcity-related values (i.e., efficiency, effectiveness, and economy) are likely to be important values under conditions of fiscal stress. Under such conditions, e-government initiatives should be expected to emphasize both democracy-related values as well as resource scarcity-related values. An environment of high democratization and low e-government readiness is likely to constrain the interactions between government and citizens in e-government initiatives. Although democracy-related values are likely to be dominant in such initiatives, low e-government infrastructural capacity will render broad-based active citizen participation infeasible. Accordingly, policy discourse/dialogue between citizens and government are likely to be limited. For instance, the government may use its Web sites as a conduit for consultation rather than active citizen participation. In other words, the mode of interactions here are G2C and limited C2G.
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In contexts characterized by low levels of democracy, resource-related values are likely to be dominant. In such environments, low levels of e-government readiness will limit e-government initiatives to providing information to stakeholders (e.g., citizens and businesses). Therefore, interactions are principally G2C. On the other hand, high levels of e-government readiness enable governments not only to provide information but also to make it possible for citizens and businesses to conduct Web-enabled transactions with their government. Consequently, interactions are mainly G2C and G2B. In summary, the simultaneous interaction of these two dimensions provides an integrated perspective that identifies four distinct strategies for e-government initiatives: informational, transactional, consultational, and participational strategies. These strategies, as previously noted, provide policy makers with useful aid for matching goals of their e-government initiatives with their specific environments. The proposed framework contributes to a better understanding of the various facets of e-government (for example, the interrelationships between values and context) and its implementation strategies. It highlights and maps the key factors and benefits of e-government along two major dimensions. Furthermore, it acknowledges and accommodates disparities (such as technological, cultural, political, and economic) between countries and provides a conceptual roadmap for planning and evaluating e-government initiatives. To further illustrate the applicability of our framework, we present here a case about India which falls under the third quadrant characterized by a high level of democratization and a low level of e-government readiness. India is a full fledged democracy. However, it scores only 0.39 on the United Nations e-government readiness Index (UN Global E-Government Readiness Report, 2004). This is below the world average score which stands at 0.41 (UN Global E-Government Readiness Report, 2004). Several case studies on Indian e-government initiatives on the World Bank's Web site (Case Studies on Indian (and other) e-government initiatives) show that the predominant values (that is, public accountability, transparency, public-service integrity, citizen empowerment, bureaucratic responsiveness) emphasized in this quadrant are recurrent themes in Indian e-government initiatives. Emphasis on these democratic governance values in India is arguably a creature of its full fledged democratic environment as well as of the environment of high corruption prevalent in the Indian polity. Transparency International 2004 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks India 90 in its list of 145 nations (Transparency International's, 2004). India's low level of e-government readiness does not favor the use of government Web sites to provide efficient, effective, or high quality public services, in view of the low computer and Internet penetration in the Indian society. However, such Web sites could be effective mechanisms for informing/empowering citizens in terms of making governmental procedures and processes transparent to them. The low level of computer and Internet penetration in India is not a problem here because, as the following case demonstrates, the print media and radio can complement government Web sites by transmitting the contents of those Web sites. This specific case, meant to be illustrative, revolves around involving citizens in combating corruption in government by providing them with information. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which was created in 1998, began to publish in its Web site the names of
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officers from the elite administrative and revenue services against whom investigations were ordered or penalties imposed for corruption. The CVC Web site contains the following sections/features through which the CVC communicates with the public (Case Studies on Indian (and other) e-government Initiatives): (1) The commission informs the public about its role, responsibility, and strategies to combat corruption; this is an effort to keep the agenda of fighting corruption alive in the public mind; (2) the commissioner communicates directly with the public through messages and speeches to bolster confidence in the institution; (3) instructions for how any citizen can lodge a complaint against corruption, without fear of disclosure or reprisal. (4) Central Vigilance Officer's List: each organization is expected to nominate a senior officer to whom an employee can take a complaint on corruption; (5) statistical reporting of the achievements of the commission (annual report); and (6) details of convictions of public servants by the courts are also presented, along with information on officers from the All India Services against whom an inquiry has been initiated or a penalty imposed. This section of the Web site also highlights the performance of various departments responsible for conducting investigations. In view of India's low computer and Internet density, only 150,000 hits were registered on the site by September 2001 (that is, three years after the launch of the Web site). Such a low hit rate would be considered a failure by all accounts. We contend that such failure is partially due to a mismatch between the goals of the initiative and the context of the initiative. However, the failure was somewhat mitigated by India's free and vibrant press, a consequence of its fully fledged democracy, which began to transmit the content of CVC Web site throughout the country. In consequence, the site has had a bigger impact than what could be expected based on India's computer and Internet penetration alone, in accordance with what our framework suggests.

5. Conclusion and future directions The literature on e-government provides a mixture of perspectives dealing with its various facets, including descriptive statistics of the adoption rates worldwide, associated benefits and obstacles, and prescriptive evolutionary strategies. This reality is partially due to the infancy of e-government and the inherent complexity and confusion created by the convergence of the Internet technology and public administration. The success of e-government initiatives depends, to a large extent, on the match or compatibility between the stated goals (economic, political, etc.) and the context within which the initiative is undertaken. Thus, contextual factors, such as the governmental systems, cultures, economic conditions, technological infrastructures, and sociopolitical factors collectively influence a government's capacity to deliver or achieve the goals of an e-government initiative.
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This research was concerned with providing a framework for integrating the core values or goals of e-government with the two underlying factors or dimensions: the degree of egovernment readiness and the extent of a country's democratization. The two underlying factors represent the context underpinning a government's capacity to achieve these goals and influencing the choice of goals to pursue. This framework can serve two purposes: First, it can be used to explain a government's existing e-government efforts and initiatives. For example, the framework can provide answers as to why a government has pursued specific goals through a particular e-government initiative. Second, it may be used as a normative model for guiding e-government initiatives. The proposed framework has focused on two specific macro-dimensions. Future research may incorporate additional contextual factors as influences on e-government initiatives, particularly at the micro-level. References
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Please cite this article as: Nour, M. A., et al., A context-based integrative framework for e-government initiatives, Government Information Quarterly (2007), doi:10.1016/j.giq.2007.02.004