E-government provision in Egypt : From citizen perspective to business readiness.

The aim of the research program is firstly to aid better understanding of the public perception of the Egyptian government's web portal and, through this understanding, secondly to clarify the relationship between the ease of doing business and the usage of e-government services in Egypt. The lack of similar research conducted in Middle Eastern countries in general and in Egypt in particular is a good reason to conduct this research. Previous Egyptian studies have focused on the context of local channels for e-government provision.A questionnaire survey measures on five scales the perception of a small, purposive sample of educated Egyptian citizens to the e-government portal. The outcomes from this questionnaire include demographic statistics and use of technology. The survey finds the respondents mostly satisfied with the e-government portal, which may encourage Egypt to apply more e-government solutions in order to accomplish different business processes.A correlation analysis illustrates the relationship between the UN E-Government Readiness Report and the World Bank Ease of Doing Business report. The correlation tests the statistical relationship between the rankings of countries in the two reports. The report analysis examines more deeply the indicators and indexes to identify a basis for the correlation between e-government services and business procedures.A limited case study focuses on two business processes in Egypt. By exploring the full cycle of these processes the findings identify the social and economic context of Egypt plus the importance of using e-government solutions.The findings indicate that Egypt's e-government program should be enhanced to make business processes easier. The overall perception of educated Egyptian citizens is that the e-government portal is satisfactory. The link between e-government services, business readiness and citizen perceptions is demonstrated in the thesis. Future investment in this is only held back by the rate of illiteracy in Egypt and the perceived corruption of government employees.This research concludes with a number of recommendations to the Egyptian government for the future development of e-government services to make doing business easier. Future research should focus on involving citizens more closely in e-government through Citizen Relationship Management (CiRM) and investigating Egypt's knowledge economy in business development.