E-Government in Egypt: An Analysis of Practices and Challenges

Abstract

This research reveals that Egypt has acknowledged the growing importance of e-government at different levels since the official inauguration of Egypt's e-government portal in 2004. The country recognized the role of e-government in leveraging the economic, cultural and social development; providing effective and convenient services to publics: improving communication environment and the exchange of information among different governmental bodies, and so on. The research paper addresses services provided by e-government to citizens, businesses, government employees and other bodies. Egypt's e-government readiness ranking is also highlighted. Also, it explores the challenges encountered in e-government implementation, along with introducing generic and specific recommendations for policy makers to handle these challenges. Findings reveal that some achievements have been made, but more needs to be done to overcome the challenges encountered in e-government development and implementation. Furthermore, Egypt is still lagging far behind other Arab countries, particularly Gulf countries that launched their e-government programs recently.