Spark.eCommerce

E-Government or also known as online government is a new mode of governing and administrating via the internet. Through the use of information technology, e-government provides and improves government services, public services, transactions and interactions with citizens and reinforces and manages government and public policies.

In Malaysia, e-government was introduced after the launch of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) which was introduce to enhance the economic growth of the country and boost companies toward the new era of Information Technology (IT). E-Government is one of the seven prominent service applications introduced in MSC and below it are seven major project:-

Project Monitoring System (PMS) - supervises and executes government projects and also provides a platform for information management and communication services.

Electronic Services (E-Service) – Malaysians can conduct transactions with government for payment of telephone and electricity bills, and also police summons through the internet.



Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) - A single interface that governs employees to perform human resource functions effectively and efficiently. It helps to standardize all human resource processes such as recruitment and selection, streamline processes and single window access. It also provides transactional functions such as payroll processing and leave application.

Generic Office Environment (GOE) – A fully integrated and powerful office environment that effectively and resourcefully eases the management documents and information. The (GOE) facilitates communication and collaboration across all workers, and ensures secure and traceable sharing of documents and information.

Electronic Procurement (eP) project – the sale goods and services by suppliers to the Government via Internet as it is more cost-effective and transparent method of doing business.

Electronic Labor Exchange (ELX) - Improve the recruitment of human resource and optimize workforce utilization through an effective center for labor market information where job seekers can match themselves to the job vacancies.

E-Syariah - A system that integrates the processes related to management of cases for Syariah Courts and improves the effectiveness in coordinating and supervising related agencies under its jurisdiction.

As for now, recent surveys about e-government adaptation in Malaysia shows that it has reached a significant frequency of use, but not yet gained a widespread acceptance. Malaysia’s ranking is 25th out of 32 countries in terms of e-government usage growth. This is mainly because of the lack in internet access and technical infrastructure. Most Malaysian still have little knowledge and are not aware of the services offered. Some even fear of transacting via the Internet as online fraud is increasing.


Citizen’s Adoption Strategies
The success in delivering these services depends upon the capability and self-confidence of citizens in performing e-transactions, as well as their trust and confidence in the protection of their personal data within an open and accountable government. In order for the government to achieve this success, they should:-

Increase the awareness of user - the government can develop marketing campaigns such as providing consultation services on how to use those services, TV advertisement, organizing workshops and so on.

Simplify procedure and the navigation – formulate a more user friendly and easy-to-use platform by providing step by step instructions and offline customer service.

Service quality and response to user’s queries – higher quality of service will lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. This can increase the use of e-government services as their problems are solved efficiently.

Improve and reinforce online security – protecting user’s personal information and ensure it is secure. This can be done by restricting access to certain information and by implementing firewalls in the system.



Referrences
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Government
http://www.mscmalaysia.my/
http://www.american.edu/initeb/ym6974a/egovernment.htm#E-Government
http://www.mait.com/admin/enews_images/MAIT%20Country%20Intelligence%20eNews96_37.pdf
http://www.intanbk.intan.my/psimr/articles/Article1%20-%20Full.pdf
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/10/nation/19436585&sec=nation
http://www.malaysia.gov.my/