1. E-Government in Islamic Republic of Iran:
Identifying the Obstacles of Implementing
and Strategies for Improving E- Government
Fatemeh Ahmadi Zeleti
MSc in Software Engineering
MSc in Business Administration
PhD Student in Tampere University of
Technology
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

2. Background of the study
During recent years government of Iran is moving its
governmental information and activities into the online
world.
- Information privacy
- Ability for individuals (citizens) to
- Receive and collect government information
- Use and process the information
- Receive, update, and use government services
E-Government: delivery of government services to citizens,
businesses, and government organizations through internet, web
based applications, and Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs).
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

3. Background of the study
Iran as a developing country is now encouraging its
government organizations to get more interaction with citizens
and governments to improve businesses and citizen focus needs.
Therefore, e-Government promises and ICT provides the
possibilities (the authorities aim) to:
- Decrease the administrative size, effort, and costs
- Increase communication and services transparency
and therefore:
- Increase the functionality and productivity of
government bodies + citizens satisfaction
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

4. Research Question (RQ) and the Method
However, for such objectives to be accomplished; various
obstacles exist
RQ: What are the obstacles of implementing; and strategies
for improving e-Government in Iran?
Methodology:
Qualitative Research Method
Comprehensive study of the relevant literatures
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

5. The Obstacles and Strategies (IT infrastructure)
Categories
Obstacles
IT infrastructure - Low internet connection, Limited
accessibility of citizen to internet
networks in which result decrease the
users’ motivation
- Insufficient PCs of citizen and
government organizations
- Lack of efficient banking system for
having e-Payment
- Limited telecommunication
infrastructure for connecting schools
and universities to the national internet
Strategies
- More IT activities in IT
department of the
organizations
- Access to more expert IS
analyst, IT, and network
employees
- Increasing the quality of
internet connection, and
connectivity to network
- Increase the sufficiency level
of the personal computers
- Improve the efficiency of
banking system for ePayment
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

6. The Obstacles and Strategies (IT Knowledge)
Categories
Obstacles
IT skills,
- Shortage of computer literacy
education, and among the citizen and government
knowledge
Employees
- Lack of IT and ICT education Centers
- Unfamiliarity to English language
- Inadequate understanding to eGovernment
- No young and knowledgeable
university graduate in placed
- Lack of government authorized
representative to observe and
evaluate the IT, and ICT training
Labs
Most Striking Obstacle
Strategies
- Increase awareness toward IT
and ICT
- Allocate budget for establishing
IT and ICT education centers
- Diversity of employees IT and
ICT educational qualifications
and skills
- Increase the availability of
online sources and information
for self study
- Observing and evaluating
functions of the IT, and ICT
training labs
- More Farsi websites
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

7. The Obstacles and Strategies (Legal)
Categories Obstacles
Legal
Strategies
- Lack of strong security policies and
- Secure and strong rules,
laws to support e-Government implementation regulations, and policies
- Lack of knowledge of copyright law
- Lack of vast investment needed for the
establishing more ICT centers and applications
in addition to banks systems in order to
establish efficient e-Payment
- More secured ways to
guarantee the privacy of the
citizen and government data
and information
- Allocating expert staff on ePayment projects
- Request for feedbacks on
such systems from citizens
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

8. The Obstacles and Strategies (Security)
Categories Obstacles
Strategies
Security
- Lack of adequate codification of critical
information and digital signature
- Codification of information
and using digital signature
- Lack of citizen and government employee’s
network security experience
- Increase awareness toward
network worms and decent
security
- Lose attention of citizens in making
authorization and authentication (login info)
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

9. The Obstacles and Strategies (Social and Culture)
Categories
Obstacles
Strategies
Social and
Cultural
- Lack of confidence in dealing
with
e-Government services and
online transactions
- Increase the attitude toward IT and ICT
- Confidence-building through
education and promotion of
managers’ culture and awareness
- Announcement of a clear vision of IT, ICT, and eGovernment development in Iran
- Use of mass communication to promote benefits of
IT, ICT, and e-Government
- Increase users’ innovativeness
which means “acceptance of a
new idea”
- Increase awareness toward “innovation in retail
service delivery”
- Positive perception about use of
Technologies
- Upgrading the employees about
the IT and ICT advancement
- Resistance of the government
employees against the changes
(fast IT advancement and
technologies), especially with
new concepts
- Government employee’s paper
based habits and resistance
against paperless jobs
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

10. The Obstacles and Strategies (ICT Applications)
Categories
Obstacles
ICT
- Lack of ICT master plan in some agencies
applications
among
- Lack of enough and adequate web-based
government Applications
agencies
- No efficient interoperability and
interconnectibity across systems, ICT
applications and networks *
Strategies
- Using variety of software
and ICT applications in the
agencies
- More ICT plan and projects
- Existence of Local and Wide
Area Networking (LAN,
WAN) in the majority of
government agencies
* Very Essential
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

11. The Obstacles and Strategies (Economy and society)
Categories
Obstacles
Strategies
Economy
and
society
- High cost of training
- Youth tendency to use computer
and internet
- High cost of hardware and software
- Lower national income compare to
the developed countries
- Equal distribution of income
among the society
- Widening the market and increase
the national income
- Increase national communication
in order to exchange technology
and knowledge
- More national transactions and
businesses connections
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

12. The Obstacles and Strategies (Workforce)
Categories
Obstacles
Strategies
Workforce
- Low salaries for the IT and ICT
expert people
- Increase the salary in IT and ICT
areas
- Expert immigrants and educated
graduates leaving Iran for abroad
- IT promotion and admission of
more IT students
- Regional conferences and
workshop to promote advanced
technologies => Increase workforce
- More IT and ICT experts in the
businesses, and government
organizations
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

13. The Obstacles and Strategies (Software and hardware market)
Categories
Obstacles
Strategies
Software
and
hardware
market,
export
and import
- Lower quality of in-house hardware
due to the lack of technology, and
hardware ingredients exchange
- Increase the budget and foreign
currency to import software from
abroad
- Lack of essential expertise among
in-house hardware producers
- Lower the computer hardware
and software accessories cost
- No affordability of government to
purchase costly expert systems and
software
- More hardware technicians
training and more brand branches
- Lack of adequate and professional
planning for importing and
exporting hardware and software
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

14. Discussion
• United Nations Maturity Stages
E-Government of Iran said to be in the “Transactional
Stage” of the United Nations five maturity stages.
• Issue of Trust
Government authorities should be trusted, available, easy
accessible, and open to every comments, feedbacks, requests,
ideas, and drawbacks. E-Mail should be the formal channel of
communication.
• People and Technology Advancement
People are becoming increasingly aware of benefits of ICT,
IT, and e-Government in their life. Besides, majority of
young people are now willing to do all their tasks online.
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

15. Conclusion
• Governments in developing countries face new opportunities
and challenges toward e-Government implementation and
development.
• E-Government initiatives should be well planned and established
to meet the satisfaction of the government and citizens.
• The decent strategies proposed in the paper can enable the
Iranian authorities to comprehensively plan and run the eGovernment initiatives and plans.
• Therefore, considering these strategies can lead to resolve
various challenges in years to come and help to improve eGovernment of Iran.
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran

16. Q&A
E-Government in Islamic Republic of Iran:
Identifying the Obstacles of Implementing and Strategies for
Improving E-Government
Thank You For Your Kind Attention
5th Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology (5thSASTech)
12-17 May 2011, Mashhad, Iran