AN SMS-BASED E-GOVERNMENT MODEL

Tony Dwi Susanto

School of Informatics and Engineering, The Flinders University, South Australia

Robert Goodwin

School of Informatics and Engineering, The Flinders University, South Australia

Keywords: eGovernment, SMS, model, developing countries.

Abstract: More than one-third of e-government initiatives in developing countries are total failures, half are partial

failures and just one sixth are successful, showing that e-government development in developing countries

has many problems. According to Heeks (2003), one of the failure factors of e-government in developing

countries is unrealistic design. This paper will focus on this factor, particularly the mismatch of the

technological design for accessing e-government systems and the skills and access to the technology of the

citizens. Many developing countries face problems of lack of internet infrastructure, internet illiteracy and

high internet costs. When governments implement web-based e-government models which require citizens

to access the system by the Internet/web medium, the failure rate is high as few citizens can participate.

There is technology gap between design and reality. In the same countries, mobile phones are widely used,

are low in cost, and citizens are more familiar with the short message service application (SMS) than the

Internet and Web. This paper proposes an SMS-based e-government system as a first step toward a future

Internet/web-based e-government system in order to increase public (citizens and businesses) participation.

1 WHAT IS E-GOVERNMENT

The World Bank definition of e-government is the

use of information technology by government to

provide better services to people, to business and to

facilitate cooperation among government

institutions. The use of e-government is expected to

empower the community through public access to

the information resources available. Based on the

above definition, there are at least three important

components of e-government. Firstly, e-government

provides services and facilitates communication

between government and citizens (G2C). Secondly,

e-government provides services and facilitates

communication between government and business

(G2B). Thirdly, e-government facilitates

communication within government institutions and

between government institutions (G2G).

The strategic objective of e-government is to

support and simplify governance for all parties

(government, citizens, and business). Externally, e-

government has the objective of fulfilling the needs

and expectations of business and citizens by

providing satisfactory online services and

simplifying the interaction with various government

departments. Internally, e-government facilitates a

speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient, and

effective process for performing government

administrative activities.

2 AN SMS-BASED

E-GOVERNMENT MODEL

Much of the current discussion on the

implementation of e-government focuses on the

Internet (Siebel, 2005). Current e-government

models, such as the Gartner Model (Backus, 2001),

the Universal Access Model, the

Broadcasting/Wider-Dissemination Model, the

Interactive Service Model and the Comparative

Analysis Model (Digital Governance, 2005.) assume

the Internet as the base medium in all the phases,

recommend governments to build Internet

infrastructure, and urge people to use the Internet to

access the system.

185

Dwi Susanto T. and Goodwin R. (2006).

AN SMS-BASED E-GOVERNMENT MODEL.

In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - SAIC, pages 185-188

DOI: 10.5220/0002449101850188

 SciTePress

What if a country lacks Internet infrastructure,

has high Internet costs, low Internet penetration and

its citizens are Internet illiterate? Are these web-

based e-government models appropriate for the

country? These questions arose when (Ndau 2004)

investigated e-government and ICT situations in

developing countries. For example, in Indonesia,

after 5 years implementing e-government using the

Gartner model, as of 2003 the success level is just

2%: 3 out of 169 e-government systems have

achieved the Interaction and Transaction levels.

98% of the local government e-government systems

in Indonesia still operate at the lowest level (Web

Presence only) and are characterized by static and

insufficient information that is infrequently updated,

few interactive features, non-existent online service,

and low citizen participation (Rusdiah, 2003).

Moreover, a survey by (Heeks 2003) regarding the

success and failure rates of e-government in

developing and transitional countries shows that

most of the e-government initiatives in developing

countries have not yet been successful and more

than one-third of initiatives are total failures, half are

partial failures and only one-seventh are successful.

Further (Heeks 2003) identified that the three

critical failure factors in the failed e-government

projects in developing countries are: unrealistic

design, inadequate technological infrastructure and

lack of requisite competencies. A realistic e-

government model should be appropriate to the

current situation of the country; otherwise there will

be a gap between the model and reality. The larger

this gap, the greater the risk that the e-government

project will fail (Heeks, 2003). Hence, the current

web-based e-government models are likely to fail if

implemented in developing countries.

In developing countries, which lack Internet

infrastructure but have mobile infrastructure and

citizens lack Internet literacy but are familiar with

mobile phones and SMS, it is appropriate to propose

an e-government model that uses mobile phones and

SMS as the main communications channel (not just

as an additional feature of a web-based e-

government system as in current e-government

models). The model is more appropriate for these

countries as it reduces the gap between design and

reality, particularly for accessing e-government

systems by citizens. An SMS-based e-government

model enables citizen participation.

3 PROPOSED MODEL

The Gartner model is a popular web-based e-

government model, recommended by the World

Bank, implemented in developing countries

(InfoDev, 2002). The Gartner model consists of

four-phases: information (web presence to provide

information), interaction (web presence plus various

applications for searching, sending email, and

downloading), transaction (complete transaction

processing) and transformation (one single web

address for all services) (Backus, 2001). This model

can serve as a reference to evaluate where an e-

government project fits in the overall e-government

strategy. This paper proposes modifying the Gartner

model to formulate an SMS-based e-government

model.

Additionally, since the objective of the proposed

model is to increase public participation in an e-

government system, the proposed model will focus

on G2C and G2B services. Interactions between

government and citizen and government and

business in each phase of the model use SMS

technology. Internet/Web technology is still needed

for data communication between government

institutions (G2G). The proposed model encourages

governments to focus their public services through

SMS technology rather than Internet/web

technology, in order to minimize technology costs

and technological literacy problems.

A five phase model is proposed. The five phases

are: Delivery, Presentation, Communication,

Transaction, and Integration.

The first phase is the Delivery phase. In this

phase there is one-way delivery of information, from

the Government to citizens and businesses (G2C and

G2B) via SMS technology using government SMS

servers. This system will provide an easy, fast, and

efficient system for disseminating official

government information, in a concise format, to the

public (G2C and G2B). This information could

include: tax payment dates, disaster warnings, bank

interest rates, currency rates, notification of

publication of new government policy/regulation,

weather reports, and other official information.

Examples of applications which could be included in

this phase are: the ‘disaster warning-SMS’

developed by Thailand and Malaysia which, when a

potential disaster like a tsunami or earthquake is

forecast, informs government officials in areas likely

to be affected. Government units including the

police, fire fighters and rescue teams can then

immediately implement evacuation plans. News of

possible disaster is also broadcast through SMS to

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all citizens in the area with a request to follow

instructions for evacuation. In Malaysia, the

Ministry of Agriculture sends SMS messages to

farmers’ mobile phones alerting them of increased

water levels enabling them to take the necessary

steps to avoid any potential damage to their

agriculture lands (Automo, 2004).

This stage is similar to mailing-lists in web-

based systems. The public should have a choice

whether or not they receive government SMS

messages and the information that is sent to them.

Therefore, the success of the phase will depend on

the interest and relevance of the government

information.

The government should post information of

value to people in their daily lives and provide

interesting features for the SMS system, then

advertise them on other media continuously in order

to get as many citizens as possible involved in the e-

government system.

The phase requires government to build a

database of citizens with mobile phones. This

information is available from phone companies. In

some countries it’s not compulsory for new mobile

phone customers to register their personal data and

number with the provider or government agency. In

this case the government has to cooperate with all

mobile phone providers to establish an easy

registration system.

The value of this phase to government is that all

new information from the government, or alerts

about new information can be disseminated to the

public (particularly to mobile subscribers and

through mobile subscribers to other citizens) in a

simple, fast and efficient manner. This phase’s value

to public is that people can receive up-to-date

information quickly at minimal cost. The phase will

also stimulate information awareness among the

public. It’s an important phase for starting an

information society, a society that is interested and

eager to get, distribute, and learn about information.

The second phase is the Presentation phase. It’s

called presentation, because in this phase, in addition

to ‘passive’ one-way official information, the SMS

system also lets the public access the Government

SMS server actively by SMS to obtain information

that they need. In this phase, query statements for

getting information are standard and provided by the

SMS servers; the public choose from information

options provided, such as information about

transportation services, weather, news and due dates

for submission of documents. Therefore, in order to

keep the information options of the system up-to-

date, the government should survey the public’s

need regularly and actively.

Examples of applications that may be included in

this phase are: employment services by SMS in

Sweden, which allow an employment seeker to

access the SMS server and choose an employment

area, then the SMS server sends appropriate

employment information

This stage not only provides an easy way for

governments to disseminate up-to-date information

to the public but also gives the public the

opportunity to access, to choose and to get

information actively at any time.

The third phase is the Communication phase.

The communication phase allows two way SMS-

based communications between the public and

government. In addition to the services of phases

one and two, people can also send questions and get

replies in a short time. The questions may be

answered by computer or by an official depending

on the query. For example, people can ask questions

about their electricity or gas or tax bill account, ask

about government policy, or report an accident.

An example of current applications which can be

included in this phase is as follows. In Ireland, The

Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Ireland’s tax

collection agency, receives as many enquiries by

SMS as by telephone which allows citizens to claim

tax credits and request a number of tax forms and

information leaflets by sending SMS from their

mobile phones. Forms and leaflets requested by

users are then sent to them via postal mail. For tax

credits, users receive text messages letting them

know the progress of their claim, and once the claim

has been successfully processed, they receive a Tax

Credit Certificate by post (IDABC, 2005)

For this phase to be successful, answers must be

consistent and received promptly. New and difficult

questions should be acknowledged and information

sent about when the answer will be given, by whom,

and how the explanation will be given (by letter,

email, phone, or meeting). This phase will require

additional complexity of the Government

information technology; no change in the public

technology and the value to the public is higher.

The public now has the opportunity to

communicate with their government directly,

efficiently and quickly.

The fourth phase of this model is the

Transaction phase. This phase’s name is taken

from the third phase of Gartner model, which is

similar. The transaction phase of the SMS-based e-

government model is achieved when the public can

complete transactions by SMS without going to an

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office, such as applying for a tax number, applying

for an identity card, or making a tax payment. This

phase will be more complex as authentication,

verification, non-repudiation and security issues

must be addressed.

This phase must take into account current

legislation in relation to transactions and format and

design techniques for getting information by the

limited capabilities of SMS. Current applications

which can be included in this phase are: the parking

payment system by SMS in London and Austria,

US, Ireland which drivers can use to pay their

parking meter by registering their mobile phone,

credit card and licence number details; the drivers

also get a reminder message 10 minutes before they

need to move their vehicle. Another application is

the ‘SMS-Vote system’ used by the Sheffield City

Council, which enables citizens to vote completely

by SMS.

The dominant values of this phase are efficiency

and customer satisfaction, that is the citizens and

businesses have been treated as customers by

government. Additionally, security and trust will be

key issues of this level.

The ultimate phase of this model is the

Integration phase. In this phase each SMS system

is integrated with the other SMS systems and all

other e-government systems, including Internet/web-

based e-government systems. The public can access

all SMS services by sending SMS messages to one

address or by accessing the Internet at one web

address. This phase accommodates the situation that

when Internet penetration has become much greater

and the Internet/web literacy of the public has

increased. The government gives the public the

choice of continuing to access the e-government

systems by SMS or changing to the Internet/web

medium. This is the ultimate goal of this model. By

the time this stage has been reached mobile phones

are likely to be web enabled.

4 CONCLUSIONS

This paper has proposed an SMS-based model for e-

government that can be used in developing countries

to enable citizens without the necessary Internet

technology and literacy to gain electronic access to

e-government services. It provides a suitable path to

the Internet/web-based e-government models used in

first world countries as it utilizes the currently

widely available mobile phone technology and

existing skills of the public. Most of the Information

Technology infrastructure and skills development

needed is in the provision of the services by the

government. Additional costs and skills training for

the public are minimized.

During implementation, all government

institutions don’t have to be in the same phase at the

same time. Each institution can stop at the

appropriate phase as determined by the institution’s

need, infrastructure, and public demand. For

example, the climate and disaster department can be

just in phase one, the police department can be in

phase three, and in the same time the tax department

can be in phase four. Also, the model indicates that

in its current phase, an institution must provide the

services of the previous phases.

Issues needing further investigation include: the

presentation of information using SMS, using SMS

messages to access databases and future directions

of mobile phone technology.

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