Mobile Government in Egypt
Modern governmental agencies aim to present their services to citizens in an efficient manner. The methods employed for delivering these services are usually based on traditional computer applications. However, the computer applications suffer from limitations related to the services themselves as well as time and place. To overcome these limitations, governments are keen to use non-traditional and innovative forms for services delivery. In this context, mobile devices and applications built for such technologies can be efficiently used for delivering governmental services to citizens. This way of Government to Citizen (G2C) interaction is often referred to as m-Government. The Egyptian government has implemented many IT-based projects in the last decade. Currently, it aims to transform these projects to mobile platform. In this chapter, the authors discuss m-Government in Egypt and its related issues. The chapter begins by a survey for the available e-Government services in Egypt. So, the current Egyptian mobile situation is stated. Consequently, the chapter analyzes the possible opportunities for the government presenting m-Government services. Finally, the challenges facing the mobile applications industry in Egypt are discussed. At the same time, this chapter introduces some possible solutions for these challenges. The analysis of the Egyptian situation shows that the Egyptian society has many opportunities for developing m-Government applications. These opportunities should be exploited. Moreover, the existing challenges facing m-Government in Egypt can be avoided by good governance. The cooperation between all authorities in the republic is a must for the effectiveness and efficiency of m-Government projects.