e-government

This study aims to investigate the impact of e-government on organizational performance through job motivation in Arak Municipality. The research is applied in terms of purpose and causal in terms of nature and method. The statistical population consists of 300 municipal experts in Arak, with a sample size of 169 determined using Cochran’s formula. The data were collected through a field survey using a validated and reliable questionnaire. The data analysis was conducted using statistical software at both descriptive and inferential levels. Descriptive statistics, such as frequency and percentage, were used, while structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the research hypotheses. Findings indicate that e-government has a positive impact on organizational performance through job motivation. E-government directly enhances organizational performance. E-government has a positive effect on job motivation. Job motivation positively influences organizational performance.

E-Government, with the aim of utilizing modern technologies and data science to enhance effectiveness and improve the delivery of public services, has emerged as a crucial component of modern governance. "Fast Data" is an emerging concept that refers to data types that enable rapid identification of issues, timely decision-making, and the formulation of appropriate policies to address them in electronic governance. Therefore, the present study aims to apply the concept of fast data to improve e-government policies through a multi-phase qualitative approach, using systematic review and thematic analysis methods. The target population of the study included experts in the field of information technology and faculty members from universities in Tehran and Central provinces, specializing in policymaking, information science, and communication studies. Data collection was carried out through library studies and semi-structured interviews, with 10 experts interviewed using the snowball sampling method. Finally, the analysis of the research data led to the identification of basic, organizing, and overarching themes, and a thematic network was constructed. The results of the study reveal four key strategies for improving e-government policies: 1. “Understanding Fast Data”, which can enhance the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of e-government; 2. “Information and Communication Technology Solutions”, which emphasize the need to improve telecommunications infrastructure, system integration, and the development of identity management infrastructure; 3. Cultural Solutions, which include raising awareness, social support, and public engagement for the adoption of fast data; and 4. Managerial Solutions, which require electronic leadership, improved urban infrastructure, and the development of organizational procedures.

This study examines tax system reforms and their role in improving tax compliance, transparency, and economic efficiency. Tax reforms include policies such as digitization of processes, tax fairness, and improved interaction with taxpayers, which have been used in many countries as a solution to increase tax revenues and reduce tax evasion. In Iran, despite efforts to develop e-government and financial transparency, challenges such as weak infrastructure, resistance to change, and traditional organizational culture still exist. This study emphasizes that for success in tax system reform, a comprehensive approach is needed with a focus on new technologies, taxpayer education, and social trust-building to achieve the goals of sustainable economic development and social justice.

 The primary factor contributing to administrative corruption in the country is the lack of transparency and accountability of the government and its subsidiaries toward the public. The lack of attention to the transparency of Iranian public organizations over the years has resulted in irreparable damage to the country. In recent years, substantial financial and administrative corruption cases have emerged in governmental agencies nearly every few months. Thus, this research addresses a fundamental issue within the country, as a majority of the public has personally experienced these challenges and irregularities when interacting with public organizations. This study aims to present a model for enhancing administrative transparency in alignment with e-government development programs.

Design/ methodology/ approach: 

Since few studies have been conducted on the transparency of the administrative system in relation to e-government development programs, the nature of this research is exploratory, and the approach is qualitative. Specifically, it utilizes a case study strategy focused on the Social Security Organization. The research population includes elites and academic experts within the Social Security Organization. No sample size calculation was required because the qualitative sample was purposefully selected. The researcher used a snowball sampling technique to reach theoretical saturation, achieving it after conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 experts. The study employed thematic analysis to propose and validate a model titled “Model for Enhancing Administrative Transparency in Interaction with E-Government Development Programs.” Participant validation was used to ensure construct validity. Internal validity was established by comparing the experience-based model generated from coding, categorization, and qualitative data analysis with the anticipated model derived from theoretical subjects. To ensure the reliability of the qualitative part of the research and theoretical saturation, the agreement test based on the correlation matrix of the agreement of opinions between the interviewees and the diagram of two coders have been used. Additionally, the data analysis was performed using the Maxqda qualitative analysis software, version 2020.

 The research findings revealed nine main themes. The sub-themes for the first main theme (Organizational Culture and Atmosphere) include organizational values, organizational trust, motivational practices, and superior organizational atmosphere. Sub-themes for the second main theme (Administrative Structure and Processes) include structural and process integration, decentralization, and administrative process reform. Sub-themes for the third main theme (Managerial Factors) include appropriate leadership style, financial management, human resource management, and IT management. Sub-themes for the fourth main theme (Environmental Factors) include the economic environment, cultural environment, government and legal institutions, and the political environment. Sub-themes for the fifth main theme (Managerial Supervision) include hierarchical supervision, inspector supervision, and digital supervision. Sub-themes for the sixth main theme (Public Supervision) include individual monitoring, media oversight, and supervision by NGOs. Sub-themes for the seventh main theme (Public Accountability) include establishing an accountable structure, stakeholder accountability, and promoting a culture of accountability. Sub-themes for the eighth main theme (Establishment of E-Government) include e-service delivery, e-information dissemination, e-accountability, and e-participation. Sub-themes for the ninth main theme (Growth and Development of the Social Security Organization) include dynamism and flourishing, growth in organizational profitability, human resource growth and development, and improving organizational and staff performance.

Limitations & Consequences:

 Due to time constraints, this article only focuses on the Social Security Organization (selected for accessibility as the research population).

Practical Consequences:

 This research's findings benefit the Social Security Organization, all companies within this sector, and generally to all governmental and private organizations within the country.

Innovation or value:

 of the Article Given the limited studies on administrative transparency in interaction with e-government development programs, this study employs a qualitative research approach, specifically a case study strategy in the Social Security Organization.

 The aim of this research is to examine and test the model for enhancing administrative transparency in interaction with e-government development programs in the Social Security Organization.

 This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection method. Data were collected using a standardized researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population in the quantitative section includes all employees of the Social Security Organization. The sampling method for the present study, considering the target population, is stratified sampling. Approximately 65,000 individuals are in the population, and based on Cochran's formula, a sample of 385 individuals was selected. Subsequently, the composite reliability and the reliability of each research component were calculated, with the results indicating the reliability of the measurement tool. Additionally, the divergent and convergent validity of the questionnaire suggests the validity of the instrument. For data analysis, structural equation modeling was employed using the Smart PLS4 software.

 The results indicate that e-government has a significant impact on the growth and development of the Social Security Organization. Administrative structure and processes significantly influence managerial oversight, public oversight, and public accountability. Environmental factors also significantly impact managerial oversight, public oversight, and public accountability. Furthermore, managerial factors have a significant effect on managerial oversight, public oversight, and public accountability. Organizational culture and atmosphere significantly affect managerial oversight, public oversight, and public accountability. Finally, managerial oversight, public oversight, and public accountability have a significant impact on e-government.

 The model for enhancing administrative transparency in interaction with e-government development programs in the Social Security Organization can be proposed as a comprehensive and practical package for all managers of executive agencies in general and for the Social Security Organization in particular.

The current research was carried out with the aim of explaining the effects of e-government benefits in order to continuously use e-government services among the citizens of Tehran, to help increase the use of e-government benefits by examining this effect and mediating factors involved in it. The current research philosophically follows the positivist paradigm and is based on the goal criterion in the applied-developmental research group and based on the criterion of the nature of data and the basis of quantitative research. The data collection tool is a standard questionnaire. Validity of the research tool based on Cronbach's alpha test for the e-government benefits questionnaire (0.75), intention to continuously use e-government services (0.73), citizens' trust (0.71), national culture (0.77), digital divide (0.79) has been confirmed, the statistical population of the research includes the citizens of Tehran. The sample size in this research is equal to 294 people using Sample Powell sampling software. The research data analysis tool is SPSS and AMOS statistical software. In order to determine the presence or absence of influence between variables and to estimate and generalize the results obtained from the sample size to the statistical population, a simple regression model with a hidden variable, a mediator model, and a path model have been used to evaluate the research hypotheses and the conceptual model of the research. The findings of the research indicated that the benefits of e-government have an effect on the intention to continuously use e-government services, and citizens' trust, national culture, and the digital divide have a partial mediating role in the effect of e-government benefits on the intention to continuously use e-government services.

Even though the electronic government can be a basic step to advance the goals of governments, it also faces challenges in the way of implementation. If the governments cannot provide electronic services uniformly to the general public, it will lead to a class divide in the society and ultimately people's dissatisfaction. The purpose of this research is to present the native model of e-government in Iran. For this purpose, first by reviewing the research literature, the theoretical framework of the research was developed, and the conceptual model of the research was presented and the research hypotheses were developed. In order to test the hypotheses, the statistical population including the elites of the headquarters of the Ministry of Sports and Youth were considered. Based on available sampling, questionnaires whose validity and reliability were confirmed were distributed among 131 people from the statistical sample and due to the non-normality of data distribution, partial least squares method and SmartPLS3 software were used for statistical analysis. Based on significant values, all six hypotheses were confirmed. The influence of managerial factors on the implementation of e-government equal to 0.608, human resources factors on the implementation of e-government equal to 0.658, technical factors on the development of e-government implementation equal to 0.671, economic factors on the implementation of e-government equal to 0.627, environmental factors on the implementation of e-government equal to with 0.661 and organizational factors on the implementation of e-government equal to 0.692.

In this research, by reviewing the subject literature and comparative analysis of electronic readiness evaluation models (E-Readiness), a conceptual model was developed to measure the readiness of organizations to accept, use and benefit from information and communication technology. This model includes 6 main criteria (emphasis and commitment of senior management, information technology policies and strategies, specialized aspects of management, development of information technology human resources, information technology infrastructure and information technology-based processes) and 24 sub-criteria related to each of the six main criteria. The validity of this model was done by obtaining the opinion of experts and conducting preliminary validation statistical tests. Then, using the ANP analysis process and the method of pairwise comparisons, and using the Super Decision software, the criteria, sub-criteria and their weighting were evaluated. Further, in the field study, the mentioned model was used to evaluate the preparedness of the studied organizations. The status of these organizations is better than the other fields in terms of top management's commitment to the use of information technology in organizations, the specialized dimensions of management and information technology policies and strategies in organizations. In addition, the organizations do not have a favorable situation in the rest of the fields. But since in terms of the commitment of the top management to the use of information technology in the organization, the policies and strategies of information technology in the organization and the specialized aspects of management have a relatively favorable situation. 

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by Transparency International over recent years sheds light on Iran's unfavorable ranking. The present research develops an Electronic government (e-Government) model that emphasizes countering corruption in Iran. It prioritizes the critical parameters in countering corruption to establish the comprehensive structure of e-Government. Thus, this study is developmental and applied in terms of its goals. It draws on the Exploratory sequential mixed methodology and follows a descriptive correlational research design. The statistical population in the qualitative section consists of experts, whereas the quantitative part studies the relevant staff and university professors. The qualitative phase relies on judgment sampling, with the quantitative phase utilizing cluster sampling and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative and fuzzy Delphi phase employs questionnaires with closed-ended questions. Reliability was calculated through the retest reliability method and was verified using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Theme analysis and the Fuzzy Delphi method were used to analyze the data. Findings suggest that Information Technology (IT), network accessibility, regulations, C2G, B2G, and G2G services, and human capital constitute critical priorities in establishing an e-Government to counter corruption.

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceptions on accountability, responsibility and transparency towards public trust mediated by the perceived effectiveness of e-government in public administration. 

Design/Methodology/Approach: 

The current research was conducted using a quantitative cross-sectional field survey, the primary data at the statistical community levels are related to 23 active police electronic service offices (Police +10) in Gilan province, the sample size is 392 people. Among the people who refer to service offices, they were selected through probability sampling (stratified random), the method of data collection is descriptive, and in terms of type and analysis, it is Pearson correlation. In order to collect data and information, the field method was used to distribute the questionnaire.

Positive results were obtained for all hypothetical links (direct and indirect relationships). The results of R2 show a change of %79.2 in the totality of public trust in the government due to all direct and intermediary structures. R2 for the effectiveness of e-government is %56.4. which shows the relationship between good governance and public trust from citizens' expectations due to the effectiveness of electronic government.

Limitations & Consequences: 

The limitation of this research is that it was carried out in the geographical area of Gilan province, which makes it difficult to generalize its results to the entire country.

Practical Consequences: 

This study provides an implementation framework for public trust in the direction of government governance through citizens' perception of the effectiveness of electronic office services.

Innovation or value of the Article:  

According to the arguments made, this paper concluded that good governance practices create and increase public trust in the government, thus providing directions in key policies. Also, the findings of this research contribute to the validity of the theory of good governance with electronic governance.

Eliminating paper electricity bills is an important step towards reducing costs and environmental pollutants, providing accurate, fast, and efficient services, honoring customers, and consolidating and expanding e-government goals. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of eliminating paper bills (National Green Bills Plan) on achieving the goals of e-government with emphasis on foresight in the electricity company . The present study is descriptive-correlational in terms of applied purpose and in terms of data collection method. The statistical population of the present study consisted of employees of electricity departments of West Azerbaijan province in 2020, whose number was 720 people who were selected through cluster random sampling; That number was 251 people. In order to check the validity for the researcher-made questionnaire of the National Green Bill Plan, the content validation method was used which was attended by 6 university professors in the field of management and for the standard e-government questionnaire, face validity was used.Cronbach's alpha was used for reliability, so that Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the variables of the national green bill plan and the achievement of e-government goals were equal to 0.866 and 0.892, respectively. The results of the reliability study for all dimensions were reported to be greater than 0.7. SPSS software was used for data analysis. The results of the hypothesis test showed that the implementation of elimination of paper bills (National Green Bill Plan) has a positive and significant effect on the realization of e-government goals with emphasis on foresight Electricity Company.

Government data contains a large amount of valuable data that can be exploited in various fields if opened. Utilizing open government data, in addition to providing the opportunity to monitor government performance and to create transparency and justice, has another very important function. It helps with developing innovation and the issue has recently been considered by many researchers. However, past research has inconsistently examined the intra-organizational factors influencing open government data to achieve innovation. The present study seeks to identify the intra-organizational factors affecting open government data to achieve innovation in government services through applying the systematic meta-combination method.

In this research, to identify the intra-organizational factors affecting open government data, the systematic meta-synthesis method was used. For this purpose, 888 related articles based on title, abstract and content were filtered and 51 final articles were obtained.

 Based on the results obtained from the theme analysis method, four main categories including technological, managerial, human, and governance dimensions were distinguished. Also, 13 sub-categories including infrastructure, application systems, data, structural, process, strategic, economic, individual, organizational communication, organizational culture, policy, legal, and governance data were extracted which includes 101 concepts and 479 final codes.

The results of this study, contrary to the initial expectations, proved hard technological factors as the least important and other factors, including data, structural and legal factors, respectively as the most important. Thus, in data policies, first, it’s necessary to access data and consider the data quality. In structural policies, it is necessary to pay attention to how to mobilize resources and facilities. In strategic policies, how to interact with stakeholders is vital to be explained. Based on the findings of this research, the internal organizational factors affecting the formation of innovation based on open government data were classified into four main categories for better policy-making. In the category of technology, it is necessary to consider the technical and technological principles of open data from the aspect of required infrastructure, application systems, and data sources. In the management category, it is necessary to pay attention to structural and process requirements along with strategic and economic aspects. In the human category that examines the soft aspects, it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of open data from individual perspectives, communication, and organizational culture. In the category of governance, policy aspects, organizational rules, and factors related to data governance need to be considered with the aim of achieving innovation from open government data. Therefore, the present study initially tried to provide a comprehensive framework for policy-making in government institutions by interpreting and presenting a new category of internal factors. Secondly, it sought to smooth the path of future research to expand and spread innovation based on open data.

E-government has been gaining attention for more than a decade. This study was conducted with the aim of ranking the key factors affecting the improvement of transparency and accountability of e-government in the municipalities of the 22 districts of Tehran Municipality using a descriptive-analytical methodology. The statistical population of this study was 25 senior managers of Tehran municipalities who were randomly selected. The data collection tool is a questionnaire and the data analysis method is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results showed that the index of “Strategic factors C5”, with a weight of 0.387, is more important in relation to the ranking of key factors affecting the increase of transparency and e-government accountability in the municipalities of 22 districts of Tehran, and the indicators of “organizational factors C1”, “Structural factors C2”, “Cultural factors C4”, and “Technological factors C3” are in the second to fifth ranks with weights of 0.230, 0.156, 0.125 and 0.101, respectively. Also, in the study related to the final ranking of sub-indicators, it was found that the sub-indicators of “government support” and “mechanisms of internet using laws” from the main index group “strategic factors”, and “reduction of bureaucratic structures” from the the main indicator group of "organizational factors" with the weights of 0.1192, 0.1424 and 0.0846 were ranked first to third, respectively.

Teleworking was one of the main actions of organizations and companies around the world during the Covid 19 pandemic, which, of course, used to be done for various reasons, but not to the extent of the pandemic era.The National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the government agencies, has used telecommuting platform since the beginning of the signification of the telecommunications regulations in 2010 up tonow, due to the nature of its functional and quantitative nature of many of its specialized jobs. But the question is how this organization, despite having a decade of experience in implementing and managing the telecommuting process, has dealt with this issue during the Corona pandemic crisis, and in other words, what new lessons has it achieved from this emerging experience? The aim of this study was to answer this question with inductive approach and qualitative method. The target population of this study was employees and managers with a history of teleworking or decision makers in the teleworking process in the National Library and Archives of Iran. Sampling was unlike probability quota and continued until data saturation. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews and the method of analysis was thematic analysis. Findings showed that the organization's experiences of telecommuting during the Corona pandemic are divided into five main themes and nineteen sub-themes resulting from them. In other words, to manage telecommuting in times of Corona crisis, proper confrontation was necessary in five main areas: 1. Organizational culture, 2. Organizational systems and infrastructure, 3. Perceptions, attitudes and skills of employees, 4. Adaptation of management styles and 5. Organizational strategies and functions. The requirements of each of these areas are presented in detail in the discussion and conclusion section and can add to the experience of organizations in dealing properly with the telecommuting phenomenon during the Corona pandemic.

Although interest in the idea of ​​telecommuting first emerged with the oil crisis and to avoid the costs imposed in the 1970s, presently in many industries and organizations, telecommuting is even considered a competitive advantage. On the other hand, the nature of work around the world has changed dramatically due to advanced communication tools. Organizations are increasingly turning from an absolute approacha to their physical locations. They are well aware of the importance of adapting to new changes and conditions in order to reduce costs and waste of time and on the other hand increase flexibility and efficiency. Researches related to telecommuting in the world have a history around its age and in Iran, researches on telecommuting has been conducted in the last decade. But in the current context of the world, given the pandamic of the Corona virus and its consequences for organizations, we are witnessing a change in the appearance and substance of telecommuting, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The tangible research gap in this area needs to be explored. The question is, from the point of view of the staff and executors of the telecommuting process in the National Archives and Library of Iran, what are the differences between this process and the telecommuting in the normal state of the organization and how was it? The present study was conducted to answer this question with an inductive approach and a qualitative method. The knowledge-enhancing contribution of the present study is the study of telework experience in one of the major government institutions in the field of culture in the country. Although the issue of telecommuting is not a new issue, so far this issue has been considered as option and has not been addressed in the current era due to the coercion of the Corona pandemic in the country.

The National Archives and Library of Iran was identified as suitable for this study; This is because the organization has a long history of telecommuting implementation, and its review of telecommuting management during the current Covid 19 pandemic crisis will bring valuable points.  Theoretical frameworkTelecommuting is used in many terms; these include: work from home, e-work, virtual work, telework, remote work, distance working, work shifting and flexible work. Of course, these different terms have many conceptual overlaps, and all of them refer in some way to the central nature of telecommuting. People use the concept in a variety of ways, extending it to a wide range of forms of work, including mobile work, work in any place other than the usual employer-accepted workplace, shared office centre or hub and home-based working. For example, Morganson, Major, Auburn, Verio, and Heelan (2010) have defined teleworking as working from anywhere, anytime. Also defined by Apgar (1998) telecommuting is doing work electronically wherever the employee chooses. This method of work is "moving the work towards the employee" instead of "moving the employee towards the work" (Ghanbari, 2011).Teleworking in Iran officially began in July 2010 with the announcement of telecommunications regulations by the government of the time to public agencies and has continued to this day. A decade after the official start of telecommuting in Iran, telecommuting is now practiced in many government ministries, organizations and departments.

The present study is an applied research with a qualitative approach that is applied in terms of purpose and exploratory-inductive in terms of data collection. The target population of the present study was three groups of employees. Staff managers who have telecommute employees. Managers who have experience in the life cycle of telecommunicating like office of planning and supervision and general directorate of human resource, and also employees who have at least one six-month period of experience as a telecommuter. Sampling of the mentioned population was done by unlikely quota method until theoretical saturation was reached. The data collection tool in this study was semi-structured interviews and the data analysis method was thematic analysis.

Brown and Clark (2006) stepwise method was used for analysis in this study. During this process, after implementing and getting acquainted with the data and studying the information several times, the initial codes were created. Codes such as "temporary internet outages" and "telecommuting as unemployment". In the third step, the codes were matched to form potential themes, and all data related to each theme was collected. Then, by reviewing the themes and the relationship between them and the relationship between the themes and the code, the categoris were modified. In the next step, the formed themes were defined and named; Topics such as "psychological health and safety" were listed as sub-themes. Finally, 19 sub-themes were enumerated, which led to the formation of five main themes by increasing the degree of abstraction.ConclusionIn the current situation where the Crona epidemic disease has caused organizations to show more reception in telecommuting, it is necessary for government organizations to be flexible in policy-making and take appropriate measures to the current situation, while maintaining and improving the level of telecommunications capacity provide for government employees.