Unlocking the eGovernment potential
This course presented the perfect opportunity to deepen my knowledge in e-Governance and acquire the skills necessary to be part of successful and impactful e-Government projects”. Veronika Petrović (Croatia) took part in the executive eGovernment program from 2 – 6 November 2020. This 5-day course is designed to develop the understanding of the potential of e-Government, the policies, the required legal and institutional frameworks and to gain insights into an engaging e-Government involving different stakeholders. Due to the current circumstances, the program was taught online.
Introduction to eGovernment
The first day kicked of with a warm welcome and brief introduction of Joris Stadhouders, Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at MSM. After the introduction Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen, EGOV Adviser at the United Nations University on Policy- Driven Electronic Governance (Portugal), took the participants into the world of eGovernment. The participants gained understanding of the concepts, terminologies and technologies for online service delivery and learned how to evaluate the approaches and usability of online service delivery based on current “best practices and standards”. They also discussed and analyzed policies and issues that governments and agencies are facing in developing online services, as well as the impact of security issues, laws and regulations.
ICT management, strategies, policies and change
On the second day, Joris Stadhouders showed the participants various frameworks to analyze ICT in an organization and explained how strategy, structure, process, roles, IT management and the culture of an organization play a role in the context of service delivery. Furthermore, the participants analyzed and discussed the failures and successes of recent e-Government projects and systems worldwide. The ITPOSMO framework by Richard Heeks, which extremely suitable for risk reduction and mitigation with respect to information systems in the public sector of developing countries, was applied by the participants to their own cases.
Project management in the context of eGovernment
In the second half of the week, the participants learned all about the importance of project management in the context of e-Government. The main question here is how organizations can achieve their goals and deliver projects on time, within the budget available while achieving the promised benefits. In addition Joris discussed the various stages of the systems development life cycle (planning, analysis, design, implementation, maintenance). An important aspect here is how to involve all stakeholders in the process and how to manage scope creep. On Thursday, the participants presented their individual action plan in which they applied the different lessons learned throughout the program.
Researching and improving eGovernment quality
The last day closed off with a presentation of Mahmoud El-Sheimy, a well experienced international IT specialist. Mahmoud provided the participants with various sessions about the different research projects that were conducted to explore the main service quality challenges of Qatar’s e-Government Call Center (QGCC), previously known as ICTQatar. Furthermore, they discussed the research outcomes and the recommendations given to the management of QGCC in order to improve performance.
Although this 5-day online course was quite intense, Viktoria had a very positive experience: “The sessions were insightful and engaging, with enough time dedicated to both theoretical principles and practical examples. The lecturers were very professional, and at the same time approachable. I am certainly going to use the gained skills to offer enhanced and improved advice and support on e-Government issues to relevant authorities.”
Would you like to join the eGovernment program as well?
The dates for the next 5-day eGovernment program is 31 May – 4 June 2021. In case you would like to join, make sure you apply before 3 May 2021.
About MSM’s executive education programs
In today’s rapidly changing world, it is important for leaders and professionals to keep their knowledge and skills up to date and relevant. Investing in executive education is investing in your future. At MSM, we embrace this lifelong learning approach! MSM’s hands-on executive programs, led by thought leaders and business experts, provide a practical and action-oriented learning experience and are designed to have an immediate impact on performance.
