E-Government Initiatives in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

In the past decade, most countries have embraced new technologies in an effort to improve the way they offer public services to citizens. Some do so in order to improve the channels through which they communicate and interact with their citizens, while others do so to improve the efficiency of delivery of services; and as a result, introduce savings in the utilization of resources that could also be used in creating new value adding initiatives. This chapter looks at the opportunities provided by e-government initiatives, and also discusses the importance of citizens’ involvement in e-government system development, with particular emphasis on Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Here, the authors investigate how citizen’s participation affects the success or failure of e-government systems. They attempt to identify factors that could impact the use of such systems and look at ways to encourage stakeholders’ engagement in the development process as a means to improve the services provision. In the end, the chapter also looks at the potential for initiating a program to deliver enhanced government services and social inclusion that embraces electronic communication media within regional governments in developing countries such as KRI.