Value-Centric E-Government: The Case Of Dubai Municipality

In the past five years e-government initiatives have gained tremendous momentum and as a result governments worldwide are actively pursuing them. The implementation methodologies currently available view the implementation process as a progressive technological build-up resulting eventually in cost savings. It is important, however, that these methodologies take into consideration value-addition as early as possible. This paper presents the case of Dubai Municipality (DM) which has taken value-centric steps that have led to successful implementations and high acceptance rate. These steps are: 1) Developing effectiveness measures to track and measure value added; 2) Identifying high value services to both customers and the government; 3) Selecting services that are highly visible as well as less complex to implement first from a list of high value services; 4) Developing services through an all inclusive process in which the stakeholders are both involved and contribute to defining the final product; and 5) Providing training and support after implementation. These value-centric steps are generic and can be incorporated in any implementation process to add value that uses technology effectively to enhance service quality and reduce costs.