1. Cairo University
Faculty of Computers and Information
Decision Support and Future Studies Center
Egypt E-Government portal
for better services
In accordance with the Ministry of State for Administrative Development’s goals the first Egyptian electronic website to carry out electronic surveys through the
and with continuous consideration for identifying the citizens’ attitudes as well internet, www.mywebsurveys.net, as a stimulus for the companies specialized
as improving the services, the ministry made use of the Information Technology in research. DSFS Center has hired experts specialized in this area for design-
Exhibition held at Cairo International Con- ing, studying and analyzing the survey. The
vention (February 2010) as a venue to as- study was applied on a sample of 164 re-
sess the citizens’ opinions of the quality spondents, most of which are university
of electronic services provided on the E- graduates. Of those, 109 respondents use
government portal (www.egypt.gov.eg). the portal whereas 55 don’t.
The ministry also seized such oppor- Survey, which is considered one of the most
tunity to measure the citizens’ benefit important scientific research methods used
from these services on one hand and to by researchers, has been used in this study.
determine the obstacles that may result Two questionnaires are designed; the first
into non-use on the other hand. It turned is to measure the opinions of citizens who
out, through the study, that the majority of use the portal and the other for those who
respondents (the sample) are acquainted don’t. The researchers have adopted the
with the existence of the portal. Nonethe- Dr. Ahmed Darwish during a visit to the exhibition “closed questions” style in the design of
less, they do not use the services avail- these forms.
Each questionnaire contains:
able for various reasons to be explained later in this report.
• 9 questions to measure the demographic factors of respondents (sex, age, mari-
The study further found that confidence in the services and costs did not rep-
tal status, and academic qualification) and the nature of the portal use.
resent a major obstacle for use. Most users thought that the benefit and cost
• 15 questions to assess the quality of services provided through 11 dimensions;
of the service were worth the paid fees. Moreover, the organization and brows-
(functionality , response, browsing, reliability, safety, availability, precision, per-
ing of the portal represented a significant constraint for both users and non-
formance, immediacy, efficiency, awareness).
users, in addition to dissatisfaction with the loading speed of the portal pages.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first cooperation between the Ministry
All respondents agreed on the availability of information and forms required by
of Administrative Development and DSFS Center. Another project was imple-
the citizens. It was also observed that a large proportion of the sample couldn’t
mented in 2008 using the same model to evaluate 20 services provided by the
get help when needed via phone or e-mail. Additionally, the study found out that
portal to the citizens.
the most services used by the citizens were mainly related to Telecom Egypt,
The present report introduces the results of the survey in brief for a better under-
personal documents “ID Replacement card”, and Motor vehicle license.
standing of the real vision of government services on the Egyptian Government
Decision Support and Future Studies Center (DSFS) at the Faculty of Computers
Portal. This would equally help clarify the vision so as to have a positive impact on
and Information, Cairo University has carried out this study in collaboration with
this type of services in the future.
Decision Support and Future Studies Center in brief ...... Electronic surveys
- Established in 2002, in the Faculty of Computers and Information - Cairo Site www.mywebsurveys.net in brief ......
University to act as an independent unit to provide scientific consultancy. • This site was established in 2009 due to the difficulty of designing, implement-
- It aims to satisfy the needs of the university, the community, and the state ing and obtaining results from surveys done in the traditional way. Therefore,
the sponsors for this website began to think that these stages can be completed
to improve the performance of systems to arrive at the best alternatives in the
electronically. As a result, this site has been launched as a new service for re-
decision-making process. searchers.
- It provides its services (research, consulting, training) to a wide range of • The site provides the following tasks:
applications as follows: o Designing and implementing a system that allows the researcher to make
o Participating in research projects at the local and global levels. surveys scientifically and easily.
o Providing technical support for both the private and public sectors. o Helping researchers gain access to as many respondents as possible in a
o Holding workshops and panel discussions (Seminars). simple and easy way.
o Supplying software applications development. o Creating a huge database of (members / respondents) of different age groups
o Granting technical diplomas and training courses. and social status ... etc.
o Assisting in the establishment of decision support centers in different authori- o Assisting researchers select respondents from the members registered in the
ties/ organizations. website database based on the criteria set by the researcher.

2. Non-users of the portal
* Based on the results, it has been found that a high percentage of the respondents are dissatisfied with the technical performance of the site as well as
the accuracy of the promises of service..
* A high percentage of respondents are also dissatisfied with the response speed of the site in case of problems or questions and its ability to provide
assistance.
* (40%) of respondents agree on the ease of browsing the site and the presence of a good search function/engine for an easy access to the services the
browser seeks..
* Contrary to popular belief that the lack of public demand for the use of e-government services is a result of their skepticism in maintaining their privacy
and the security of their financial data upon payment, the sample showed the inaccuracy of this belief. Most respondents who don’t use the e-government
portal think that it is safe from any external interventions and protects their personal data.
* A large number of respondents find that the site is permanently available on the internet.
* A small proportion of respondents do not trust the accuracy of the data available on the site.
* A small percentage of the sample can complete transactions on the portal at high speed. This means that the performance rate is slow to some extent.
* (35%) only of the sample believe in the effectiveness and efficiency of the portal.
* A very small proportion of the respondents have no idea about the portal.
Note: Answers are measured on a 5-point scale in which (1) = strongly disagree and (5)= strongly agree.
The portal does not enable me to complete a I do not feel confident in dealing with the portal due The portal does not always works correctly
transaction quickly to its reputation
Assurance/trust
Performance
% %
%
Scale Scale Functionality Scale
The portal does not provide necessary
The portal does not seem to be up to date The portal does not protect my personal information and forms to be downloaded
information
Currency
%
% %
Security
Scale
Scale Scale
The portal does not deliver services The portal does not protect information
I do not get help when I needed assistance
when promised about my credit card (through portal, telephone, or online
representatives)
Responsiveness
% %
%
Scale
Scale Scale
The costs of the service are not adequate Pages at this portal freeze after I enter my
order information It was not easy to find what I need
Efficiency
Availability
%
% %
Scale
Navigation
Scale
Scale
I did not know about the existence of the gate Information on the portal is not free from errors
Information on the portal is not well organized
Accuracy
% % %
Scale
Scale Scale

3. Users of the portal
* Based on the results, it has been found that a high percentage of the respondents are satisfied with the technical performance of the site and the ac�
-
curacy of the promises of service.
* A high percentage of respondents are satisfied with the response speed of the site in case of problems or questions and its ability to provide assistance.
* The percentage of the respondents who agree with the easiness of browsing the site and the presence of a good search function/engine for the services
is very close to the percentage of those who don’t.
* A high percentage of the sample trust in dealing with the website and the services and information provided. In addition, more than half of the respon-
dents believe that the site is safe from external interventions and can protect their personal data.
* A very small proportion of the respondents find that the site is not permanently available on the internet.
* A high proportion of the sample trusts the accuracy of the data available on the site, in contrast to those who doesn’t..
* A small percentage of the sample can complete transactions on the portal at high speed. This means that the performance rate is slow to some extent..
* Most of the sample believe in the effectiveness and efficiency of the site, and find that the information on the portal is constantly updated..
Note: Answers are measured on a 5-point scale in which (1) = strongly disagree and (5)= strongly agree.
The portal enables me to complete I feel confident in dealing with the portal The portal always works correctly
a transaction quickly due to its reputation
Assurance/trust
Performance
% % %
Scale Scale Functionality Scale
The portal provides necessary information
The portal seems to be up to date and forms to be downloaded
The portal protects my personal information
Currency
% % %
Scale
Scale Scale
Security
The portal protects information about my
credit card I got help when I needed assistance
The portal delivers services when promised (through portal, telephone, or online
representatives)
Responsiveness
% % %
Scale Scale
Scale
The costs of the service are adequate Pages at this portal do not freeze after I enter
my order information It was easy to find what I need
Efficiency
Availability
%
%
%
Navigation
Scale
scale
Scale
The overall value I got from this portal for
my money is high Information on the portal is well
Information on the portal is free from errors
%
Accuracy
%
%
Scale Scale Scale

4. How did you know about the portal and its services
Results of questions of measuring
demographic factors of respon-
dents and how they use the portal
Did someone help you ?
Internet Friends Newspaper T.V Ad
Ad
Education
Did you help someone ?
Gender
Less than Secondary Diploma High education Master or
secondary higher
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LogIn2EGYPT is a research project funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (www.idrc.ca).
Decision Support and Future Studies
Cairo University , Faculty of Computers and Information, 5 Ahmed Zwaeil Street ,
Orman, Giza - 12613 - Egypt
Phone/Fax: +202 3749 0598
Email: dsfs@fci-cu.edu.eg
Website: http:dsfs.fci-cu.edu.eg