Abstract
Municipal services for the Building Development Divisions at various places worldwide have recently opted for the concept of e-services. Discussions about the importance of strategic planning consistently emerge in literature on e-government, innovation, and information technology implementation. With regard to municipal e-services this might include finding out what online services residents and businesses of the municipality consider to be most useful. This paper introduces a strategic approach for municipal e-services in general and for the Building Development Divisions in particular that aims at improving communications between the Municipality, its partners and citizens; improving learning and workplace skills; and improving the ways in which the Municipality organizes and delivers its services. Such e-services might include e-Plan Status, e-Permits, e-Inspections, e-Inspection Schedule, e-Notifications, e-Building Development and others based on users need within a user-centered approach. The approach introduced in this paper consists of seven primary components: (a) restructuring of business processes; (b) user-centered focus; (c) external partnership; (d) operation framework; (e) efficient and reliable ICT infrastructure of service delivery; (f) community of learners; and (g) plan for progressive development of e-services. These components are sorted based on their logical sequence. The paper articulates these components that can be used as practical measures for municipalities that are currently offering or planning to offer e-services for its Building Development Division. The position of e-services and its location in relation to the e-government schema is addressed. The scope of e-services in terms of nature of business and nature of participants is articulated in an interrelationship matrix format. Furthermore, three models of delivering e-services are introduced along with the potential benefits of delivering effective e-services.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 3rd eServices Symposium in The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: The Future of eServices: The Next Step? |
| Editors | Mahmoud Ahmed Abdellatif |
| Place of Publication | Khobar, Saudi Arabia |
| Publisher | The Emirate of the Eastern Province and the e-Services Committee of the Eastern Province |
| Pages | 2-12 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Municipal e-Services
- Strategic Approach
- Building Development Divisions