1. Content Management & Portal Management
Christine Apikul

2. Module 1 Objectives
Provide an overview of the global trends in e-governance
Discuss the status of e-governance in the Arab region and in Iraq
Define key terminologies including content, content management, portal and portal management
Describe the technological trends affecting content management and portal management
Highlight the strategic directions and challenges in content management and portal management

3. Status of e-Governance
According to the United Nations e-Government Survey 2012, progress in online service delivery continues in most countries
Many countries have an e-governance strategy in place
Most countries have established a national e-governance portal

4. e-Government Development Leaders (Source: UN e-Government Survey 2012)
Rank
Country
e-Government Development Index 1
Republic of Korea
0.9283 2
Netherlands
0.9125 3
United Kingdom
0.8960 4
Denmark
0.8889 5
United States of America
0.8687 6
France
0.8635 7
Sweden
0.8599 8
Norway
0.8593 9
Finland
0.8505 10
Singapore
0.8474

5. UN e-Gov Survey Indices
Online services – public websites and services at different levels of maturity
Telecommunication – computers, Internet users, phone lines, mobile/fixed subscriptions
Human capital – adult literacy rate, gross education enrolment
e-Participation – information sharing, consultation, decision-making

6. Barriers and Challenges
Low levels of e-governance uptake even in developed countries
The digital divide further impedes the uptake of e-governance
Internal challenges include inefficient and ineffective government processes and mindsets, and political regulatory and budgetary constraints
Citizens are increasingly expecting government to go beyond online service delivery, moving from what the technological developments can do, to what citizens want

7. The Digital Divide
The digital divide separates people in several ways:
It can mean separation between those who have access to technology versus those who do not
It separates those who have access to information versus those who do not
It creates a separation between those who are able to successfully use ICTs versus those who are not able to
There is the digital divide between developed and the developing countries, and within countries between different socio-economic groups and localities.
Bridging the digital divide involves addressing wider developmental issues such as poverty reduction, literacy and education and gender equality.

8. Cost of fixed broadband subscription (Source: ITU)
< 1% of average monthly income (AMI)
Top 31 developed countries
> 50% of AMI
In 19 of these countries – > 100% of AMI
Bottom 32 countries
Broadband Internet access is perhaps the best and most important example of the digital divide.
Basic Internet connectivity offers people a window to the world but broad connectivity gives them a doorway to a better life. Effective telemedicine, e-commerce, e-banking and e-governance all depend on a high-speed, secure Internet connection. Telemedicine, for example, is becoming an increasingly important tool for bringing access to medicine to rural communities, by providing vital links to expertise around the world. But for telemedicine to work it requires access to broadband technology.
Broadband is now recognized by some as a basic human right. Yet, there is a huge divide in broadband access. In the 31 countries at the top of the list—those where broadband is most affordable—a fixed broadband subscription costs less than 1 per cent of average monthly income. But for people who live in the 32 countries where broadband is least affordable—most of them UN-designated Least Developed Countries—a fixed broadband subscription costs over half of average monthly income. In 19 of those countries, a broadband connection costs more than the full average monthly income.

9. Global e-Governance Trends
Countries are moving to an integrated unified whole-of-government model
Countries are paying closer attention to multichannel service delivery
Countries are engaging more closely with citizens
In the effort to bridge the digital divide and increase citizens’ uptake of e-governance, and at the same time, improve government processes and systems for more efficient and effective service delivery, there are three major trends taking place.

10. Whole-of-government Model
From silos to an integrated approach
Driven by various societal forces such as:
Growing complexity of problems that call for collaborative responses
Increased demand from citizens for more personalized and accessible public services
Opportunities presented by the Internet to transform

11. Whole-of-government Model
The product of this model is an integrated one-stop portal
Two approaches:
One national integrated portal e.g. Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, NZ, Norway, Qatar, Republic of Korea, UAE, USA
More than one portal, with thematic and/or functional services integrated in a manner that finds e-information separate from e-services or e-participation. e.g. Most countries from the European Union
Information, services and participation services integrated on one site or separate.

12. Multichannel Service Delivery
The provision of public services by various means in an integrated and coordinated way so that users receive consistent information and services across channels
Driven by:
Diverse needs and demands of citizens for services
Reach out to as many people as possible, no matter how poor, illiterate or isolated

13. Multichannel Service Delivery
Mix of channels, complemented by human interaction and networks
Online – web portal, website, , online chat
Mobile devices – mobile web, mobile application, SMS, cell broadcasting
Telephone and fax
Contact centre - can handle voice, Internet and written channels (fax and regular mail)
Community service centres or telecentres or kiosks
Government counters

14. Citizen Centric – Why?
Governments recognize that the benefits of e-governance services are very much determined by the number and type of users of these services, and the frequency of their use
Citizens uptake of e-governance services generally low, e.g. 32% in EU countries
A shift from what services governments can provide to what citizens really need
The focus on citizen-centric portal design, conduct of customer survey satisfaction and involvement of citizens in consultations and decision-making processes are evidence of this trend

15. Degree of Citizen Engagement
The United Nations e-Government Survey measures the degree of e-participation against three benchmarks:
Does the national government publish information on items under consideration? (e-information)
Are there ways for the public to engage in consultations with policy makers, government officials and one another? (e-consultation)
Can citizens directly influence decisions, for example by voting online or using a mobile telephone? (e-decision-making)

16. Right to Information
Provide the right to access official documents and other information held by government bodies, subject to exemptions for certain sensitive information
Recognized as a fundamental human right
Linked to accountability and good governance
Linked to citizens engagement is people’s right to information because citizens cannot participate meaningfully if they do not have access to information.

17. Open Data Governments opening previously “locked-up” data sets
Providing raw data to their citizens
Citizens using raw data to produce mashups
The right to information is an important cornerstone of open data use because the latter can only take place when there is a right to access government information.
A number of governments around the world have opened previously “locked-up” government-held datasets, providing raw data to their citizens.
Open data offers opportunities for citizen input, feedback and transparency, which will increase the chances for success of improved public services and service uptakes under the right circumstances.
The typical characteristics of open data is that it is open for everyone to freely use, reuse and integrate various data.
Governments are collecting data and presenting data in one way that serves their need. But there are many ways that data can be interpreted and used.
Some governments are taking innovative approaches to maximizing the value of open data by encouraging people to interpret, analyse and present various visualizations of government data.

18. Co-produced Map using Open Data after 2010 Haiti Earthquake (Source: http://haiti.openstreetmap.nl)
Examples of co-produced services come from emergency situations with crisis mapping (e.g., OpenStreetMaps¸ Sinsai.Info). In this example, a mashup map with aggregated data enables users to view and add data on the location of collapsed buildings, hospitals, relief camps, etc. This accelerates the ability of communities of volunteers to co-produce public services, which tend to be faster and more responsive in emergency situations than those provided by government organizations alone.

19. Apps Using Open Data
Many governments that have made data open are encouraging citizens to build apps using the data, e.g. in Australia, Singapore, UK and USA
This is the homepage of Singapore’s open data portal that brings together over 5,000 datasets from 50 government ministries and agencies. As you can see it gives a listing of applications developed using government data. Singapore also runs regular competition to encourage citizens to create apps using government data.

20. Question
What do you think are the implications of these trends on content management and portal management?

21. Portal: The Window to e-Government Services (Source: Smart Cube)

22. Stages of e-Governance
Emerging Information Services
Web presence
Stage 2
Enhanced Information Services
Simple two-way communication
Stage 3
Transactional Services
Services (financial and non-financial) available 24/7
Stage 4
Connected Services
Integration and citizen empowerment
e-Government/e-Governance can be viewed as consisting of a set of phases not entirely sequential, but relying on growing levels of capability, knowledge and infrastructure. There are a number of development/maturity models for e-government. Generally, they start with a basic web presence and move up through a number of levels (ranging from three to five stages). The United Nations and the World Bank proposes a four-stage model.

23. e-Government Journey (Source: DiMaio, A and Kost, J, Hype Cycle Shows E-Government Overcoming Disillusionment, Gartner, 17 March 2004 in infoDev/World Bank, e-Government Primer, Washington, DC, 2009)
Because Iraq is considered one of the late adopters of e-governance, you have the advantage of learning from past lessons and failures and build upon and adapt the good practices from other countries.

24. e-Governance in the Arab region and in Iraq

25. E-Government Development Ranking (Source: UN e-Government Survey 2012)
Country
2010
2012
Republic of Korea 1
United Arab Emirates 49 28
Bahrain 13 36
Saudi Arabia 58 41
Qatar 62 48
Kuwait 50 63
Lebanon 93 87
Jordan 51 98
Syria
133
128
Iraq
136
137
Yemen
164
167
Somalia
N/A
190
According to the United Nations e-Government Survey the United Arab Emirates as the leader in e-governance in the Arab region, in 28th place. Some countries in the Arab region have made rapid progress in e-governance and there are a number of best practices within the region that Iraq can learn from in e-governance in general and more specifically in content and portal management.

26. Bahrain (http://www.bahrain.bh)
e-Government Authority established in 2007 to coordinate and execute e-government initiatives
Work teams were created in all government ministries and entities to accelerate the transformation towards e-services
Delivers e-services through multiple channels: e-government portal, mobile portal, national contact centre (a 24/7 call centre), and e-services centres and kiosks
A customer charter ensures customer centricity of service delivery through the development of well-defined service levels and customer grievance redressal systems
By the end of 2010, the customer satisfaction index reached 92% among individuals, 93% businesses, and 70% government employees

27. Qatar (http://portal.www.gov.qa)
A governance model was established that included:
Sponsor Group Steering Committee
Program Management Committee Project Steering Committee
Project Delivery Teams User Committees
Extensive new ICT infrastructure has been constructed to support the full integration of government service They include:
Government Network Government Data Centre
Government Contact Center Govt Resources Planning
Payment Platform Public Key Infrastructure
Information Security Governance

28. Saudi Arabia (http://www.saudi.gov.sa)
Some government agencies have been successful in implementing e-services, delivering over 50% of their e-services as full transactional services
eDashboard portal verifies the identity of the citizen and serves as a single sign-on portal where citizens can access all services provided
The Open Data Initiative makes information publicly available, encouraging e-participation

29. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (http://www.dubai.ae)
Shared Services approach
Centrally focused on building common parts needed by all offices (e.g., payment, customer support, content management system, hosting, etc.)
Government departments were given the freedom to creatively build their own e-services
Resulted in standardization, best practices sharing, cost savings and reduced time to market
Relieves departments from the efforts and cost of establishing own electronic presence, including the infrastructure and expertise that other departments can utilize

30. e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq)
The Iraqi e-Governance Ministerial Steering Committee was established in February 2009
It is chaired by the Minister of Science and Technology and is widely represented by the ministries across Iraq
The National e-Governance Strategy and Plan of Action has been developed and endorsed by the Cabinet of Iraq

31. e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq)
Sectoral e-strategies developed. Includes: e-health, e-education, e-municipal works and e-citizens’ personnel records
A strategic framework for local government developed to guide coordination and cooperation
A Training of Master Trainers Programme on e-Governance initiated in July 2010, followed by roll-out of e-governance training throughout Iraq
In July 2011, the e-Governance Iraq portal was launched

32. e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq)
Community Services Centres (CSCs) will be established
Post offices and youth centres will host the CSCs.
The CSCs will be linked with the implementation of the pilot e-services
CSCs will address local issues and priorities
A Government Interoperability Framework and National Enterprise Architecture developed

33. Some Key Facts About Iraq (Source: World Bank ICT Little Data Book 2011)
2000
2009
Lower-middle income group average (2009)
2012 (Source: UN e-Gov Survey)
Mobile phone subscriptions (per 100 people)
0.0
62.6
57.8
75.8
Mobile phone usage (minutes per user per month)
N/A
186
342
Population covered by mobile phone network (%) 72 77

34. Some Key Facts About Iraq (Source: World Bank ICT Little Data Book 2011)
2000
2009
Lower-middle income group average (2009)
2012 (Source: UN e-Gov Survey)
Telephone lines (per 100 people)
2.7
3.5
12.7
5.1
Internet users (per 100 people)
0.0
1.0
17.2
5.6
Fixed broadband Internet subscribers (per 100 people)
0.1
5.5

35. CIOs

36. The Role of CIOs Providing policy leadership
Supporting and monitoring open government initiatives
Coordinating ICT programmes and projects across government to ensure they are aligned with overall strategy, and monitoring and reporting on spending
Building technology competence among government officials
Improving and expanding ICT infrastructure
International cooperation with donors and NGOs on e-governance initiatives
Since 2008, the United Nations e-Government Surveys have assessed governments’ organizational commitment to a whole-of-government approach by asking whether they have identified a government-wide CIO or similar official responsible for overseeing e-governance strategy. The number of countries publicizing such a post has steadily increased. In the 2012 Survey, 60 countries—31 per cent of Member States—were found to have an e-governance CIO or equivalent. This is up from 32 countries in 2010 and 29 countries in 2008.
In developed countries, the CIO or equivalent is typically responsible for providing policy leadership, supporting and monitoring open government initiatives, coordinating ICT programmes and projects across government to ensure they are aligned with overall strategy, and monitoring and reporting on spending.
In developing countries, the role is often described in similar terms, but with the addition of building technology competence among government officials and improving and expanding ICT infrastructure and international cooperation with donors and NGOs on e-governance initiatives.

37. CIO Qualities
Strong leader with authority across ministerial and departmental boundaries to facilitate strategy and decision-making
And skills to:
Define shared needs
Identify and remove common barriers to collaboration
Steer process redesign efforts
Motivate and support ministries/departments in achieving shared goals
Facilitate communication among and between ministries/departments

38. CIO Placement Mostly in an IT unit
About 10% of countries (mostly high-income countries) have a CIO or equivalent officially placed in a senior position in the cabinet office, finance ministry or public administration department
CIO councils in some countries to:
Address common concerns and challenges of CIOs
Develop capacity of CIOs
Share knowledge

39. Exercise: My Wish
Write down on a card a personal wish on one of the following aspects:
How can the challenges in content management and portal management that I face be resolved?
What are the policies, systems, procedures and innovations that should be in place to make my work easier?
How can we work together better to achieve the goals set in the Iraq e-Governance Strategy an Action Plan?
Assist in grouping these cards into categories
Participants are then given three stickers that can be placed on the cards that address their highest priority issues
These cards will be revisited near the end of the training course in a discussion session
e.g. more funds, authority to work with other ministries, more skilled staff, a customer charter, improved ICT infrastructure, etc.

40. Definitions Content Content Management Content Management System
Enterprise Content System
Portal
Portal Management

41. Content…
Content management is the set of processes and technologies that support the planning, collection, development, editing, publishing, preservation and evaluation of information in any form or medium
In recent times this information is typically referred to as content or, to be precise, digital content
Digital content may take the form of:
Text (such as electronic documents)
Multimedia files (such as audio or video files) or
Other file type that requires management

42. Content…
In a content management process, digital content may be created by one or more authors
Over time that content may be edited
One or more individuals may provide some editorial oversight thereby approving the content for publication
Publishing may take many forms. Publishing may be the act of making the content accessible to all users, or granting digital access rights to certain content to a particular person or group of persons
Later that content may be superseded by another form of content and thus retired or removed from use
This is an example of a content lifecycle

43. Content…
Content management is a collaborative process. It often consists of the following basic roles and responsibilities:
Creator – responsible for creating and editing content
Editor – responsible for tuning the content message and the style of delivery, including translation and localization
Publisher – responsible for releasing the content for use
Administrator – responsible for managing access permissions to folders and files, usually accomplished by assigning access rights to user groups or roles. Administrators may also assist and support users in various ways
User/viewer – the person who reads or otherwise takes in content after it is published or shared
This process is governed by a set of rules, standards and workflows
This ease of collaboration is important as content development and management is no longer the sole responsibility of the content manager or webmaster. As citizens demand updated information and quick response, different personnel from different government ministries, departments and agencies need to be involved. With the emphasis on e-participation, those from the private sector and civil society, and citizens have also become involved in the content development process.

44. Content…
A content management system is a system of hardware and software that enables different people (technical and non-technical) to collaboratively create, edit, manage and publish (in a number of formats) a variety of content (text, graphics, video, documents), whilst being constrained by a set of rules, standards and workflows to ensure coherent, validated digital content

45. Content…
Key features of a content management system include the following:
Allows those without programming language knowledge to manage digital content
Standard templates available for different content types (e.g. news, events, blogs)
Able to tag and categorize content
Able to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content
Manages permissions for different users
Controls workflow of different content
Includes configurations for search engine optimization
Provides data and access security

46. Content…
Enterprise content management is the strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes
An umbrella term covering:
Document management
Web content management
Search
Collaboration
Records management
Digital asset management
Workflow management

47. Portal…
A web portal is a website that brings information from diverse sources in a unified way
e-Governance portals are one of the most popular channel for offering government services online
Portals designed around the needs of citizens or businesses are on the rise
The goal of these portals is to provide “one-stop shopping” or “single window” for public information and services so that citizens, businesses and government employees no longer need to go to different ministries, departments or agencies to find information or complete a transaction
e-Governance portals let governments reach out to the citizens around the globe and around the clock as an integrated and single entity

48. Portal Management
Front-end aspects are those functions and features that are visible to the users of the portal. They include:
The design, organization, navigation, usability and findability of the portal
The types and number of services offered
The availability and accessibility, including access through multiple channels and access to all users, including poor, marginalized and disabled groups
The increase of citizens’ use of the e-services through awareness and education campaigns
The promotion of accountability and transparency
The incorporation of security and privacy and the development of citizens’ trust in the use of e-services
Factors to consider in managing a portal can be divided into front-end and back-end.

49. Portal Management
The back-end involves the internal operations of a government that support core processes and are not accessible or visible to the general public. They include:
Business process reengineering to analyse, streamline, consolidate and integrate the steps in a service
Change management and motivating personnel
Increasing the capacity of the ICT infrastructure to handle the information, services and traffic volumes, cope with a variety of channels and ensure the security of online transactions
Defining the ICT architecture that includes development of policies, standards and guidelines for building the ICT infrastructure, including e-government interoperability framework and national enterprise architecture
Defining the information architecture that includes a taxonomy, content workflow, and web design and web content guidelines

50. Technological Trends Mobile Technology Geographic Information System
Internet of Things
Cloud Computing
Free and Open Source Software

51. Mobile Technology and m-Governance
Wider reach
Inclusive
Demand for mobility
Always carried, always on
More personalization for target users
Demand from citizens
75% of the world’s inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone.
In Iraq, 75% of population have access to mobile phone.

52. Three Forms of m-Governance
Mobile tools can be used to supplement existing e-government applications based on traditional PCs, adding a new channel to reach citizens or manage processes of governance
Second, mobile tools can expand the reach of conventional public services or government processes to citizens who are unserved or underserved
Third, m-governance can use the introduction of mobile tools to innovate new ways for governments to interact with and involve constituents, creating new types of services and governance processes

53. Examples of Mobile Use Receive notifications for:
Emergencies
Reminders, e.g. to renew licenses, hospital appointment
News, events, updates
Report complaints and crime
Send query, e.g. nearest health centre, or request to send examination results
Make payments

54. Examples of Mobile Use
Find contact information and location of various institutions
Find information about one’s locality, e.g. local attractions, landmarks, hotels, shops, restaurants
Promote e-participation, e.g. e-voting
Support internal government operations, e.g. collection of data from the field
Government-wide initiatives (e.g. Afghanistan, India, Singapore, USA)

55. Limitations of Mobile Devices
Screen size
Short messages
Mobile Web
Mobile App
Needs to be developed for each platform (iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm, etc.)
Common platform.
After app is downloaded. Every new release with bug fixes requires all existing users to upgrade.
No need to upgrade, all users see the latest version.
Able to achieve high
performance through app code that runs locally on the device.
Performance largely depends
on how the mobile website is
designed and bandwidth.
To overcome limitations of mobile devices and offer a better user experience, it is important for governments to utilize mobile-based technologies such as SMS, a separate m-governance site and/or mobile applications.
Mobile Web is a website created specifically for mobile device—accessible through mobile browsers, no download or installation required.
Mobile App is an application designed to run a specific mobile device—download and installation required.

56. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
GIS is a system of hardware and software used for storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic data, including predictions and simulations
GIS is used to:
Increase organizational efficiency
Support decision-making
Enhance service delivery
Monitor the environment
Engage with citizens
Promote transparency and accountability
GIS is worth special attention because it enables the visualization of data and can bring information to life.
More recently, GIS tools have been used by governments to interact with citizens and to promote accountability and transparency. For example, Seoul, Republic of Korea developed a location-based mobile application that allows users to register complaints regarding community issues that affect public safety and infrastructure. The application is designed to map the reported location and allow photos of the location to be attached and submitted via smart phone. Registered complaints are transferred to a central contact centre and then directed to the appropriate city service. Through this application, citizens can track the progress of their complaints, and SMSes are sent to users to inform them about the complaint resolution procedure.
Participatory GIS has been studied and piloted in the field of disaster management. It is essentially the use of geo-spatial technologies to promote interactive participation of stakeholders in generating, managing, analysing and communicating their knowledge.
This practice has made community knowledge, experience, perception and coping capacity more visual and accessible, contributing to a better understanding of risks. At the same time, it has helped initiate dialogue and partnership between the vulnerable communities and other actors in DRR, including government authorities, NGOs, international agencies, academia and the private sector.
In Dagupan City, Philippines, community maps have been used as input to the city’s disaster information management system, resulting in a working end-to-end flood early warning system.

57. The Internet of Things
The evolving nature of technology towards a future where everyday objects around us are all linked via a network (the Internet)
The concept revolves around such objects all having IP addresses and the user being able to interact with these objects
Such a network would depend, for example, on embedding sensors and RFID tags in objects around us and being able to access and interact with them for information and status updates
GIS tools are being complemented by sensor networks.
Sensors can be embedded in or attached to objects to monitor the physical or chemical properties of objects or spaces.
They can be used to monitor land use, natural resources, pollution levels, disaster risks, energy consumption etc.
Some sensors can be located in living things, including in humans for health monitoring purposes, for example. In some cases, sensors are attached to motor vehicles to report on their status. They can also be used as activators (or actuators), that is they can cause an event to happen (such as an alarm to sound if certain environmental conditions, such as temperature, reach a certain point).

58. Example: FireWatch
Real time forest fire detection and prediction system based on Wireless Sensor Networks, Geographic Information Systems, Terrain Analysis & Digital Terrain Modelling, and Collaboration Systems with firemen and relevant authorities to reduce forest damage. (Source:

59. Cloud Computing
Applications and digital services that reside exclusively on the Internet, located on server systems
A trend that has been growing with the development of broadband
The data in a cloud is centrally hosted, managed, or stored in public or private repositories, or data centres

60. Cloud Computing (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing)
Cloud computing is associated with the provision of the following services:
Software as a service (SaaS) is the delivery of a web-enabled application to a user through a browser. Examples include customer relationship management systems and office applications such as Google Docs.
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), where instead of purchasing and installing servers and software, a computing platform is purchased as an outsourced service (including data centre space, servers, storage, networking and software often provided as a virtual machine environment).
Platform as a service (PaaS), is a development platform for which the development tool itself is hosted in the cloud and accessed through a browser. With PaaS, developers can build web applications without installing any tools on their computer and then deploy those applications without any specialized systems administration skills.

61. Cloud Computing
Cost is claimed to be reduced. Computing becomes an operational expense, and not a capital one that can be modified as needs and circumstances change
Device and location independence enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they are using (e.g., PC, mobile phone). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet, users can connect from anywhere
Virtualization technology allows servers and storage devices to be shared and utilization be increased. Applications can be easily migrated from one physical server to another
Cloud computing has several advantages. In exchange for a fee, the cloud can replace computer operating systems and applications with equivalent services located on remote servers. This can cut not only capital costs, but also the cost of purchasing applications and online services. This model also enables government to address productivity upgrades without costly investments and helps government scale up their services, including storage capacity, as it evolves.
Today, cloud computing services can provide, for a fee, services such as a full IT department, including server facilities, human resources and payroll functions online, as well as sales and customer relationship services. In other words, the activities of a traditional IT department are being replaced by equivalent services offered by cloud computing service providers.

62. Cloud Computing
Multitenancy enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users thus allowing for:
Centralization of infrastructure in locations with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.)
Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels)
Utilization and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10–20% utilized
Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier, because they do not need to be installed on each user's computer and can be accessed from different places

63. Security and Privacy in CC
Challenges
Loss of control over sensitive data
Data segregation over a wider area of greater number of devices
Multi-tenancy
Malicious insiders
Cloud computing offers many benefits, but it also is vulnerable to threats. As the uses of cloud computing increase, it is highly likely that more criminals will try to find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in the system.

64. Free and Open Source Software
Characteristics of FOSS
Freedom to run the software
Freedom to study and adapt the software
Freedom to redistribute these software
Freedom to improve the software and release the improvements for others to use
While governments are using both proprietary software and FOSS, the latter has received a significant amount of attention in recent years due to perceived benefits in terms of costs, security and flexibility.
FOSS refers to software that is distributed under a license that is recognized either as free software by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), or Open Source Software (OSS) by the Open Source Initiative.

65. Reasons for Using FOSS Affordable and high quality Builds capacity
Bridges the digital divide

66. FOSS Adoption by Governments
Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Bulgaria, have mandated the use of FOSS
Bahrain, China, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Philippines, and South Africa have a stated policy preference for FOSS

67. Questions
Do you think these technological trends are relevant to the Iraqi context?
How is Iraq taking advantage of these technological trends?
What do you think are the challenges that Iraq face in adopting the technologies mentioned?

68. Summary

69. Summary Overall progress in e-governance
Many countries have e-governance strategy in place
Most countries have e-governance portal
Some countries in the Arab region have made rapid progress in e-governance and there are a number of best practices within the region that Iraq can learn from

70. Summary Barriers and challenges remain
The digital divide impedes the uptake of e-governance
Political, regulatory and budgetary constraints
Lack of awareness and capacity
Lack of motivation

71. Summary
To overcome some of the challenges, three global trends have been identified:
Countries are moving to an integrated unified whole-of-government model
Countries are paying closer attention to multichannel service delivery
Countries are engaging more closely with citizens

72. Summary
e-Governance portals are one of the most popular channel for offering government services online
These portals aim to package and deliver content and services in ways that directly fit citizens’ or businesses’ needs
These portals aim to provide “one-stop shopping” or “single window” for public information and services, anytime, and anywhere

73. Summary
There are a number of technological trends that have implications for the management of contents and portals
Mobile technology and the deployment of m-governance tools
Geographic information systems and sensor networks
Cloud computing
Free and open source software

74. Summary
Deployment of technologies should be done in the context of social and economic development goals and should support and enhance development outcomes
Shifting to a more citizen-centric, interconnected whole-of-government approach will require collaboration and streamlining not only among governments but also with private sector and civil societies
True transformation needs governments to pay close attention to re-engineering processes, reforming institutions, building capacity and creating an environment for greater accountability and transparency
e-Governance standardization gives rise to positive outcomes such as interoperability, consistency, reusability and quality maintenance
Content management and portal management needs to be take this broader context into consideration
A holistic e-governance strategy or strategic framework can help governments identify gaps in technology and human capacity, in financial sustainability, and in the applications development ecosystem. Content management and portal management needs to be a part of this strategy. At the same time, in managing contents and portals, one must keep these broader e-governance issues and challenges in mind.

75. Exercise
Because Iraq is considered one of the late adopters of e-governance, you have the advantage of learning from past lessons and failures and build upon and adapt the good practices from other countries
Conduct an online research of e-governance in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Dubai/UAE (select one country)
Draw out the lessons learned and good practices for content management and portal management in Iraq
Summarize findings on a flipchart for presentation in a plenary