Seminar

A Pilot Study of Assessing Municipalities' Portals in Jordan: The Application of the LOSI Methodology

A UNU-EGOV Seminar by Ayman Alarabiat and Demetrios Sarantis.

Time
- Europe/Lisbon
Address
Campus de Couros, Rua de Vila Flor 166, 4810-445 Guimarães, Portugal

Abstract

The seminar discusses the results of a pilot study that has assessed 19 municipalities/cities portals in Jordan using the Local Online Service Index (LOSI) instrument, a research methodology to assess the websites of municipalities/cities developed by UNU-EGOV and UNDESA. The assessment has been conducted by 13 volunteer researchers from four universities in Jordan and led by an expert researcher of e-Government (senior assessor) at Al-Balqa Applied University, in a collaboration with UNU-EGOV. This report is the first one to assess e-government service provision in municipalities/cities in Jordan.

The pilot study provides evidence-based data to contribute to the assessment of progress made in local e-government development in Jordan. Based on the study findings and the existent contextual knowledge of the country, some recommendations to promote and foster local electronic government development have been advanced. The seminar represents an opportunity to discuss, share ideas and receive feedback from the attendees.

Speakers

Ayman Alarabiat is currently an assistant professor at Amman College for Financial and Managerial Science, Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Information Systems and Technology from University of Minho, Portugal. Ayman has served as a consultant and as a co-author of chapter 4 (Local E-Government Development in Cities and Human Settlements) as a part of the UN E-Government Survey 2020.

Demetrios Sarantis is Postdoctoral Fellow at UNU-EGOV. Demetrios graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering by the National Technical University of Athens, holds a MSc in Operational Research and Information Systems from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD in e-Government from the National Technical University of Athens. He has been employed in software industry and in the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), deploying and managing information systems and services and supporting database information infrastructures.