A Comparison of E-Government Systems Between Developed and Developing Countries: Selective Insights From Iraq and Finland

Introduction

At the beginning of the 21^st century, with the development of all sectors of human life, computer and internet technology has grown rapidly, which paves the way to witness the revolution in (ICT). That revolution and development aren't just changing people's life, however, at the same time, it changed the qualities of communication and collaborations among governments, businesses, and citizens. Besides, in 1991, the World Wide Web (WWW) was launched to the public, the internet penetration has been expanding consistently to 40% of the population in the world, that is more than 3 billion people around the world (Kaya, Medeni, & Sağsan, 2016). This fast development encouraged and energized IT specialists, advisors, and government experts to utilize ICT in government and public service provision for their people (Gant, 2012). Those changes, thus, are quickly being turned into a new form of government that is named electronic government (Zarei, Ghapanchi, & Sattary, 2008). Besides, the world watched quick advancement in ICT that surpassed all desires, and thus a tremendous change in the political situation, financial, and worldwide social change (Dada, 2006, Dwivedi et al., 2020).

The development of ICTs has made information accessible over different types of channels then it made masses of information to diverse employments. Furthermore, it has opened a new opportunity for citizens to get benefits over the use of relevant data, information, and knowledge (Sun, Ku, & Shih, 2015). Nowadays, ICT is used more by citizens and businesses, predominantly the Internet, as well as, for providing private services, the internet can provide high-quality services (Singh, Grover, Kar, & Ilavarasan, 2020).

The greatest vigorous job of ICT is to advance and innovate data then solve issues and problems which a government can't tackle alone (Sun, Ku, & Shih, 2015, Ismagilova et al., 2020). However, the e-government term is a worldwide marvel occurring in developing and developed countries (Al-Naimat, 2012). Furthermore. e-governments’ activities are being attempted in a public sector in developing and developed countries for efficiency, responsiveness and transparency just as it is viewed as an efficient than effective method via governments to make a connection with clients and users (Sharma, 2015). Also, e-Government relies upon ICTs in order to automate the techniques of serving people, associations, governments, businesses, and diverse constituents, particularly through the World. Additionally, in developing countries almost most of the authorities see the e-government system as a costly innovation technology to actualize regarding assets; technical knowledge, and infrastructure (Mberi, Wanyoike, & Sevilla, 2016). E-government is anticipated to assume a noteworthy job in the conveyance of government data, information, management, and services, in addition to administration, especially in developing countries. These growths caused various and complex innovative, political, societal, conservative, and social difficulties (Dada, 2006).

The objective of this research is to summarize the literature to identify various constructs and use those constructs to compare developing countries (Iraq) and developed countries (Finland). This study shows and examines the core factor which plays a significant role in the success of the electronic government system by revealing the comparison of the e-government system between developing and developed countries, with comparing all of those factors which are important to the success of this program in developed countries. On the other hand, this paper specified issues with difficulties in e-government in developing countries, then attempting to overcome the obstacles by getting advantage of technological and scientific developments in developed countries, through comparing constructs in e-government in developed countries and ICT systems. Also, the researcher tries to compare two specific countries (Iraq and Finland) in the term of e-government to specify weak points and strong points of the e-government system in both countries. Moreover, in the term of Internet technological infrastructures, usage, and practices, there is a gap between these two countries that are ultimately getting broader over recent years. Finland was chosen because this country is a pioneer in e-governments and ICT. Also, it is one of the top ten countries in terms and process of e-government system. Besides, the process of e-government in Finland is more apparent in comparison with other countries. This research can help to understand the process of e-government systems in developed countries and specify success factors that can help developing countries to get benefit from those systems by considering the differences between them.