The Prospects of Mobile Government in Jordan: An Evaluation of Different Delivery Platforms

Abstract

This chapter aims to assess the viability of mobile governmental services in Jordan as a precursor to embracing mobile government as a complementing medium of communication. Reflecting on Jordan’s experience with electronic governmental services, it is evident to say that the first wave of electronic governmental services was delivered through the Web as the sole communication channel. Despite the success of a number of governmental entities to utilise such a communication channel, the penetration of the Internet in the Jordanian society is very low which dampens such limited cases of success. Currently, the e-government initiative is considering mobile phones for the future waves of its electronic service delivery on a multi-channel platform. This chapter articulates the concerns and issues surrounding the viability of mobile government in terms of availability of bandwidth and reach. The chapter will provide a number of statistics and other qualitative reviews concerning previous experiences in the Jordanian electronic government initiative.