Description:
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is in the early phase of its e‐government journey and aims to utilize ICT to deliver services to its citizens and businesses to improve social well‐being and facilitate economic development. The PA aims to serve 12.1 million Palestinians in the West Bank (2.7 million), the Gaza Strip (1.7 million), and the remaining 7.7 million Palestinians who are dispersed among 28 different countries. Many Palestinians are refugees, including more than one million in the Gaza Strip, 750,000 in the West Bank, and about 250,000 in Israel. Of the Palestinian population residing abroad, otherwise known as the Palestinian diaspora, more than half are considered stateless, lacking citizenship in any country. The combination of the ongoing Israeli‐Palestinian conflict as well as the diaspora situation makes implementation of e‐government projects in the West Bank and Gaza (WBG) unique and complex. A review of e‐government documentation and stakeholder interviews reveals that the PA has made reasonable progress on e‐government amidst a challenging environment, but it is still in the nascent phase in terms of delivering benefits to its constituents. There are numerous challenges for the successful implementation of e‐government, including geopolitical conflict, insufficient legislation to facilitate electronic transactions, limited budget to support e‐government projects, inadequate policies and standards, and limited capacity within the e‐government unit under the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT). The PA is at a key moment in its e‐government journey. It is an opportunistic time to drive modernization of its public administration and public service delivery through use of ICT, offer better services to citizens, and promote economic growth