The Applicability of the Government as a Platform (GaaP) Concept for Digitally Transforming the Government of Egypt / Mariam Mohamed Bahaa El Din Fayez

Supervisor:
Mamdouh Awny

Project (M.A.)—Nile University, Egypt, 2022 .

"Includes bibliographical references"

Contents:
Table of Contents
DEDICATION.................................................................................................................................. 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. 4
DECLARATION .............................................................................................................................. 5
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................... 6
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................. 9
List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................................... 12
List of Figures................................................................................................................................. 13
CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 14
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 14
1.1 BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................. 14
1.2 DEFINITIONS.................................................................................................................. 15
1.3 GOVERNMENTS APPROACH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ............................... 20
1.3.1 Governments Seeking Digital Transformation........................................................ 21
1.4 THE PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY AS A SOLUTION.................................................. 22
1.5 GOVERNMENT AS A PLATFORM (GAAP): A SOLUTION FOR TRANSFORMING
GOVERNMENTS...................................................................................................................... 24
1.6 A SOLUTION FOR EGYPT............................................................................................ 25
1.7 THE RESEARCH WORK ROADMAP........................................................................... 26
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................... 27
GOVERNMENT AS A PLATFORM............................................................................................. 27
2.1 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR GOVERNMENT ............................................... 27
2.2 DIGITAL PLATFORMS.................................................................................................. 28
2.3 GOVERNMENT AS A PLATFORM (GAAP)................................................................ 29
2.4 THE COMPONENTS OF GAAP MODEL...................................................................... 29
2.5 PLATFORM-BASED DIGITAL GOVERNMENT MODELS AND SIGNIFICANT
INITIATIVES ............................................................................................................................ 31
2.5.1 Estonia – Creating A “Minimal And Efficient State”.............................................. 32
2.5.2 India – Trust As A Service ...................................................................................... 39
2.5.3 The United Kingdom - Digital: The Delivery Choice ............................................. 47
2.5.4 Digital Egypt - A State Initiative............................................................................. 53
2.6 MAPPING GAAP COMPONENTS TO “DIGITAL EGYPT” ENDEAVORS ............... 54
2.7 THE SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENT/ECOSYSTEM IN EGYPT ............................... 57
2.8 REVIEW OF FOUR GOVERNMENTS THAT APPLIED THE GAAP......................... 62
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Table 2.1 Review of the Egyptian, Estonian, Indian and UK experiences in implementing the GaaP
Model Components as envisioned and illustrated by the UK’S Government Digital Service Office
(years 2021 and 2022)..................................................................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................... 72
RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHOD..................................................................................... 72
3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT............................................................................................... 72
3.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................. 72
3.3 STUDY SIGNIFICANCE ................................................................................................ 73
3.4 STUDY LIMITATIONS .................................................................................................. 73
3.5 RESEARCH METHOD.................................................................................................... 74
CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................... 76
4.1 THE COMMON STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO REALIZE THE GAAP MODEL IN
ESTONIA, INDIA, AND THE UK............................................................................................ 76
4.1.1 The Political Will And Prioritization....................................................................... 76
4.1.2 Infrastructure And Technology ............................................................................... 77
4.1.3 Building Homegrown Competencies And Readiness.............................................. 78
4.1.4 Institutions Driving ‘Digital’................................................................................... 78
4.1.5 Participation And Engagement................................................................................ 79
4.1.6 Society Awareness And Community Mobilization ................................................. 80
4.2 ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDIES APPROACHES TOWARDS A DIGITAL
PLATFORM GOVERNMENT.................................................................................................. 81
4.3 DISCUSSION OF EGYPT’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ENDEAVORS -- THE
POTENTIAL FOR A PLATFORM GOVERNMENT .............................................................. 82
4.3.1 Challenges And Opportunities ................................................................................ 83
4.3.1.1 Challenges For Egypt’s Digital Government Program................................................83
4.3.1.2 Opportunities For Egypt’s Digital Government Program............................................84
4.4 THE GAAP MODEL COMPONENTS: PROSPECTS FOR EGYPT ............................. 84
4.4.1 Services ................................................................................................................... 84
4.4.2 Common Platforms.................................................................................................. 85
4.4.3 Trust And Consent................................................................................................... 86
4.4.4 Registers.................................................................................................................. 86
4.5 STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO THE GAAP MODEL: PROSPECTS FOR EGYPT . 87
4.5.1 Political Will And Prioritization.............................................................................. 87
4.5.2 Infrastructure And Technology ............................................................................... 88
4.5.3 Building Homegrown Digital Competencies And Readiness.................................. 88
4.5.4 Governance And Regulatory Environment ............................................................. 89
4.5.5 Institutions Driving Digital...................................................................................... 90
4.5.6 Participation And Engagement................................................................................ 90
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4.5.7 Society Awareness And Community Mobilization ................................................. 91
4.5.8 Participants Insights On The Existing Endeavors Towards A Digital Government 91
4.5.8.1 The Role Of The Government.....................................................................................91
4.5.8.2 Key Performance Indicators........................................................................................94
4.5.8.3 Suggested Adoption From Other Country Experiences...............................................95
4.6 ADDITIONAL NOVEL TRANSFORMATIONAL APPROACHES TO ACHIEVE
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT....................................................................................................... 96
4.7 IN SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................... 96
CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................... 97
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK........................................................................................ 97
5.1 UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES......................................................................... 98
5.2 EGYPT TO DEVELOP ITS OWN MODEL FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION .... 99
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................... 99
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................. 101
APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................... 107
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................... 108
APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................... 110
APPENDIX D............................................................................................................................... 11

Abstract:
‘Born digital’ firms have been more successful in addressing global and local
pressing societal and economic needs; demonstrating radical change in the business
models and creating competitive ecosystems that generate value.
To remain competitive in the quick advancing digital world, many traditional
organizations embraced the digital platform technology. Similarly, many nations
followed suite and adopted the very same technology to reimagine their
governments.
Egypt announced that it is opting for a digital government. There was a need for
scholarly literature to back this endeavor. This research work explored the potential
of a shared platforms government approach known as “Government as a Platform
(GaaP)” and makes recommendations for Egypt and other digitally transforming
nations.
The research examined three non-peer countries’ experiences that adopted the GaaP
model to understand how the technology was able to support the nations in their
endeavors for government and nationwide digital transformation. The homegrown
technology in each country was able to respond to the digital advancements,
governance, and competency needs of these nations. The countries studied were
Estonia, India, and the United Kingdom.
The research examination placed focus on significant projects/ approaches that had
strong impact on realizing digital government in each country. The areas of focus
were: Digital infrastructure platforms for data exchange and identification
verification, and the creation of a core organization that builds the platforms and
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develops the environment at large. Interestingly, those three projects succeeded in
creating inclusive ecosystems that supported the overall objectives of digital
transformation in the three nations. Additionally, the examination focused on a
number of supporting elements that pushed the overall digital platform government
approach to grow.
Such examination set the stage to develop the case of Egypt in digital transformation
and identify the potential for a platform government based on the GaaP model.
Opportunities and gaps were acknowledged, and lessons learned from earlier
adopters were examined. To understand Egypt’s experience and its future endeavors
towards a digital government, local experts familiar with the country’s digital
transformation program were exhaustively interviewed.
The findings of this research work highlight the need for Egypt to develop a
conducive governance and legislative environment in the public sector ahead or
parallel to the digital transformation process happening, already. More specifically
to be suitable for a platform government. Moreover, the research found that the
government should optimize on public data for better government performance and
service delivery. The research also found that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated
the societal adoption for the government digital services.
The research analysis was able to identify that Egypt needs a national Chief
Information officer to oversee the implementation of the digital government across
all governmental and public organizations. Moreover, the analysis showed that
promoting openness in both systems and data will drive innovation in the public
sector and boost the Egyptian economy at large. The analysis also identified that
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the government should play the role of the enabler for the government platform.
Therefore, it should build the core digital infrastructure and then engage the private
sector to develop tools and applications to make use of it. Of same importance, the
analysis pointed out that user-centricity is vital to the success of government digital
service delivery.
The research concluded that Egypt is developing its own model for digital
government. The model is novel, most significantly, in how the government tries to
avail digital services to all segments of society despite their digital literacy level.
Another unique aspect for transformation is the speed of implementation relative to
the magnitude of the project. Additionally, there is a need to instill the culture of
collaboration within the government. Similarly, there is a need to instill the culture
of co-creation of services and products by citizens for the public sector.
Furthermore, the research concluded that government institutions need to think
‘digital-by-default’ and design their projects with ‘public participation’ in mind.
Finally, the research emphasized that embedding the cultures of agility and
entrepreneurship are important to pave the way for trust and responsiveness to grow
between governments and their citizenry.

Text in English, abstracts in English and Arabic