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Introduction:

One hundred years ago, the world was like an infinite plateau— its horizon unreachable, the depth of its vast ocean still undiscovered, and countries set wide apart by enmity, hostilities, fear, anxiety, and sense of insecurity. Mankind’s worst enemy that time was war, as dominant empires continued their quest for global dominance, and beleaguered and weak nations were all in state of confusion and insuperable ordeal— befuddled on how to protect their territories and people from ruthless invaders, where to commit alliances, and what sort of actions to take to ensure their independence and self-determination.

The era of industrial revolution was so strong a driving factor that triggered off strong nations to invade weak countries to amass the latter’s natural resources and wealth, thus destroying their capabilities to establish sovereignty and self-rule. Due to miserable conditions during those dark years of the last century— when technology was still a pipe dream, the whole world was in state of plunder, as strong nations robbed weak countries of their natural wealth and turned their people into slaves. Corruption of nations was the system in place that time with war as its best ally.

After one hundred years, the world had gradually shrunk into a global village— much smaller than before because of the kind of technologies and information systems in place today. People became more educated and more aware of what is going on in their environment due to the Internet and modern communication gadgets, while nation became more attached to, and interdependent on, each other. Indeed, the world has become a safer and better place to live because of better international relations and improved trade and political connections among nation-states, and of information technologies that built virtual links between and among people of different races and cultures and from different worlds. Because of modern technologies, those prejudicial thoughts and beliefs that influenced people and nations over half a century ago are now things of the past. Thus, racism, global conflicts, enmity among nations, ignorance, and other trivial cultural and political concepts have been eradicated, as people now became more conscious of the changes that take place in both local and global environment, and became more involved and proactive in civil, political, social, and environmental issues and activities. All of these are attributable to the technological changes that took nations and the world by storm by the advent of 21st century.

Better understanding of the past as well as clear reflection of the present is necessary to have a clearer anticipation and projection of the future. If in the past the worst enemy of mankind and nations is war, the greatest challenge to the world today is graft and corruption. Graft and corruption exists in all governments, environments, conditions, entities, and systems. It affects the economic performance and output of every country, the lives of its people, trade relations, business activities, political affairs, social conditions, etc. It is like a virus that slowly attacks and undermines vital systems of government. These vital systems include the executive or implementing branch of the government, the legislative branch, the judiciary, education, and all agencies that are tasked with the efficient delivery of public services, protection, security, and public order and peace. With modern technologies we have today, are there some ways and techniques in order to curb the exponentiation of graft and corruption? What is the role of Information and Communication Technology in eradicating this ’social ill’ or virus that is undermining crucial government institutions, trade relations, and the lives of the people?

Extent of Corruption and Bribery

Corruption is as old as the oldest civilization of the world. That is, it can be said that it is embedded in our culture, political system, economic relations, and man’s way of life. It exists in all aspects of human life, political, economic, and social cycle. Even in global relations corruption is usually part of the game. There are many kinds of corruption, but because of the clever ways of the perpetrators, it is difficult to identify the means used, thus leaving anti-corruption government personnel in the cold. Because of their clever tactics in ensuring impunity from corrupt practices and activities, corrupt officials and even their cohorts in the private sector remain unscathed and away from liability and punishment. As a result, what is left for anti-corruption personnel to see are the results and consequences of the punishable act.

The more valuable the loot, the smarter the looters become, and the more complex the techniques they are going to employ. Because of the existing laws designed to curb corruption and the creation of anti-corruption bodies tasked with monitoring corrupt practices, perpetrators become more careful, clever, and systematic so to guarantee impunity. This is now the dilemma that confronts government agencies in charge of combating corruption. Further, corrupt officials and private parties and entities usually get away from liability and punishment because anti-corruption people lack the needed knowledge and expertise, including the required technologies and modern apparatuses, in tracking corrupt activities and practices.

According to Transparency International (2007, p. xxi), corruption is “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” Although there are different aspects of corruption, the ultimate goal is to accumulate material and non-material gain through the use of fraud, device, deceit, and abuse of power. Corruption is clearly an affront to justice. When corrupt practices and activities reign, justice and rule of law are undermined, this is because corrupt people cannot exist in a just society. Bribery and corruption exist in all nations, particularly those developing countries whose governments try their best to adopt and implement various measures that would ensure the effective enforcement of laws.

Corruption is not just undermining justice; it also has colossal impacts on the economy of nations (Gray and Kaufmann 1998, p. 7). In most corrupt countries, the economic costs of corruption are beyond imagination to the extent that the legal measures and institutions tasked with their enforcement do not function well. Apart from the money and resources that lost to official looting, various anti-corruption measures and entities also have massive economic impacts.

There are also many facets of corruption, which may include extortion and bribery, which involve two or more parties, and several kinds of malfeasance, a wrongful act that can be performed by a single public official (Gray and Kaufmann 1998, p. 7). Official pillaging is usually perpetrated by scheming politicians and high-ranking public officials who misuse or misappropriate public funds and steal money from the public coffers under their own watch or jurisdiction. These deceitful activities for private gain have direct negative effects on the nation’s economic growth, as it also contributes to the effects of poverty, weak justice system, and other types of social and political malady. Bribery, on the other hand, is necessarily perpetrated by two or more parties— either between two public officials or between a public official and a private person or entity. It usually exists in government transactions with private companies where contracts, joint ventures, or agreements involve enormous amount of money.

According to Gray and Kaufmann (1998, p. 7-8), corruption and bribery usually taint government contracts and reduce government monetary benefits, and they can also be used to defeat the right amount of taxes due, to avoid regulatory measures, to speed up legal processes, and to change the upshots of regulatory and legal processes. Bribery is also used to gain benefits or favor from government procurement contracts, public bidding, legislative and judicial processes, etc.

The age of Information Technology

The age of computerization that took place two decades ago altered the face of world economy, international relations, international community, corporate real, education sector, systems of governments, among many others. In other words, the advent of computer technology or information technology changed all aspects of human life, economic, political, social, technological, legal, and environmental cycle or facets known to man.

Information Technology has tremendous impact on the corporate world, as traditional business organizations were compelled to undergo organizational change about two decades ago in order to keep track with technological developments. Schools and universities were also forced to include computer and ICT courses in their subject offering and curricula so to cater to academic, economic, and technological advancements that took place before the new millennium. During the post-millennium era, world governments also followed the trend, as nations slowly incorporated their systems of government and government agencies into Information and Communication Technology.

ICT is proven to be very effective not only in the areas of business, education, and economy, but also in media, public service, and governance. Today, there are new technologies and information systems that can be used to establish linkages between and among government agencies, to boost in crime prevention and detection, to assist in the strengthening of public welfare, justice system, and social justice, to improve education system, and to enhance the delivery of public services, among many others.

The advent of the Information age over two decades ago drove nations to reinvent their respective governments in order to enhance their delivery of public services, government benefits, public welfare, and the so-called common good (Heeks 1999, p. 9). According to Heeks, the main purpose of this reinvention is to initiate “public sector reform” whose goal is to ensure the delivery of public services. Such is a motivation is internal in nature, however, there some external factors that motivate governments to seek reinvention.

These are the volatility of the global environment, changes in international relations, world conflicts, and globalization. Like ICT, globalization is a new species of the contemporary world. The word globalization, which ignited debates before the end of the 20th century and has no concrete definition up to these days, refers to corporate relations among individuals, business entities, juridical persons, and various nations in the international community with the aid of information technology (Globalization 101 n.d.).

Thus, due to both internal and external changes and challenges, nations had to find ways in order to adapt to new trade systems, corporate trends, alterations in the international relations, domestic concerns, etc. due to the inevitable and strong forces of ICT. In view of this, the concept of e-government was introduced after the birth of the new millennium.

E-Government system

Electronic or e-government simply refers to the utilization of new technologies in place today such as computers, the Internet, wide area network, broadband network, software, among others to link the government, the people, the private sector, including international entities, and nations, and to improve the rendition of public goods and services for the benefit of the public. As mentioned above, there are internal and external factors that force or motivate world leaders to establish e-government. Internal factors may include the following:
a.) Effective rendition of public services and public goods. This is the most important role of every government, thus with the establishment of e-government it is expected that the delivery of common goods to the public would become more effective and efficient.

b.) Strengthen crime prevention techniques and apparatuses. There is a need to acquire new technologies to be used in fighting crimes, as criminal elements and groups not only increased in number but also developed in terms of the use of new techniques, technologies, and systems so to easily get away from crime-busters.

c.) Establish e-participation. Conscious participation of citizens in government programs, public affairs, and activities not only improve the relationship between the government and the governed, but also foster democracy, which is one of the most vital goals of e-government.

d.) Improved economic output and performance. E-government does not only seek to establish the interaction between public leaders and their constituents but also the relationship between the government and the business sector. With ICT, business licenses, work permits, application and payment of taxes, among others will be done online, thus benefiting both the public and the business sector. The government may also save money as it no longer needs to allocate funds for the printing of public documents, forms, and other related papers.

e.) Transparency and accountability. This is another vital function of e-government. With the use of new technologies, common transactions that involve money can be tracked and audited. It will also minimize the opportunity to commit illegal acts, corruption, bribery, extortion, and any type of malfeasance punishable by the law.

Some external factors are already mentioned above, such as globalization, international relations, conflicts, global trade, among others. However, among those internal aspects enumerated above, combating corruption through e-government is an important topic not yet really thoroughly explored. Is it possible to eradicate graft and corrupt practices through the use of technologies? Or, will ICT only aid the perpetrators in getting away from detection and punishment?

E-Government versus Corruption

There is no question that ICT can be used to deliver better public services and goods to the people. With political will and honest intention to serve the public, the usual delay in the rendition of these services can be eliminated, if not totally eradicated. This is to say that if public officials were remiss in fulfilling this duty, the duty to guarantee public welfare and public trust, then they had committed another form of corruption— negligence or inability or refusal to perform lawful and indispensable duties mandated by the law. This is a form of corruption because its non-performance denies the public of what is due to them, and deprives them of basic services that must be rendered by the government like better roads, protection, quality education, better health and hospital facilities, etc. It is a form of corruption because as taxpayers, they are entitled to the return of their taxes in the form of public services.

It is also undeniable that e-government enables e-participation, but the question is: are government officials willing to recognize the participation of their constituents? If not, then they would just defeat the underlying purpose of e-government— to foster democratic participation by the people. It is also an effective implement in combating crimes through the use of surveillance apparatuses, CCTV, hi-tech gadgets, etc. Advanced computer software designed to detect and prevent hacking are also helpful in fighting online crimes and pilferage. The question now is— how can e-government fight corruption? On the face of it, it is easy to say that ICT is effective in eradicating graft and corruption and bribery. But still the question is how? To answer this, it is important to understand the underlying aspects, general capabilities, and significant features of e-government in relation to the fight against corruption and bribery.

Public and corporate portal.One of the many features of e-government is national website wherein all crucial agencies and entities of the central government are all interlinked. All information, important documents, laws, statutes, opinions, speeches and even greetings of public officials are published and available on the government website. If a particular citizen wanted to know some general information about his country, all he needs to do is visit the website. People may also download forms online or make transactions with some government agencies. If they have some comments, negative reactions, and complaints about how some public officials and entities perform their jobs or functions, they may also choose to publish them on the online forum, if any, or send an email messages to some high-ranking officials tasked with law enforcement. This process itself establishes simple e-participation. A broader e-participation occurs if the public actively participate in some government programs, activities, and affairs like citizens’ action against crime, illegal drugs, defective public services, and graft and corruption. It is broader because the public itself initiates and takes part in solving some social ills. Citizens’ participation serves as a spark as well as strong backup in the establishment of a just, secure and corruption-free society.

There are, however, some downsides of this strategy. The creation of government website does not directly make a conscious, active, and participative people. With a massive amount of budget, the government may be able to create an attractive and effective website, but this does not guarantee that the public would become more aware of their rights as citizens and of their obligations to combat said social maladies. In this case, education and the media play a crucial role in educating the public of its role in nation-building and in making a just, peaceful, and progressive society.

Transparency and Democracy. Transparency has something to do with access to public information, documents, and other-related papers. But this is a simple form of transparency, because some information like laws, regulations, opinions or decisions of the court, public speeches of the nation’s leader, among others are generally open to citizens. These aspects are generally known to the people so that they would be able to know what laws to abide and what acts, transactions, or activities are being prohibited by the government. On the other hand, there are government transactions that are sometimes concealed from the people, especially those involved huge amount of money and anomalous contracts with private corporations. Transparency is either active or passive. It is active if the public officials themselves are willing to make public or publish the transactions they have made and/or contracts that they have entered into. This means that even without any public clamor or demand, public officials are the ones who take the initiative to make their accomplishments or activities open to the public in order to avoid suspicion. It is passive if the initiative or investigation originates from the public and this situation usually leads to long and painful court uphill battle that might cause delay in the delivery public services on the part of the public official sued for corruption charges.

Democracy refers to the sum or total of effective public participation and government’s efficient and responsible delivery of public goods and services. It signifies open and conscious interaction of the government and the public in order to establish a just and progressive nation. However, this is an indirect result of the effective implementation and maintenance of e-government, which might only take place if government institutions maintained their integrity and vigor in combating crimes, corruption, bribery, and other political and social problems.

Public services and public welfare. These two basic goals of e-government seek to serve both the public and the business sector. One basic role of e-government is to make life easier for the public. This can be done by combining various similar functions under one entity, eliminating delays and circuitous processes, providing online application or processing, and removing opportunities for corruption and bribery (PREM Notes 2004). It will also help the citizens if rules and regulations are published online and that all government institutions are accessible on the Internet. Rural turnstiles can also help farmers from far-flung places and provinces to process or obtain their land titles in just several minutes, saving both time and money from transportation and the usual meandering processes. E-government can also benefit business by enabling online application for business licenses, work permits, tax identification number, and other related papers, and offering electronic delivery of important documents needed by companies to start or continue their operations (PREM Notes 2004). This is a win-win solution because the government can also increase its revenue through efficient collection of taxes.

The use of ICT can also ensure efficiency of work by creating a database that will monitor the performance, output, and attendance of government employees. ICT can also help in creating an audit system that would track expenditures to avoid graft and corruption. A database containing the list of all public employees can identify the exact number of workforce in every government agency and prevent insertion of ghost employees.

E-government in the United Arab Emirates

The development of e-government in Dubai is as fast as its fast-moving economy. The leaders of Dubai have made a great job integrating ICT into the emirate’s education system, corporate realm, and most specially its government system. In fact, its e-government website recently announced its ongoing project called Government Information Network that seeks to link the different isolated intranets in the country (The Importance of Government Information Network in Egovernance n.d.). GIN serves as the nucleus of government information and inter-transactions taking place within the territory.

If the level of e-government is to be used as an indicator of graft and corruption, then the report of World Economic Forum should be used as the basis. Among those rated as “most networked” economies in the world, Denmark was the top rater with a score of 5.78. It is followed by developed countries like Sweden (5.72), Switzerland (5.53) at third place, United States of America and Singapore that received the same score (5.53) at fourth place, Finland (5.47) at fifth spot, the Netherlands and Iceland tied at sixth place (5.44), while Korea (5.43) and Norway 5.38) placed seventh and eighth places, respectively (The Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008 n.d.). United Arab Emirates was number 29 among the most wired nations with a score of 4.55 behind Portugal (4.60), Malta (4.61), and Malaysia (4.82).

All of the top ten most networked economies are the least corrupt nations in the world. In Sweden, which started wiring its crucial government agencies since 2001, they have this Kontact-N system that had a great impact on public management as it was effective in registration process of business firms through the Internet (Shelton-Colby 2001, p. 14). At the dawn of the new millennium several governments had already recognized the crucial role of ICT in public infrastructure, legal and judicial system, administrative and political processes, business transactions, reconstruction of business processes, citizen awareness, partnership of government and citizens, and crime prevention (Shelton-Colby 2001, p. 14).

In Seoul, South Korea, its government adopted a “sustainable anti-corruption paradigm” in addressing corruption problems in the country (Kim 2001, p. 41). Said paradigm, which involved both national and local levels, included the use of ICT whose main function was to inform the public about the government’s anti-corruption measures and campaign. Kim said that the most important role of the Internet in solving corruption in South Korea is public awareness since “eople are part of the problem as well as part of the solution to problems of government.” Solving corruption does not entail a unilateral move of the government, as it also involves all sectors of the society, such as the people, bureaucrats, public officials, capitalists, including associations and social groups.

In UAE, the adoption of anti-corruption measures almost went along with the gradual computerization of the whole of UAE. In 2001, UAE set up an anti-corruption commission, a crucial entity tasked with solving graft and corruption and bribery taking on the seven emirates (Corruption Commission for UAE 2001). Such an action was triggered by the arrest of high-ranking UAE officials like chief of customs in Dubai who was accused of corruption charges (Corruption Commission for UAE 2001). Several government officials, including the justice minister, were appalled at the brazen illegal and corrupt activities of some rogue officials arrested who took advantage of their public positions for personal gain and enrichment. The move sent positive signal to both UAE citizens and expatriates who believed that it would pave the way for the establishment of just and peaceful society suitable for business.

A few years after the conception of e-government of Dubai, such an electronic initiative attained the fourth stage or the transaction phase of the project in 2003 (Dubai eGovernment online services reach 600 mark 2003). This means the emirate was then ready to pursue the next stage which involved seamless incorporation of all government agencies and instrumentalities. One major aim of the e-government project was to put all government agencies and departments under a single website – www.dubai.ae. Several online services were also put in place like ePay and eJawaz, including registration of births and other online transactions. Dubai’s Director of e-Services Salem Al-Shair recognized the vital role of the youth to close the gap between electronic and Information technology and the previous generation, so to enable the emirate to have citizens who are knowledgeable in IT and who will are able to continue the goal of making the whole region as a digital hub (Dubai eGovernment online services reach 600 mark 2003).

Citizen-centered e-government

Many experts and leaders, and even international associations like the World Bank and the United Nations, believed that e-government is now the best antidote to graft and corruption. The Global Forum III (2003, p.1) conducted in Seoul, South Korea in 2003 came up with a theme “Ongoing Challenges, Shared Responsibilities” to encourage nations to kept up the global consensus against corruption and to look for best strategies to effectively fight corruption, particularly its “root causes”, and to maintain and uphold honesty.

E-government is not a ‘magic passkey’ to economic progress, effective governance, and corrupt-free society. It is not the ultimate solution to social ills, that once it is established it would work alone to achieve the desired positive results. E-government is just the means to a progressive and peaceful nation. One of the best goals of e-government is the formation of citizen-centered approach in combating corruption. This approach is akin to the strategies being employed by business enterprises that seek to satisfy or serve the consumers. Part of this concept is the effective rendition of public services, public health, and public safety and security.

It also entails e-participation wherein citizens are encouraged to participate in government programs and activities that foster economic, social, environmental, and even political development. This is the reason why e-government is not the main solution itself, it only helps in strengthening and fortifying the different solutions to political and social maladies like crimes, poverty, and corruption. Citizen-centered approach has many attributes, such as transparency, e-engagement, e-democracy, public awareness, public participation, etc. These attributes help not only in guaranteeing social and political stability but also in combating corruption.

The concept of e-engagement, the basic feature of “national information society strategy,” was effectively applied by the Finland government (OECD n.d.). E-engagement characterizes the openness and willingness of the government to motivate public participation in programs and concerns whose goal is to establish social and economic development. It also means that every citizen has equal chances to access public information and documents and that e-government removes any difficulty of sharing, exchanging, and accessing documents and papers that are public in natures.

The continuing fight against corruption is not just the obligation and sworn duty of the government. It would be hypocritical for a leader to say that anti-corruption campaign is the sole responsibility of the state, and that public participation is not needed. The world is now in the Internet era wherein individuals have come to realize that they have crucial roles to play in the society where they belong. To fight corruption, it is necessary to understand it— what causes it, what are the different types of corruption, how it is done, and what are the ways to curb or eliminate it. That is why it is not enough to simply institute a very ambitious e-government project if public officials do not understand well their purpose and that the public is just relegated to the sideline.

This is actually the experience of Finland when it started wiring its government agencies back in the 1990’s. Due to the lack of vision, many government agencies and their officials were confused on how to execute or perform the overall agenda of the government (OECD n.d.). Another problem is that the Finland government failed to lay down the clear objectives of the e-government plan, and this resulted in the failure to convert the government’s extensive and general agenda into tangible and practical action plans.

Using this example, political planners must be able to set the specific goals of the e-government plan and to assign specific objectives to the different agencies and departments of the government. This method can prevent confusion among the public officials about the real goal of the government. Otherwise, the efforts, money, resources, and manpower poured into the e-government project would be wasted.

Transparency in procurement system

Transparency is very helpful in ensuring that opportunities for corrupt practices are effectively blocked and removed. This is especially true in terms of procurement processes, wherein most of details of the transactions made by public officials and private firms are not really accounted or reported to the public. Thus, it is necessary to set several boundaries that would ensure transparency and accountability. This can be done by making terms and conditions of the transaction or contract, verifying the eligibility of private firms, issuing additional requirements, ensuring timeliness, setting technical qualifications of purchased goods and services rendered, formulating terms and conditions of a bid or auction, setting standards for apprising offers, including contracts and agreements (Stevens n.d., p. 101-102).

All public proceedings that do not entail danger to national security must be published online so to enhance public awareness. Many Asian countries like the Philippines, China, Mongolia, and Korea have established laws on procurement proceedings. Usually, opportunities for corruption take place at the opening stage of the bid, wherein vital bid information are usually leaked to private bidders, thus defeating the purpose of the proceeding. Today, to attract bidders from various countries, bids are now published on government websites of some countries like Hong Kong, Australia, Korea, Bangladesh, Singapore, Pakistan, and Thailand (Stevens n.d., p.101-102). Several countries now also published all information about bidding processes on their respective websites.

Failure of e-government

So many information and literatures have been written about the positive impacts of e-government on all aspects of human, economic, social, and political life. Now, there have been an increasing number of literatures that deal with the crucial role of e-government in curbing corruption. While it is widely admitted that e-government plays a very crucial role in national development, it is also necessary to find the possible failures of e-government. This connotes that if e-government fails, it follows that anti-corruption measures hinged on electronic system would also crumble.

One main contributory factor why e-government fails is the existence of gap between hard skills and soft skills. Soft skills refer to the professional processes that personnel usually perform such as planning, designing, implementing rules and policies, evaluation, etc. They are the skills needed for the success of e-government, while hard skills refer to the technologies, software, and equipment needed for the creation of e-government. As mentioned above, it is not enough to establish a seamless and highly efficient e-government with the use of advanced technologies and information systems. It is also essential to have efficient and highly skilled manpower and goal-driven public officials in order to perform the goals of e-government.

Another factor is the gap between the public and the private sector whose interests are usually at odds with each other. E-government may be effective in terms of serving the public sector but fails as to the private sector. The government has to cater to both the public and private sector to maximize and realize the benefits of e-government. This conflict can be reconciled by understanding the needs of both sectors and by listening to their concerns.

Problems also exist if the government failed to educate the public about the use, importance, and purpose of e-government. Failure to address this gap would make the system not accessible to the public that is the main beneficiary of e-government. In this respect, education and e-literacy play a crucial role in informing the citizens of the goal, purpose, and benefits of e-government.

In Dubai, the objectives of its e-government are the following: a) to guarantee effective conformity to the national e-government plan; b) to examine the whole improvement of the system against objectives; c) to guarantee public awareness, accountability, and transparency of government activities and transactions; d) to carryout counteractive measures (OECD and Dubai School for Government 2007, p. 24).

Overall, the success of e-government depends upon the political will of public officials to ensure e-participation, transparency, and e-engagement of the public in national affairs, competence and skills of those tasked with technical aspects to guarantee the continuity and maintenance of the system, and the existence of an informed and aware public that is able to avail of and maximize the use of e-government and participate in government programs and endeavors.

Combating Corruption

E-government per se cannot eradicate corruption and bribery. E-government is just the means to remove all the opportunities and rooms for graft and corruption. It entails a methodical, strict process before the government can achieve positive results. Also, establishing e-government is akin to building a civilization that takes step-by-step processes. There are methodical stages to be followed before a country could set up a full-blown e-government. These step-by-step processes were all religiously complied with by the most wired countries in the world which include the UAE. In Dubai, it took over two years before they reached the transaction phase or fourth stage of their e-government project. Now, Dubai is leading the transformation from e-government to mobile or m-government, which enables the use of mobile gadgets to avail of public services.

In combating corruption, the role of government is to provide a strong and reliable backbone for the different agencies and department of the departments tasked with government services. These government instrumentalities that needed strong ICT-backing include the sector of education, justice department, police department, media, and other crime-prevention and anti-corruption agencies or units. There are many countries today that have successfully incorporated ICT into their education system. IT-enabled education system has enormous impacts on the future of the country. In Dubai, government leaders have put so much investment in IT education so to prepare their young people for their crucial role in the future. This is to close the gap between soft skills and hard skills and to ensure the continuity and efficiency of e-government. Justice system must also be equipped with ICT. The justice department has an indispensable role in ensuring a just and peaceful society, by punishing those who committed wrongdoings, and graft and corruption. The police department must also be provided with new technologies and apparatuses so to better perform their jobs in maintaining peace and order of the whole nation.

To better combat corruption, there is a need to focus on the soft skills. This way, e-government can be used to measure performance of government personnel, facilitate effective recruitment and integrity of public offices, trim down the costs of operation and transaction, better enforce policies, laws, and regulations, lessen circuitous and costly processes and boost transparency (Wescott n.d., p. 15). Wescott (n.d., p. 15), however, raised the possibility that e-government could also open opportunities for corrupt officials and ICT firms. In view of this, there is a need to safeguard procurement and bidding processes mentioned above through transparency and effective scrutiny. In South Korea, they have this OPEN system that ensures transparency in governance and thwarts delays in processing and obtaining of government-issued licenses, permits, and public documents (Wescott n.d., p. 16).

The main driving factor of e-government is effective leadership that must be possessed by all well-placed government officials. Government officials must also have the political will to stamp out the culture of corruption and bribery permeating the public sector and undermining justice, fairness, and integrity. Political leadership should not only be effective, it must be visionary as well, in order to efficiently dispense all the goals of e-government to the crucial and indispensable departments of the government.

The fight against corruption through e-government is to be performed by all the members of society— people, public officials, business sector, media, and the different associations. This goal can be achieved if the government effectively ensured public awareness, e-engagement, and transparency. Moreover, there is a need to maintain and improve the integrity, impartiality, and independence of government departments and agencies in charge of curbing corruption, such as the judiciary, the ombudsman, police department, and all other anti-corruption entities and taskforce.

With effective and visionary leadership, Dubai whose e-government began in 2001 is now the least corrupt economy in the world. Last year, UAE was adjudged the least corrupt in the Arab world, with a score of 83.5 percent, according to the World Bank report (Rahman 2007). The score was higher than those received by a number of neighboring countries like Israel (79.6 percent), Qatar (78.6 percent), Oman (74.8 percent), and Iraq (3.4 percent).

It was also estimated that bribery siphoned $1 trillion from countries across the world. UAE also ranked second in both regulatory quality criteria and government effectives behind Israel, which placed first in both categories. The World Bank announced that “good governance matters for other human development outcomes such as infant mortality, illiteracy, and inequality, as well” (Rahman 2007).

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Stevens, A n.d., Curbing Corruption in Public Procurement, ADB/OEDC Anti-Corruption

Initiative and the Pacific. Retrieved on May 7, 2008, from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Controlling-Corruption/chapter4.pdf

‘The Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008′ n.d., Global Economic Forum.

Retrieved on May 7, 2008, from http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Information%20Technology%20Report/index.htm

The Importance of Government Information Network in Egovernance n.d., Dubai E-Government

Website. Retrieved on May 7, 2008, from http://egov.dubai.ae/en.portal?_corp_home,Article_000019,1,&_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=view

Shelton-Colby, S 2001, Anti-Corruption Symposium in 2001: The Role of On-line Procedures in

Promoting Good Governance, In Partnership by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Seoul Metropolitan Government.

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Systems, Transparency Internation, Cambridge. www.transparency.org/content/download/19093/263155

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Working Paper of Pacific Basin Research Center, and chapter in Dennis A. Rondinelli

And John M. Heffron, eds. Globalization In Transition: Forces Of Adjustment In The Asia Pacific Region, in press.

New york car auction

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Selling an used car is a hassle and not always a profitable venture. A better way to get rid of that used car, truck, RV, boat or other type of vehicle is by donating it to charity. This is a way to make you feel good about yourself, knowing your good deed is helping those in need. Plus, you can usually get a tax deduction for it.

In Columbus Ohio, you have two wonderful choices of charities that will accept your donated car and auction it. One is The Volunteers of America and the other is Goodwill.

The Volunteers of America has been around for over 109 years. They help abuse children, youth at risk, the frail elderly and disabled homeless families. Each year it is estimated that they help on average 1.8 million people a year.

Their national phone number is 1-800-899-0089 or you can visit their national web site at www.VOA.ORG. In Columbus, Ohio, they can be reached at 614-870-7500 or toll free at 1-800-225-0732. Their auto auction is located at 5640 West Broad Street, Columbus OH 43228.

Their auction is held every Saturday at 10:00 am. People interested in buying must first register.

The car auction for the Goodwill is located at 1600 Integrity Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43209. The can be reached by phone at 614-444-AUTO. They also have a website listing that explains how you can donate your car and the on the Friday before each auction they post the current vehicles up for auction. Their website is www.giveauto.com.

The Goodwill has an auction twice a month, once on the 1st and once on the 3rd Thursday of each month. The lot opens at 8:00 am the day of the auction for previewing the vehicles. You must register at 8:30 if you think you are interested in participating in the auction. The auction starts at 10:00 am.

The Goodwill uses one hundred percent of the money earned through their auctions, after the cost of towing, to help the disabled in Central Ohio; their main way of helping is to help them find jobs through education and several other types of services. All the proceeds also stays within Central Ohio.

Both the organizations offer free pick up and free towing of the donated vehicle. All you have to do is give them a call.

When donating your vehicle you will be given a form that will allow you to deduct the chairtiable gift on your itemized taxes. You are allowed a deduction that equals the gross proceed of the auction sale. After the auction, you can contact the organization for that information.

Both organizations also have online forms that you can fill out, stating that you are interested in donating a vehicle. On the form, you will be asked some basic information about the vehicle and what is the best time for them to contact you via phone. This makes it more convenient in donating.

Selling vehicles can take a lot of one’s time. You may be hounded by endless calls and by people wanting to see the vehicle in person. A lot of the time, you just waste your time as people try to haggle with you about the cost. By donating your vehicle you are saving yourself this endless frustration and you know you will be helping some needy people. Sometimes you may even get a bigger tax deduction than you think. You could actually make more money this way than you would by just selling. And, yes, they will accept your vehicle, even if it doesn’t run, unlike most regular buyers.

So, if you have an used vehicle sitting in your driveway or yard, going to rust, think about helping somebody in need. Think seriously about donating that vehicle to either charity. By doing a good deed like this, you may even feel a warm feeling in your heart, knowing you did something good. And like our grandmothers use to tell us, all good deeds will come back to us, when we need help ourselves.

Used honda cars tip 2008

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In negotiating with a car dealer, there is often a lively Altercation. Sometimes when sell car or buy a car seller develop core questions to distract and to increase their profits. If you listen to the car dealer, but not take his bait, so it helps you to keep control of the negotiations and also to get a good offer. Now below five typical questions are listed in a car purchase – and the right way to answer them.

1. What height should be at the monthly rate?

In some cases, this is an honest question: If you want to buy a car with a value of 40,000 €, this month at a rate of 300 € and a deposit of 1,000 € and no trade-in, will find the car dealer immediately that they waste their time. However, it is better to negotiate when buying a car on the cash price, instead of the monthly rates.

Before you negotiate a car, make a calculation: Start with the sale price of the car and remove the deposit. The result is now shared by 36, 48 or 60 so as to get a rough idea of the monthly rate. Do not forget that your insurance premium may eventually rise. Can you really afford this car? If you can not, you should be on the level of Lease rate . Ask A car lease means that the payments are lower, but there is a restriction on the odometer, and will be at the end of the term must return the car.

Your answer:
Let us negotiate the cash price, then we can find out how high the monthly payments are.

2. Did you give your old car payment before?

Many people rely on the fact that a Trade In the purchase price of their new cars decreased – but negotiations with an additional trade-in and difficult these unscrupulous car dealers are a number of more numbers to manipulate the price. Remember when buying a car because the car values of your Used not changed while you negotiate with the car salesman. Plan your trade-in as a deposit, you should have an idea what your car is worth, yet it is important to do only one after the other – and the first is the price of new cars to negotiate.

Your answer:
I have not decided yet. Let's talk first about the price of new cars.

3. What do you hope to get for your old car?

This can also be an honest question when buying a car, but why you should first take a number in the space? If you say you want to € 10,000 and € 12,000, but your car is worth, you have given the car dealer €2,000. It is important for a realistic idea of the value of your old car to have. Use this simple our website and see how the Used car prices develop depending on the model, for example Audi A8 Price . In addition, you can determine the value of your car – the page will ask for the condition of your car, be honest – and think about it you start the car dealer that the price as low as possible in order to sell car repaired, at a fair price and can still make a profit. However, it is best to let the car salesman to call the first price. Prepare yourself for a very low offer, it is his tactics so that you feel your car is worth less than it actually is.

Continued on the next page

To use CarWoo, consumers have to pay. For $19, you can get up to 3 dealerships compete with each other for their business and for $49, CarWoo guarantees that you will get the lowest price and lets up to 5 dealerships compete (the company offers a money back guarantee if you are not satisfied). You can choose to haggle with these dealers and ask questions, but for those who don’t feel comfortable with haggling over their new car’s price and want to make their car buying experience as stress-free as possible, the system should take care of that for them as the different dealers can see each others’ offers and will (hopefully) try to underbid each other.

As Tommy McClung, CarWoo’s CEO and one of the co-founders, told us earlier this week, generating leads for car dealerships is a big business. Because of this, most similar services are financed directly by the dealerships and, as McClung told us, don’t really cater to consumers as much as to the dealerships. On CarWoo, the dealerships don’t pay to be included on the site, so the company is not beholden to them.

One of the nice features of the site is that users won’t have to give up their private information in order to start the process. The dealer never sees the customer’s name, phone number and address until the negotiations are over and the customer walks into the dealership.

For the time being, CarWoo is focusing on selling new cars, though the team might move into the used car business at a later point. CarWoo also just announced a new financing round (led by Interwest Partners with participation by Comcast Interactive Capital, Blumberg Capital, Accelerator Ventures, Raymond Tonsing and Dillon McDonald). In total, the company has now received more than $6 million in funding.

Government auctions Evanston

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Individuals attend car auctions for various reasons. Car enthusiasts and collectors attend auctions in order to locate vehicles that they would otherwise not be able to find. Others attend car auctions to see if they can get some kind of deal on cars that have been seized by the government or repossessed by banks and lenders. The following article is a listing of where to find the best car auctions in Tucson, Arizona.

C and K Auto and Truck Auction

C and K Auto and Truck Auction is located at 505 E. 29th Street, near Silverlake Rd. When C and K holds an automotive auction, anyone who wants to participate must pay a refundable $200 deposit by cash or certified check. Once the event is over, participants can pick up their money, but they have to pick it up by 5 p.m. on the Tuesday after the event. If they don’t pick up their deposit, it will not be mailed. If individuals purchase vehicles at the car auction, they must pay for them by Tuesday and retrieve their automobile by Thursday at 5 p.m. Persons who don’t pay for their vehicles lose their deposit and the sale. All buyers must be at least 18 and have a valid driver’s license. To get information about upcoming auctions, interested people can call (520) 792-0100 or e-mail info@ckautoauction.com.

Insurance Auto Auctions

Located on 4650 E. Irvington Rd., Insurance Auto Auctions holds car auctions every Thursday at 9 a.m. On Wednesdays, interested buyers can preview their automotive selection between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. In addition to onsite bidding, they offer online bidding on their website. If the bid is accepted, individuals still have to pick up their vehicles in person. The actual site is opened Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but people can call the office until 5 p.m. Their phone number is (520) 319-9393. They are closed on the weekends. If someone has any questions, they can also reach the branch manager at Mgr-Tucson@iaai.com.

Southern Arizona Insurance Service Center

Southern Arizona Insurance Service Center has two facilities, one in Phoenix and one in Tucson. In Tucson, the physical address is 5450 N Camino de la Tierra. The company works directly with the Insurance Industry in Arizona in order to provide quality service as opposed to other salvage companies. The facility auctions salvaged vehicles as well as those in good condition. Interested customers can view pictures of these vehicles on their website. The photos show the automobiles from different angles so that potential consumers can make an informed decision. The next auction will be held on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. Sales end at 10 a.m. interested buyers can complete the registration form online and mail it and a check for $120 to S.A.I.S.C. to the address. Within a week after application approval, the Southern Arizona Insurance Service Center will then phone the potential buyer with a registration number. For more information, visit their website or call (520) 293-1390.

For individuals looking for automotive deals, car auctions could be a way to save money on their next purchase. The three companies mentioned above have overall good rating and reputations for providing the best car auction deals.

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