IT Workers Notepad

“Nothing more than the whim of a 13 year old hacker is required to knock any user, site or server right off the Internet” Steve Gibson, Gibson Research Corporation As small businesses move with the Internet revolution - from dial-up connections to broadband 24 x 7 Internet, the security threats to the network increase dramatically. Now PCs and networks are visible on the Internet constantly, giving hackers more time and opportunity than ever to wreak havoc on the businesses of the world.

Customer relationship management, basic definition: Customer relationship management (CRM) is an approach to doing business and providing better customer service. The technological solutions badged under the CRM header are enablers of this approach. As an approach to doing business, CRM implementation is as much about cultural and process change as it is about new technology. Within the context of local government, customer relationship management (CRM) aims to improve customer service by encouraging a higher quality of customer interaction, and smoother internal operations. The emphasis is on improving service to the individual customer. This requires a shift from department-centric operations, to a more customer-focused approach.

Every year, the United Nations releases a report on the least developed countries (LDC) and compares their economic conditions in several different categories. For 2002, 49 countries were designated as the least developed. These countries were decided based on their low GDP per capita, their weak human assets, and their high degree of economic vulnerability (UNCTAD, 2002). E-Government implementation and development is a highpriority issue on various countries’ agenda. Some countries have surpassed others in online services that they offer to their citizens. Indicators on education and literacy show that, in Mozambique, only 7% of the total population was enrolled in secondary school. Indicators on communications and media show that, in Bangladesh, only 3.4% of the population has a telephone, while 9.3% are in the circulation of daily newspapers (UNCTAD, 2002).

Most, if not all, e-government strategies and implementation plans in developing countries have been based on theories and experiences of developed countries (Huang, D’Ambra, & Bhalla, 2002). Feeling the pressure and demand from citizens to provide e-government services online, many developing countries have no choice but to hastily jump into the e-government implementation wagon by following e-government development strategies proposed and carried out by developed countries. However, due to substantial differences in many key aspects of e-government related technological and social conditions between developed and developing countries, e-government development strategies and experiences from developed countries may not be directly applicable to developing countries. Even in developed countries, about 20-25% of egovernment projects are either never implemented or abandoned immediately after implementation, and a further 33% fail partially in terms of falling short of major goals, c