This paper reports on research into the ideas and perceptions of e-government in Libya. It identifies some good practices, some of the implementation challenges and provides some recommendations to improve e-government services project. The paper presents the perception of e-Government services held by different stakeholder groups in Libya, including common Engineers, Students, Farmers, and other stakeholders within Libya's e-government activity. Governments around the world are trying to provide services electronically to their population. However implementing e-government services successfully is a critical task and each government faces its own unique challenges, and Libya is no exception. Libya as a developing country has several challenges in delivering electronic services to its people. In many areas there is a lack of wider infrastructure, such as a postal network. There is a lack of technology infrastructure, for instance there is a low percentage of households with landline telephone access which limits having Internet access for most of them. The limited access leads to a lack of skills in using the technology and awareness of e-government services. Libya is a large country in area but has a relatively small population of approximately 5.6 million. In addition, the population demographics are weighted towards the younger age groups. For instance, approximately 1.6 million people are in the education system. The characteristics of a dispersed population over large areas - for instance there is typically 500 KM between cities with little in between - are common among other similar technologically developing nations. The distances and costs make it difficult to reach the whole population, especially to the population of the interior villages. However, e-Government projects offer much potential to deliver services and information to the population. Internet access would provide a communication channel between individuals, support the education system, provide a surrogate postal network, and would improve communication and interaction between government and its people. E-government activity in Libya is in an embryonic stage with promising progression in different government agencies. The research findings presented are based on three large studies: An online questionnaire hosted on the Libyan government website, a survey covering 10 cities across Libya focusing on three different stakeholder group (students, engineers and farmers), and interviews with key players within e-government. The research also draws upon some of the local and successful cases studies.
