Relationships of technical, semantic, and organizational factors on electronic government information systems interoperability in Jordan

Information systems (IS) interoperability has been considered from the main characteristic of successful electronic government (e-Government) projects in the past twenty years. As information systems and technologies are being developed and improved, debates on their success have been constantly discussed by researchers and scholars. Achieving interoperability among different organizations is a complex task and affected by various aspects. Previous studies have shown that many e-Government projects in developing countries, like Jordan have encountered various problems after the implementation phase. Hence, the objective of this study is to develop an e-Government IS interoperability model for the public sector in Jordan. This study examined the technical, semantic, organizational, and information technology (IT) capability factors that impact IS interoperability focusing on IS interoperability as the key concept to reach successful implementation of interoperability in Jordanian government. To explore the study constructs and their relationships a variety of published literatures concerning the scope of the study has been critically reviewed. Data were collected using the survey method, and 335 questionnaires were distributed to IT staff in 25 Jordanian ministries. Two hundred and thirty one usable questionnaires were returned. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that the technical factors (IT infrastructure, security and privacy), a semantic factor (standardization), organizational factors (business process management, IT human resources, return on investment, and risk management), and IT capability (IT knowledge and IT operations) positively affected IS interoperability. On contrary, there was no moderating effect of the IT capability in the relationship between technical, semantic, and organizational factors and IS interoperability among ministries in Jordan. Technical, semantic, organizational, and IT capability factors are good for promoting e-Government IS interoperability.