Investigation of human capital index measurement in the middle east countries

The field of e-government has become one of the most developed and most important applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) around the world in recent years due to its positive impact on citizens, government and society because it refers to delivering government public services using ICT. The e-readiness assessment and e-government performance measurements for a country rely on the availability of necessary infrastructure, online services and readiness of a community to use e-government applications. This study focuses how the Human Capital Index (HCI) fits into e-government performance measurements in Middle Eastern countries. In parallel to the background, literature review and analysis data of Middle East countries in HCI, investigation in HCI for Middle East countries and potential issues that effect on HCI in those countries are done. Also, the impact of HCI proportion on the e-government performance is addressed. The findings reveal impact of HCI on evaluating the e-government performance; geographical area and population also affect the adoption of e-government. Additionally, the level of ICT and computer literacy is relatively poor in Middle Eastern countries. This research has limitations which include the sources of information, exclusive economic and legal issues and a limited number of measurement methods. Finally, the research opens HCI's weight into discussion in the evaluation of e-government performance although it is clear that whenever HCI increases in a country, it leads to an increase in e-government performance with the investigated measurement methods