ADOPTION OF E-COMMERCE IN JORDAN:
UNDERSTANDING THE SECURITY CHALLENGE
WRITTEN BY: MOHANAD HALAWEH
Presented by:
Hosea Gidharry
Greg Morris
Lezanne Waithe
OVERVIEW
Introduction
 Information about Jordan
 ICT development in Jordan
 Previous E-commerce studies in Jordan
 Research Methodology
 Results of Empirical Research
 Impact of research
 Conclusion and future research

INTRODUCTION

Jordan has made considerable progress in its Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector.

Fastest growing sector in Jordan. Expands by 50% every
year.

Security is a major barrier to the adoption of E-commerce by
customers and Organisations.

Customers and Organizations hesitant to participate in Ecommerce.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT JORDAN
Located in the Middle East.
 Population of 6 million.
 91% literacy rate.
 Jordanian Internet users spent $370 million on
products, services and online bill payments in
2011. A 92 per cent increase from $192 million in
2010, according to a report by the Arab Advisers
Group.
 Guinness world book of records: Highest number
of internet cafes located in a small region.

JORDAN’S BUSY CITY
Amman Jordan.
By Lara On February 17, 2011; Sleepless in Amman
E-LEADERSHIP

This is defined in this context, according to Mr.
Halaweh as the scope and nature of
government and organisations effort to
promote the networked world within the
country and to promote the country as a
regional or global centre in the networked
world.

According to McConnel International, Jordan was ranked medium to
high in the year 2004 for E-leadership amongst other countries in the
world.

This ranking is further justified by strong governmental support,
including his Majesty King Abdullah II. Along with various
governmental figures, it is believed that the country will flourish
through the advancement of information and communication
technology (ICT).

In the year 2000 the REACH initiative was developed by a branch of
government known as the Information Technology Association of
Jordan (INTAJ). Its main goal was to advance the country’s ICT sector
on an international scale in order to generate not only substantial
revenue, but more importantly a significant number of employment
opportunities. The initiative was highly successful, marked by an
exponential increase in participating countries; 53 in 2000 to 143 in
mid 2006.

In that same year an e-learning program was established by the
ministry whose sole aim was to enable citizens and businesses
alike to access various government services with great
convenience. A staggering 95 percent of all government
ministries were implemented into this program. Some of the
services offered included the download of forms and
applications, however online governmental transactions were
yet to be implemented.

This e-learning program broadened its reach to the education
institutions throughout the country. This was clearly evident in
the introduction of Information Technology to secondary school
curriculums; adding programming, e-commerce and IT courses.
Even at tertiary level institutions where fibre-based campus
networks were installed. This initiative even went as far as
making computer, internet and programming courses
compulsory for majority of their faculties.

In 2004, the Jordan telecommunication company
commenced a ‘PC@every-home’ campaign in
which computer packages were offered to citizens
at a 40% mark down. These packages even
included a modem, warranty and delivery. This
campaign was aimed at increasing computer and
internet facilities throughout the country. Moreover
in 2007 another governmental initiative provided
laptops for university students again at prices as
low as £10.

An informal survey conducted by the Jordan
telecommunication company to determine whether
customers prefer online bill payment to which 79% agreed.
This suggests that civilians were both willing and ready to
engage in forms of e-commerce.

The establishment of the E-commerce Information Centre
(EIC) was a significant sign of the country’s quest for Ecommerce awareness. This EIC was initiated in order to
provide support for the private sector with respect to Ecommerce system implementation. The Electronic Business
Development Activity (EBDA) was yet another initiative
devised to increase E-commerce awareness amongst
Jordanian businesses by encouraging them to utilize IT in
their business activities.

According to Titi in 2005, although most Jordanian
businesses implement websites to promote their products,
only a select few provide E-commerce facilities such as
online payment transactions.

There have been many laws and regulations implemented
into the ICT sector such as the Electronic Transactions Act
No.85/2001; which covers e-transactions, e-records, esignatures, e-documents and privacy issues. According to AlMobaideen in 2009 however, the current legal environment
was not established enough to adapt to the widespread ICT
establishment.

The plethora of governmental initiatives
mentioned above outwardly indicated the
extent to which the government aims to
promote IT utilization throughout the country,
with seemingly great success. However the
focus should be more towards the legal
legislation which supervises its use.
SECURITY

From a customer perspective, security with
respect to E-commerce is defined as “the
extent to which one believes that the Web is
secure for transmitting sensitive information”.

It is important to note that security can be perceived
differently among various customers. What some users
may identify as actual security may be ‘perceived’
security which is two completely different concepts.

Actual security involves security mechanisms that
promote security requirements such as; authorization,
confidentiality, availability etc. can also be perceived by
the user.

What a customer perceives as security may be quite the
opposite. These perceptions however can still play an
important role in making the customer feel comfortable.

A survey conducted by Sahawneh in 2003 among 31
organizations revealed many factors which adversely affects
E-commerce success in Jordan. Among these factors include
a lack of security and legal mechanisms to protect online
consumers from deceit. Many organizations also were not
aware of the many benefits from engaging in E-commerce
activities.

Alsmadi conducted another study among Jordanian
customers with reference to attitude towards utilizing the
internet for online shopping. The results indicated that the
customers were knowledgeable enough to conduct online
shopping however their concerns were towards the security
of these online transactions.

Another study conducted by Titi in 2005 was on
the investigation of E-commerce adoption in Small
Medium Enterprises (SMEs). He concluded that
one of the major barriers involved government
regulations.

The main factor identified by all these studies in
relation to E-commerce adoption and
implementation was that of security. Therefore a
detailed analysis of these security concerns is of
paramount importance to facilitate its adoption in
Jordan.
METHODOLOGY
Interpretive Case Study
 Semi Structured Interviews as the Main
collection tool
 Followed the qualitative research prepared by
Strauss and Corbin(1990)

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Tangible features do not guarantee complete security
 Security insurance in E-commerce websites and the
profits returned (Economic perspective)
 Physical security as a requirement for E-commerce
security
 Security awareness, risk and time
 E-government is a prerequisite for successful Ecommerce
 Actions concerning the psychological aspects of
security
 Cooperative responsibility drives the effectiveness of
Ecommerce security

IMPACT OF RESEARCH

Security concerns are not technical; they
involve
 Operational,
 Organizational,
 Human
aspects.

Security challenge pertains to psychological
feelings of customers.
Fears
 Misconceptions about e-commerce
 Negative stories of credit card usage


Need for the government and IT companies to
develop a secure EPS which is managed nationally
in Jordan as an alternative to the international
ones

Directs the decision-makers in Jordan to speed
the development of the e-government project.

Promote the culture of using credit cards for
online transactions.

Need for a raising of national consciousness
regarding security in e-commerce in order to
foster its acceptance and engagement in it.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH

For future research, it is worth conducting a
comparative study of two developing countries,
where new and further insight might be
expected to emerge and contribute to
extending the body of knowledge.
EVALUATION

The author mentioned that previously there
was little research addressing this security
issue in Jordan from the customer and
organizational perspectives.