Understanding & Use of the Internet E-government Spring 2011 G. F Khan, PhD

In this Class Trends for better e-society Electronic Government Stages of e-government Types of services

Introduction

What is E-government E stands for electronic E-government is defined as the practice of public service provisioning to citizens, businesses, and other government agencies where government services can be accessed through:  The internet  Mobile  Fax  Mail  Telephone and  Personal

E-government defined (2) Use of information technologies and new business processes to transform how Governments interact with citizens, businesses, and other government agencies Transformation of..  Information about services  New access channels  New levels of service  Business processes (front and back  office)  Organizational structures

E-govt. V.S traditional governance

End Goals

How does e-government develop over time? Is it one step implementation project or process?

E-government development models Four stage process model by Layne and Lee (2001)  Cataloguing, transaction, vertical integration, and horizontal integration Six stage model by Silcock [2001]  information publishing and dissemination,  official two-way transaction,  multi-purpose portals,  portal personalization,  clustering of common services, and  finally full integration and enterprise transformation

E-government development models (2) The UN [2002] categories e-government as a five stage process:  emerging,  enhancing,  interactive,  transactional, and  full integration

Stages of e-government development Dimensions and stages of e-government development [Layne and Lee, 2001]

Stage 1: One way Communication The first and initial stage of e-government is one way and non-transactional in nature and involves efforts of governments:  to establish an online presence,  offer static information about agencies, services, and their activities, and  provide downloadable forms to the citizens and organizations The technologies implemented in the first stage include:  Internal Networks  LANs within the offices  Website, and Information Dissemination  Web presence, addresses for employees  etc

Stage 2: Two way Communication The second stage of e-government adoption is the two-way and transaction phase where government allows citizens to have secure access to online databases and provides them with the options to:  Pay taxes,  Fines,  Apply for ID cards,  Birth certificates, and  Passports etc Technological changes at this stage:  Transform services into e-services  Office LANs should be advanced, e.g. backup capabilities  Security tools e.g. HTTPS  Integration of networks of different branches of same office

Stage 3 & 4: Integration The third and fourth phases concentrate on vertical and horizontal integration. Vertical and horizontal integration of all governmental systems which break down the walls of information distribution During this stage, different services at a national level are merged together and, as a result, one- stop shop service is provided to the citizens E-services can be accessed through encryptions keys and certificates

Example of one stop service

Types of Services Deshazo et al. [2001] identified 51 different e- governments’ services and organized them into 12 categories: online payments, registration and permits, customer service, communication, license, images, audio/video, documents, applications, and procurement, among others. These services are mainly provided to the users in the G2C, G2B, G2E, and G2G e-government relationships

Types of Services Government to Citizens (G2C)  e.g. Birth certificates, Passports, home tax, etc Government to Business (G2B)  E.g. E-customs, paperless trade Government to Employees (G2E)  E.g. Payroll, paying tax, and e-learning Government to Government (G2G)  E.g. information sharing

Advantages Transparency:  what the government is working on as well as the policies they are trying to implement  Due to governments web presence citizens can easily know about projects, plans, and outcomes Democratization  Greater citizen participation in governments policy making, voting, and decision making  E.g. through blogging, chat rooms, s etc Convenience  Any where any time services  Reduction in physical contacts no need to travel to govt. office Speed and efficiency Improved accounting and record keeping through computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, updated, and modified resulting greater speed and efficiency

Disadvantages?

Disadvantages Digital divide and Inaccessibility  The lack of equality in public access to the internet  Due to people live in remote areas, low literacy levels, and low incomes. Reliability & Trust  Reliability of information on the web, and  Hidden agendas of government groups that could influence and bias public opinions.

Disadvantages (2) Surveillance & Privacy  More and more information with governments about citizens  When the government has easy access to countless information on its citizens, personal privacy is lost False sense of transparency and accountability  E-government system maintained by the governments themselves.  Information can be added or removed from the public eye  Very few organizations monitor and provide accountability for these modifications

Can we measure e-government?

E-government readiness index Measures the status of e-governments around the world Several International rankings of e- government maturity are available. UN e-Government Readiness Index are among the most frequently cited

What they measure? E-government readiness index  Web measure index  Infrastructure index  Human capital index Internet and PCs index Telephone and cellular index TV and online population index Education index Service deliver per stages E-participation index

E-government development index UN 2010

UN E-participation Index A country’s strength in e-participation is measured against three benchmarks:  Does the national government publish information on items under consideration?  Are there ways for the public to engage in consultations with policy makers, government officials and one another?  Can citizens directly influence decisions, for example by voting online or using a mobile telephone?

Next Class Case Study  Korean E-government

Thank You Questions & Comments