E-government

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E-Government

E-Government, digital government or online government is the used of information communication technologies (ICTs) as a platform for exchanging online information, providing services and transacting government business with citizens, businesses, NGOs and other government agencies.

E-Government: From Technology-driven to Citizen-driven

The shift in e-Government policy from being technology-driven towards being citizen-driven takes place in a context of a shift to governance, that is, to including civil society, citizens, and the private sector in the networks of government as a credible way forward. An OECD handbook,’ Citizens as Partners, OECD Handbook on Information, Consultation and Public Participation in Policy-Making (2001) cultivates the need to see citizens as partners in policymaking.

E-Government and the Missing Dimension of Citizen’s Participation

As the implementation of e-Government progressed the development of transactional government on-line was prioritised in the 1990’s. As research exposed the growing digital divide, belatedly questions of democracy entered the debate. Increasing access and tackling the digital divide (given the evidence that lack of access to technology in an e-government context could in fact de-democratise) became a growing concern. An associated democratic question, namely increasing the quality of access and increasing citizen’s participation, likewise found its way onto the e-agenda in the early 2000’s.

Local E-Government

References