3. Transaction: - individuals interact and conduct transactions with government online. For example the renewing of licenses, paying taxes and fines. Online provision of these services not only reduces costs and improves quality of services provided, but also significantly reduces the waiting lines (Belanger and Hiller 2006).
4. Integration: all government services become integrated offering access to the services of all departments or agencies by linkage via a single portal, resulting in joined-up government with joined-up services, data and networked citizenry (Bellamy, 2003). By reducing time-consuming face-to-face interactions and integrating online and back-end systems to support customer requests, governments and agencies involved save money and time with the potential for further improvement of online services. Examples of such national portals using different strategies and offer a wide range of services are:
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the US’ FirstGov () provides sophisticated search tool ‘Ask George’;
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Australia’s State of Victoria’s MAXI system ();
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Singapore’s eCitizen Centre () concentrates on life events such as changing careers and retiring;
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Canadian portal () provides up to date ‘Top Ten’ list of services used recently (Riley, 2001, Bellamy, 2003).
5. Participation: includes provision of voting online, registration online or available services to make comments online. It may also be considered as a variation of the two-way communication stage. However its importance in the emergence of e-democracy and e-voting as pervasive themes in the field of electronic services delivery, necessitates viewing it separately. The most notable example for e-voting is the 2000 U.S. presidential primary. However, other countries such as Sweden and Brazil have also run online voting experiments (Mechling, 2002). Indeed, ICTs enable the removal of obstacles to accessing information and enables citizens to actively take part in public matters. For example since 1997 the British government established systematic arrangements for public consultations requesting all departments to comply with this e-consultation toolkit. MPs were also encouraged to be involved in online forums and to develop e-mail links. The democratic applications of ICTs are remarkable with encouraging signs of e-democracy being given significant attention by its inclusion in policy agendas (Bellamy, 2003).
To achieve further increases of efficiency and re-engagement of citizens with governmental and democratic processes, e-government needs ‘central direction and high-level organizational and political support (Smith, 2004: 125). However, citizen satisfaction demands flexibility, integration and ease of access to services. As Moore puts it eloquently, ‘public officials should be ‘explorers commissioned by society to search for public value (Moore 1995:299). So there should be a balance between strong leadership and management whilst meeting public demands for more open policy making. Fountain suggests that the idea of e-government initiatives is not to eliminate bureaucracy but to readjust it: ‘[I]ntegrating initiatives so that citizens notice a positive difference is an iterative and complex process’ (Fountain, 2001: 103). Some have negative perceptions of the reliability ICTs and may claim that ICTs can bring further dependency. However, Smith makes a good point suggesting that e-government initiatives aim to encourage citizens and electronic interactions have a recognised potential to ‘cut through bureaucratic obstacles to holistic government, aiming to use technology rather than be driven by it’ (Smith, 2004: 130).
There is an assumption that beyond stage two, the emphasis is no longer on technology but on ‘organisational processes structures, culture and the socio-political environment…’ (Pearce, 2004: 142). Significantly, as long as the overall use and access to ICTs extends, the challenge to manage ICTs push governments further into the tasks of general management. This general management leads to the emergence of modernised citizen oriented government. Furthermore Benjamin and Levinson claim that: ‘[N]ew technology is not enough to increase productivity. Organisational and process changes must also be made’ (Benjamin and Levinson, 1993: 23). The importance of government and management improvement for better service delivery and democratic processes will be reviewed next.
II Impact of ICTs and Modernization of Government to a citizen/community oriented government
Administration and management are fundamental to achieving future effective public service delivery. For example the OECD report indicates that e-government is not only about business but significantly about transformation of the structures, operations and processes of government to meet the e-government imperative. This will have a fundamental impact on how services are delivered, how policies are developed and how public administrations operate (OECD Report 2003: 17). Undoubtedly, ICTs have a huge impact on government and its administrative processes. It changes governmental ways of interacting with its citizens. It helps to find new ways for citizens to participate and ‘gives rise to more transparent and accountable government processes’ (Gasco, 2003: 7). Moreover, Fountain argues that it has affected government initiatives in terms of organizational change because technologies and innovations impact on the bureaucracy, thus reshaping coordination, control and processes within the public sector. Although, a solid core of hierarchy will continue to exist in information-based organizations, Fountain adds that ‘[T]he control apparatus that required multiple layers in the chain of command has been greatly simplified, however, with gains in accountability, through information technology’ (Fountain, 2002: 131).
Riley gives an example of a Green Paper released in November 1996 was followed in 1999 by the ‘Modernizing Government Initiative’, the implementation strategy not only ‘for the integration of IT in government and for the delivery of services but for the actual modernization of government itself’ (Riley, 2001: 10). Modernization of Government is a key step towards the development of communication methods with citizens. It is also about joined-up and integrated government with modern techniques and a long-term programme to create better functioning citizens-oriented government (Riley, 2001). Indeed Modernization of Government is a very important step as improvement of internal operations and interactions, the advantages of advanced technologies, easing work loads and reducing human errors, enables increased efficiency of public service delivery.
All these changes are leading to more citizen-oriented government with improved services and an increase in the degree of satisfaction amongst the citizens. In 2000 the US government implemented an e-survey asked information officers in the 50 states and 38 major federal agencies about the effectiveness and efficiency of e-government. The results were quite encouraging: Eighty-six percent agreed that e-government improved service delivery; eighty three percent talked about government becoming more efficient; sixty three percent suggested that it helped to reduce the costs (GAO, 2001).
ICTs also affect all state actors, including the legislative system. Furthermore it changes the relationship with international actors in an era of globalization and the emergence of an electronic environment. Thus Brown suggests that in this kind of environment governments have an access to each other as well as to their respective citizens. This may include transnational public institutions and private Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) (Brown, 2005).
As for observing changes and improvements West suggests that it is appropriate to look to short-term changes that give hints about long-term changes, thus providing policy-makers with information on how they are getting closer to achieving particular goals and outcomes. West’s research assesses changes within the past three years and concludes that government has partially failed to use all the potential of ICTs for substantial transformation in service delivery. However, West considers ICTs have the prospect of becoming a tool to enhance democratic responsiveness (West, 2004). It is most likely that the impact of ICTs on the public service delivery will continue to be positive improving the quality of public services whilst enhancing democracy and transparency. Mechling argues that the bureaucratic barriers already mentioned will, step by step, become flatter and more customer oriented. He suggests that:
Services will become integrated and customized, with rich self-service options. Fees rather than taxes will be used more extensively to raise revenues and coordinate production and consumption (Mechling, 2002: 155).
In sum the ICTs may be used as a facilitator of the improvement process of public service delivery. In order to execute successfully and manage this transition all possible barriers should be taken into consideration for further planned development and perspectives. The next section will focus on the barriers and difficulties to overcome.
III Difficulties to Tackle and Future Perspectives
Indeed, there are a lot of advantages of Electronic Services Delivery (ESD) for both citizens and government. In contrast to traditional structures, e-delivery services are both nonlinear and non-hierarchical (West, 2004). They are also supposed to expedite the process of direct communication and interaction with citizens thus making them convenient and easy to access. Another advantage that ICTs can reduce red tape and costs so may improve efficiency of services. As Fountain indicates: ‘movement from paper-based to web-based processing of documents and payments typically generates administrative cost-savings of roughly 50%’ (Fountain, 2001: 5). With these advantages, e-government is expected to grow and produce a broad demand. However the development and use of these programmes have been slow. The real question is whether this new transformation is incomplete or improperly implemented?
Some authors (Fountain, West) suggest that it is difficult to fully implemented ESD because even governments are divided into competing agencies, leading to bureaucracy which itself can block further promotion of additional technological innovation. Budget considerations do not give complete freedom to facilitate creativity and the use of technology for democratic outreach. Therefore when the process of transformation through the use of technology and innovation is slow this may be due to strong bureaucracy or resistant to change within government agencies or organizations. Fountain says:
The process of enacting technology refers to the tendency of some organizational actors to implement new IT [information technology] in ways that reproduce, indeed strengthen, institutionalised sociostructural mechanisms . . . .Organizational actors tend to enact technology to preserve ongoing social, or network, relationships and to maintain performance programs. (Fountain, 2001: 90).
Another target to achieve is providing accessibility of online services for all citizens, improving infrastructure and connection services, including in rural areas. Attention should also be paid to removing barriers for participation of older people, and socio-economically disadvantaged groups (Rimmer, 2003), since it is very important in relation to democratic and equality perspectives that governmental initiatives embrace all the citizens. Dugdale and others suggest that it is even more important to look at awareness, and required skills, of the whole population: ‘[A]ccess to infrastructure is important but whether access leads to connection and use depends on other kinds of efforts to connect the unconnected’ (Dugdale, et al., 2005: 110). For example in Australia, acknowledged to be one of the leaders in ESD, several programmes to expand the online services access, even included provision of recycled computers for low income people (Ewing et al., 2003). Another issue is about providing useful information. As Dugdale and others claim more work is needed in providing meaningful information and facilities in order to motivate further broader access (Dugdale, et al., 2005). Obviously, ICTs created new potentials and forms for producing, collecting, storing, transmitting and managing information. In this regard, Fountain adds that one of the challenges with gaining these advantages lies in: ‘[l]inking programme managers, control staff, and information resource managers in agencies in order to put information into the most valuable locations’ (Fountain, 2002: 131).
Some may question the applicability of online-services in every existing field. In this case, E-government services can be provided in ways that do not demand internet. These services can be delivered through the integration of e-government with ‘telephone or over the counter services by providing smaller centres with database access’ (National Office of the Information Economy, 2003).
Perceptions and trustworthiness also impact on citizens’ decisions to use e-government services. According to a National Survey conducted by General Accounting Office (McClure, 2001) citizens tend to believe that e-government has the potential to improve services delivery. However, they are not sure about the safety and security of the personal information which is a significant issue in the e-government research field (Chadwick, 2001; Belanger & Hiller, 2005). To increase perception of trustworthiness, government agencies could include privacy statements on their websites in addition to providing accurate and timely services. According to Carter and Belanger compatibility and ease of use are, with trustworthiness the main indicators of citizens’ intention to use e-government service. After having a positive experience e-governments users would be more likely to use such services in the future (Carter & Belanger, 2005). It is worth noting Australia which is making successful steps in this area of linked-up government, however there is still a place for the additional challenges of further definition of citizens’ needs and the problems whilst empowering self-representation of one’s own needs (Dugdale, et al., 2005).
Conclusion
To summarise: ICTs affect government and its citizens, their interaction and delivery of services. These changes create both many new opportunities and a number of challenges. Significantly ICTs improve services, increase citizen satisfaction whilst increasing both cost effectiveness and efficiency. The response to challenges and obstacles should be innovative ICTs with a strong focus on social inclusiveness and equity. It is believed that that ICT, through sharing information with transparency will lead to a greater degree of democracy and accountability. It was highlighted in this essay that ICTs are facilitating institutional and organizational changes in government organizations. As public organizations become networked it is much easier to deliver services. ICTs also lead to government bureaucracies becoming more customer-oriented. Real efforts can improve the infrastructure, providing enhanced ease of access and training. A review of the content will also help to achieve deepening of respect for the efficient use and further development of services delivered through ICTs. Ultimately, ICTs will strengthen economic and social inclusion.
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