e-Government

Definition and Scope

E-government refers to the use of information technology in general, and e-commerce in particular, to improve the delivery of government services and activities in the public sector, such as: providing citizens with more convenient access to information and services, and providing effective delivery of government services to citizens and businesses as well as improving the performance of government employees. It also is an efficient and effective way for governments to interact with citizens, businesses, and other entities and to improve governmental business transactions (such as buying and selling goods), and to operate effectively within the governments themselves. E-Government includes a large number of activities, as can be seen in the New Zealand case (Online File W5.1) and see en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/E-Government. For details, see Shark and Toporkoff (2008). For resources, see w3.org/egov.

Note that e-government also offers an opportunity to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal operation of a government.

E-government includes the following major categories: government-to-citizens (G2C), government-to-business (G2B), government-to- government (G2G), internal efficiency and effectiveness (IEE), and government-to-employees (G2E). The major activities of the first four categories are provided in Table 5.1 (also see Digital Government Strategy 2012; Egov 2003). For a description of the range of e-government activities in the United States, see Digital Government Strategy (2012) and Whitehouse. gov/omb/e-gov. For examples of e-government in Singapore, see egov.gov.sg.

Example: The European Commission

The European Commission’s Digital Agenda website (ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/welcome- digital-agenda) is an example of a comprehensive e-government system. It is one of the European Union’s seven flagships for achieving its 10-year growth strategy. The site is divided into several topics—notably, life and work, public services, ongoing studies, smart cities, and e-health and aging. For details, see ec.europa.eu/ digital-agenda/welcome-digital-agenda.

Source :

Efraim Turban, David King, Jae Kyu Lee, Ting-Peng Liang, Deborrah C. Turban (2015), Electronic Commerce A Managerial and Social Networks Perspective