Electronic governance or e-governance is the use of information technology to provide government services, information exchange, communication transactions, and integration of different stand-alone systems between government to citizen (G2C), government to business (G2B), government to government (G2G), government to employees (G2E), and back office processes and interactions within the entire governance framework.Saugata, B., and Masud, R.R. (2007). Implementing E-Governance Using OECD Model(Modified) and Gartner Model (Modified) Upon Agriculture of Bangladesh. IEEE. 1-4244-1551-9/07. Through IT, citizens can access government services through e-governance. The government, citizens, and businesses/interest groups are the three primary target groups that can be identified in governance concepts.
There are several methods of G2C e-governance. Two-way communication allows citizens to instant message directly with public administrators, and cast remote electronic votes (electronic voting) and instant opinion voting. These are examples of E-participation. Other examples included the payment of taxes and services that can be completed online or over the phone. Mundane services such as name or address changes, applying for services or grants, or transferring existing services are more convenient and no longer have to be completed face to face.Miller, W & Walling, J, (2013). "Government in the twenty-first century: New Avenues of Study". Taking Sides. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
The Federal Government of the United States has a broad framework of G2C technology to enhance citizen access to Government information and services. benefits.gov is an official US government website that informs citizens of benefits they are eligible for and provides information on how to apply for assistance. US State Governments also engage in G2C interaction through the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Safety, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of Education, and others.Lee, (2004). "Communications of the ACM". Association for Computing Machinery. As with e-governance on the global level, G2C services vary from state to state. The Digital States Survey ranks states on social measures, digital democracy, e-commerce, taxation, and revenue. The 2012 report shows Michigan and Utah in the lead and Florida and Idaho with the lowest scores. Municipal governments in the United States also use government-to-customer technology to complete transactions and inform the public. Much like states, cities are awarded for innovative technology. Government Technology's "Best of the Web 2012" named Louisville, KY, Arvada, CO, Raleigh, NC, Riverside, CA, and Austin, TX the top five G2C city portals.
European countries were ranked second among all geographic regions. The Single Point of Access for Citizens of Europe supports travel within Europe and Europe is a 1999 initiative supporting an online government. Main focuses are to provide public information, allow customers to have access to basic , simplify online procedures, and promote electronic signatures. Estonia is the first and the only country in the world with e-residency which enables anyone in the world outside Estonia to access Estonian online services. One caveat of the Estonia e-residency program is that it does not give e-residents physical rights to the country. This means that unless the e-resident buys land they do not get to participate in the democratic processes. The benefit to e-residents is the opportunity to develop business in the digital European Union market. Neighboring Lithuania launched a similar e-Residency program.
Asia is ranked third in comparison, and there are diverse G2C programs between countries. Singapore's eCitizen Portal is an organized single access point to government information and services. South Korea's Home Tax Service (HTS) provides citizens with 24/7 online services such as tax declaration. Taiwan has top ranking G2C technology including an online motor vehicle services system, which provides 21 applications and payment services to citizens. India's e-governance programs have found success in regional areas. This is likely due to the ability to meet the language and literacy differences among their constituents.India's UPI(Unified Payments Network) has become world's largest digital payments network which allows its users to combine multiple bank accounts into a single app, allowing users to send and receive money without sharing account numbers or other details.
Government-to-Citizen is the communication link between a government and private individuals or residents. Such G2C communication most often refers to that which takes place through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), but can also include direct mail and media campaigns. G2C can take place at the federal, state, and local levels.
G2C stands in contrast to G2B, or Government-to-Business networks.
One such Federal G2C network is USA.gov, the United States' official web portal, though there are many other examples from governments around the world.White, Jay D. (2007) Managing Information in the Public Sector. M.E. Sharpe. New York
E-governance makes it possible for employees to become paperless and makes it easy for employees to send important documents back and forth to colleagues all over the world instead of having to print out these records or faxCarter, Lemuria, and France Belanger. "Citizen Adoption of Electronic Government Initiatives". IEEE Xplore. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, n.d. G2E services also include software for maintaining personal information and records of employees. Some of the benefits of G2E expansion include:
Government-to-employees (abbreviated G2E) is the online interactions through instantaneous communication tools between government units and their employees. G2E is one out of the four primary delivery models of e-Government.
G2E is an effective way to provide e-learning to the employees, bring them together and to promote knowledge sharing among them. It also gives employees the possibility of accessing information in regard to compensation and benefits policies, training and learning opportunities and civil rights laws. G2E services also include software for maintaining personal information and records of employees.
G2E is adopted in many countries including the United States, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.
Many governments around the world have gradually turned to Information technologies (IT) in an effort to keep up with today's demands. Historically, many governments in this sphere have only been reactive, but recently there has been a more proactive approach in developing comparable services such things as e-commerce and e-business.
Before, the structure emulated private-like business techniques. Recently that has all changed as e-government begins to make its own plan. Not only does e-government introduce a new form of record keeping, but it also continues to become more interactive to better the process of delivering services and promoting constituency participation.
The framework of such an organization is now expected to increase more than ever by becoming efficient and reducing the time it takes to complete an objective. Some examples include paying utilities, tickets, and applying for permits. So far, the biggest concern is accessibility to Internet technologies for the average citizen. In an effort to help, administrations are now trying to aid those who do not have the skills to fully participate in this new medium of governance, especially now as e-government progressing to more e-governance though.
An overhaul of the structure is now required as every pre-existing sub-entity must now merge under one concept of e-government. As a result, Public Policy has also seen changes due to the emerging of constituent participation and the Internet. Many governments such as Canada's have begun to invest in developing new mediums of communication of issues and information through virtual communication and participation. In practice, this has led to several responses and adaptations by interest groups, activist, and lobbying groups. This new medium has changed the way the polis interacts with government.
In theory, there are currently four major levels of E-government in municipal governments:
The adoption of e-government in municipalities evokes greater innovation in e-governance by being specialized and localized. The level success and feedback depends greatly on the city size and government type. A council-manager government municipality typically works the best with this method, as opposed to mayor-council government positions, which tend to be more political. Therefore, they have greater barriers towards its application. Council-Manager governments are also more inclined to be effective here by bringing innovation and reinvention of governance to e-governance.
The International City/County Management Association and Public Technology Inc. have done surveys over the effectiveness of this method. The results are indicating that most governments are still in either the primary stages (stage 1 or 2), which revolves around public service requests. Though application of integration is now accelerating, there has been little to no instigating research to see its progression as e-governance to the government. We can only theorize it's still within the primitive stages of e-governance.
G2G systems generally come in one of two types:
Pushing data over the internet, e.g.: regulative services, general holidays, public hearing schedules, issue briefs, notifications, etc.
two-way communications between one governmental department and another, users will interact in dialogue with agencies and post issues, comments, or requests to the agency.
Conducting transactions, e.g.: Lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants.
Governance, e.g.: To alter the national transition from passive info access to individual participation by:
E-Government provides a greater amount of information that the business needed, also it makes that information more clear. A key factor in business success is the ability to plan and forecast through data-driven future. The government collected a lot of economic, demographic and other trends in the data. This makes the data more accessible to companies which may increase the chance of economic prosperity. Understanding technology in the context of national development: critical reflections explores how digital innovation, governance, and institutions influence development outcomes.
In addition, E-Government can help businesses navigate through government regulations by providing an intuitive site organization with a wealth of useful applications. The electronic filings of applications for environmental permits give an example of it. Companies often do not know how, when, and what they must apply. Therefore, failure to comply with environmental regulations up to 70%, a staggering figureAccording to an Environmental Results Program (ERP) study conducted in 1997 covering 2,000 (of 16,000 total) businesses. most likely due to confusion about the requirements, rather than the product of willful disregard of the law. The Benefits of E-Government Retrieved 27 OCT.2014
G2B rises the connection between government and businesses. Once the e-government began to develop, become more sophisticated, people will be forced to interact with e-government in the larger area. This may result in a lack of privacy for businesses as their government gets their more and more information. In the worst case, there is so much information in the electron transfer between the government and business, a system which is like Totalitarianism could be developed. As the government can access more information, the loss of privacy could be a cost.
The government site does not consider about "potential to reach many users including those who live in remote areas, are homebound, have low literacy levels, exist on poverty line incomes."
Government to business key points
Difference between G2B and B2G
Conclusion
The overall benefit of e-governance when dealing with business is that it enables the business to perform more efficiently.
Concerns
Government to employees
Government to government
E-government
Editorial
These, along with 5 degrees of technical integration and interaction of users include:
Overview
Objective
Delivery model
Internal G2G (UK)
Government to business
Objective
Benefits for business
Disadvantages
Examples
Overview
Challenges – International position
See also
Further reading
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