This chapter examines the effectiveness of delivering e-government services in terms of how citizens value the service and how e-government has changed citizens’ expectation of contacting government by digital means. This chapter articulates the following issues as they are related to the effectiveness of e-government services. It starts by addressing e-government strategies in developing and developed countries throughout the world, then discusses the inherited nature of e-government from e-commerce and the differences between them. Next, it considers various barriers to the success of e-government and how to overcome those barriers. The chapter concludes with a list of the value items collected from an empirical study, and explores how they might improve e-government’s effectiveness in delivering services.
TopBackground
E-government is narrowly defined as “the delivery of government information and services online thorough the Internet or other digital means” (West, 2004, p.2). The principles of e-government include building services around citizens’ choices, improving accessibility to government and its services, facilitating social inclusion, presenting information responsibly, and using government resources effectively and efficiently (Office of the e-Envoy, 2008). The e-government framework can be characterized as (a) transformation areas – internal and external; (b) users, customers, actors and their interrelationships – citizens, businesses, government organizations, employees; (c) e-government application domains – e-services, e-democracy, e-administration (Ndou, 2004).
E-government can be viewed as (a) transformation of the business of government, i.e., improving service and renewing administrative processes, and (b) transformation of governance itself, i.e., re-examining the functioning of administrative practices and processes (Aichholzer & Schmitzer, 2000). E-government can be thought of as a conceptual lens through which the changing role and shape of government in the 21st century can be examined. This era is expected to be more digital, knowledge-intensive, driven by innovation, and interdependent than any previous time (Roy, 2003).