Level-Based Development of E-Government Services

Abstract

As the Web is growing exponentially, the way of provision governmental information and services has been changed by the newly supplied technological capacities and digital channels. More and more governments all over the world are trying to acquire an electronic profile, in order to offer advanced services to their users (citizens and businesses). Two basic factors have significant contribution to this direction. The first considers the continuous increase of the users’ daily needs (e.g., information searching, certificate requesting). Traditionally, the completion of these tasks implies a lot of valuable time to be lost in the tracking of responsible actor and in the waiting in queues. The second one refers to the ongoing access of the users with the Internet. This new way of communication facilitates the transactions and helps in providing better public services. It is clear that e-government’s successful development and operation demands proper design, which will comprise the basis for its application. Information and communication technologies (ICT) may contribute essentially to this direction, as long as government and users adopt them under the framework of a broader reorganization of the public sector. This adaptation can be implemented gradually in levels, which will enable the unobstructed data flow from/to government and will give the opportunity to citizens and businesses to obtain the highest access to the provided governmental services. Only under these circumstances, this transition will lead to a series of strategic, administrative and operational benefits (NOIE, 2003; OGC, 2003), for example, best coverage of users’ needs, cost and time savings, and so forth. This article is intended to present a level-based approach for the development of e-government services, starting from the lowest one to the highest and more complicated. Following gradually this sequence of technological levels and incorporating with strategy, coordination, and know-how, an organization can realize the vision of e-government, provide reliable online information and services to their users and improve their efficiency and effectiveness.