Best-Practice Framework for Developing - Term Paper Example

? ‘Information systems have revolutionized the way we work’. Critically discuss this ment using two concepts from the module. Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 3 E-Government 3 Internet 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction The innovations in technology and information systems have played an important role in the advancement of communication, life styles, business practices and globalization of trade processes. Businesses throughout the world are taking into account the use of information systems and the World Wide Web to improve on their processes and efficiency. These modern communication and information systems have also contributed in the improvement of the standard of living all across the globe. The internet is considered as one of the major infrastructures to drive the new era of information. The innovations of technology have resulted in the widespread application of information systems in organizations, politics as well as in the public sector with the introduction of electronic and digital government models. Discussion E-Government Electronic government is the digital communication process between the public sector and the government bodies through the use of Information systems including internet facilitated operations and communication technologies. The E–Government strategies can be defined as the implementation of the Information Technology and Communication Technology to deliver government services and information smoothly to the public. The digital governance is directed at maintaining the delivery system of government services and improving the internal government processes (Alston, 2003, p.4). The E-Government models can be classified as the following: Government to citizens (G2C), Government to Governments (G2B), Government to Businesses (G2B) and Government to Employees (G2E) and Citizens to Governments (C2G). Electronic government has made public administration process flawless and has also influenced the governments to re-evaluate their business processes and responsibilities across all the levels of the government (Deloitte Touche Consulting, 2012, pp.7-10). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enormous administrative potential for helping the government in delivering information and services Information and Communication Technologies can be effectively used to enhance interconnectivity, efficiency, transparency, decentralization and service delivery of the authority. Electronic government has become an important part of public administration in many countries in order to perform these functions more effectively. Four conceptual frameworks can be applied to the E-Government theory (Garson, 2006, p. 45-50). The first framework considers the potential of Information technology Systems in the decentralization of the government processes. The second concept aims towards the limitations of contradictions in the strategy. The third framework is the socio technical framework which evaluates the continuous communication in the government and public environment with the effective use of technology. The last framework is used to supplement the strategy of electronic government with global integration theories. The electronic government has four important dimensions to support the government processes, engage the public and improve the level of government services (Rabaiah, 2010, pp. 51-69). The key dimensions are: Electronic services to ensure delivery of programs, services and information to the citizens in electronic form, electronic management to use information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance the managerial capacity of the body and streamline the government processes, electronic democracy to promote public participation in the decision making processes and electronic commerce to facilitate electronic exchange of goods and services for money. This includes payment of taxes, utility bills, paying for entertainment programs, renewal of vehicle registrations etc. (Mistry, 2012, pp.145-176). According to researches, there can be major five themes considered for Electronic Government. These are: Innovation in technology: the implementation of Information and communication for the improved efficiency in public service level. Project evaluation of electronic government: to assess the improvement in public programs when this new model of electronic government is implemented. Transparency and accountability: indicates at the easy accessibility of public information that creates greater transparency in the whole governmental environment. Electronic Services: the effective use of Information Systems to boost the delivery of public services and goods. Digital democracy: The participation of the government and the public in the electronic government model has modified the relationship and the flow of communication between the two parties (Rodriguez, 2012). The implementation of electronic government has resulted in both social and economic benefits for the society (Lu, 2007, p.51). The digital strategies of the government have reduced the costs of communication between the government and the public has established more transparency level and easy accessibility of public records. Also, it has resulted in improved service quality and availability as well as enhanced the community and professional development scopes. The implementation of digital government is a complex process. It aims at creating a high performing customer centric enterprise of the government. In this era of highly innovative technological systems, new expectations from the administrative processes and a compact market of skilled people, it is important for the management to effectively gauge the environment of the country to implement their policies. The governments are trying to build up a system which is driven by customer orientation and is strongly supported by technologies used in both front and back end processes (Din, 2009, p.8). Electronic government can be considered as an effective reform for public administration with the objective of increasing the active participation of the public in the decision making process and their involvement in the policy making procedures. The implementation of Electronic Governance increases the trust of the public on the government authorities enhances the public administration levels and improves the political management scenario. Though the establishment of electronic government is likely to resolve many existing issues, yet it is expected that the whole process will be met with a number of obstacles. The government will have to devise and execute plans to prevent these obstacles and remove these obstacles once they have been identified. The government will have to take a streamlined approach in the enterprise where all the customer service operations involving technology, processes, employees, front desk and back-office will be integrated into the electronic government model. Only this approach will be able to guarantee the delivery of greater public service value. In the present situation, governments are paying critical attention to the areas of direct communication with the public which has already resulted in improved accessibility, operations data and volume of service (Aleem, 2012, p.6). But the governments have taken lesser actions in the areas of reducing the administrative expenses and complaints from the employees and the public. These factors indicate potential threats in the electronic government business model. The government is evaluating their processes to identify the most critical factor to improve the customer centric approach. It is advised that to build up a successful electronic government, a delicate balance of effective people, processes and technology should be maintained. Information systems and other technologies are the critical drivers but it is also important to have trained people to implement the technologies in the government enterprise model as well as it is vital to integrate the technologies into the process structure (Sakowicz, 2005, pp.315-324). The potential challenges for the electronic government model are the optimum usage of the internet and the World Wide Web, maintaining the balance between privacy and sharing of information, integration of the information systems into the existing processes and in formulating a comprehensive strategy for running the model. The efficiency with which the government will plan and combine the three key factors is likely to decide the future of electronic government and the acceptance of this system by the citizens. Internet The internet and the World Wide Web are becoming more popular as the resources for locating relevant information, accessing databases and knowledge bases as well as published information on all possible areas all across the globe. The internet has turned into the basic need of the lives of individuals as well as organizations and businesses (Orlikowski, 1991, p.164). Internet forms the base of the electronic community which provides easy access to the relatives, friends, media as well as the government (Rheingold, 1993, p.16). The factors that have recently influenced the growth of internet usage throughout the world are the relaxation of government regulations, lower pricing of internet connections, increase in the number of service providers and increase in the bandwidth. The World Wide Web is the most critical part of the internet as it is the source of extensive resources and information throughout the world (Sarason, 1988, p.16). The internet has enormous potential to extend networking, learning and sharing of information in multi stakeholder situations. Internet is considered as one of the best innovations in technology which has been adopted as new culture affecting the world scenario in all aspects. Due to the increase in the influence of internet and the decreasing cost of accessing it, many businesses and enterprises have installed mini and microcomputers to use in their daily processes (North, 1995, p.34). As a result many of the management functions are effectively assumed by the information systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Management Information Systems (MIS). The huge development in the internet allows the organizations to establish their communication with business partners and customers all across the globe (Kelly, 2005, p.193). The growing popularity of the internet and the World Wide Web has opened up enormous opportunities for the organizations to reshape their environment by establishing direct communication with their suppliers, alliances and end consumers. The internet is extensively used by both individuals and organizations (Orlikowski, 1991, p.68). It has made it easier for people to keep in touch with their relatives and friends living in distant places. The use of electronic mail and live chatting on the web has made the world a closely knit place in which information can be transferred from one corner of the world to another in the blink of an eye (Benbunan-Fich, 2002, p.46). The popularity of internet and the World Wide Web has been taken as an opportunity by the political parties as well, particularly individual candidates who have tried to optimally exploit the abundant resource of the internet (Scardamalia, 1994, p. 45). Internet has started playing an influential role in the political environment where campaigns make effective use of the internet to reach to the public and gather publicity as well as funds. The 2008 election in United States of America is an important example of how the intelligent use of the internet can drive the future of politics. With the gaining popularity of the internet, well known politicians have started to maintain their own websites and run their personal blogs. This helps the politicians to communicate with the common people and results in increased ease of accessibility and transparency in the minds of the citizens. The advent of the internet has caused a decrease in the usage of traditional media like the newspaper and television. This may be considered as a negative impact of the internet on the democracy as the expensive and attractive internet campaigns often gain an edge over the actual suitability of the contestant. In course of the process of implementation, the internet and information systems may meet with the following strategic business challenges like the required complemented assets, infrastructure challenges like developing an infrastructure to support the changing business conditions, globalization challenges like understanding the business requirements on a global level, information investment challenges like obtaining business value from the systems, security challenges like ensuring that the information systems are implemented ethically, downsizing of employees due to the work dedicated to the systems, overload of data and other implementing difficulties (Rogers, 1995, pp.126-131). Conclusion The role of the Information systems in a today’s world is synonymous to the function of heart in a body. The information systems ensure the collection of data from all the sources available, process the data into relevant information and supply the information to all the necessary destinations. The information system caters to all the information needs of the individuals as well as the management functionaries. The benefits of implementing technology and information systems such as ICTs in organizations, politics as well as in electronic government are many including improvement of the processes, proactive management of business, optimal use of resources, increases competence level through the use of knowledge and information databases. References Aleem, S. 2012. IT Governance Framework for E-Government. [Pdf]. Available at http://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30049095/aleem-itgovernance-2012.pdf. [Accessed on 28 November, 2013]. Alston, R. 2003. E-Governments Benefit Study. [Pdf]. Available at http://www.finance.gov.au/agimo-archive/data/assets/file/0012/16032/benefits.pdf. [Accessed on 28 November, 2013]. Benbunan-Fich, R. 2002. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN ORGANIZATIONS: PARADIGMS AND METAPHORS. [Pdf]. Available at: http://cisnet.baruch.cuny.edu/papers/cis200201.pdf. 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