E-government Implementation - Assignment Example

E-GOVERNMENT E-government is a contemporary issue that seeks to accelerate the overall performance rate of various government institutions in different countries. Its inception is in line with the growth in ICT for efficient functionality of the government. The need for smooth and effective external and internal interaction by the government has seen internet presence draw attention. The interconnectedness of communities across the world has facilitated information exchange that evidently account for improved socio-economic and political policies across the world. Although installation of e-government is predicted to boost the economy in various ways, it attracts different reactions as far as its sustainability is concerned. Preview of the existing governments that have used it like in United States and Europe gives an insight into the pros and cons of this program. Critical assessment of past literature and the observed global socio-economic and political trend offers the best platform to debate this phenomenon. The relevance of e-government is significantly supported as it seeks to improve public and private partnership in the emerging service delivery models. Introduction The increasing debate on quality of service delivery in the public sector has seen growth in e-government. This concept is seen as boosting efficiency and effectiveness of the functionality of the government in its service delivery responsibility to the people. In this wake of public-private partnership, incorporation of information and communication technology in various activities is inevitable. In this respect, various governments have sought to apply e-government towards competitive execution of its services for internal and external interactions .E-government is a means of ‘electronic governance’. It is the use of Information Technology in the functioning of a government so as to have good and smart governance. Smart implies ‘Moral, Simple, Responsive, Accountable, and transparent’. This constitutes the use of information and communication technology by the agencies of the government so as to have transparency while dealing with different issues (Affisco, et al. 2006). Discussion E-government has significant role in improving the efficiency of various arms of government in their different duties. However, there are criticisms that are seen as regards its implementation and sustainability in this era of increasing cybercrime among other ICT related challenges. The overall gains that have been made and the prospective benefits that are associated with implementing e-government outweigh its cost. There are a lot of reasons as to why e-government is needed. Some of them are as follows: Exchange of information with the citizens, government departments or businesses. A faster way of working. Saves time and cost. Efficiency in delivering public services. Enhances internal controls. Revenue increase Re-structuring of the administrative processes. Offering quality services. ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has provided a way for better and faster communication, efficient storage, quality services, effective work, data processing and sharing and utilization of information by the users. It assists is offering better controls and increasing revenues. Every person, groups, organization, business or government have benefited from these advantages of ICT (Al-Hakim, L. 2007). It is more accurate, faster and simpler way of word processing and is currently utilized as a tool for tabulating data which eventually assists in the process of decision making. With increasing awareness of utilizing internet and computer a lot of users are benefited and are motivated in modifying their ways of performing things so as to en-cash on the advantages offered by ICT. This has also led to re-engineering of government and business processes. The re-engineering process helps for a better and faster processing of information hence a better decision making, more reach, and better utilization of resources. This assists is having general good governance. For the citizens, it offers improved access to government agencies and information, transparency in dealings, efficient service delivery, and also plays the role of information tool to the government. With awareness within the citizens increasing regarding their rights, their expectation has completely changed. Today the government agencies are expected to be transparent in their dealings, accountable in their activities and quicker in its responses. This is because the application of ICT assists in obtaining good governance. The utilized technologies assist in achieving a big range of objectives. There is equitable and quicker development with a wider reach. Today, ‘Ethics in Governance’, with the tools of technology help such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) should be utilized so as to change the relationship the citizens with their government, government and its employees and businesses, and within its own agencies. It is recognized that e-governance is a step that is logical with the use of the ICT systems of governance so as to ensure a bigger participation and greater citizen involvement, as well as the civil society groups, institutions and the private sector in the decision making process of governance (Satyanarayana, 2004). The global e-government survey gives encouraging report hence its overall upward trend in its adoption. For efficient e-government, the foremost need is that the workplace has to be fully computerized. This is the most important need for e-governance. They should be connected so as to enable online work. There should be some online work flow procedure. Employees of the government have to be trained to enable them work on the software. The training is necessary to enable them to be user friendly with the software. Services should be entirely accessible. It also works in removing the paper based system and computerizing everything so as to increase the work place transparency and a faster flow as possible. Government to Government (G2G) is one type of e-government interaction. Here, there are interactions within the agencies of the government to improve on efficiency and the overall output. The interaction may be within government organization or within two organizations of the government. Information and Communications Technology assists not only for the process of government restructuring, but is also involved in the functioning of the entities of the government and it also aids in improving the flow of information and the services between and within different entities (Homburg, V. 2008 ). This interaction may be either horizontal or vertical. Horizontal interaction occurs between different agencies of the government as well as between distinct functional areas within an organization. Vertical occurs between provincial, national and the local government agencies. There is also an interaction between different levels in an organization. The main objective of G2G is to improve performance, efficiency and output. This interaction dimension improves the co-ordination activities between government institutions. Government to Citizen (G2C) is another interaction type. It is between the government and the citizens. A common platform is developed between the government and the citizens which enables the citizens to be the beneficiaries of the large range of public services. This offers the availability and accessibility of the public services on one hand and improves the quality of the services on the other hand. Here it’s a two way model of communication in which there interactions that are direct between the government and the citizens hence involving dealings that are transparent between the parties. It offers citizens the opportunity to chose when to interact with the government, where to interact with the government from, and the way to interact with the government. The main purpose is to make the government citizen-friendly. Government to Business (G2B) is the other model of interaction and it is between the government agencies and business organizations. E-governance tools are utilized to assist the business community; provides goods and services interaction with the government. The objective here is to save time, cut red tapist, minimize operation cost, improve revenues and create a business environment that is more transparent while dealing with the government. The G2B initiatives may be transactional, like permits, licensing, revenue collection and procurement. Tourism, trade, and investment opportunities can be handled effectively with e-governance. These measures assist in providing a suitable business environment and thus enable them to perform more efficiently. Government to Employees (G2E) is the last model of interaction and it is between the organizations of the government and employees. Employees are able to interact on a regular basis with the government. The interaction may be vertical where by the employee (s) give their feedback at the guarantee that their name held anonymous. Today, through e-governance it is possible for the employees to have a look at their TDS and pay roll status. E-governance has provided them with a platform that is common to eliminate their queries and therefore providing an effective performance. The ICT use assists in making these interactions quick and efficient on one hand and improves the employees’ satisfaction level on the other hand. E-government has worked in many countries and a good example of a country that has implemented it and is benefiting from it is India. India is a country whose majority is built on Bureaucratic structure that is developed in the rationale principle hence it is definitely failing to cope up with the current scenario. Therefore, a shift from that kind of traditional practices to an entirely new electronic world was definitely needed. E-governance plays an important role for application of such paradigm shift towards the e-governance module which in itself holds as among the main reasons for its success. Currently, India has a single window operation, procedures that are more simplified, a better office & working environment and a good record management, better job & position handling and less corrupt. The mechanisms of service delivery have greatly improved. The citizens no longer stand in long queues, there are few of procedural complexities and personnel working have greatly improved and they are more transparent (Chen, H. 2008). The main reason behind that kind of success is the successful implementation of ICT. The citizens are more aware; they are no longer puppets in the hand of the employees of the government and they have the right to question any type of discrepancy. Conclusion E-governance is certainly a success. A government that is transparent and that which satisfies its citizens is what E-government is all about and is responsible to produce. E-governance in India has for sure provided that kind of result for everyone to see, a step ahead given the fact that India is a developing country. In developed economies like the US, e-government has seen the public receive efficient services hence a boost in overall economic performance. Despite related costs and technical security hitches, e-government is the way to go in respect of the increasing need for improved governance. There is an upward trend in e-government implementation across the world in line with the globalization pressure and campaign for transparency and accountability to the citizens. References Affisco, J. F., & Soliman, K. S. (2006). E-government. Bradford, England: Emerald Group Pub.pg 34-65 Al-Hakim, L. (2007). Global e-government: Theory, applications and benchmarking. Hershey [u.a.: Idea Group Publ.pg23-43 Chen, H. (2008). Digital government: E-government research, case studies, and implementation. New York: Springer.pg. 31-71 Homburg, V. (2008). Understanding e-government: Information systems in public administration. London: Routledge.pg.42-61 Satyanarayana, J. (2004). E-government: The science of the possible. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.pg.14-55 Bibliography http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Reports/UN-E-Government-Survey-2014 http://www.egov4dev.org/success/definitions.shtml Appendices Appendix 1: The global e-government implementation and performance index can be seen in the link http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Reports/UN-E-Government-Survey-2014 Appendix 2 : Focal Domains for e-government Initiatives http://www.egov4dev.org/success/definitions.shtml Read More