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.
Government to citizen The goal of government-to-citizen (G2C) e-governance is to offer a variety of ICT services to citizens in an efficient and economical manner and to strengthen the relationship between government and citizens using technology.
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.
By country G2C e-governance is unbalanced across the globe as not everyone has Internet access and computing skills, but the United States, European Union, and Asia are ranked the top three in development.
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 public services, 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
Concerns A full switch to government-to-citizen e-governance will cost a large amount of money in development and implementation. In addition, government agencies do not always engage citizens in the development of their e-gov services or accept feedback. Customers identified the following barriers to government-to-customer e-governance: not everyone has Internet access, especially in rural or low-income areas, G2C technology can be problematic for citizens who lack computing skills. Some G2C sites have technology requirements (such as browser requirements and plug-ins) that won't allow access to certain services, language barriers, the necessity for an e-mail address to access certain services, and a lack of privacy.Bertot, Jaegar, and McClure, (2008). "Citizen Centered E-Government Services: Benefits, Costs, and Research Needs". Montreal, Canada.
Government to employees
E-governance to employee partnership (G2E) Is one of four main primary interactions in the delivery model of E-governance. It is the relationship between online tools, sources, and articles that help employees to maintain the communication with the government and their own companies. E-governance relationship with employees allows new learning technology in one simple place as the computer. Documents can now be stored and shared with other colleagues online.Fang, Zhiyuan. "E-government in Digital Era: Concept, Development, and Practice".
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:
E-payroll – maintaining the online sources to view paychecks, pay stubs, pay bills, and keep records for tax information. E-benefits – be able to look up what benefits an employee is receiving and what benefits they have a right to. E-training – allows for new and current employees to regularly maintain the training they have through the development of new technology and to allow new employees to train and learn over new materials in one convenient location. E-learning is another way to keep employees informed on the important materials they need to know through the use of visuals, animation, videos, etc. It is usually a computer-based learning tool, although not always. It is also a way for employees to learn at their own pace (distance learning), although it can be instructor-led. Maintaining records of personal information – Allows the system to keep all records in one easy location to update with every single bit of information that is relevant to a personal file. Examples being social security numbers, tax information, current address, and other information.Dawes, Sharon S. "The Evolution and Continuing Challenges of E-Governance." - Dawes. Wiley Online Library, n.d.
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.
Government to government
E-government From the start of 1990s e-commerce and e-product, governments have incorporated digital technologies into administrative processes and public services. Governments have now tried to use their techniques to mitigate waste. E-government broadly refers to how the services and representation are now delivered and how they are now being implemented.
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. 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.
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.
Editorial