Other definitions are more away from technology as an object, to
see them simply as facilitators or instruments and focus on specific
changes in Public Administration issues, and in the internal
transformation of a Government, is the case of the definition that
established the specialist technologist Mauro D. Ríos in the paper "In
search of a definition of Electronic Government", he says: "Digital
Government is a new way of organization and management of public
affairs, introducing positive transformational processes in management
and the structure itself of the organization chart, adding value to the
procedures and services provided, all through the introduction and
continued appropriation of information and communication technologies as
a facilitator of these transformations."
Terminology
E-government
is also known as e-gov, electronic government, Internet governance,
digital government, online government, connected government. As of 2014
the OECD
still uses the term digital government, and distinguishes it from
e-government in the recommendation produced there for the Network on
E-Government of the Public Governance Committee.
Several governments have started to use the term digital government to a
wide range of services involving contemporary technology, such as big
data, automation or predictive analytics.
Definition
E-gov strategies (or digital government)
is defined as "The employment of the Internet and the world-wide-web
for delivering government information and services to the citizens."
(United Nations, 2006; AOEMA, 2005). Electronic government (or e-government) essentially refers to "utilization of Information Technology
(IT), Information and Communication Technologies (ICT s), and other
web-based telecommunication technologies to improve and/or enhance on
the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the public
sector.".
E-government promotes and improves broad stakeholders contribution to
national and community development, as well as deepen the governance
process.
In electronic government systems, government operations are
supported by web-based services. It involves the use of information
technology, specifically the Internet, to facilitate the communication
between the government and its citizens.
UN e-Government Development Index
The
Division of a Public Administration and Development Management (DPAPM)
of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UN-DESA) conducts a bi-annual e-government survey which includes a
section titled e-Government Development Index (EGDI). It is a
comparative ranking of 193 countries of the world according to three
primary indicators: i) the OSI - Online Service Index that measures the
online presence of the government in terms of service delivery; ii) the
TII - Telecommunication Infrastructure Index iii) HCI -Human Capital
Index . Constructing a model for the measurement of digitized services,
the Survey assesses the 193 member states of the UN according to a
quantitative composite index of e-government readiness based on website
assessment; telecommunication infrastructure and human resource
endowment.
A diverse group of 100 researchers online volunteers
from across the globe engaged with the United Nations Department of
Economic Affairs (UN DESA) to process 386 research surveys carried out
across 193 UN Member States for the 2016 UN E-Government Survey. The diversity of nationalities and languages of the online volunteers—more
than 65 languages, 15 nationalities, of which half are from developing
countries—mirrors perfectly the mission of the survey.
Comparison with e-governance
E-government should enable anyone visiting a city website to
communicate and interact with city employees via the Internet with
graphical user interfaces (GUI), instant-messaging (IM), learn about
government issues through audio/video presentations, and in any way more
sophisticated than a simple email letter to the address provided at the
site”
The essence of e-governance is "The enhanced value for stakeholders through transformation"
and “the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of
government services to benefit citizens, business partners and
employees”. The focus should be on:
- The use of information and communication technologies, and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.
- The use of information and communication technologies in all facets of the operations of a government organization.
- The continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media.
Whilst e-government has traditionally been understood as being
centered around the operations of government, e-governance is understood
to extend the scope by including citizen engagement and participation
in governance. As such, following in line with the OECD definition of
e-government, e-governance can be defined as the use of ICTs as a tool
to achieve better governance.
Delivery models and activities of e-government
The primary delivery models of e-government can be divided into:
- Government-to-citizen or government-to-consumer (G2C) approaches such as setting up websites where citizens can download forms, government information, etc.
- In this model, the G2C model applies the strategy of customer relationship management (CRM) with business concept.
- By managing their "customer" (citizen) relationship, the business (government) can provide the needed products and services fulfill the needs of the customer (citizen).
- In United States, the NPR (National Partnership for Reinventing Government) has been implemented from 1993.
- Government-to-business (G2B)
- Government-to-government (G2G)
- Government-to-employees (G2E)
Within each of these interaction domains, four kinds of activities take place:
- pushing information over the Internet, e.g.: regulatory services, general holidays, public hearing schedules, issue briefs, notifications, etc.
- two-way communications between the agency and the citizen, a business, or another government agency. In this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and post problems, comments, or requests to the agency.
- conducting transactions, e.g.: lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants.
- governance, e.g.: To enable the citizen transition from passive information access to active citizen participation by:
- Informing the citizen
- Representing the citizen
- Encouraging the citizen to vote
- Consulting the citizen
- Involving the citizen
Non-internet e-government
While
e-government is often thought of as "online government" or
"Internet-based government," many non-Internet "electronic government"
technologies can be used in this context. Some non-Internet forms
include telephone, fax, PDA, SMS text messaging, MMS, wireless networks and services, Bluetooth, CCTV, tracking systems, RFID, biometric identification, road traffic management and regulatory enforcement, identity cards, smart cards and other near field communication applications; polling station technology (where non-online e-voting is being considered), TV and radio-based delivery of government services (e.g., CSMW), email, online community facilities, newsgroups and electronic mailing lists, online chat, and instant messaging technologies.
Controversies
Disadvantages
The main disadvantages concerning e-government are the lack of equality in public access to computers and the internet (the "digital divide", a reference to the fact that people who have low incomes, who are homeless
and/or who live in remote regions may have little or no access to the
Internet), reliability of information on the web, and issues that could
influence and bias public opinions. There are many considerations and
potential implications of implementing and designing e-government,
including disintermediation of the government and its citizens, impacts on economic, social, and political factors, vulnerability to cyber attacks, and disturbances to the status quo in these areas.
The political nature of public sector forms are also cited as disadvantages to e-government systems.
Trust
Trust in
e-governance is very highly dependent on its performance and execution,
which can be measured through the effectiveness of current actions. This
is much riskier and prone to fluctuation than a system of trust that is
based on reputation because performance does not consider past actions.
Development
Because
E-government is in the early stages of development in many countries
and jurisdictions, it is hard to be applied to forms of government that
have been institutionalized. Age-old bureaucratic practices being
delivered in new mediums or using new technologies can lead to problems
of miscommunication.
Hyper-surveillance
Increased
electronic contact and data exchange between government and its
citizens goes both ways. Once e-government technologies become more
sophisticated, citizens will be likely be encouraged to interact
electronically with the government for more transactions, as e-services
are much less costly than bricks and mortar service offices (physical buildings) staffed by civil servants.
This could potentially lead to a decrease in privacy for civilians as
the government obtains more and more information about their activities.
Without safeguards, government agencies might share information on
citizens. In a worst-case scenario, with so much information being
passed electronically between government and civilians, a totalitarian-like system could develop. When the government has easy access to countless information on its citizens, personal privacy is lost.
Cost
Although "a prodigious amount of money has been spent" on the development and implementation of e-government, some say
it has yielded only a mediocre result. The outcomes and effects of
trial Internet-based government services are often difficult to gauge or
users seem them unsatisfactory.
According to Gartner, Worldwide IT spending is estimated to total $3.6
trillion in 2011 which is 5.1% increase from the year 2010 ($3.4
trillion).
Inaccessibility
An e-government website that provides government services often does
not offer the "potential to reach many users including those who live in
remote areas [without Internet access], are homebound, have low
literacy levels, exist on poverty line incomes." Homeless people, people in poverty and elderly people may not have access.
False sense of transparency and accountability
Opponents
of e-government argue that online governmental transparency is dubious
because it is maintained by the governments themselves. Information can
be added or removed from the public eye. To this day, very few
organizations monitor and provide accountability for these
modifications. Those that do so, like the United States’ OMBWatch and Government Accountability Project,
are often nonprofit volunteers. Even the governments themselves do not
always keep track of the information they insert and delete.
Advantages
The
ultimate goal of the e-government is to be able to offer an increased
portfolio of public services to citizens in an efficient and cost
effective manner. E-government allows for government transparency.
Government transparency is important because it allows the public to be
informed about what the government is working on as well as the policies
they are trying to implement.
Simple tasks may be easier to perform through electronic government
access. Many changes, such as marital status or address changes can be a
long process and take a lot of paper work for citizens. E-government
allows these tasks to be performed efficiently with more convenience to
individuals.
E-government is an easy way for the public to be more involved in
political campaigns. It could increase voter awareness, which could lead
to an increase in citizen participation in elections.
It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public
benefits by getting easy access to the most current information
available without having to spend time, energy and money to get it.
E-government helps simplify processes and makes government
information more easily accessible for public sector agencies and
citizens. For example, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles simplified the process of certifying driver records to be admitted in county court proceedings. Indiana
became the first state to allow government records to be digitally
signed, legally certified and delivered electronically by using
Electronic Postmark technology. In addition to its simplicity, e-democracy services can reduce costs. Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Wal-Mart and NIC
developed an online hunting and fishing license service utilizing an
existing computer to automate the licensing process. More than 140,000
licenses were purchased at Wal-Mart stores during the first hunting season and the agency estimates it will save $200,000 annually from service.
The anticipated benefits of e-government include efficiency,
improved services, better accessibility of public services, sustainable
community development and more transparency and accountability.
Democratization
One goal of some e-government initiatives is greater citizen participation. Through the Internet's Web 2.0
interactive features, people from all over the country can provide
input to politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. Blogging and interactive surveys allow politicians or public servants to see the views of the people on any issue. Chat rooms
can place citizens in real-time contact with elected officials or their
office staff or provide them with the means to interact directly with
public servants, allowing voters to have a direct impact and influence
in their government. These technologies can create a more transparent
government, allowing voters to immediately see how and why their
representatives in the capital are voting the way they are. This helps
voters decide whom to vote for in the future or how to help the public
servants become more productive.
A government could theoretically move more towards a true democracy with the proper application of e-government. Government transparency
will give insight to the public on how decisions are made and hold
elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The
public could become a direct and prominent influence in government
legislature to some degree.
Environmental bonuses
Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need for hard copy paper forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalist
groups, the media, and the public, some governments and organizations
have turned to the Internet to reduce paper use. The United States
government utilizes the website http://www.forms.gov to provide “internal government forms for federal employees” and thus “produce significant savings in paper.
As well, if citizens can apply for government services or permits
online, they may not need to drive into a government office, which could
lead to less air pollution from gas and diesel-fuelled vehicles.
Speed, efficiency, and convenience
E-government
allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any
time and any location and eliminates the necessity for physical travel
to government agents sitting behind desks and windows. Many e-government
services are available to citizens with computers and Internet access
24 hours a day and seven days a week, in contrast to bricks and mortar government offices, which tend to be only open during business hours (notable exceptions are police stations and hospitals, which are usually open 24 hours a day so that staff can deal with emergencies).
Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through
computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed by
citizens with computers and Internet access, which may enable quicker
processing time for applications and find information. On the
administrative side, access to help find or retrieve files and linked
information can now be stored in electronic databases versus hard copies
(paper copies) stored in various locations. Individuals with
disabilities or conditions that affect their mobility no longer have to
be mobile to be active in government and can access public services in
the comfort of their own homes (as long as they have a computer and Internet and any accessibility equipment they may need).
Public approval
Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public.
Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with
increasing frequency, and young people, who traditionally display
minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn to electronic voting procedures.
Although Internet-based governmental programs have been
criticized for lack of reliable privacy policies, studies have shown
that people value prosecution of offenders over personal
confidentiality. Ninety percent of United States adults approve of
Internet tracking systems of criminals, and 57% are willing to forgo
some of their personal internet privacy if it leads to the prosecution of criminals or terrorists.
Technology-specific e-government
There are also some technology-specific sub-categories of e-government, such as m-government (mobile government), ubiquitous government), and g-government (GIS/GPS applications for e-government).
The previous concern about developments in E-government
concerning technology are due to the limited use of online platforms for
political reasons by citizens in local political participations.
The primary delivery models of e-government are classified
depending on who benefits. In the development of public sector or
private sector portals and platforms, a system is created that benefits
all constituents. Citizens needing to renew their vehicle registration
have a convenient way to accomplish it while already engaged in meeting
the regulatory inspection requirement. On behalf of a government
partner, the business provides what has traditionally, and solely,
managed by government and can use this service to generate profit or
attract new customers. Government agencies are relieved of the cost and
complexity of having to process the transactions.
To develop these public sector portals or platforms, governments
have the choice to internally develop and manage, outsource, or sign a
self-funding contract. The self-funding model creates portals that pay
for themselves through convenience fees for certain e-government
transactions, known as self-funding portals.
Social networking services
and websites are an emerging area for e-democracy. The social
networking entry point is within the citizens’ environment and the
engagement is on the citizens’ terms. Proponents of e-government
perceive government use of social networking as a medium to help
government act more like the public it serves. Examples can be found at
almost every state government portal through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube widgets.
Government and its agents also have the opportunity to follow
citizens to monitor satisfaction with services they receive. Through
ListServs, RSS feeds, mobile messaging, micro-blogging services and
blogs, government and its agencies can share information to citizens who
share common interests and concerns. Government is also beginning to Twitter. In the state of Rhode Island, Treasurer Frank T. Caprio is offering daily tweets of the state's cash flow. For a full list of state agencies with Twitter feeds, visit NIC. For more information, visit transparent-gov.com.
Government 2.0
Government 2.0 or Gov 2.0 refers to government policies that aim to harness collaborative technologies and interactive Internet tools to create an open-source computing platform in which government, citizens, and innovative companies can improve transparency and efficiency. Put simply, Gov 2.0 is about "putting government in the hands of citizens". Gov 2.0 combines interactive Web 2.0
fundamentals with e-government and increases citizen participation by
using open-source platforms, which allow development of innovative apps, websites, and widgets. The government's role is to provide open data, web services, and platforms as an infrastructure.
By country
Africa
Kenya
Following the transition from the longstanding Kenya African National Union government to the National Rainbow Coalition
government in December 2002, in January 2004 a Directorate of
e-government was established after an executive (cabinet) session. The
newly created department had the duty to draw the plan of action for
future ICT implementations.
Like many other African nations, Kenya has embraced the high
mobile penetration rate within its population. Even people living in
remote areas that did not have access to traditional telecommunications'
networks can now communicate with ease. The fact of the same has, and
continues to have, a great impact on the governments' strategies in
reaching out to its citizens.
Given that about 70% of the population owns mobile phones, leading
mobile network operators like Safaricom have taken a great step in
offering services that meet citizens' demands. Such services include
Kipokezi (which allows subscribers to do online chatting and also
exchange electronic mails via standard mobile phones), and M-Pesa
(which allows the subscribers to send and receive electronic cash).
Such services have even appealed to the majority of Kenyans, as they
support the branchless members of the society too, in undertaking normal
and secure businesses via M-Pesa. The recent IMF report reveals that MPESA transactions in Kenya exceeded those carried out by the Western Union worldwide.
Website: Open Kenya | Transparent Africa
Asia
Bangladesh
The
eGovernment web portal has been developed to provide more convenient
access to various government service and information through one window.
Services can now be delivered to people at their own convenience, and
more importantly now have a lot more weight on transparency and
accountability of public services.
India
The
E-Governance initiatives and programs in India are undertaken by the
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY
www.meity.gov.in ).
The current umbrella program for e-governance of Government of India is
known by the title "DIGITAL INDIA" (www.digitalindia.gov.in).
Indian government has launched many e-governance initiatives, including a portal for public grievance, MCA21 Mission Mode Project, e-Filing of income tax, e-gazette, Project Nemmadi, and their overall digital India policy.
Indonesia
E-government
in Indonesia is developing, especially in central and regional/local
government offices. E-government was officially introduced to public
administration by Presidential Directive No 6/2001 on Telematics, which
states that the government of Indonesia has to use telematics technology
to support good governance. Furthermore, e-government should have been
introduced for different purposes in government offices. As one of ISO
member countries, Indonesia gives more attention to facilitate the
activities of standardization. Among of the facilities provided are
building the National information system of standardization (SISTANAS)
and Indonesia Standardization Information Network (INSTANET).
As of 2017, ministries, institutions and local governments of Indonesia
used to run separate e-government systems, which is now integrated into
a central based system. In 2017, the government has also undertaken programs for digitization of SMEs and the informal sector. Many of the cities across Indonesia including Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya,and Makassar are implementing the concept of Smart City, consisting of e-government, e-health, e-education, e-logistics and e-procurement as priority areas.
Iran
In 2002, Iran
published a detailed report named TAKFA (Barnameye Tose-e va Karborde
Fanavaie Etela’at) in which it was predicted that most of the government
bodies would try to virtualize their services as soon as possible.
However, based on the reports by UN bodies, Iran has failed in the
recent years to meet the average standards of e-government. In 2008, the
Supreme Council of Information released a report which criticized the
government for its poor advancement in employing new communication
technologies for administration purposes.
In 2016, Iran launched the National Information Network and
improved the quality and speed of internet access. In 2017 Iran
introduced phase one of e-government including E-Tax, E-Customs, E-Visa, E-Government Portal, and a mobile application to modernize Iran's government services.
The Iranian government plans to introduce other phases of E-gov in the near future.
Malaysia
In
Malaysia, the e-government efforts are undertaken by the Malaysian
government, under the umbrella of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and
e-government flagships, which was launched in mid-1996, by Dr Mahathir
Mohamad (1981-2003), by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia (Jeong &
Nor Fadzlina, 2007).
Electronic government is an initiative aimed at reinventing how
the government works. It seeks to improve both how the government
operates, as well as how it deliver services to the people (Ibrahim
Ariff & Goh Chen Chuan, 2000).
Myanmar
Yangon
The Yangon City Development Committee (Burmese- ရန်ကုန်မြို့တော်စည်ပင်သာယာရေးကော်မတီ) (YCDC) is the administrative body of Yangon, and Yangon is the largest city and former capital of Myanmar (Burma). The Yangon City Development Committee consists of 20 departments. Its headquarters was on the Yangon City Hall. The committee's chairman is also the city's mayor.
In 2003, YCDC was organized to provide e-Government for Yangon
City. The main purposes of the city's e-Government program are to
provide easy access between the government and the city's citizens via
the Internet, to reduce paper usage, to reduce the city budget, to build
the city's fiber ring, to provide timely public information, to store
public data and to develop and expand G2G, G2C, G2B, and G2E programs.
In January 2013 responsibility for e-Government was divided
between the e-Government Administration Committee and the e-Government
Processing Committee. The e-Government Administration Committee includes
the Mayor of Yangon City as Chief, the General Secretary of Yangon City
as Sub-Chief, and the other 20 head of department officers as chairmen.
The e-Government Processing Committee includes the Head of Public
Relation and Information Department as Chief and the other 20 deputy
head of department officers as chairmen.
The official web-portal is www.ycdc.gov.mm.
Mandalay
Mandalay
is the second largest city and the last royal capital of Myanmar
(Burma).
In 2014, Mandalay Region Government developed www.mdyregion.gov.mm to
know about regional government and their activities to people.
Mandalay Region Government organized e-Government Steering Committee in 23 June 2016.
That committee chairman was U Sai Kyaw Zaw, Minister, Ministry of Ethnic Affairs.
At 21st, July 2017 www.emandalay.gov.mm web portal was opened by
Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, Prime Minister of Mandalay Region Government.
That portal include 2 e-services, 199 topics from 70 agencies.
Committee develop a Regional Data Center too. That Data center will be
opened in 2018.
Nepal
The
e-Government planning and conceptual framework has been presented to
Nepal in an extensive support from the Government of Korea (KIPA). E-government Vision is ‘The Value Networking Nepal’ through:
- Citizen-centered service
- Transparent service
- Networked government
- Knowledge-based society
Nepal's E-government mission statement
is "Improve the quality of people’s lives without any discrimination,
transcending regional and racial differences, and realize socio-economic
development by building a transparent government and providing value
added quality services through ICT."
The e-Government practice has been slow both in adoption and practice in Nepal.
However, local government bodies now have dedicated team of ICT
Volunteers working towards implementing e-Government in the country
through an extensive ICT for Local Bodies initiatives.
Pakistan
In 2014, the Government of Pakistan
created the National Information Technology Board (NITB) under the
Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom to enable a digital
eco-system for Government services to the citizens of Pakistan. NITB was formed as a result of a merger between Pakistan Computer Bureau (PCB) and Electronic Government Directorate (EGD).
The key functions identified by the NITB are:
- Provide technical guidance for the introduction of e-Governance in the Federal Govt.
- Suggest efficient and cost-effective implementation of e-government programs in the Federal Ministries/Divisions.
- To carry out training need assessment and design and implement the identified IT capacity building programs for the employees of Federal Ministries/Divisions.
- Review the status of e-government readiness on a regular basis to ensure sustainable, accelerated digitization and relevant human resource development.
- Identify the areas where IT interventions can be helpful and to suggest measures for the automation of these areas through Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).
NITB rolled out an e-Office Suite across various ministries in the Government of Pakistan.
While it clearly pursued efficiency gains and improved transparency, it
also hoped to deliver "efficient and cost-effective public services to
citizens of Pakistan." The suite primarily included five modules or
applications across all the ministries. Description of each module
listed are:
- Internal Communication Module
- HR Management Module
- Inventory & Procurement Management Module
- Project Management Module
- Finance Budget Module
NITB released a high-level diagram that describes the process of
transforming Federal Government agencies and ministries to e-Office
environments.
Criticism: NITB's roll out of the e-Office suite across almost
all federal agencies is not only overly ambitious but also likely to
fail. It seems to put together a lot of lofty organizational efficiency
goals with a set of delivery or citizen-facing targets. In fact, most of
the services NITB has provided have been largely conceptual and not
sufficient concrete. The process outlines in the adoption process
diagram seems devoid of any user-centric design or value proposition
formulation. Instead of creating lots of MVPs (Minimum Viable Products)
and taking advantage of an iterative and validated learning the process,
the e-Office Suite seems to incorporate all the features and functions
that various ministries and divisions may need or use. It seems to focus
more on the needs of the bureaucrats and government agencies rather
than the needs of the end user (citizens of Pakistan) and what services
would they need that a ministry or division can provide.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka have taken some initiative actions to provide the benefits of e-government to the citizens.
Thailand
To
implement the principles of e-government, the Ministry of Information
and Telecommunication Technologies of Thailand developed a plan for
creating a modern e-services system during 2009-2014.
The next stage was the five-year project of digital government,
which began in 2016 and will be completed in 2021. This project assumes
that within five years, more than 80% of Thai government agencies will
use electronic documents for identification.
There is the Unified State Portal of e-Government of Thailand, developed by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications Technology in 2008.
In 2018, Thailand ranks 73rd in the UN e-government ranking.
Jordan
Jordan has established its e-government program since 2002. many governmental services are provisioned online.
Saudi Arabia
The e-Government was also established in Saudi Arabia, and it offers online government services and transactions.
United Arab Emirates
In the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates eGovernment is designed for e-government operations.
Europe
e-government shows significant advancement in Europe.
Armenia
Armenian
e-government was established in 2004. E-government brings together all
tools and databases created by Armenian state agencies and provides a
user-friendly online environment for users. It includes more than twenty
services and tools. Under this initiative, “Interactive Budget” and “State Non-Commercial Organisations' Financing”
sections are available for the first time. There are also twenty other
tools, including search engines, allowing to find the Government's and
the Prime Minister's decisions, the agenda of the next cabinet sitting,
information on the state purchases, the electronic tax reporting system,
the online application system of the Intellectual Property Agency, the
information search system of the Intellectual Property Agency, as well
as the Electronic Signature
and Electronic Visa (e-visa) sections. It is worth mentioning that the
Electronic Signature is used in several other services when a user wants
to submit an application or receive information. The Electronic
Signature is universal system and is used both by the state officials
and by citizens, legal entities.
E-Government encompasses more than twenty tools and databases providing public services.
E-License
This
system allows companies to submit an application for obtaining or
terminating licenses regarding various activities (pharmaceuticals,
banking, construction, transport etc.) It also provides other services
in respect of already obtained license.
System of reports on licensed activities
The
Report Acceptance System for licensed persons enables to submit any
report (annually, monthly or quarterly) on licensed activities.
E-Payments
Electronic
Payment System effectively processes online payments. This application
is designed specifically for charging the state fees, local fees, the
administrative penalties or services provided by state and local
governmental bodies. Payments can be made by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and local Arca or Mobidram systems.
E-Cadastre
The
system enables to submit application to the property cadastre and
receive information on land owners, surface of a plot of land, legal
status of any property. State electronic payment system is integrated
within this tool. Online applications for registration of rights and
restrictions and related documents may be submitted by users who have a
digital signature.
E-Draft
In 2016 the Ministry of Justice of Armenia
developed Legal Drafts' Database. It is designed particularly for
publication any draft initiated by the Government or Member of
Parliaments. Database can be accessed through website which provides the
possibility of presenting the legal acts’ drafts to the public,
organizing online discussions, and as a consequence - the active
participation of representatives of civil society in law-making process.
The website enables to search legal drafts, follow their further
progress, and become familiar with the presented suggestions. The
registered users are able to present suggestions, get informed with the
"summary paper" of the suggestions to the draft, the adopted suggestions
or the reasoning concerning the not adopted ones.
E-Register
The
system enables registration of legal entities, such as limited
liability companies, joint-stock companies, foundations and
self-employed entrepreneurs. On average it takes twenty minutes to
register a company depending the entity's type. State fee can be paid
through E-Payments system. The system also allows users to track the
submitted applications and search existing companies as well as purchase
full information about any company, including information about
shareholders.
Datalex
This system allows users to find cases, search for laws of Armenia, as well as to follow the schedule of court hearings.
E-Announcement
The
system is designed for public announcements.The state authorities are
obliged to make public announcements under certain circumstances
stipulated by law.
E-Tax
This
tool simplifies tax declaration process for both tax payers and tax
authorities. Any natural person or legal entity can submit tax
declaration verifying it by electronic signature.
E-IP
Online submission of patent and trademark applications using electronic signature.
E-Visa
This application enables the process of obtaining visa through electronic application. Visas are issued within two days.
E-Signature
The
system allows users to verify identity of the user and protect
submitted application. Any resident of Armenia, either natural person or
legal entity, can obtain electronic signature and use it while
submitting application through E-Government systems.
Estonia
Estonia has established its e-government program with the support of the European Union since 1996 with the introduction of e-Banking. In 2017, Estonia
described its digital inclusiveness under the name of e-government with
a wide array of e-services in government affairs, political
participation, education, justice, health, accommodation, police, taxes,
and business.
Estonia conducts legally binding i-Voting at national and local elections and offers e-Residency to foreigners.
Estonia shares its knowledge of developing its e-society with other countries through its e-Governance Academy(e-Riigi Akadeemia).
The academy has trained over 4,500 officials from more than 60
countries and led or participated in more than 60 international ICT
projects on the national, local and organizational levels.
Estonia is widely recognized as e-Estonia, as a reference to its tech-savvy government and society. e-Estonia is recognized as the leader in implementing blockchain technology into its e-government infrastructure.
Azerbaijan
The
“E-Government” framework was established in accordance with the
“National Strategy on Information-Communication Technologies in the
Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan
(2003-2012)” and implemented in the framework of the “E-Azerbaijan”
Program. The project is aimed to increase the convenience and efficiency
of the activity of state agencies, simplify interactions between
population, businesses and government agencies, contribute to creating
new citizen-official relations framework and ensure transparency and
free flow of information.
The main components of the e-government infrastructure are
integrated network infrastructure for state bodies, E-government portal,
E-government gateway, State register of information resources and
systems, e-signature, e-document circulation and e-government data
center (under preparation).
State portal www.e-gov.az was established to facilitate citizens
in benefiting from e-services provided by government agencies on a
‘single window’ principle with the combination of services. Through
e-government portal citizens can use more than 140 e-services of 27
state agencies. In addition, a gateway between government agencies was
established in order to ensure mutual exchange of information, and most
of state agencies are connected to this infrastructure. The gateway
allows users to efficiently use the existing government information
systems and a safe contact between them, issuing requests and rendering
e-services, liberates citizens from providing same information or
documents which are already available in information databases.
Kazakhstan
The e-government portal egov.kz was launched in 2012 as part of Kazakhstan's effort to modernize how citizens access government services and information.
The egov.kz mobile app was recognized as best app in the GovTechioneers
competition at the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai.
Russia
On the
Federal Law "On providing state and municipal services" (2010), the
strategy on development of Information Society in the Russian
Federation, approved by the President (2008), the Federal target
programme "Electronic Russia" (2002 – 2010 years), approved by the
Government (2002), the State Programme "Information Society" (2010), the
Procedure on development and approval of administrative regulations
execution of public functions (public services), approved by the
Government (2005), the concept of administrative reform in the Russian
Federation in 2006 - 2010 respectively, approved by the Government
(2005), on other orders, resolutions and acts in the Russian Federation
was created electronic government (or e-government).
The main target on creating of e-government lies in the field of
providing the equal opportunities for all the Russians in spite of their
living place and their incomes and make more effective system of public
administration. So e-government are created for reaching the useful
system of public management accommodating the individual interests of
every citizen by participation through ICTs in public policy-making.
Nowadays Russian e-government includes such systems as:
- The United interagency Interacting system using for providing of state and municipal services, exchange of information and data between participants of interagency interacting, quick approval of state and municipal decisions, etc.
- The United system for authentication and authorization providing evidence of the rights of all participants of e-government.
- United portal of state and municipal services and functions which are the "single window" for all information and services assured by government and municipals.
The portal of public services is one of the key elements of the
project to create "electronic government" in the country. The portal
provides a single point of access to all references on state and
municipal services through the Internet and provides citizens and
organizations the opportunity to receive these services electronically.
Monthly visits by users of the public services portal range between
200,000 and 700,000. For example, citizens are now able to get or
exchange a driver license through this portal.
- Head system providing utilization of electronic signature.
Other systems are located on cloud services.
Today Russian e-government elements are demanded in the spheres
of e-governance, e-services (e-health, e-education, e-library, etc.),
e-commerce, e-democracy (web-election, Russian public initiative).
By the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the
People Russia became one of the 7 emerging leaders in e-government
development, took 9th place in rating of e-government development in
largest population countries, took 8th rank in Top e-participation
leaders, after Norway, Sweden and Chile, Advancing 32 positions in the
world rankings, the Russian Federation became the leader of e-government
in Eastern Europe. Evolution of ICT in the Russian Federation provided
the raising of Russia in e-government development index to the 27 place.
Ukraine
The main coordinating government body in matters of e-government is State e-Government Agency, which was established on June 4, 2014.
The beginning of the state policy of the development of the
information society was the adoption in 1998-2006 of the Laws of Ukraine
"On electronic documents and electronic document circulation", "On the
national program of informatization", "On the electronic digital
signature" and a number of state acts related to informatization. Later,
the Law of Ukraine “On the Basic Principles of the Information Society
in Ukraine for 2007-2015”, “On Information Protection in Information and
Telecommunication Systems” and a number of other legislative acts aimed
at concretization and specification of these laws were adopted. This
law emphasized the use of information and telecommunication technologies
to improve public administration, relations between the state and
citizens. The next stage of e-government development began in 2015 after
the adoption of the Agreement of parliamentary factions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
(in 2014) and the adoption of the Development Strategy "Ukraine -
2020", which was approved by Decree of the President of Ukraine dated
January 12, 2015 (No. 5/2015).
In 2018, Ukraine ranks 82nd in the UN e-government ranking.
North America
Canada
The current Clerk of the Privy Council
– the head of the federal public service has made workplace renewal a
pillar of overall public service renewal. The key to workplace renewal
is the adoption of collaborative networked tools. An example of such a
tool is GCPEDIA
– a wiki platform for federal public servants. Other tools include
GCconnex, a social networking tool, and GCforums, a discussion board
system.
United States
The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States
became associated with the effective use of Internet technologies
during his campaign and in the implementation of his new administration
in 2009.
On January 21, 2009, the President signed one of his first memorandums –
the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on
Transparency and Open Government.
The memo called for an unprecedented level of openness in Government,
asking agencies to "ensure the public trust and establish a system of
transparency, public participation, and collaboration." The memo further "directs the Chief Technology Officer,
in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services (GSA), to
coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and
agencies [and] to take specific actions implementing the principles set
forth in the memorandum."
President Obama's memorandum centered around the idea of increasing transparency
throughout various different federal departments and agencies. By
enabling public websites like recovery.gov and data.gov to distribute
more information to the American population, the administration believes
that it will gain greater citizen participation.
In 2009 the U.S. federal government launched Data.gov in order to make more government data available to the public. With data from Data.Gov, the public can build apps, websites, and mashups.
Although "Gov 2.0", as a concept and as a term, had been in existence
since the mid-2000s, it was the launch of Data.gov that made it "go viral".
In August 2009 the City of San Francisco launched DataSF.org with more than a hundred datasets.
Just weeks after the DataSF.org launch, new apps and websites were
developed. Using data feeds available on DataSF.org, civic-minded
developers built programs to display public transportation arrival and
departure times, where to recycle hazardous materials, and crime patterns. Since the launch of DataSF.org there have been more than seventy apps created with San Francisco's data.
In March 2009, former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was at Twitter headquarters for a conversation about technology in government. During the town hall, Newsom received a tweet about a pothole. He turned to Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams
and said let's find a way for people to tweet their service requests
directly to San Francisco's 311 customer service center. Three months
later, San Francisco launched the first Twitter 311 service, called
@SF311, allowing residents to tweet, text, and send photos of potholes
and other requests directly to the city.
Working with Twitter and using the open-source platform, CoTweet turned
@SF311 into reality. The software procurement process for something
like this would normally have taken months, but in this case, it took
less than three months. The @SF311 is saving the city money in call center costs.
