Space and telescopes have been a quintessential symbol for curiosity.
Curiosity (from Latin cūriōsitās, from cūriōsus "careful, diligent, curious", akin to cura "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking, such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident in humans and other animals. Curiosity helps human development, from which derives the process of learning and desire to acquire knowledge and skill.
The term curiosity can also denote the behavior, characteristic, or emotion of being curious, in regard to the desire to gain knowledge or information. Curiosity as a behavior and emotion is the driving force behind human development, such as progress in science, language, and industry.
Curiosity can be considered to be an evolutionaryadaptation based on an organism's ability to learn. Certain curious animals (namely, corvids, octopuses, dolphins, elephants, rats, etc.) will pursue information in order to adapt to their surrounding and learn how things work. This behavior is termed neophilia, the love of new things. For animals, a fear of the unknown or the new, neophobia, is much more common, especially later in life.
Causes
Children peer over shoulders to see what their friends are reading.
Many species display curiosity including apes, cats, and rodents. It is common in human beings at all ages from infancy through adulthood. Research has shown that curiosity is not a fixed attribute amongst humans but rather can be nurtured and developed.
Early definitions of curiosity call it a motivated desire for information. This motivational desire has been said to stem from a passion or an appetite for knowledge, information, and understanding.
Traditional ideas of curiosity have expanded to consider the difference between perceptual curiosity, as the innate exploratory behavior that is present in all animals, and epistemic curiosity, as the desire for knowledge that is specifically attributed to humans.
Daniel Berlyne
recognized three classes of variables playing a role in evoking
curiosity: psychophysical variables, ecological variables, and collative
variables. Psychophysical variables correspond to physical intensity,
ecological variables to motivational significance and task relevance.
Collative variables involve a comparison between different stimuli or
features, which may be actually perceived or which may be recalled from
memory. Berlyne mentioned four collative variables: novelty, complexity, uncertainty,
and conflict (though he suggested that all collative variables probably
involve conflict). Additionally, he considered three variables
supplementary to novelty: change, surprisingness, and incongruity.
Finally, curiosity may not only be aroused by the perception of some
stimulus associated with the aforementioned variables ("specific
exploration"), but also by a lack of stimulation, out of "boredom" ("diversive exploration").
Curiosity-driven behavior
Curiosity-driven
behavior is often defined as behavior through which knowledge is gained
– a form of exploratory behavior. It therefore encompasses all
behaviors that provide access to or increase sensory information.
Berlyne divided curiosity-driven behavior into three categories: orienting responses, locomotor exploration, and investigatory responses or investigatory manipulation. Previously, Berlyne
suggested that curiosity also includes verbal activities, such as
asking questions, and symbolic activities, consisting of internally
fueled mental processes such as thinking ("epistemic exploration").
Theories
Like
other desires and need-states that take on an appetitive quality (e.g.
food/hunger), curiosity is linked with exploratory behavior and
experiences of reward. Curiosity can be described in terms of positive
emotions and acquiring knowledge; when one's curiosity has been aroused
it is considered inherently rewarding and pleasurable. Discovering new
information may also be rewarding because it can help reduce undesirable
states of uncertainty rather than stimulating interest. Theories have
arisen in attempts to further understand this need to rectify states of
uncertainty and the desire to participate in pleasurable experiences of
exploratory behaviors.
Curiosity-drive theory
Curiosity-drive theory posits undesirable experiences of "uncertainty" and "ambiguity".
The reduction of these unpleasant feelings is rewarding. This theory
suggests that people desire coherence and understanding in their thought
processes. When this coherence is disrupted by something that is
unfamiliar, uncertain, or ambiguous, an individual's curiosity-drive
causes them to collect information and knowledge of the unfamiliar to
restore coherent thought processes. This theory suggests that curiosity
is developed out of the desire to make sense of unfamiliar aspects of
one's environment through exploratory behaviors. Once understanding of
the unfamiliar has been achieved and coherence has been restored, these
behaviors and desires subside.
Derivations of curiosity-drive theory differ on whether curiosity
is a primary or secondary drive and if this curiosity-drive originates
due to one's need to make sense of and regulate one's environment or if
it is caused by an external stimulus. Causes can range from basic needs that need to be satisfied (e.g. hunger, thirst) to needs in fear-induced situations.
Each of these derived theories state that whether the need is primary
or secondary, curiosity develops from experiences that create a
sensation of uncertainty or perceived unpleasantness. Curiosity then
acts to dispel this uncertainty. By exhibiting curious and exploratory
behavior, one is able to gain knowledge of the unfamiliar and thus
reduce the state of uncertainty or unpleasantness. This theory, however,
does not address the idea that curiosity can often be displayed even in
the absence of new or unfamiliar situations.
This type of exploratory behavior, too, is common in many species. A
human toddler, if bored in his current situation devoid of arousing
stimuli, will walk about until he finds something interesting. The
observation of curiosity even in the absence of novel stimuli pinpoints
one of the major shortcomings in the curiosity-drive model.
Optimal-arousal theory
Optimal-arousal
theory developed out of the need to explain this desire to seek out
opportunities to engage in exploratory behaviors without the presence of
uncertain or ambiguous situations. Optimal-arousal suggests that one
can be motivated to maintain a pleasurable sense of arousal through such
exploratory behaviors.
When a stimulus is encountered that is associated with
complexity, uncertainty, conflict, or novelty, this increases arousal
above the optimal point, and exploratory behavior is employed to learn
about that stimulus and thereby reduce arousal again. In contrast, if
the environment is boring and lacks excitement, arousal is reduced below
the optimal point and exploratory behavior is employed to increase
information input and stimulation, and thereby increasing arousal again.
This theory addresses both curiosity elicited by uncertain or
unfamiliar situations and curiosity elicited in the absence of such
situations.
Cognitive-consistency theory
Cognitive-consistency
theories assume that "when two or more simultaneously active cognitive
structures are logically inconsistent, arousal is increased, which
activates processes with the expected consequence of increasing
consistency and decreasing arousal."
Similar to optimal-arousal theory, cognitive-consistency theory
suggests that there is a tendency to maintain arousal at a preferred, or
expected, level, but it also explicitly links the amount of arousal to
the amount of experienced inconsistency between an expected situation
and the actually perceived situation. When this inconsistency is small,
exploratory behavior triggered by curiosity is employed to gather
information with which expectancy can be updated through learning to
match perception, thereby reducing inconsistency.
This approach associates curiosity with aggression and fear.
If the inconsistency is larger, fear or aggressive behavior may be
employed to alter the perception in order to make it match expectancy,
depending on the size of the inconsistency as well as the specific
context. Aggressive behavior alters perception by forcefully
manipulating it into matching the expected situation, while fear prompts
flight, which removes the inconsistent stimulus from the perceptual
field and thus resolves the inconsistency.
Integration of the reward pathway into theory
Taking
into account the shortcomings of both curiosity-drive and
optimal-arousal theories, attempts have been made to integrate
neurobiological aspects of reward,
wanting, and pleasure into a more comprehensive theory for curiosity.
Research suggests that desiring new information involves mesolimbic pathways of the brain that account fordopamine
activation. The use of these pathways, and dopamine activation, may be
how the brain assigns value to new information and interprets this as
reward. This theory from neurobiology can supplement curiosity-drive theory by explaining the motivation of exploratory behavior.
Role of neurological aspects and structures
Although
curiosity is widely regarded, its root causes are largely empirically
unknown. However, some studies have provided insight into the
neurological mechanisms that make up what is known as the reward pathway which may influence characteristics associated with curiosity, such as learning, memory, and motivation.
Due to the complex nature of curiosity, research that focuses on
specific neural processes with these characteristics can help us
understand of the phenomenon of curiosity as a whole. The following are
descriptions of characteristics of curiosity and their links to
neurological aspects that are essential in creating exploratory
behaviors:
Motivation and reward
Dopamine pathway in the brain
The drive to learn new information or perform some action may be prompted by the anticipation of reward. So what we learn about motivation and reward may help us to understand curiosity.
Reward is defined as the positive reinforcement of an action,
reinforcement that encourages a particular behavior by means of the
emotional sensations
of relief, pleasure, and satisfaction that correlate with happiness.
Many areas in the brain process reward and come together to form what is
called the reward pathway. In this pathway many neurotransmitters play a role in the activation of the reward sensation, including dopamine, serotonin, and opioids.
Dopamine is linked to curiosity, as it assigns and retains reward values of information gained. Research suggests higher amounts of dopamine are released when the reward is unknown and the stimulus is unfamiliar, compared to activation of dopamine when stimulus is familiar.
Nucleus accumbens
The nucleus accumbens
is a formation of neurons that is important in reward pathway
activation—such as the release of dopamine in investigating response to
novel or exciting stimuli. The fast dopamine release observed during
childhood and adolescence is important in development, as curiosity and
exploratory behavior are the largest facilitators of learning during
early years.
The sensation pleasure of "liking" can occur when opioids are
released by the nucleus accumbens. This helps someone evaluate the
unfamiliar situation or environment and attach value to the novel
object. These processes of both wanting and liking play a role in
activating the reward system of the brain, and perhaps in the stimulation of curious or information-seeking tendencies as well.
Caudate nucleus
The caudate nucleus
is a region of the brain that is highly responsive to dopamine, and is
another component of the reward pathway. Research suggests that the
caudate nucleus anticipates the possibility of and reward of exploratory
behavior and gathered information, thus contributing to factors of
curiosity.
Anterior cortices
Regions of the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortexcorrespond to both conflict and arousal and, as such, seem to reinforce certain exploratory models of curiosity.
Cortisol
Cortisol
is a chemical known for its role in stress regulation. However,
cortisol may also be associated with curious or exploratory behavior.
Studies suggesting a role of cortisol in curiosity support optimal
arousal theory. They suggest the release of some cortisol, causing some
stress, encourages curious behavior, while too much stress can initiate a
"back away" response.
Attention
Attention
is important to curiosity because it allows one to selectively focus
and concentrate on particular stimuli in the surrounding environment. As
there are limited cognitive and sensory resources to understand and
evaluate stimuli, attention allows the brain to better focus on what it
perceives to be the most important or relevant of these stimuli.
Individuals tend to focus on stimuli that are particularly stimulating
or engaging. The more attention a stimulus garners, the more frequent
one's energy and focus will be directed towards that stimulus. This
suggests an individual will focus on new or unfamiliar stimuli in an
effort to better understand or make sense of the unknown, rather than on
more familiar or repetitive stimuli.
Striatum
The striatum
is a part of the brain that coordinates motivation with body movement.
The striatum likely plays a role in attention and reward anticipation,
both of which are important in provoking curiosity.
Precuneus
The precuneus
is a region of the brain that is involved in attention, episodic
memory, and visuospatial processing. There is a correlation between the
amount of grey matter in the precuneus and levels of curious and
exploratory behaviors. This suggests that precuneus density has an
influence on levels of curiosity.
Memory and learning
Memory
plays an important role in curiosity. Memory is how the brain stores
and accesses stored information. If curiosity is the desire to seek out
and understand unfamiliar or novel stimuli, memory helps determine if
the stimulus is indeed unfamiliar. In order to determine if a stimulus
is novel, an individual must remember if the stimulus has been
encountered before.
Curiosity may also affect memory. Stimuli that are novel tend to
capture more of our attention. Additionally, novel stimuli usually have a
reward value associated with them, the anticipated reward of what
learning that new information may bring. With stronger associations and
more attention devoted to a stimulus, it is probable that the memory
formed from that stimulus will be longer lasting and easier to recall,
both of which facilitate better learning.
Hippocampus and the parahippocampal gyrus
The hippocampus is important in memory formation and recall and therefore in determining the novelty of various stimuli. Research suggests the hippocampus is involved in generating the motivation to explore for the purpose of learning.
The parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), an area of grey matter surrounding the hippocampus, has been implicated in the amplification of curiosity.
Amygdala
The amygdala
is associated with emotional processing, particularly for the emotion
of fear, as well as memory. It is important in processing emotional
reactions towards novel or unexpected stimuli and the induction of
exploratory behavior. This suggests a connection between curiosity
levels and the amygdala. However, more research is needed on direct
correlation.
Early development
Jean Piaget
argued that babies and children constantly try to make sense of their
reality and that this contributes to their intellectual development.
According to Piaget, children develop hypotheses, conduct experiments,
and then reassess their hypotheses depending on what they observe.
Piaget was the first to closely document children's actions and
interpret them as consistent, calculated efforts to test and learn about
their environment.
There is no universally accepted definition for curiosity in
children. Most research on curiosity focused on adults and used
self-report measures that are inappropriate and inapplicable for
studying children.
Exploratory behaviour is commonly observed in children and is
associated with their curiosity development. Several studies of
children's curiosity simply observe their interaction with novel and
familiar toys.
Evidence suggests a relationship between the anxiety children might feel and their curiosity. One study found that object curiosity in 11-year-olds was negatively related to psychological maladjusted
so children who exhibit more anxiety in classroom settings engage in
less curious behaviour. Certain aspects of classroom learning may depend
on curiosity, which can be affected by students' anxiety.
An aptitude for curiosity in adolescents may produce higher
academic performance. One study revealed that, of 568 high school
students, those who exhibited an aptitude for curiosity, in conjunction with motivation and creativity, showed a 33.1% variation in math scores and 15.5% variation in science scores when tested on a standardized academic exam.
Other measures of childhood curiosity used exploratory behaviour
as a basis but differed on which parts of this behaviour to focus on.
Some studies examined children's preference for complexity/the unknown
as a basis for their curiosity measure; others relied on novelty
preference as their basis.
Researchers also examined the relationship between a child's
reaction to surprise and their curiosity. Children may be further
motivated to learn when dealing
with uncertainty. Their reactions to not having their expectations met
may fuel their curiosity more than the introduction of a novel or
complex object would.
Curiosity as a virtue
Curiosity has been of interest to philosophers. Curiosity has been recognised as an important intellectual (or "epistemic") virtue, due to the role that it plays in motivating people to acquire knowledge and understanding.
It has also been considered an important moral virtue, as curiosity can
help humans find meaning in their lives and to cultivate a sense of
care about others and things in the world. When curiosity in young people leads to knowledge-gathering it is widely seen as a positive.
Due to the importance of curiosity, people debate about whether
contemporary societies effectively cultivate the right type of
curiosity.
Some believe that children's curiosity is discouraged throughout
the process of formal education: "Children are born scientists. From the
first ball they send flying to the ant they watch carry a crumb,
children use science's tools—enthusiasm, hypotheses, tests,
conclusions—to uncover the world's mysteries. But somehow students seem
to lose what once came naturally."
Impact from disease
Left: normal brain. Right: Alzheimer's disease afflicted brain. Severe degeneration of areas implicated in curiosity
Neurodegenerative diseases and psychological disorders can affect various characteristics of curiosity. For example Alzheimer's disease's
effects on memory or depression affect motivation and reward.
Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease that degrades memory.
Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by a lack of
interest in one's environment and feelings of sadness or hopelessness. A
lack of curiosity for novel stimuli might be a predictor for these and
other illnesses.
Social curiosity
Social
curiosity is defined as a drive to understand one's environment as it
relates to sociality with others. Such curiosity plays a role in one's
ability to successfully navigate social interactions by perceiving and
processing one's own behavior and the behavior of others. It also plays a
role in helping one adapt to varying social situations.
A crowd mills around the site of a car accident in Czechoslovakia in 1980.
Morbid curiosity is focused on death, violence, or any other event that may cause harm physically or emotionally.
It typically is described as having an addictive quality, associated
with a need to understand or make sense of topics that surround harm,
violence, or death. This can be attributed to one's need to relate
unusual and often difficult circumstances to a primary emotion or
experience of one's own, described as meta-emotions.
One explanation evolutionary biologists
offer for curiosity about death is that by learning about
life-threatening situations, death can be avoided. Another suggestion
some psychologists posit is that as spectators of gruesome events, humans are seeking to empathize
with the victim. Alternatively, people may be trying to understand how
another person can become the perpetrator of harm. According to science
journalist Erika Engelhaupt, morbid curiosity is not "a desire to be
sad", instead it "has the ability to set our minds ... at ease be
reassuring us that even death follows the rules of the natural world."
Interest in human curiosity about difficult circumstances dates back to Aristotle in his Poetics, in which he noted, "We enjoy and admire paintings of objects that in themselves would annoy or disgust us." In a 2017 paper, Suzanne Oosterwijk, a psychologist from the Netherlands,
concluded that people choose to see graphic images even when presented
the option to avoid them and look at them for a longer period of time
than neutral or positive images.
State and trait curiosity
Curiosity can be a temporary state of being, or a stable trait
in an individual. State curiosity is external—wondering why things
happen just for the sake of curiousness, for example wondering why most
stores open at 8 a.m. Trait curiosity describes people who are
interested in learning, for example by trying out a new sport or food,
or traveling to an unfamiliar place. One can look at curiosity as the
urge that draws people out of their comfort zones and fears as the
agents that keep them within those zones.
Curiosity in artificial intelligence
AI agents can exhibit curiosity through intrinsic motivation.
This can improve the success of an AI agent at various tasks. In
artificial intelligence, curiosity is typically defined quantitatively,
as the uncertainty the agent has in predicting its own actions given its
current state.
In 2019, a study trained AI agents to play video games, but they were rewarded only for curiosity. The agents reliably learned advantageous game behaviors based solely on the curiosity reward.
Open government is the governing doctrine
which maintains that citizens have the right to access the documents
and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public
oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and other considerations which have tended to legitimize extensive state secrecy. The origins of open-government arguments can be dated to the time of the European Age of Enlightenment, when philosophers debated the proper construction of a then nascent democratic society. It is also increasingly being associated with the concept of democratic reform. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 for example advocates for public access to information as a criterion for ensuring accountable and inclusive institutions.
The concept of open government is broad in scope but is most often
connected to ideas of government transparency, participation and
accountability. Transparency is defined as the visibility and
inferability of information, accountability as answerability and enforceability, and participation is often graded along the "ladder of citizen participation." Harlan Yu and David G. Robinson specify the distinction between open data
and open government in their paper "The New Ambiguity of "Open
Government". They define open government in terms of service delivery
and public accountability. They argue that technology can be used to
facilitate disclosure of information, but that the use of open data
technologies does not necessarily equate accountability.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) approaches open government through the following categories:
whole of government coordination, civic engagement and access to
information, budget transparency, integrity and the fight against
corruption, use of technology, and local development.
History
The term 'open government' originated in the United States
after World War II. Wallace Parks, who served on a subcommittee on
Government Information created by the U.S. Congress, introduce the term
in his 1957 article "The Open Government Principle: Applying the Right
to Know under the Constitution". After this and after the passing of the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966, federal courts began using the term as a synonym for government transparency.
Although this was the first time that 'open government' was
introduced the concept of transparency and accountability in government
can be traced back to Ancient Greece
in fifth century B.C.E. Athens where different legal institutions
regulated the behavior of officials and offered a path for citizens to
express their grievances towards them. One such institution, the
euthyna, held officials to a standard of "straightness" and enforced
that they give an account in front of an Assembly of citizens about
everything that they did that year.
In more recent history, the idea that government should be open to public scrutiny and susceptible to public opinion dates back to the time of the Enlightenment, when many philosophes made an attack on absolutist doctrines of state secrecy. The passage of formal legislature can also be traced to this time with Sweden, (which then included Finland as a Swedish-governed territory) where free press legislation was enacted as part of its constitution (Freedom of the Press Act, 1766).
Influenced by Enlightenment thought, the revolutions in United
States (1776) and France (1789), enshrined provisions and requirements
for public budgetary accounting and freedom of the press in constitutional articles. In the nineteenth century, attempts by Metternichean
statesmen to row back on these measures were vigorously opposed by a
number of eminent liberal politicians and writers, including Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton.
Open government is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice and is often linked to the passing of freedom of information legislation. Scandinavian countries claim to have adopted the first freedom of information legislation, dating the origins of its modern provisions to the eighteenth century
and Finland continuing the presumption of openness after gaining
independence in 1917, passing its Act on Publicity of Official Documents
in 1951 (superseded by new legislation in 1999).
An emergent development also involves the increasing integration
of software and mechanisms that allow citizens to become more directly
involved in governance, particularly in the area of legislation. Some refer to this phenomenon as e-participation,
which has been described as "the use of information and communication
technologies to broaden and deepen political participation by enabling
citizens to connect with one another and with their elected
representatives".
Morocco's new constitution of 2011, outlined several goals the
government wishes to achieve in order to guarantee the citizens right to
information.
The world has been offering support to the government in order to enact
these reforms through the Transparency and Accountability Development
Policy Loan (DPL). This loan is part of a joint larger program between
the European Union and the African Development Bank to offer financial
and technical support to governments attempting to implement reforms.
As of 2010, section 35 of Kenya's constitution ensures citizens'
rights to government information. The article states "35.(1) Every
citizen has the right of access to — (a) information held by the State;
and (b) information held by another person and required for the exercise
or protection of any right or fundamental freedom ... (3) The State
shall publish and publicize any important information affecting the
nation." Important government data is now freely available through the
Kenya Open Data Initiative.
Asia
Taiwan
started its e-government program in 1998 and since then has had a
series of laws and executive orders to enforce open government policies.
The Freedom of Government Information Law of 2005, stated that all
government information must be made public. Such information includes
budgets, administrative plans, communication of government agencies,
subsidies. Since then it released its open data platform, data.gov.tw. The Sunflower Movement
of 2014, emphasized the value that Taiwanese citizens place on openness
and transparency. A white paper published by the National Development
Council with policy goals for 2020 explores ways to increase citizen
participation and use open data for further government transparency.
The Philippines
passed the Freedom of Information Order in 2016, outlining guidelines
to practice government transparency and full public disclosure.
In accordance with its General Appropriations Act of 2012, the
Philippine government requires government agencies to display a
"transparency seal" on their websites, which contains information about
the agency's functions, annual reports, officials, budgets, and
projects.
The Right to Information
(RTI) movement in India, created the RTI law in 2005 after
environmental movements demanded the release of information regarding
environmental deterioration due to industrialization.
Another catalyst for the RTI law and other similar laws in southeast
Asia, may have been due to multilateral agencies offering aid and loans
in exchange for more transparency or "democratic" policies.
In October 2023, Iranian government publicly opposed measure
"tritary branches of judiciary, executive, legislative transparency
program". The transparency law never passes after nine months as
judiciary and state did not consent. The government has the Iranfoia website for requests.
Europe
In the Netherlands, large social unrest and the growing influence of
televisions in the 1960s led to a push for more government openness.
Access to information legislation was passed in 1980; since then,
further emphasis has been placed on measuring the performance of
government agencies.
Transparency as a legal principle underpins European Union law, for example in regard to the quality of the drafting of legislation, and as a principle to be exercised within government procurement
procedures. European law academics argued in 2007 that a "new legal
principle", transparency, might be emerging "in gestation" within EU
law.
The government of the Netherlands adopted an Open Government in Action (Open overheid in actie) Plan for 2016–2017, which outlines nine concrete commitments to the open government standards set by the OECD.
Since 2018, in Wales, the Welsh Government has funded the training of Wikipedia skills in secondary schools, as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate and uses an open licence on all published videos and other content.
North America
In 2009, President Obama released a memorandum on transparency and open government and started the Open Government Initiative.
In his memorandum put forward his administration's goal to strengthen
democracy through a transparent, participatory and collaborative
government.
The initiative has goals of a transparent and collaborative government,
in which to end secrecy in Washington, while improving effectiveness
through increased communication between citizens and government
officials.
Movements for government transparency in recent United States history
started in the 1950s after World War II because federal departments and
agencies had started limiting information availability as a reaction to
global hostilities during the war and due to fear of Cold War spies.
Agencies were given the right to deny access to information "for good
cause found" or "in the public interest". These policies made it
difficult for congressional committees to get access to records and
documents, which then led to explorations of possible legislative
solutions.
Latin America
Since
the early 2000s, transparency has been an important part of Latin
America's efforts to professionalize government and fight corruption.
All countries in the region have enacted freedom of information laws,
beginning with Mexico, Peru, and Panama in 2002.
Chile's Anti-Corruption and Probity Agenda and State Modernization
Agenda. In 2008, Chile passed the Transparency Law has led to further
open government reforms. Chile published its open government action plan for 2016–18 as part of its membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
Transparency
Overview
Transparency
has been described as the visibility and inferability of information,
defined by complete and findable information, which leads to accurate
conclusions.
It has two principal manifestations, monitoring transparency and
consultation or collaboration transparency. It holds importance in more
modern discussions because of its presence in new public management.
For transparency to work, the idea goes beyond government involvement
and must include public trust. Transparency in government has three main
aspects. First, budgetary information must be viewable by the public.
Second, there must be an effective way to make and enforce laws. Last, non-government organizations and a form of independent media must be at the center for public use. With transparency, there are also factors for data disclosure, such as timeliness, quality, and access and visibility.
Data disclosure is important for transparency because it increases
public understanding of governmental practices and is the goal of open
government. However, there are arguments for both sides of transparency
that must be considered.
Arguments for and against
For transparency
Transparency in government is often credited with generating government accountability, which supporters argue leads to reduction in government corruption, bribery and other malfeasance.
This is mentioned later and discussed as accountability with
transparency. Some commentators contend that an open, transparent
government allows for the dissemination of information, which in turn
helps produce greater knowledge and societal progress. Organizations supporting transparency policies such as the OECD and the Open Government Partnership claim that open government reforms can also lead to increased trust in government,
although there is mixed evidence to support these claims, with
increased transparency sometimes leading to reduced trust in government.
Public opinion can also be shifted when people have access to see
the result of a certain policy. The United States government has at
times forbid journalists to publish photographs of soldiers' coffins,
an apparent attempt to manage emotional reactions that might heighten
public criticism of ongoing wars; nonetheless, many believe that
emotionally charged images can be valuable information. Similarly, some
opponents of the death penalty have argued that executions should be
televised so the public can "see what is being done in their name and
with their tax dollars."
Government transparency is beneficial for efficient democracy, as
information helps citizens form meaningful conclusions about upcoming
legislation and vote for them in the next election. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, greater citizen participation in government is linked to government transparency.
Advocates of open government often argue that civil society, rather than government legislation, offers the best route to more transparent administration. They point to the role of whistleblowers reporting from inside the government bureaucracy (individuals like Daniel Ellsberg or Paul van Buitenen).
They argue that an independent and inquiring press, printed or
electronic, is often a stronger guarantor of transparency than
legislative checks and balances.
The contemporary doctrine of open government finds its strongest advocates in non-governmental organizations
keen to counter what they see as the inherent tendency of government to
lapse, whenever possible, into secrecy. Prominent among these NGOs are
bodies like Transparency International or the Open Society Institute. They argue that standards of openness are vital to the ongoing prosperity and development of democratic societies.
Against transparency
Government indecision, poor performance and gridlock are among the risks of government transparency, according to some critics. Political commentator David Frum
wrote in 2014 that, "instead of yielding more accountability, however,
these reforms [transparency reforms] have yielded more lobbying, more
expense, more delay, and more indecision."
Jason Grumet argues that government officials cannot properly
deliberate, collaborate and compromise when everything they are doing is
being watched. A randomized controlled trial conducted with 463 delegates of the National Assembly
of Vietnam showed that increased transparency of the legislative
proceedings, such as debates and query transcripts, curtailed delegates
activity in the query sessions, avoiding taking part in activities that
could embarrass leaders of the Vietnamese regime.
Privacy is another concern. Citizens may incur "adverse consequences, retribution or negative repercussions"
from information provided by governments. Teresa Scassa, a law
professor at the University of Ottawa, outlined three main possible
privacy challenges in a 2014 article. First is the difficulty of
balancing further transparency of government, while also protecting the
privacy of personal information, or information about identifiable
individuals that is in the hands of the government. Second is dealing
with distinctions between data protection regulations between private
and public sector actors because governments may access information
collected by private companies which are not controlled by as stringent
laws. Third is the release of "Big data", which may appear anonymized
can be reconnected to specific individuals using sophisticated
algorithms.
Intelligence gathering, especially to identify violent threats
(whether domestic or foreign), must often be done clandestinely. Frum
wrote in 2014 that "the very same imperatives that drive states to
collect information also require them to deny doing so. These denials
matter even when they are not believed."
Moral certitude undergirds much transparency advocacy, but a
number of scholars question whether it is possible for us to have that
certitude. They have also highlighted how transparency can support
certain neoliberal imperatives.
Accountability
Accountability in Open Government
Accountability focuses on promoting transparency and allowing the public to understand the actions of their government. Public officials are expected to share details about how public resources are used and what their objectives are.
Accountability in open government reduces corruption and increases
transparency. However, it is important to note that there is
transparency with and without accountability in open government.
Transparency without accountability is often more difficult to monitor
and there is less responsibility needed from the government.
Transparency with accountability has proven to be more effective as a
trustworthy relationship can be built between government agencies and
people governed by them.
The argument with or without transparency was mentioned previously and
highlights major issues such as losing governmental trust or privacy
issues with accountability. Some governments have created portals in
order to allow people to see critical data and improve accountability
and transparency.
Not all data released on these portals is relevant and easily
accessible meaning transparency is not always easily attainable. For
example, Given the criteria for valuable information, governments
should look for quality, completeness, timeliness, and usability when
releasing important information that shows transparency and supports
accountability.
Relationship between transparency and accountability
Accountability in open government establishes the presence of transparency within governments. Accountability and transparency work to promote open government in democracies. Through organizations such as the Open Government Partnership (OGP) within the United States, which was established by the U.S. Department of State, there have been efforts to enhance democracies through both accountability and transparency.
These efforts reach beyond the scope of North America and even into
some Latin American and Asian countries. Promoting open government in
Latin American countries has increased public trust and reduced
corruption. Latin American countries were among those included in the OGP plan promoted by the United States in the Obama Administration. Additionally, in Asia, there has been a push towards right to information (RTI) to help build accountability.
However, these measures in countries have shown open government
measures are not one size fits all. They can fail and have to be tweaked
for each region and there must be awareness from the public to demand
accountability to ensure they receive it from the government.
Most of the relationship helps strengthen transparency in governments through the means of accountability. Transparency acts as the vision for open government, allowing the public to have quality access to government records and data.
This open access forces governments to be more accountable as they
cannot hide corruption with transparency. There can be transparency
without accountability, which allows the government to choose which data
is of significant value to be released to the public.
This does not solve the lack of accountability and highlights the
necessity of transparency with accountability. With both transparency
and accountability, there must be regulations in place to make agencies
justify why they are relinquishing certain information along with strict
enforcement to ensure all transparency measures are fulfilled.
Governments and organizations are using new technologies as a tool for increased transparency. Examples include use of open data platforms to publish information online and the theory of open source governance.
Open government data (OGD), a term which refers specifically to the public publishing of government datasets,
is often made available through online platforms such as data.gov.uk or
www.data.gov. Proponents of OGD argue that easily accessible data
pertaining to governmental institutions allows for further citizen
engagement within political institutions.
OGD principles require that data is complete, primary, timely,
accessible, machine processable, non-discriminatory, non-proprietary,
and license free.[69]
Public and private sector platforms provide an avenue for
citizens to engage while offering access to transparent information that
citizens have come to expect. Numerous organizations have worked to
consolidate resources for citizens to access government (local, state
and federal) budget spending, stimulus spending, lobbyist spending,
legislative tracking, and more.
Organizations
Open Government Partnership
(OGP) is an organization launched in 2011 to allow domestic reformers
to make their own governments across the world more open, accountable,
and responsive to citizens. Since 2011, OGP has grown to 75
participating countries today whose government and civil societies work
together to develop and implement open government reforms.
Code for All is a non-partisan, non-profit international network of
organizations who believe technology leads to new opportunities for
citizens to lead a more prominent role in the political sphere and have a
positive impact on their communities. The organizations relies on
technology to improve government transparency and engage citizens.
The Sunlight Foundation
was a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 2006 that used
civic tech, open data, and policy analysis to make information from
government and politics more transparent to everyone. Their ultimate
vision was to increase democratic participation and achieve changes on
political money flow and who can influence government. While their work
began with an intent to focus only on the US Congress, their work influenced the local, state, federal, and international levels.
Open Government Pioneers UK is an example of a civil society led
initiative using open source approaches to support citizens and civil
society organisations use open government as a way to secure progress
towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It uses an Open Wiki to plan the development of an open government civil society movement across the UK's home nations.
OpenSpending aims to build and use open source tools and datasets to
gather and analyse the financial transactions of governments around the
world.
The term consists of the digital interactions between a citizen and their government (C2G), between governments and other government agencies (G2G), between government and citizens (G2C), between government and employees (G2E), and between government and businesses/commerces (G2B). E-government delivery models can be broken down into the following categories:
This interaction consists of citizens communicating with all levels of
government (city, state/province, national, and international),
facilitating citizen involvement in governance using information and communication technology (ICT) (such as computers and websites) and business process re-engineering
(BPR). Brabham and Guth (2017) interviewed the third party designers of
e-government tools in North America about the ideals of user
interaction that they build into their technologies, which include
progressive values, ubiquitous participation, geolocation, and education
of the public.
Other definitions stray from the idea that technology is an
object and defines e-government simply as facilitators or instruments
and focus on specific changes in Public Administration issues. The
internal transformation of a government is the definition that
established the specialist technologist Mauro D. Ríos. In his 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.
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.
Transformational government
Transformational government or also transformational e-government is the use of computer-based information and communications technologies (ICT) to change the way governments work.
The term is commonly used to describe a government reform strategy
which attempts to radically change the way people understand the
government, especially those working within the government. For
example, it is often associated with a whole-of-government viewpoint, which tries to foster cross-department collaboration and provide one-stop-shop convenience in the delivery of services to citizens.
The term transformational government is usually used aspirationally, as denoting the highest level of what e-government can achieve:
presence, where ICT, and usually websites, are used to provide information;
interaction, where government interacts with citizens, and departments interact with each other, online especially by email;
transaction, where such things as paying taxes or licenses are carried out online;
transformation, which involves a reinvention of government functions and how they operate.
In relation to developing countries, it is often associated with hopes
of reducing corruption, and in relation to developed countries, with
attempts to increase the involvement of the private and voluntary
sectors in government activity.
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-sourcecomputing 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.
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 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.
One of the first references to the term "electronic government" happened alongside the term electronic democracy in 1992. During the last two decades, governments around the world have invested in ICT
with the aim of increasing the quality and decreasing the cost of
public services. But over that time, as even the least developed
countries have moved to websites, e-services and e-government
strategies, it has become increasingly clear that e-government has not
delivered all the benefits that were hoped for it.
One study found that 35% of e-government projects in developing
countries resulted in total failures; and that 50% were partial
failures.
In reaction to these poor outcomes, there has been a shift of perspective to transformational government,
aiming beyond purely technical aspects of better enabling e-government
processes towards addressing the cultural and organisational barriers
which have hindered public service benefits realisation. Researchers
have defined the rationale for transformational government as "the
exploitation of e-government such that benefits can be realized".
In 2010 the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) published a report
which identified a wide range of common pitfalls which have hampered
many governments in achieving significant impacts through their
technology investments. However, OASIS also noted that:
"… an increasing number [of governments] are now getting to
grips with the much broader and complex set of cultural and
organizational changes which are needed for ICT to deliver significant
benefits to the public sector. This new approach is generally referred
to as Transformational Government."
OASIS cites the UK and Australia as two of the leaders in this area:
"Transformational Government…. encompasses a new "virtual"
business layer within government which allows an integrated,
government-wide, citizen-focused service to be presented to citizens
across all channels, but at no extra cost and without having to
restructure government to do so. Two very good examples of this new
approach are South Australia's "Ask Just Once" portal and the UK
Government's DirectGov portal, and the approach is explained in very
good detail in the CS Transform's white paper entitled "Citizen Service
Transformation – a manifesto for change in the delivery of public
services".
UN e-Government Development Index
EGDI levels by country in 2020
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.
The e-Government Development Index can serve as a benchmarking tool for
countries to identify their strengths and weaknesses and shape their
policies along these findings in the area of e-government.
The e-Government Development Index (EGDI) is calculated with the
following method: EGDI = 1/3 (OSI normalized + TII normalized + HCI
normalized)
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.
The survey has been criticized not including an index of digital inclusion levels.
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.
By managing their "customer" (citizen) relationship, the business
(government) can provide the products and services required to fulfill
the needs of the customer (citizen).
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
Examples of online transactional services, employed in e-governments include:
The main disadvantages concerning e-government are that there exists a digital divide
and digital inequalities that bar certain people from accessing the
full benefits of digitization. When presented as the only option to
access an essential service, those who do not have public access to
computers and the internet, or do not have adequate knowledge on how to
use them, suffer.
Other disadvantages include the 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, digital self-determination of citizens in a global internet network, 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.
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 find 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).
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.
An example of such a practice was the automation of the Indiana welfare program that began in 2006. An audit commissioned by then Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels in 2005 found that several Family and Social Service Administration (FSSA) employees and welfare recipients were committing welfare fraud.
The bureaucratic nature of Indiana's welfare system allowed people to
cheat the system and cost the state large amounts of money. Daniels
characterized the system as "irretrievably broken," stating that it was
at a state where employees could not fix it on their own. He cited many
issues that directly tie into the fact that the system had not been
automated.
In hopes to reap the many benefits of e-government, Daniels signed into law a bill privatizing
and automating the enrollment service for Indiana's welfare programs.
Daniels aimed to streamline benefits applications, privatize casework,
and identify fraud. It was believed that moving away from face-to-face
casework and toward electronic communication would fix the
aforementioned problems and improve efficiency.
Indiana's welfare enrollment facilities were replaced with online applications and call centers operated by IBM.
These ran into issues almost immediately. The mainly face-to-face and
personalized practice was modernized essentially overnight, blindsiding
many people who relied on those features. The automated system worked
upon a one size fits all
approach that attributed errors to the recipient over anything else.
Problems that were previously solvable through a single phone call with a
recipient's caseworker became increasingly complicated due to the
private call center workers not being adequately trained.
Welfare recipients were denied their benefits due to lack of
direct help, system errors out of their control, or simply an inability
to use the technology meant to speed up the process. The transition
overwhelmed not only recipients but also the employees. In October 2009,
even Daniels admitted to the project being flawed and problematic,
cancelling the contract with IBM. Indiana began rolling out a hybrid
system starting in 2010, including caseworkers and some automation where
appropriate.
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.
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 brick 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.
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.
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.
With the automation of institutionalized government services,
trust can go both ways: the trust that people have for the government,
and the trust the government places in its people. In the case of
Indiana's automated welfare system, the less skilled call center workers
defaulted their decisions to the automated system and favored solutions
that best fit the system rather than the people. When too much trust is put in e-governance, errors and mistakes are not caught.
A crucial part of the Indiana welfare system was the relationship
between caseworkers and their clients. It was the main way for Hoosiers
to interact with this public institution and get the help they need.
However, Daniels and many others saw a potential invitation to fraud. There were indeed instances of welfare fraud occurring between caseworkers and clients, such as this case from Marion County, December 2009.
But the motivation to automate was an attempt to catch people taking
advantage of the system rather than trying to get the services to as
many people as possible.
Welfare recipients were being considered as criminals rather than
people in need. Such treatment of the poor is similar to that of poorhouses from the 19th and 20th centuries. Both developed flawed systems with an intent to punish, creating more burdens than the initially marketed benefits.
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 paperwork 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.
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.
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 Government Forms, by Agency | A | USAGov 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 brick 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).
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 the 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 the 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 Media Usage
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 the government's use of social networking as a medium to help
the 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.
E-Signature
Several local governments in the United States have allowed online e-signatures for candidate nominating petitions and signature requirements for ballot initiatives. In 2012 Arizona
launched a prototype system called E-qual, which allowed statewide
candidates running for office to collect signatures online and share the
link on other forms on social media. E-qual was expanded in 2016 to cover candidates in local elections within the state, but it was not used at the local level before the 2020 state election. The city of Boulder, Colorado has implemented a similar system in 2020 to collect signatures for city ballot questions.
By country
Africa
Egypt
Egypt
is a very ambitious country especially since the election of the
current president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, he has invested large sums of
money towards sustainable energy and digitalization of the government
system. Some of the problems faced are privacy, security concerns, lack
of citizens' awareness, and lack of technical unified standards. Egypt
has a population of approx. 100 million with various backgrounds and
living conditions and access to resources. Not only does the education
level of citizens vary between cities and rural areas but also within
Cairo. Compared to other Arab or Middle Eastern countries, Egypt is
quite behind in terms of technological developments and utilization.
Recently, the government issued a law that all businesses must have
electronic receipts and that all pension payments or government-citizen
expenditure must be done through electronic transfers. This shows their
initiative to leave behind the cash driven economy to an electronic one.
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.
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 an application to the
property cadastre and receives information on landowners, the surface of
a plot of land, legal status of any property. The state electronic
payment system is integrated into 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 Parliament. The database can be
accessed through a 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 the law-making process. The website enables them to
search legal drafts, follow their further progress, and become familiar
with the presented suggestions. The registered users can 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 on 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 the tax declaration process for both
taxpayers 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 a visa
through an electronic application. Visas are issued within two days.
E-Signature: The system allows users to verify the identity of the
user and protect the submitted application. Any resident of Armenia,
either a natural person or legal entity, can obtain an electronic
signature and use it while applying e-government systems.
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. Besides, a gateway between government agencies was
established to ensure the mutual exchange of information, and most state
agencies are connected to this infrastructure. The gateway allows users
to efficiently use the existing government information systems and 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.
On 14 March 2018, it was launched E-government Development Center.
It is a public legal entity that is subordinated to State Agency for
Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan. The service tries to utilize digital
technologies, establish e-government to make state services operate more
efficiently, ensure public services availability, and improve the
living standards of the citizens of the country. It is
government-to-citizen type of e-governance.
Bangladesh
The
eGovernment web portal has been developed to provide more convenient
access to various government services and information through one
window. Services can now be delivered to people at their convenience,
and more importantly, now have a lot more weight on transparency and
accountability of public services.
China
According to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (国务院国有资产监督管理委员会) of Fujian Province, digital Transformation was firstly proposed by IBM
in 2012, which enhances the application of digital technology to
reshape customer value propositions and emphasizes the customer
interaction and collaboration. And Chinese government has added “Digital
Economy” to its Government Work Report (政府工作报告) for four consecutive years from 2017, and proposed in the 14th Five-Year Plan
to outline the “Use digital transformation to drive changes in
production methods, lifestyles and governance methods as a whole”.
Furthermore, Digital Transformation has been elevated to a national
strategy from enterprise (organization) level.
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)
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 the
ISO member countries, Indonesia gives more attention to facilitating 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 centrally 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
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 soon.
Iraq
The Iraqi E-government citizen program
was established to "eliminate bribery and favoritism and end the
citizens' suffering in going back repeatedly to directories", the
interface lets the citizen send requests and complaints, it can also be
used for issuing identity cards, driving licenses and passports.
Jordan
Jordan established its e-government program in 2002. Many governmental services are provisioned online.
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.
It offers all possible services that can be provided by the state for
citizens and businesses such as education, health care, social security,
job placement and employment, tax issues, legal assistance. It is
currently at the transformational stage of development.
The main goal of egov.kz is to maximize efficiency. For instance, users
can register birth of a child, while simultaneously resolving all
related issues - applying for benefits and putting the child on the
waiting list for kindergarten.
The egov.kz mobile app was recognized as best app in the GovTechioneers
competition at the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai.
At the WSIS Prizes-2017 (World Summit on the Information Society
contest), three projects from the Republic of Kazakhstan were announced
champions: e-Government, Open Government, and Integrated Call Center
1414.
Projects of the e-government:
"E-licensing" information system - Created to automate the
processes of licensing and permits and to ensure an effective and
transparent mechanism for information interaction between government
agencies – licensors and the business community of the Republic of
Kazakhstan.
"E-notary" - Developed with the aim to improve the control over the
activity of notary officers and optimize their work. The system involves
registration of notary activities in electronic register and brings
benefit to all the participants of juridical acts. "E-notary" system
allows notary officers to check authenticity of the documents, get valid
real estate data, maintain records of inheritance cases and goodwill.
Open Government - The Open Government consists of the following
components: Open Data, Open RLA, Open Dialogue, Open Budgets, as well as
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Government Agencies.
eGov Mobile mobile application - Designed to provide public services
and e-government services via smartphones. Citizens can log in using
digital signature or a one-time password.
Chat-bots at Telegram, Facebook and Vkontakte – Chat-bots based on
artificial intelligence were created to automate consultation of the
most frequently requested public services of the e-Government portal.
Smart Bridge – The project aimed at simplification of organizational
procedures for integration, interaction of government bodies with
business and the development of a competitive environment.
Saqbol mobile app - Created to control the spread of coronavirus
infection, as well as to timely localize infection sites using the
Exposure Notification (notification system on the risk of contagion from
Google and Apple). The app is designed to anonymously track contacts
with other devices that have the same app installed, and store encrypted
records of interaction with them.
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 how the government operates,
as well as how it delivers services to the people (Ibrahim Ariff &
Goh Chen Chuan, 2000).
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.
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 the e-Government Steering Committee on 23 June 2016.
That committee chairman was U Sai Kyaw Zaw, Minister, Ministry of Ethnic Affairs.
On 21 July 2017 www.emandalay.gov.mm web portal was opened by Dr.
Zaw Myint Maung, Prime Minister of Mandalay Region Government. That
portal includes 2 e-services, 199 topics from 70 agencies.
The committee develops a Regional Data Center too. That Datacenter will
be opened in 2018.
Nepal
The
e-government planning and conceptual framework has been presented to
Nepal in 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.
In 2015, the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia launched the e-service application known as Absher.
The application allows the people of the Kingdom to access more than
279 different government services from their smartphones, without the
need to queue or for the inefficiencies of bureaucracy.
Some e-services that can be completed by way of the application include:
Another application that has been launched is Tawakkalna. This application was created by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in order for the government to better counteract against COVID-19. Initially the application was created so as to issue permits to those who were required to commute to work during lockdown.
Now, it is being used for travel; entering commercial buildings,
hospitals, and schools within the Kingdom; setting vaccine appointments;
and COVID-19 tracing.
South Korea
Announced
in 2013 with "an ambitious plan to allow wider public access to
government data to improve the transparency of state affairs",
this initiative includes: citizen-centered government innovation, core
values of openness, sharing, communication, collaboration for all areas
of governing, customized services to individual citizens, which will
create jobs and support creative economy.
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 the 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.
In 2014, the Government of Pakistan
created the National Information Technology Board 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 the efficient and cost-effective implementation of e-government programs in the Federal Ministries/Divisions.
To carry out a training needs 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 regularly 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 rollout 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 outlined in the adoption process
diagram seems devoid of any user-centric design or value proposition
formulation. Instead of creating many 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.
E-government
(from (en) electronic government, (de) e-government, rarely
eGovernment) refers to the simplification, implementation and support of
processes for information, communication and transaction within and
between state, municipal and other official institutions and between
these institutions and citizens or companies and organizations through
the use of digital information and communication technologies (ICT).
The legal basis in Germany for federal authorities is the
Electronic Government Act (EGovG). Some of the federal states have their
own e-government laws.
Poland
The
first discussions in Poland on e-government in Europe began with a
report published in 1994 by the European Commission, entitled "Europe
and the Global Information Society Recommendations to the Council of
Europe" (named after one of the authors of the Bangemann Report). It
showed the direction of the development of the global information
society in Europe. Since then, the concept of e-government has become a
permanent fixture in the issues raised in the EU as a component of
eEurope.
In Poland, the year 2000 should be considered the beginning of
e-government. It was then that the Scientific Research Committee
prepared a document based on seven expert opinions, which was published
under the collective title "Global Information Society in the conditions
of Poland's Accession to the European Union". Today we know the
material as an official document of the Scientific Research Committee
and the Ministry of Communications entitled "Goals and directions of
development of the information society in Poland". In 2000, the Sejm
also adopted a resolution on building the information society, and then
in 2001, passed an act important for the development of e-government:
introducing the Public Information Bulletin (BIP), the Act on access to
public information, and the act on electronic signature, regulating the
issue of e-signature. The next step in the development of e-management
was the preparation of the ePoland document, containing an action plan
for the development of the information society in Poland, which was
modeled on the European eEurope development plan. This document was last
updated in 2002. The next version of this strategy was called
ePolska-2006. The adoption of this document resulted in the preparation
by the Scientific Research Committee of the preliminary concept of the
Gateway to Poland project (a central IT system, the task of which was to
provide administrative services for citizens and business entities by
electronic means) and the document The Strategy for Informatisation of
the Republic of Poland-ePoland.
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 e-government lies in the field of
providing equal opportunities for all the Russians in spite of their
living place and their incomes and make a more effective system of
public administration. So e-government is 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:
1. 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.
2. The United system for authentication and authorization providing evidence of the rights of all participants of e-government.
3. 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 an "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's license through this portal.
4. Head system providing utilization of electronic signature.
Other systems located on cloud services, since cloud computing has been a useful tool for E-Government according to researchers.
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
places.
Turkey
E-Government in Turkey is the use of digital technology to improve service efficiency and effectiveness in Turkey.
As of December 2020, 700 government agencies offers 5,338
applications to 51,757,237 million users. The mobile application offers
2,850 services.
Ukraine
The main coordinating government body in matters of e-government is Ministry of Digital Transformation established in 2019. In 2020, it launched the Diia app and web portal which allows Ukrainians to use various kinds of documents (including ID-cards and passports)
via their smartphones as well as to access various government services
with the plans to make all governmental services available by 2023.
United Kingdom
Transformational Government: Enabled by Technology,
2005, stated that "the future of public services has to use technology
to give citizens choice, with personalised services designed around
their needs not the needs of the provider".
[D]espite
a number of successful initiatives, government's overall record in
developing and implementing new IT systems is appalling.
However, an initiative introduced in 2011 which enables people to
notify a number of central and local government departments about a
birth or death at the same time, called "Tell Us Once", has been welcomed as "a fine example of innovation and best practice, a dynamic and inspiring model".
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.
Report of the Auditor General of Canada: Chapter 1 Information Technology: Government On-Line 2003:
"One of the key principles of Government On-Line is that programs and
services will be transformed to reflect the needs and expectations of
clients and citizens. From the government's perspective, the overall
objective of the GOL initiative is full service transformation – to
fundamentally change the way the government operates and to deliver
better services to Canadians."
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 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 MayorGavin 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.
In 2011, The United States Government Accountability Office passed the
Electronic Government Act in 2002 to promote better use of internet and
information technology. Besides, to improve government services for
citizens, internal government operations, and opportunities for citizen
participation in government.
Presidential Innovation Fellows program where "teams of
government experts and private-sector doers take a user-centric approach
to issues at the intersection of people, processes, products, and
policy to achieve lasting impact" launched in 2012. 18F a new digital government delivery service, was formed in early 2014 and United States Digital Service (USDS) was launched later in 2014.
South America
Brazil
The goal defined in the Digital Government Strategy is to reach the total digitization of services by the end of 2022.
"The main objective of the digital government is to bring
citizens closer to the State. Technologies allow us to see each
Brazilian better, including those who feel excluded, to direct public
policies in a much more agile and efficient way and to reach mainly
those who need it most", emphasizes the Digital Government secretary of
the Ministry of Economy, Luís Felipe Monteiro.
International initiatives
The
early pioneering work by some governments is now being picked up by a
range of global organizations which offer support to governments in
moving to a transformational government approach. For example:
The World Bank
has set up an eTransform Initiative (ETI) with support from global IT
partners such as Gemalto, IBM, L-1 Identity Solutions, Microsoft and
Pfizer. "The eTransform Initiative is about tapping information
technology, expertise and experiences", said Mohsen Khalil, Director of
the World Bank Group's Global Information and Communication Technologies
Department. "Government transformation is about change management
facilitated by technology. This initiative will facilitate the exchange
of lessons and experiences among various governments and industry
players, to maximize impact and lower risks of ICT-enabled government
transformation."
A number of private sector organizations working in this area have
published white papers which pull together global best practices on
government transformation.
OASIS launched (September 2010) a new Technical Committee tasked
with producing a new global best practice standard for a
transformational government Framework. The Framework is expressed as a
number of "Pattern Languages", each providing a detailed set of guidance
notes and conformance clauses on how to deliver the required changes in
practice.
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