State & Local Governments Operate Using Antiquated Systems

How E-Government and E-Management Address this Issue

Many states have antiquated systems of delivery for public services and information. This problem became evident during the 9/11 attacks as government attempted to deliver emergency information and lacked the capacity for doing this properly. This problem continues today in many rural states. Since that time many states worked to establish e-government services since and used this system with great resourcefulness and flexibility to provide citizens with the latest information available. Developing e-government systems is essential to information and intelligence sharing aspects of public administration. According to Dawes (2002), the working definition of e-government is “the use of information technology to support government operations, engage citizens and provide government services”. This broad working definition encompasses key dimensions that reflect functions of an integrated electronic government.

One of these dimensions is e-services, which is the electronic delivery of information and services. E-democracy uses electronic communications to increase citizen participation in the public decision-making process. Another dimension of e-government is e-commerce that allows for the electronic exchange of money for goods and services over the Internet, such as filing taxes or renewing registrations.

Perhaps most important is e-management as it represents the functioning. Even though e-management is by nature the least visible aspect of government to the public, e-management provides vital information technology to manage government processes and records in order to streamline and improve the flow and integration of information between agencies (Dawes, 2002).

Currently, the implementation of e-government continues as new technologies quickly demand changes in the systems. As a result, planning is a long term process which creates an ongoing cost for the state. However, the benefit has been reduced wait times for specific services. For example, unemployment and welfare benefits can be accessed through government websites. This has also reduced the need for state workers at these agencies which allows for better allocation of funds. Continued planning and implementation for more e-government services is ongoing.

References

Dawes, S. (2002). The Future of E-Government Center for Technology in Government. Retrieved from http://dev5.ctg.albany.edu/publications/reports/future_of_egov/future_of_egov.pdf

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