E-Government, Information Technology and Governance

Paper Summary:

The paper explains the concept of E-Government as a strategy used by governments in and around developing countries to use new technologies to provide people with more convenient access to government information and services. These are for the improvement of the quality of services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in the democratic institutions and processes.
The paper provides an in-depth, critical appraisal of the opportunities and threats ushered in by the new concept and practice of E-Government as transferred to developing countries. Ways in which developing countries may cope with the phenomenon of E-government as well as advances in information technology and governance, are discussed. In addition, it also examines the strategies and tools that policymakers use to preserve the benefits as well as to avoid or lessen the costs involved.

From the Paper:

"The issue of Electronic Government (E. Government) , with particular regards to the advantages and disadvantages of its implementation and use, has been the subject of considerable debate and numerous studies in both the developed and the developing worlds. This paper seeks to explore the capacity of the developing world to fully utilize the opportunities E-government presents. However, to obtain maximum effect it is also necessary to determine what negative impacts might be and how best to approach them. In the discussion, an attempt will be made to explain why many of these negatives may not be totally eliminated as some are intrinsically intertwined with the benefits to be gained, while others derive from social conditions such as cultural differences, lack of resources, training and education. Consequently, development managers and policy makers in the developing world have come under severe pressure as it is their duty to find ways to sustain the opportunities presented by E-government while at the same time reducing the harmful effects. The paper postulates that this can only be achieved through technical changes such as trained personnel, increased availability of technology and conditional changes such as rules and regulations, social capital, capacity building etc."

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• Research Paper # 11125 : "E-Government; Friend or Foe?"

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