e-Citizens: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Citizenry

Starting from the first decade of the twenty-first century a relevant number of Governmental Agencies, Institutions and Private Enterprises spread all over the world both in industrialised and developing countries invested time and resources on e-Services. We are now in a position to draw some conclusions about this preliminary phase. Are such investments effectively useful and appreciated by citizens? Apart from technology what are the most relevant factors influencing their success or failure? Governments, Institutions and citizens are ready and willing e-Services? Are e-Services a real tsunami for governmental Institutions and agencies? Are citizens concerned about privacy issues and “cyber” security? ICT is stimulating changes in the way most people earn their incomes; varying the balance between our roles as consumer and producers; changing the way we educate succeeding generations and train ourselves; changing the fruition of the world’s cultural heritage; transforming the delivery of health care; altering the way we govern ourselves; changing the way we form communities; varying the way we obtain and communicate information; contributing to bridge some cultural or physical gaps; modifying patterns of activity among the elderly; and perhaps contributing to a greener world. This is not a complete list of changes but highlights some of the most prominent and important effects of ICT on our society. This book presents a view of a society changing under the influence of advanced information technology. Computers have been around for about half a century and their social effects have been described under many headings. This volume provides an insight about main technological and human issues and a holistic approach to inclusion, security, safety and, last but more important, privacy and freedom of expression. Everyone experienced in “ICT-based innovation” knows that “It is not only a matter of technology”. The main aim of this work is to bridge the gap between technological solutions and successful implementation and fruitful utilisation of the main set of e-Services totally or partially care of Governments. Different parameters are actively influencing e-Services success or failure: cultural aspects, organisational issues, bureaucracy and workflow, infrastructure and technology in general, users’ habits, literacy, capacity or merely interaction design. This includes: having a significant population of citizens willing and able to adopt and use online services; and developing the managerial and technical capability to implement applications to meet the needs of citizens. A selection of success stories and failures, duly commented on, will help the reader in identifying the right approach to innovation in governmental e-Services. The title “e-Citizens” chosen for this volume is intended to call attention to the fundamental transformations in social organisation and structure. The present volume is part of a collection of books “e-Citizens: being human in the digital age”, the first three volumes are: e-Citizens: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Citizenry, e-Democracy: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Society, e-Services: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Community, all of them published by Springer International 2018