E-Government and the City of Buffalo

As the United States continues to progress, the need for technological innovations has become increasingly important in the field of government. Federal, state and local governments are working towards the implementation and development of e-government practices. E-government began with the Clinton Administration in the mid 2000s, where the administration identified e-government as a way to promote a one stop access to government programs, cut costs and promote citizen advocacy in government (Moon, 2002). The purpose of this study was to explore the different departments in the City of Buffalo that are in charge of creating and implementing e-government projects. These projects are meant to improve and provide the necessary tools to help citizens communicate and request government services within their community. In this study the researcher set out to acquire qualitative interview data from Buffalo City Hall employees that have been involved with the implementation of e-government in the City of Buffalo. The interviews were composed of a series of questions to uncover implementer’s perspectives as to where the City of Buffalo stands in the e-government sphere. To validate these findings, a content analysis was performed on the City of Buffalo’s main website, their public Open Data website, the Buffalo roam parking app and the Buffalo 311 citizens services app. Findings based on this research suggest that the City of Buffalo is in somewhat good standing when it comes to the e-government implementation; however, there is still room for development