e‐Government: evolution or revolution? (PART 1)

A diffuse need of innovation and better performance affected governments and institutions in general. Citizens and even Institutions are looking for a general re-design of the public administration both in the front and back office. In such a renovation process the ICT support turns “government” into “e-government” that means: e-Government: Delivering complete services in public administrations to individuals, businesses and organisations combined with organisational change in order to significantly improve services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies; fostering quality and efficiency of information exchange; empowering citizens and public services clients. This is one of the attempts to define e-government used on the occasion of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). More in general e-government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government. It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental level. Further, e-government can enhance the speed and efficiency of operations by streamlining processes, lowering costs, improving research capabilities and improving documentation and record-keeping. This means that governments have to rethink their information flows and processes. Reasonably a similar revolution will involve the entire structure. “However, the real benefit of e-government lies not in the use of technology per se, but in its application to processes of transformation. e-Government is more than just putting in new computer systems. Rather, e-Government also involves complimentary changes to administrative practices and business processes.“ (National Research Council 2002