dr. ehud reiter, computing science, university of aberdeen1 e-government l goals l information...
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Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen 1
E-Government
Goals Information Provision Transactions Citizen participation
Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen 2
What is E-Government?
Government services over the web» Information for citizens (regulations)» Transactions (taxes)» Voting, opinion gathering?
Also standard for large organisation» Eg, better purchasing» Won’t discuss here
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Goals
Make government more efficient» Reducing costs (and hence taxes)» As with e-commerce
Make govt more effective from citizen’s perspective
Make govt fairer, more transparent, more inclusive
Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen 4
Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen 5
Stages of E-Govt
1. Publish info (eg, new policies)» Standard for most agencies» Relatively straightforward
2. Transactions (eg, tax forms)» Becoming more common» Issues: privacy, fairness
3. Portals, etc: not yet (ever)
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Publishing Information
Aberdeen City Council» News, what’s on, council meetings» Info on schools, libraries, etc» Forms, procedures
– Eg, student council tax exemption
Lots of information!» Just one local council…
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Good thing!
Empowers people» No longer at mercy of bureaucrats,
solicitors, etc for basic info Speeds things
» Get info in seconds, not weeks Reduces corruption (??) Examples from students?
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Issues
Keeping info up-to-date, finding info» Issue for all large websites
Bureaucrats may not want to put some info on web» Means they lose control» Examples?
Relatively minor considering benefits
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Publishing Information
Makes govt more effective» Citizens find it easier to get things done
Makes govt more transparent» Clearer what is going on
Makes govt a bit more efficient (?)» Fewer staff answering questions
Does it make govt fairer, more inclusive» Harder to see
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Transactions
Taxes, library card, civil weddings, benefits, etc
Report problems Fill out forms See Aberdeen City Council website
» 10s of transactions, vs 100s (1000s?) of information web pages
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Taxes
Fill out income tax forms online» “Self-assessment” in UK
Much better for tax people» Reduce errors in forms, no need to
transcribe written forms into computer Benefits for citizens
» Less work (online calculations)» Forms can be filed later
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Issue: Security
Protecting confidential information» People’s income
Avoiding fraud» Insiders fiddling things so they get paid
huge tax rebates Similar issue for ecommerce
» More serious for govt?
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Issue: Poorer Service for non-Web users
Govt agencies may provide poorer service for non-online transactions» Paper tax forms used to be due on 31 Jan» Now due on 31 Oct
Tax people want e-forms because this is easier for them, so they penalise people who don’t use e-forms» Is this acceptable? Opinions?
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Issue: Fairness
Is this fair?» Many people can/will not use web
– Elderly, disabled, socially deprived, …– People at “bottom of heap”
Will e-govt mean poorer service for people at the bottom?» Can argue govt must be fair, especially to
people at bottom of society
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E-Participation
Use web/net to encourage citizens to participate» Opinions, policy debates, voting» Goal: make govt more inclusive» Sensitive to citizens, not just lobbyists
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Consultations
Aberdeen city council has open consultations on web page» Often about transport or schools» Allows anyone to submit an opinion
Many topics not addressed» Service cuts
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Consultations
UK govt has wider range of consultations» Not clear how effective
Web-consultations can get swamped by a few individuals» Use spam techniques
Poor/deprived/etc poorly represented
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Media
Media may do this better» BBC “have your say”» Can be selective, filter out spam, do not
need to show everything
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E-Voting: in voting booth
Vote using electronic voting machines?» Instead of paper or punched card» Avoid Florida 2000 “hanging chad” disaster
Issue: what if system crashes» Are people disenfranchised?
Issue: audit» Can we recount votes?» Maybe produce hard-copy records?
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E-Voting: Internet
Should people be allowed to vote via the Internet?
Not common yet, freq discussed Pros: easy to vote, increase voting rate Cons: security, hard to audit, under-
represent people at bottom Discuss in tutorial
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E-Participation
E-Consultation nice idea in theory, not very successful in practice» Not representative, vulnerable to spam
Internet E-voting is rare
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E-Govt in Developing Countries
Deploy on mobiles if at all possible» Much more common than PCs» More effective than post
Makes corruption more visible, harder to hide (?)
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Summary: E-Govt
Publishing info successful» Widely done, real benefit to citizens» Challenges similar to other websites for
large organisations Transactions growing
» Govt agencies like this, cheaper» Concerns about security, fairness
E-Participation less successful
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Summary: E-Govt Goals
Efficiency: transactions Effectiveness: publishing info Transparent: publishing info Inclusive: in theory via e-participation,
not achieved yet Fairness: e-govt less fair to socially
deprived (less likely to have net access)
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Summary: E-Govt Issues
Fairness, esp to people on bottom Robustness if things go wrong, audit
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