information technology and business applications

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What is E-Governance?

E-Governance is a network of organizations to include government, nonprofit, and private-sectorentities; in E-Governance there are no distinct boundaries. E Governance refers to governanceprocesses in which Information and Communications Technology (ICT) play a significant role.

The role played by ICT could be wide-ranging: in delivery and standards of governance services,to how people access such services, and the participation of people in the governance sphere. EGovernance uses ICT to induce changes in the delivery and standards of governance services andmore importantly, in the way citizens interact and participate in the governance sphere. Intodays world where Information Technology plays a very important role in every sphere of life,we can see the use of technology everywhere, in every field to speed up every process. EGovernance is an initiative taken by the Government in this regard that will benefit not onlycompanies but also the government and, most of all, the citizens of this country.

The model for E-Governance is a one-stop portal, such as USA government, where citizens haveaccess to a variety of information and services. An ideal portal would be one for employment

where a citizen creates a profile and is presented with employment opportunities at the federal,state, local, non-profit, and private-sectors.

It is creating a comfortable, transparent, and cheap interaction between government and citizens

(G2C government to citizens), government and business enterprises (G2B government to

business enterprises) and relationship between governments (G2G inter-agency relationship).

There are four domains of e-government namely:

Governance

Information and communication technology (ICT)

Business process re-engineering (BPR)

E-citizen

The primary delivery models of e-Government can be divided into:

Government-to-Citizen or Government-to-Consumer (G2C) Government-to-Business (G2B) Government-to-Government (G2G) Government-to-Employees (G2E)

Within each of these interaction domains, four kinds of activities take place:

Pushing information over the Internet, e.g.: regulatory services, general holidays, publichearing schedules, issue briefs, notifications, etc.

Two-way communications between the agency and the citizen, a business, or anothergovernment agency. In this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and postproblems, comments, or requests to the agency.
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Conducting transactions, e.g.: lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants. Governance, e.g.: online polling, voting, and campaigning.

Government-to-Citizen: G2C is the communication link between a government andprivate individuals or residents. Such G2C communication most often refers to that which

takes place through Information Communication Technologies (or ICTs), but can alsoinclude direct mail and media campaigns. G2C can take place at the federal, state, andlocal levels. G2C stands in contrast to G2B, or Government-to-Business networks. Onesuch Federal G2C network is USA government: the United States' official web portal,though there are many other examples from governments around the world.

Government-to-Business:G2B is the online non-commercial interaction between localand central government and the commercial business sector, rather than privateindividuals (G2C). For example http://www.dti.gov.uk is a government web site wherebusinesses can get information and advice on e-business best practice. http://g2b.perm.ruis another example. This is a side developed to support entrepreneurs and their initiativesby the Perm Government.

Government-to-Government: G2G) is the online non-commercial interaction betweenGovernment organizations, departments, and authorities and other Governmentorganisations, departments, and authorities. Its use is common in the UK, along withG2C, the online non-commercial interaction of local and central Government and privateindividuals, and G2B the online non-commercial interaction of local and centralGovernment and the commercial business sector. G2G systems generally come in one oftwo types:

o Internal facing - Joining up a single Governments departments, agencies,

organizations and authorities. Examples include the integration aspect of theGovernment Gateway, and the UKNHS Connecting for Health Data SPINE.

o External facing - Joining up multiple Governments IS systems. An example

would include the integration aspect of the Schengen Information System (SIS),developed to meet the requirements of the Schengen Agreement.

Government-to-Employees: G2E is the online interactions through instantaneouscommunication tools between government units and their employees. G2E is one out ofthe four primary delivery models ofe-Government. G2E is an effective way to provide E-learning to the employees, bring them together and to promote knowledge sharing amongthem. It also gives employees the possibility of accessing information in regard tocompensation and benefit policies, training and learning opportunities and civil rightslaws. G2E services also include software for maintaining personnel information andrecords of employees. G2E is adopted in many countries including the United States,Hong Kong and New Zealand.

There are also some technology-specific sub-categories of e-government, such as m-government(mobile government), u-government (ubiquitous government), and g-government (GIS/GPSapplications for e-government.

E-government portals and platforms: The primary delivery models of e-Government areclassified depending on who benefits. In the development of public sector or private sectorportals and platforms, a system is created that benefits all constituents. Citizens needing to renew
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their vehicle registration have a convenient way to accomplish it while already engaged inmeeting the regulatory inspection requirement. On behalf of a government partner, businessprovides what has traditionally, and solely, managed by government and can use this service togenerate profit or attract new customers. Government agencies are relieved of the cost andcomplexity of having to process the transactions.

Benefits of e-governance:

It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public benefits by getting easyaccess to the most current information available without having to spend time, energy andmoney to get it.

E-government helps simplify processes and makes access to government informationmore easily accessible for public sector agencies and citizens. For example, the IndianaBureau of Motor Vehicles simplified the process of certifying driver records to beadmitted in county court proceedings.Indiana became the first state to allow governmentrecords to be digitally signed, legally certified and delivered electronically by using

Electronic Postmark technology. In addition to its simplicity, these services can reduce costs. Alabama Department of

Conservation & Natural Resources, Wal-Mart andNIC developed an online hunting andfishing license service utilizing an existing computer to automate the licensing process.More than 140,000 licenses were purchased at Wal-Mart stores during the first huntingseason and the agency estimates it will save $200,000 annually from service.

The anticipated benefits of e-government include efficiency, improved services, betteraccessibility of public services, and more transparency and accountability.

Democratization:

One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, peoplefrom all over the country can interact with politicians or public servants and make theirvoices heard.Bloggingand interactive surveys will allow politicians or public servants to seethe views of the people they represent on any given issue. Chat rooms can place citizens inreal-time contact with elected officials, their offices or provide them with the means toreplace them by interacting directly with public servants, allowing voters to have a directimpact and influence in their government. These technologies can create a more transparentgovernment, allowing voters to immediately see how and why their representation in thecapital is voting the way they are. This helps voters better decide who to vote for in the futureor how to help the public servants become more productive. A government couldtheoretically move more towards a true democracy with the proper application of e-

government. Government transparency will give insight to the public on how decisions aremade and hold elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The publiccould become a direct and prominent influence in government legislature to some degree.

Environmental bonuses:

Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need forhard copy forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalistgroups, the media, and the
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public, some governments and organizations have turned to the Internet to reduce this paperuse. The United States government utilizes the website http://www.forms.gov to provideinternal government forms for federal employees and thus produce significant savings inpaper.

Speed, efficiency, and convenience:

E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any timeand any location, and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sittingbehind desks and windows. Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted throughcomputerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, equaling quickerprocessing time. On the administrative side, access to help find or retrieve files and linkedinformation can now be stored in databases versus hardcopies stored in various locations.Individuals with disabilities or conditions no longer have to be mobile to be active ingovernment and can be in the comfort of their own homes.

Public approval:

Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public.Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with increasing frequency, andyoung people, who traditionally display minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn toe-voting procedures. Although internet-based governmental programs have been criticizedfor lack of reliable privacy policies, studies have shown that people value prosecution ofoffenders over personal confidentiality. Ninety percent of United States adults approve ofInternet tracking systems of criminals, and fifty-seven percent are willing to forgo some oftheir personal internet privacy if it leads to the prosecution of criminals or terrorists.

The essence of good governance is based on the premise that the laws and procedures aretransparent, clearly defined & understood by those governed and the implementation is bothquick and smooth. To this effect, the governance in a developing country is a challenge, becausea majority of the governed (citizens) are educationally & socio-economically challenged. Moreso, in developing countries, where the governments are formed through democratic means, thechallenge of governance is much larger as the governors themselves are at times not very clearon various rules and procedures. It is a dynamic process that cannot be handled through staticrules and procedures. Further, at times, the rules and procedures, though explicitly defined in theconstitution or statutes, by themselves become hindrances in the path of governance due to lackof transparency and procedural clarities. Though, the solution to all these problems lies in e-governance as it is a mechanismthat is quick, interactive and provides a clear repository of rules

and regulations, which extend help in decision making for both the governors and the governed.It has the benefit of providing clear cut, transparent, interactive, easy to implement and justsolutions (in dynamic mode) in the quickest possible time frame.

However, it is easier said than done, because in a developing country the access to basicamenities as food, water, clothing , shelter , basic education and health take the immediate planning priorities of the governors, that always move from economic crisis to anotherEmergency Hospital Room situations without having time to plan strategies to link the issues in a
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holistic perspective and address the root cause of the problems . The Governors (policy &decision makers) need to be made aware on possibilities that are presented now with theadvancement of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) that can collect, collate andanalyze data from various sources among different sectors to view the economy holistically andsupport decision making processes in a transparent way.

E-Governance In India

In August 2003, Chamravattom village, a small backward hamlet in Kerala, South India, earneda unique distinction. It became the first village in India to become 100% information technology(IT) literate. At least one person in each of the 850 families of the village was provided computertraining on basic word processing skills and browsing, under the 'Akshaya' project. The projectwas launched by the government of Kerala with an aim to make the entire state computer literate.This was only one of the projects launched by various state governments in India to makeavailable the benefits of IT to citizens.Several state governments have initiated innovative e-governance projects. Some of the mostsuccessful projects include Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh), Akshaya (Kerala), Bhoomi(Karnataka), eSeva (Andhra Pradesh) and HP-Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh). These projects earnedwidespread appreciation, primarily for their ability to change the lives of citizens. ThroughGyandoot, farmers got access to data relating to market prices of their agricultural produce andland prices as well, enabling them to sell these on their own rather than going throughunscrupulous traders. The Akshaya project provided rural inhabitants of Kerala access to PCsand the Internet, an opportunity they had never dreamt of before and which helped them to easilycommunicate with their relatives abroad. The Bhoomi project provided farmers instant access toimportant land records, which would have otherwise taken them months to obtain. It alsoprotected their land records from manipulation by corrupt government officials. Through eSeva,busy urbanites could pay their bills for 36 public services offered by the state government at asingle counter, and in some cases, even pay their bills online, another first of its kind facility inIndia.

The common benefit for all these remarkably innovative projects was the convenience it brought


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to the citizens who were targeted.

According to the estimates of Gartner Inc., an internationally reputed consultancy firm, of thetotal spending on IT in India in 2002, the contribution of the Government of India was 9%($1.008 bn), making it the fourth largest spender on IT in India.

The spending included hardware, software, telecom equipment, and IT services (excludingsalaries of IT employees). This put India in the league of countries in the Asia Pacific region,including China, Japan, Malaysia and Philippines, which had similar budget outlays for e-governance. However, this was meager compared to the advanced countries in the world, whichspent much larger amounts of money on e-governance initiatives.

Some of the issues related to E- Governance are:

Understand how IT could be effectively used by the public machinery to serve the

citizens.

Understand the importance of active participation, both from the citizens and for thegovernment in the success of e-governance projects.

Study the experiences of consumers availing e-governance services and examine howe-governance initiatives can transform the lives of citizens.

Commonwealth Games 2012:

The 2010 Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi andIndia generally, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The openingceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. It will also be thefirst time the Commonwealth Games will be held in India and the second time the event has beenheld in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

The Government of India is criticized due to the following controversies related to theorganization of Commonwealth games this year:

Delays: In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennellreported that the games were at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was reasonableto conclude that the current situation poses a serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in2010. A report by the Indian Government released several months prior found thatconstruction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule. As the Timesof India reports, all CWG projects were to be completed by May 2009 and the last yearshould have been kept for trial runs. The newspaper further reports that the first stadiumwas handed over for trial runs in July 2010 only. To put the delays in perspective, Beijing
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National Stadium was completed much ahead of schedule for the 2008 SummerOlympics, while the venues for2012 Summer Olympics in London are scheduled to bedelivered one year before the games and the construction of the venues is on track. InAugust 2010, the Cabinet Secretariat took a decision to appoint 10 officers of the rank ofJoint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress of the construction of stadiums.

Each officer is allocated a stadium and given the responsibility to ensure that the workcompletes in time for the games.

Vigilance-related irregularities: On July 28, 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) released a report showing irregularities in up to 14 CWG projects. As per officialreports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected. The detailedpreliminary findings include:

1. Award of works at higher prices2. Poor Quality Assurance3. Award of work to ineligible agencies

There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organizing thegames including procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues.The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T SDarbari (joint director in the organizing committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputydirector general in the organizing committee) following the report of the three-memberpanel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queen's Baton Relay.Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake ofallegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennisstadium.

Social Impact:o Labour Violations: Campaigners in India have accused the organizers of

enormous and systematic violations of labor laws at construction sites. HumanRights Law Network reports that independent investigations have discoveredmore than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sitessince work began. Although official numbers have not been released, it isestimated that over 415,000 contract daily wage workers are working on Gamesprojects.

Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian rupees (INR) per day, skilledworkers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work and 134to 150 INR for 12 hours of work. Whereas, Delhi states minimum wagepolicy states INR 152 (approx. US$3) to be paid for eight hours of work.These represent violations of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

The public have been banned from the camps where workers live andwork, a situation which human rights campaigners say prevents thegarnering of information regarding labor conditions and number ofworkers.
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There have been documented instances of the presence of young childrenat hazardous construction sites, due to a lack of child care facilities forwomen workers living and working in the labor camp style work sites.

Furthermore, workers on the site of the main Commonwealth stadiumhave reportedly been issued with hard hats, yet most work in open-toed

sandals and live in cramped tin tenements in which illnesses are rife.o Slum eviction and no-beggar-zones: A much-quoted report by the Housing and

Land Rights Network (HLRN), an arm of the Habitat International Coalition, hasbrought to light some worrying social and environmental consequences of theevent. Based on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for the study andstatements by civil society groups, it has discovered that no tolerance zones forbeggars are being used in Delhi, and that the city has arbitrarily arrested homelesscitizens under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959. Furthermore, over100,000 families have already been evicted in order to make space for CWG-related projects, and a further 30,000 to 40,000 were slated for eviction andrelocation at the time of the reports publication.

o Urban Change: The 2010 Commonwealth Games, are being used to invigorate anelite-driven program of urban transformation that centers on privatization,securitization, and the construction of monuments to vanity. The lure of national prestige, an immovable deadline and, as of late, the fear of nationalembarrassment has helped undermine the urban social movements andindependent activists that typically resist this agenda.

Terror threats: Following the attacks on Mumbai in 2008 some athletes and theirrepresentative bodies expressed security fears during the games. In April 2010, during theIndian Premier League, two low intensity bombs went off outside the stadium inBangalore. Although there were no casualties, this postponed the start of the game by an

hour. Following this attack, foreign cricketers like Kevin Pietersen expressed fears fortheir safety and questions were raised regarding the safety of athletes during theCommonwealth Games. The UK and Canada also warned about potential attacks oncommercial targets in Delhi ahead of the games.

Calls for boycott: Amid allegations of blatant corruption, shoddy construction work atvenues and security concerns for participating athletes, the 2010 Commonwealth gameshas faced numerousboycottcalls from individuals in India, England and Australia.

E-Governance would have changed the picture of Commonwealth Games 2012:

As we all know that the Commonwealth Games, to be held in October this year, has alreadydescended into an embarrassing spectacle of corruption on an almost unimaginable level, andwhat should have been a shining moment is turning into a darker moment of shame for theGovernment of India. But we believe that the whole scenario would have been different if theGovernment would have acted wiser and followed policies like E Governance which would havefacilitated the process of organization of Commonwealth Games 2010 in India. Some of the
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issues like delays, vigilance related irregularities, and terror threats could be taken care of by theE Governance. Moreover, it connects the citizens of the country with the Government and thushelps in a better interaction amongst them. So it would have affected the social impacts, which isanother area of criticism for Commonwealth Games 2010, in a more positive way.

E-Governance as per our view is a solution for almost all the problems in the following ways:

Transparency- E-Governance increases the transparency between Government and theCitizens which reduces the scope of corruption and ignorance towards responsibilities.The steps taken by the Government and the progress can also be tracked. Suggestions forimprovements can be taken from the people from diverse fields as there would be lots ofcommunication between Government and people. The social impact of the games,especially faced by people below poverty lines might be different and not so severe. Thescope of delay and vigilance related irregularities would have been much less ascompared to now.

Public Approval- As there will be transparency, people will be more aware of what is

happening around which will definitely help them to accept the whole event in a positivemanner. It would also have increased the faith of public on the Government.

Speed, efficiency, and convenience- The use of technology, obviously fastens theprogress, hence it would have speeded the development related to Commonwealth Gameswhich in return would have increased the efficiency, saving time and money.


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E-GOVERNMENT LITERATURE REVIEW

Paradigm Shifts in the Public Sector

The advent of the Internet, digital connectivity, the explosion and use of e-commerce and e-business models in the private sector are pressuring the public sector to rethink hierarchical,bureaucratic organizational models. Customers, citizens and businesses are faced every day withnew innovative e-business and e-commerce models implemented by the private sector and madepossible by ICT tools and applications, are requiring the same from governmental organizations.Osborne and Gaebler (1992) referred to citizens as customers for governments, sincegovernments need to empower rather than serve, to shift from hierarchy to teamwork andparticipation, to be mission oriented and customer focused, and to focus on prevention ratherthan cure. Governments worldwide are faced with the challenge of transformation and the needto modernize administrative practices and management systems (Tapscott, 1996). Recently, thepublic sector has began to recognize the potential opportunities offered by ICT and e-businessmodels to fit with citizens demands, to offer better services to citizens and to increase efficiency by streamlining internal processes. Tapscott and Caston (1993) argue that ICT causes aparadigm shift introducing the age of network intelligence, reinventing businesses,governments and individuals. Paradigm shifts prevail in the public sector too. The traditionalbureaucratic paradigm, characterized by internal productive efficiency, functional rationality,departmentalization, hierarchical control and rule-based management (Kaufman, 1977), is beingreplaced by competitive, knowledge based economy requirements, such as: flexibility, networkorganization, vertical/horizontal integration, innovative entrepreneurship, organization learning,speed up in service delivery, and a customer driven strategy. These new paradigms thrust theshift toward E-Government paradigm, which emphasizes coordinated network building, externalcollaboration and customer services (Ho, 2002).

E-Government

E-Government means different things for different people. Some simply define it as digitalgovernmental information or a way of engaging in digital transactions with customers. For othersE-Government simply consists of the creation of a web site where information about politicaland governmental issues is presented. These narrow ways of defining and conceptualizing E-

Government restrict the range of opportunities it offers. One of the reasons why many E-Government initiatives fail is related to the narrow definition and poor understanding of the E-Government concept, processes and functions.E-Government is a multidimensional and complex concept, which requires a broad definition

and understanding, in order to be able to design and implement a successful strategy. Thecrucial element of all these definitions is the use of ICT tools to reinvent the public sector by

transforming its internal and external way of doing things and its interrelationships with

customers and the business community.


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There are few other definitions:1. Abramson and Means, 2001 - E-Government can be defined as the electronic interaction(transaction and information exchange) between the government, the public (citizens andbusinesses) and employees.2. World Bank, 2001 - E-Government is the government owned or operated systems of

information and communication technologies that transform relations with citizens, the privatesector and/or other government agencies so as to promote citizens empowerment, improveservice delivery, strengthen accountability, increase transparency, or improve governmentefficiency.3. Fraga, 2001 - E-Government is the transformation of public sector internal and externalrelationships through net-enabled operations, IT and communications, in order to improve:Government service delivery; Constituency participation; Society.4. Tapscott, 1996 - E-Government is an Internet-worked government which links newtechnology with legal systems internally and in turn links such government informationinfrastructure externally with everything digital and with everybody the tax payer, suppliers,business customers, voters and every other institution in the society.

5. UNPA & ASPA, 2001 - E-Governance is the public sectors use of the most innovativeinformation and communication technologies, like the Internet, to deliver to all citizens improvedservices, reliable information and greater knowledge in order to facilitate access to the governingprocess and encourage deeper citizen participation.

The analysis of these definitions allows us to individuate the main issues and components thatcharacterize an E-Government framework, such as:1. Transformation areas (internal, external, relational)2. Users, customers, actors and their interrelationships (citizens, businesses, governmentorganizations, employees)3. E-Government application domains (e-services, e-democracy, e-administration)

Transformation Areas

The above definitions encompass three critical transformation areas of E-Government (Hirst andNorton, 1998):

Internal - Which refers to the use of ICT to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internalfunctions and processes of government by interrelating different departments and agencies?Thus, information can flow much faster and more easily among different governmentaldepartments, reducing processing time, paperwork bottlenecks, and eliminating long,bureaucratic and inefficient approval procedures. Internetworking among different governmentaldepartments improves internal efficiency by enabling time reductions for using, storing andcollecting data, reduction of labor costs and information handling costs, as well as the speed andaccuracy of task processing.External - ICT opens up new possibilities for governments to be more transparent to citizensand businesses, giving access to a greater range of information collected and generated bygovernment. ICT creates also opportunities for partnership and collaboration among differentgovernmental institutions (Allen et al., 2001). Electronic government blurs the lines not onlywithin government agencies, but also between government and those that touch it (Tapscott,1996).


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Relational - ICT adoption may enable fundamental changes in the relationships between thecitizens and the state, and between nation states, with implications for the democratic processand structures of government. Vertical and horizontal integration of services can be realized,enabling the integration of information and services from various government agencies to helpcitizens and other stakeholders get seamless services. Fountain (2001) uses the concept of the

virtual state that is a governmental entity organized with virtual agencies, cross agencies,public- private networks whose structures and capacity depend on the Internet and web.

According to these three transformational areas it is obvious that an E-Government initiativedoes not consist of a simple business process reengineering. Indeed, as Tapscott (1996) suggests:It requires a radical rethinking of the nature and functioning of the organization and therelationships between organizations. It needs to focus in a web of relationships including alllevels and business functions, in which the boundaries inside and outside are permeable andfluid.

E-Government Web of Interrelationships

The target of E-Government encompasses four main groups: citizens, businesses, governments(other governments and public agencies) and employees. The electronic transactions andinteractions between government and each group constitute the E-Government web ofrelationships and the respective four main blocks of E-Government, that are:1. Government to Citizens (G2C)2. Government to Business (G2B)3. Government to Government (G2G)4. Government to Employees (G2E)Most researchers and academics refer only to the first three blocks, without considering thefourth or simply including it as part of government to government block. The relationships,interactions and transactions between government and employees in fact constitute another large

E-Government block, which requires a separate and very careful handling. Many people todayrefer to employees as internal customers and as a result, in order for an E-Government initiativeto be customer oriented and centric, it has to take into account needs and requirements of thisgroup as well. More specifically, these E-Government blocks can be characterized as follows:1. Government to Citizen: deals with the relationship between government and citizens. E-Government allows government agencies to talk, listen, relate and continuously communicatewith its citizens, supporting, in this way, accountability, democracy and improvements to publicservices. A broad array of interactions can be developed ranging from the delivery of servicesand the provision of welfare and health benefits to regulatory and compliance oriented licensing(Riley, 2001). G2C allows customers to access government information and services instantly,conveniently, from everywhere, by use of multiple channels (PC, Web TV, mobile phone or

wireless device). It also enables and reinforces their participation in local community life (sendan email or contribute to an online discussion forum).2. Government to Business: consists of the electronic interactions between government agenciesand private businesses. It allows e-transaction initiatives such as eprocurement and thedevelopment of an electronic marketplace for government (Fang, 2002). Companies everywhereare conducting business-to-business e-commerce in order to lower their costs and improveinventory control. The opportunity to conduct online transactions with government reduces redtape and simplifies regulatory processes, therefore helping businesses to become more


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competitive. The delivery of integrated, single-source public services creates opportunities forbusinesses and government to partner together for establishing a web presence faster andcheaper.3. Government to Government: refers to the relationship between governmental organizations, asfor example national, regional and local governmental organizations, or with other foreign

government organizations. Governments depend on other levels of government within the stateto effectively deliver services and allocate responsibilities (Riley, 2001). In order to realize asingle access point, collaboration and cooperation among different governmental departmentsand agencies is compulsory. Online communication and cooperation allows government agenciesand departments to share databases, resources, pool skills and capabilities, enhancing theefficiency and affectivity of processes.4. Government to Employees: refers to the relationship between government and its employees.G2E is an effective way to provide e-learning, bring employees together and to promoteknowledge sharing among them. It gives employees the possibility of accessing relevantinformation regarding: compensation and benefit policies, training and learning opportunities,civil rights laws, etc. G2E refers also to strategic and tactical mechanisms for encouraging the

implementation of government goals and programs as well as human resource management,budgeting and accounting (Riley, 2001).

E-Government application domains

The full exploitation and implementation of these complex webs of inter-relationships requiresthree main application domains for E-Government (Heeks, 2001):

e-Administration for automation and computerization of administrative tasks and forrealization of strategic connections among internal processes, departments and functions.e-Citizens and e-Services to realize connections and interrelationships among governments andcitizens and to deliver automated services.

e-Society to enable relationships and interactions beyond boundaries, among public agencies,private sector and civil community in general.These three application domains should be considered as overlapping and E-Government can befound in the overlapping area of these three application domains, demonstrating the complexitiesand heterogeneities needed to be handled for assuring its success (Fig. 1).


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information technology and business applications

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