Responding to information needs of the citizens through e-government portals and online services in India

Providing government information, services, products and transactions electronically has the potential benefit of accessibility for a wider audience, political and administrative transparency, and improved service delivery. By using e-government websites, citizens can conveniently access government information and services and gain greater opportunities to participate in democratic processes. The present study aims to evaluate National Portal of India, which provides single window access to 601 e-government portals and websites in India. A total of 1576 online services are provided by these portals responding to information needs of the citizens. Ranking of the state and union territory portals has been done based on the number of online services they provide. The paper also focuses on the digitization of documents, acts, rules and schemes of central and state government departments and their availability and accessibility through government portals.     

Responding to information needs of the citizens through e-government portals and online services in India

Providing government information, services, products and transactions electronically has the potential benefit of accessibility for a wider audience, political and administrative transparency, and improved service delivery. By using e-government websites, citizens can conveniently access government information and services and gain greater opportunities to participate in democratic processes. The present study aims to evaluate National Portal of India, which provides single window access to 601 e-government portals and websites in India. A total of 1576 online services are provided by these portals responding to information needs of the citizens. Ranking of the state and union territory portals has been done based on the number of online services they provide. The paper also focuses on the digitization of documents, acts, rules and schemes of central and state government departments and their availability and accessibility through government portals.     

Determining the type of e-government use

This article aims to understand what determines the degree of e-government use for multiple purposes by analyzing the Government Online Survey data that the Pew Internet and American Life Project provide. Three main purposes of e-government use are identified as: service use, information use, and policy research. The degree of e-government use for a specific purpose is predicted by five sets of determinants: psychological factors of technology adoption, civic mindedness, information channels, trust in government, and socio-demographic and personal characteristics. Sociodemographic conditions influence usage level of various transactional services provided by e-government. Perceived ease of use facilitates the acquisition of general information through e-government. Civicness is a critical determinant of e-government use for policy research. Policy researchers who are more engaged with and concerned about society, neighbors, and government are emerging as a new class of e-government users.     

E-Government evaluation of delivering public services to citizens among cities in the Yangtze River Delta

Delivering public services to citizens via the Internet is the basic goal of E-government. Although websites are becoming essential elements of public e-services in local public administration in China, little is known about their efficiency and effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the actual status of Web-enabled public services to citizens in municipal e-government implementation in the Yangtze River Delta. Eight categories of public services to citizens delivered through the Internet have been identified in the websites of the 14 local municipal governments. These public services include birth, marriage, domicile register, education, social security, public utility, health and traffic. Using the methodology of service maturity, this study evaluates the quality and usage of public e-services to citizens in the Yangtze River Delta. The results of this study show that almost all city governments are shifting from the traditional bureaucratic paradigm to the e-government public service paradigm, albeit with significant differences in public e-services level in these cities. At present, e-government public services to citizens in almost all the cities studied are mostly limited to on-line presentations of government information with a low degree of development of interaction and on-line transaction. The municipal governments and policymakers in the near future will have to strengthen the interactivity of their websites with citizens and improve the on-line transaction level in order to deliver citizen-centric public e-services.     

Channel choice and public service delivery in Canada: Comparing e-government to traditional service delivery

This study examines channel choice and public service delivery in Canada, comparing e-government to traditional service delivery channels such as the phone or visiting a government office. Factors studied include the digital divide, the nature of the citizen interaction with government, public service values, and satisfaction with services received by citizens. These factors are used to determine whether they impacted choice of channel and satisfaction with that channel. This study, through logistic regression of a public opinion survey of Canadian residents, found indications suggesting a digital divide in accessing e-government; found that government websites were most commonly used for information purposes, while the phone was most commonly used to solve problems. In regards to citizens' satisfaction, the apparent digital divide was bridged when females and older Canadians were more satisfied with their contact with a government website. In addition, a positive experience with service delivery and positive public service values lead to greater website satisfaction. The results of this study imply that the phone is a more effective service channel for solving problems, and the website is more effective for getting information. Therefore, governments need to provide multiple contact channels for citizens, depending upon their task at hand, while ensuring consistency of information and service response across channels. Creating a positive experience for citizens when they received a service translates into a more satisfied experience with e-government.     

E-Government evaluation of delivering public services to citizens among cities in the Yangtze River Delta

Delivering public services to citizens via the Internet is the basic goal of E-government. Although websites are becoming essential elements of public e-services in local public administration in China, little is known about their efficiency and effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the actual status of Web-enabled public services to citizens in municipal e-government implementation in the Yangtze River Delta. Eight categories of public services to citizens delivered through the Internet have been identified in the websites of the 14 local municipal governments. These public services include birth, marriage, domicile register, education, social security, public utility, health and traffic. Using the methodology of service maturity, this study evaluates the quality and usage of public e-services to citizens in the Yangtze River Delta. The results of this study show that almost all city governments are shifting from the traditional bureaucratic paradigm to the e-government public service paradigm, albeit with significant differences in public e-services level in these cities. At present, e-government public services to citizens in almost all the cities studied are mostly limited to on-line presentations of government information with a low degree of development of interaction and on-line transaction. The municipal governments and policymakers in the near future will have to strengthen the interactivity of their websites with citizens and improve the on-line transaction level in order to deliver citizen-centric public e-services.     

基于交互式政务信息服务的用户模型分析

针对目前电子政务信息服务的现状,在个性化政务信息服务基础上提出进行交互式的电子政务信息服务,构建以用户模型为核心的交互式政务信息服务系统总体构架,再由抽象到具体对用户模型的建模过程和结构进行着重分析,明确用户模型在政务信息服务中的核心作用,有利于系统实现自适应检索,为用户提供一种个性化、智能化的政务信息检索服务,同时也有助于预期定位用户的需求从而进行主动推荐服务。     

民众对政务网站信息公开与政务服务的需求与满意度分析

指出通过电子政务网站为民众提供符合其信息需求的信息公开与在线服务,可以提高政府服务社会和管理社会的能力。在分析在线获取政务信息或政务服务流程的基础上,构建理论框架,并以广州市民为研究对象,使用问卷调查法收集数据,研究民众对电子政务网站的政务公开与政务服务的具体需求、用户满意度、使用意愿及影响因素,探索民众从潜在用户向实际用户转变的条件及相关策略。     

公共图书馆开展电子政务项目整合服务探讨

我国各级政府网站提供了多项电子政务服务,但公众对其的使用率偏低。公共图书馆在提供电子政务服务方面有着极大的优势和责任。根据美国纽约皇后图书馆和佛罗里达州的儿童与家庭部项目开展税务、医疗等电子政务项目服务的经验,我国公共图书馆应联合共建电子政务资源,提供多种整合服务方式,加强对服务人员的培训,加大宣传与推广,从而推进公共图书馆的电子政务项目整合服务。     

Responsibility Rolls Down: Public Libraries and the Social and Policy Obligations of Ensuring Access to E-government and Government Information

Access to government information has been considered an essential element of democracy since the foundation of the American republic. Over time, the amount of government information produced has increased significantly, and the rise of e-government has made access to online government information, communication, and services equally vital to participation in society and interaction with governments. However, the outlets of free public access to government information and e-government have constricted over time, leaving public libraries as one of the only free public Internet access points in most communities. As a result, public libraries serve as a social guarantor of access to and assistance with government information and e-government services. This article first discusses the historical evolution of the means of access to government information and changes over time in responsibilities in providing such access. After exploring the interrelationships between government information and e-government, the article then details the development of the role of public libraries as guarantors of e-government access. Finally, the article examines the impacts of policy on e-government access in libraries, leading to a set of recommendations and conclusions to support the vital library roles related to e-government.     

Using government websites to enhance democratic E-governance: A conceptual model for evaluation

The last few decades have witnessed unprecedented transformations in every sector of society, resulting from the explosive advancement of information and communication technologies. This drastic development has raised the hopes of citizens for better lives, in both developing and advanced countries, urging innovation in government to make it more competent. Due to e-business revolutions, governments around the world have applied similar principles and technologies to government by opening their websites for more efficient publication of information and more effective delivery of public services. While a government website is an important venue for citizens to participate in public affairs and decision-making processes, early e-government practices tended to overlook democratic purposes by focusing on the features of e-business and information systems. There have been increasing criticisms that e-government system design has focused mainly on the provider's perspectives. Reflecting on the theoretical implications of this, we argue that a government website should facilitate democratic processes involving not only information sharing and delivery of better public services, but also deliberation and coproduction. The purpose of this study is to probe into multidimensional features that enable government websites to fulfill their promises. Developing an integrative model for evaluating a government website, namely the Democratic E-governance Website Evaluation Model, we conducted a qualitative meta-analysis of four strands of literature: information systems, business, public administration, and democratic theory. Our study contributes to the literature by extending the purview of e-government website analysis beyond the question of citizens' acceptance and towards the issue of their engagement, bringing a stimulating view of citizens as active agents in governance, and it provides a holistic model for public authorities to improve their websites to facilitate democratic e-governance that helps to create more effective public outcomes.     

From potential users to actual users: Use of e-government service by Chinese migrant farmer workers

The number of migrant farmer workers in China has increased so rapidly that they can't be ignored anymore as a vulnerable group in the coming information society. This study formulates a theoretical framework on the process of seeking for government information online and employs a method of questionnaire survey to investigate the information needs of migrant farmer workers and their behavior of using e-government service. The findings drawn include inconsistency of information seeking behaviors with information needs, and conditions of transfer from potential users of e-government services to actual users, such as information literacy, IT environment, the influence of social networks, the operations of government websites, and targeted services. Several policy recommendations are presented based on these findings, including improvements in the workers' information capacity, construction of special e-government programs aimed at such workers, and enhancement of public library systems and government service offerings to this target group.     

A validation of the modified democratic e-governance website evaluation model

The recent global pandemic has highlighted the importance of efficient communication between the government and its citizens through online platforms. While approximately 90% of governments around the world have opened up their websites to provide government information and public services, many have been criticized for their quality issues. The unsatisfactory upkeep of government websites may be due to the lack of adequate guidelines and evaluation tools for public managers, which would enable them to achieve the superior goals of e-government initiatives. We posit that evaluating government websites should be done with a formative and theory-based approach instead of summative or conclusion-based ones, as a government website is a long-term mechanism to achieve the objectives of e-government programs. Accordingly, this study empirically tests the Democratic E-governance Website Evaluation Model (DEWEM) that was conceptually created by Lee-Geiller and Lee (2019). Through a series of measurement development procedures, the results present a more concise, refined and validated model consisting of 25 items under 5 factors, whose associations to the outcome of democratic e-governance were statistically significant. The validated DEWEM also shows significant correlations with citizens' satisfaction and intention to use the website. This study advances the body of evaluation research for government websites and provides public managers with credible and useful guidelines for improving their websites.     

Do they want it? Do they use it? The ‘Demand-Side’ of e-Government in Australia and New Zealand

Drawing on 435 telephone interviews in Australia and 498 in New Zealand, this paper investigates the ‘demand’ side of e-government. That is, we examine the use of and support for e-government measures. Whilst respondents were generally supportive of e-government on a number of measures, we find that the majority were reluctant to use some of the more sophisticated ‘transactional’ e-government measures, and less than half had even visited a government website. High users of information and communications technologies (ICT) were more likely to use e-government measures, and are more positive towards e-government in general across several measures. Similar to a number of U.S. studies, we find a ‘digital divide,’ where older age, and less education were associated with lower ICT and e-government use and support. Income level was not a statistically significant predictor in all cases however, and gender was not significant for e-government support.     

Evaluating the readiness of government portal websites in China to adopt contemporary public administration principles

This article aims to evaluate whether the e-government development in China is ready to adopt contemporary public administration principles. In response to these questions, we propose an evaluation framework that integrates the contemporary public administration principles and current web-quality evaluation theories. The proposed framework evaluates government portal websites in terms of their content, function, and construction, following the theory of website evaluation. The indices for each of these dimensions emphasize interactions, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, all of which reflect the contemporary public administration principles. The validation analysis shows that the proposed evaluation framework well fits the data. The empirical studies suggest that China has implemented advanced e-government services.     

Transparency and technological change: Ensuring equal and sustained public access to government information

The Obama administration campaigned on the platform of increased transparency and access to government information after the limitations of the Bush years. As part of this focus on transparency, the Obama administration is emphasizing the use of e-government and new social media services to open up access to government. This paper explores the considerations and challenges of this approach, such as the inclusion of members of the public with limited access to the internet, the use of non-governmental channels to disseminate government information, the permanence of digital-born government information, and the design of e-government.     

Understanding the complexity of electronic government: Implications from the digital divide literature

Theoretically and practically E-Government and the digital divide are intertwined social phenomena. Using sophisticated information technologies (IT) in government has little social value if citizens are not able to use services or interact in political processes in meaningful ways. Similarly, understanding the development and use of IT in government without incorporating a demand perspective would potentially lead to partial explanations of a complex social reality. This article argues that studies about E-Government and the digital divide, which have been relatively disconnected research areas, have important parallels and potential intersections. These parallels may be useful in understanding E-Government projects and policies in a more comprehensive way and, consequently, for developing effective digital strategies. The paper reviews trajectories in E-Government and digital divide research and suggests potential implications drawn from the digital divide literature for E-Government research and practice, including model and theory development, understanding users, and some determinants of demand.     

E-government developments on delivering public services among EU cities

Since the late 1990s, governments at all levels have launched electronic government projects aimed at providing electronic information and services to citizens and businesses. Although Web sites are becoming essential elements of modern public administration, little is known about their effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to study the quality and usage of public e-services to citizens in Europe.According to the results of this study, e-government seems to be following a more or less predictable development pattern ranging from a stage in which interaction is limited to what is shown on the screen to stages in which there is two-way communication and service and financial transactions can be completed with a satisfactory level of protection of personal privacy. At present, e-government in almost all the cities studied is merely an extension of the government, with potential benefits in speed and accessibility 24/7. Despite the limited degree of development observed, online access has advantages that are impossible to replicate offline. Even though few expect e-government to completely replace traditional methods of information, e-government is becoming a powerful tool of transformation that has become embedded in the culture and in the agenda of the public sector.     

数字鸿沟研究的未来：境外数字不平等研究进展

从分析传统数字鸿沟研究的局限性出发,对国际学术界数字不平等研究的最新进展进行综述,认为数字不平等的核心内涵是： ICT接入者和利用者的分层化和多样化;ICT接入和利用背后的动机、利用能力和效果的不平等及其所反映出的各类社会不平等;数字不平等是文化复制的结果;传统社会阶层之间的控制与反控制关系在ICT利用和接入中的表现等。数字不平等表现维度的研究有传统的ICT接入、利用、心理及技能视角,有从资本角度的研究,还有综合的衡量方法。表1。参考文献37。     

Challenges common service centers (CSCs) face in delivering e-government services in rural India

Many developing countries across the world are allocating a significant share of their budgets for e-government initiatives. Common service centers (CSCs) are e-government initiatives that aim to increase access to public services and promote easy and direct interaction with the government. These e-government initiatives are largely underutilised, especially in rural areas in developing countries. This study attempts to identify the key challenges facing CSCs and determine their hierarchical relationships in the context of rural India. A set of 15 challenges was identified through a rigorous literature review and by surveying experts and CSC owners. Data were collected on the identified challenges and were analysed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM)-MICMAC-fuzzy MICMAC analysis. Subsequently, we developed a hierarchical model of challenges. The findings revealed that “longer travel time and transaction cost”, “low digital literacy”, and “low awareness” of e-government services are among the key challenges CSCs face in rural India. This study suggests several recommendations to all the stakeholders involved in the management of CSCs to improve the delivery of e-government services in rural India.