Section 5: E-Government
So far the uptake of ecommerce in the public sector has been on an ad hoc basis and has generally been based on sound business cases. This has resulted in some world leading implementations particularly in the Companies Office. More recently the advent of the E-Government Vision Statement has meant that a whole range of new projects are now on the table. Before these proceed a range of policy and government management implications need to be thought through.
For instance, there needs to be a set of firm criteria for moving services to the electronic environment. Issues that have to be thought through include; whether certain technological solutions will become rapidly obsolete; is electronic delivery of services a substitute for traditional methods of delivery, or is it simply an additional channel for delivery? (The benefits and hence the answer will vary depending on the service.) Will electronic delivery disenfranchise certain classes of people? Can government uptake of ecommerce be based upon alternative criteria besides a good business case, e.g. social policy outcomes such as inclusiveness, or encouragement of ecommerce uptake? Does departmental establishment legislation need to be amended to enable a change in the method of service delivery? What are the privacy implications?
Way Forward
Gaps
Work on implementing electronic government must be much better co-ordinated with overall ecommerce work.
Key Agencies: Commerce, SSC, all government agencies.
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