The term (in all its uses) is generally agreed to derive from "electronicgovernment" which introduces the notion and practicalities of electronic technology into the various dimensions and ramifications of government.
Nawar (2005) defines it as follows:
"E-Government refers to the use by the general government (including the public sector) of electronic technology (such as Internet, intranet, extranet, databases, decision support systems, surveillance systems and wireless computing) that have the ability to transform relations within the general government (bodies) and between the general government and citizens and businesses so as to better deliver its services and improve its efficiency."
The most frequent use of the term eGovernment (also spelled e-government as well as egovernment, Egovernment, E-government, E-Government, e-Gov, egov, EGOV, E-GOV and EGovernment and described as online government) is related to:
the delivery of public services, where there is an online or Internet based aspect to the delivery of the services (online government services are sometimes called e-Services, often a label which is considered to be a distinction from e-commerce but in some cases e-services and e-commerce are practically interchangeable terms).
the conduct of government business where the activities of those involved in the process of government itself (such as legislators and the legislative process) where some electronic or online aspect is under consideration.
voting where some technological aspect is under consideration.
It would be easy to make the mistake of assuming that eGovernment was all about "online government" or "Internet based government"
Many non-Internet based "electronic government" issues exist which appear under the eGovernment heading
Similarly, it would also be an error to imagine that all Internet-related eGovernment is about government websites
Non-Internet aspects of eGovernment include:
Telephone and telecommunications issues in a government context, including:
the provision of government services by telephone (such as in call centers)
the use of fax in the provision of government services and the conduct of government business
the use of mobile phone (and PDA) based communications technology (such as SMS text messaging and MMS as well as 3G, GPRS, WiFi, WiMAX and Bluetooth) in the provision of (and as a means of access to) government services and the conduct of government business
general Government IT, which is now starting to be reclassified as eGovernment, in many cases because it is becoming ever more difficult to disentangle internal (i.e., non-"citizen-facing") IT resources and projects (which have hitherto mostly not been seen as part of eGovernment) from external (and thus mostly already seen as eGovernment) service provision. This reclassification is by no means universal and is often controversial.
Polling station technology (where non-online e-voting is being considered)
TV and radio-based delivery of government services (this often has a crossover with the Internet, but also includes many non-Internet based aspects and projects such as Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) Digital TV and High Definition TV (HDTV) provision)
Non-Website-specific aspects of Internet-based eGovernment concerns
the use of Email in the provision of government services and the conduct of government business
Digital divide: The effect of non-use, non-availability or inaccessibility of eGovernment, or of other digital resources, upon the structure of society
broadband provision and its effect rate of take up of eGovernment services
accessibility (impediments to take up of eGovernment services, especially through disability, but also through geography, cost, and public education as well as any shortcomings in the design and implementation of eGovernment services)
cost of implementation / effect on existing budgets
effect on civil service jobs / job cuts / change of roles
centralisation (of government, public services and e-government)
decentralisation (of government, public services and e-government)
self government
e-Administration
public education (concerning the availability of eGovernment services, but also adequacy of skills, confidence, interest and choices, also e-learning issues)
education policy (including the effect of eGovernment upon non-eGovernment education issues)
"legacy technology" (making "pre-eGovernment IT" work together with or be replaced by eGovernment systems)
environmental effect
effect on bureaucracy / waste / "employment flexibility"
technology policy effect, including choices between open source and proprietary software, choices between different programming languages choices between different microprocessor technologies, choices between different networking technologies
marketing of eGovernment, both online and offline, in order to raise public awareness of and increase attractiveness and use of eGovernment and well as the use of online marketing (e-marketing) to promote both eGovernment and non-eGovernment public services
impact on arts policy - how do recent technological changes influence the commitment of government to support the provision of artistic and cultural resources to the public, how do those changes shape the scope and character of such support?
Democracies Online Newswire (Do-Wire) (http://www.dowire.org) Announcements from Steven Clift about E-Democracy, E-Government, Politics Online and More.
Development Gateway's e-Government Page (http://topics.developmentgateway.org/egovernment) — Depository of various e-government resources.
eGov monitor Weekly (http://www.egovmonitor.com/weekly) — Comprehensive free weekly email newsletter covering developments in UK and Europe.
Federal Computer Week (http://www.fcw.com) — FCW eGovernment coverage is comprehensive, US based.
Gotzeblogged (http://gotzespace.dk/) — Blogging e-government, e-democracy and other e's.
Government Computer News (http://www.gcn.com) — GCN eGovernment coverage is comprehensive, US based.
Kablenet (http://www.kablenet.com) — eGovernment coverage is comprehensive, especially UK.
SupportInsight (http://www.supportinsight.com) has an eGovernment sub-site, eGovernment coverage is international.
Some governments may be more aggressive than others are, but all governments have in common the ability and the willingness to use force, or the threat of force, to perpetuate their existence and to bring about compliance with the wishes of its leadership.
Governments introduce a significant element of entropy into the process of wealth creation and preservation, because governments have a tendency to transfer substantial amounts of wealth and energy from the productive sector to the unproductive sector of society.
A minimal layer of government, in the form of a coordinating effort, is clearly beneficial to society because it is essential to the smooth interaction of members of society.
Governments will be required under the new financial reporting model to report depreciation expense for all of their capital assets, including general infrastructure assets, in the government-wide financial statements.
Governments with total revenues of $10 million or more, but less than $100 million, will be required to implement the retroactive reporting of infrastructure assets for fiscal periods beginning after June 15, 2006 (i.e., starting with the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007).
Governments with total revenues of less than $10 million are exempt from the requirement to report their general infrastructure assets retroactively.
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