Positioning citizens at the centre of eGovernment

Andy Williamson

andy@wairua.co.nz

The New Zealand Government makes much of the complexities, cultural and procedural upheavals and challenges facing government as it moves towards the adoption of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) to deliver services to citizens (State Services Commission, 2001). However, as technology encroaches on government it also encroaches on the lives of citizens and it becomes vitally important that those who will be affected by this transformation are given a role in defining it and not simply left to accept or reject the consequences of technological change (Williamson, 2002). Already many countries are ahead of us: Singapore has its IT2000 initiative that aims to “transform Singapore into an intelligent island” (Lek & Al-Hawamdeh, 2001, p.21) and in Korea legislation and practical policies have long been in place to ensure its position in the digital society (Kim, 2001).

Initiatives such as free computer training are useful starting points but in New Zealand these have been left to the private and education sectors to organise. There is no co-ordination and government still appears hesitant, undertaking stock-takes and discussions (State Services Commission, 2001) but generally failing to take the initiative. Both national and local government must recognise that “a key success factor in achieving effective e-government is for all citizens to have access to technology as well as the necessary skills to exploit its use” (Office of the e-Envoy, 2001a, p.1). However, as the British Government goes on to observe, access and education are not enough and governments must “solicit and indeed value citizens’ feedback in order to develop good policy and services at all levels” (Office of the e-Envoy, 2001b, p.1). In the commercial world, this is a lesson that has largely been learnt as the Internet as led the transition from an old-world supply-driven economy into a new-world that is customer-led and where “markets are conversations” (Siegel, 1999, p.5). Whilst the efficiencies and economies of scale of eGovernment are not to be dismissed, if we are to ensure that New Zealand maximises the potential of new ICTs in this sector then we must develop models that locate citizens at the center. The time to start a debate about what services are required, how they should work and what they should look like is now, before they are created and this debate is one that must place citizens and communities at the center (Williamson, 2002).

References

Kim, S.-T. (2001). Leapfrogging from traditional government to e-government. In W. Kim & T.-W. Ling & Y.-J. Lee & S.-S. Park (Eds.), The Human Society and the Internet: Internet Related Socio-economic Issues. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Lek,C. L., & Al-Hawamdeh, S. (2001). Government initiatives and the knowledge economy: Case of Singapore. In W. Kim & T.-W. Ling & Y.-J. Lee & S.-S. Park (Eds.), The Human Society and the Internet: Internet Related Socio-economic Issues. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Office of the e-Envoy. (2001a). International Benchmarking Report: Case Studies of e-Government Services: Accessibility to IT and Information [WWW]. HM Government Cabinet Office. Retrieved Mar 16, 2002, from the World Wide Web: www.e-envoy.gov.uk

Office of the e-Envoy. (2001b). International Benchmarking Report: Case studies of e-Government Services: e-Democracy [WWW]. HM Government Cabinet Office. Retrieved Mar 16, 2002, from the World Wide Web: www.e-envoy.gov.uk

Siegel,D. (1999). Futurize Your Enterprise: Business Strategy in the Age of the e-Customer. Danvers, MA: Wiley.

State Services Commission. (2001). New Zealand e-Government Strategy. Wellington: State Services Commission.

Williamson,A. (2002, Mar 4). eGovernment won't work without eCitizens. NZ InfoTech, pp. 6.