E-government is the abbreviation for electronic government. It is normally enhanced by the use of the internet. The internet was initially used for administrative and communication purposes by large organizations including the military and after it were found to be effective, most governments are employing it because it provides the fastest means of service delivery and communication. This report explains the logic behind e-government and the risks involved.
As explained above e-government allows the government to communicate with its citizens at the touch of a button. Additionally it allows people to access government services faster as opposed to previous decades when people had to make long lines in government offices. For instance, the Dubai government has successfully implemented an e-government portal t6hat enable its citizens to access almost everything that the government has to offer through the internet.
This is due to their reliable website. Before the adoption of e-governance in countries where government offices were centrally located in one major city people had to travel from upcountry in order to get government services.
Cordella argues that the frequent traveling consumed a lot of time and money because sometimes one had to spend several days in the city and suppose one does not have a relative who can host him/her for a few days money would then be spent to pay for accommodation (266). E-governance was introduced with the aim of improving government’s performance, and to be sincere the performance has greatly improved because nowadays one can get a passport in one day because the process of making a passport has been computerized.
From another perspective e-governance has reduced governments spending on hiring new employees because most tasks require minimal human operations and thus few employees are required to work in government offices. Besides, from the day that e-governance was integrated into government the human errors that were very common in government offices have drastically reduced.
Governments use e-governance to convey information to the general public concerning different issues such as public holidays among many others while on the other hand it uses the same platform to get feedback from the public in form of compliments and problems that are encountered by the public while using the computerized systems. The feedback is then to make corrections where necessary to make e-governance to be even much better.
According to Kushchu and Kuscu, most people prefer to get government services through the internet because it can never be biased since the computer applications simply process the provided information, unlike humans who offer their services based on ethnicity and some demand for bribes before they serve you (257).
E-governance has really solved some problems in governance. For instance, electronic voting which allows voters to cast their votes online reduces the chances of irregularities in elections because once a voter has voted he/she cannot vote again because the system does not allow people to vote more than once.
This system is very efficient because the votes are computed very first unlike in manual methods of counting votes which could take several days. Apart from being convenient, e-government can help eliminate impunity because the government officials are aware that their operations are being monitored unlike in manual operations where evidence can be damaged without a trace.
Due to the advent of mobile communication technologies, M-government is similar to e-government in so many ways because in both cases communication is done electronically but M-government was meant for governments whose citizens have limited access to computers and internet.
This could be due to the fact that initial cost of installing internet is very expensive thus third world countries cannot afford it. Besides, the number of people who are computer literate is still very low in most countries hence citizens of such countries may not benefit from e-governance.
Most governments are capitalizing on the recent increase in the use of mobile phones to use them for communication purposes. Saumya explains that nowadays the cost of mobile phones has reduced hence everyone can afford a mobile phone. In fact a mobile phone has ceased to be a luxury because it has become a basic need for most people (1).
The development of mobile phones has enhanced trade because business people are able to coordinate their activities even when they are not present in their premises. The same trend is being experienced in governance.
For instance, when you are in Dubai you don’t have to visit the government offices to inquire about your tax returns because the government sends information concerning taxation through simple mailing service to all people who are employed or in self employment.
Take the case of United Arab Emirates where public schools and universities send end term results to their students through mobile phones. More so, Ewan asserts that SMS services are more paramount in Dubai than the UK. Information can be easily conveyed through SMS services (1).
M-government is also applied when governments sends multiple text messages to citizens while warning them about forthcoming situations that could be dangerous. In Dubai, the government sometimes sends text messages to the citizens when the weather experts predict floods and other situations of the same nature. This means that using m-governance makes governments to be more responsible in protecting their citizens because if there were no phones it would take more time and money to convey the alert information.
M-government is also applied when citizens are paying for government services. In Dubai people make their monthly contributions towards retirement schemes and health insurance through mobile phones. This means that people don’t have to travel to insurance headquarters to make their payments because they can send money to their accounts using their phones. Once a transaction has been completed a transaction number is issued which should be kept as proof of transaction.
Satyanarayana argues that mobile phones are being used while sourcing for funds to finance government campaigns where citizens use a specific mobile account which is referred to as business number where the electronic funds are stored (103). In other instances, people are able to pay water and electricity bills through their mobile phones. Most people are in support of this option because it is fast and convenient as opposed to over the counter payments which are very tiring because one has to stand in the long queues.
In Dubai, the government uses an established texting service to alert the residents about vacant positions in the government. The jobseekers have to be registered with the SMS service for them to receive the alerts about openings in the government.
The same service allows the jobseekers to follow up the progress of their applications and when they are short listed for interviews they are notified through the text messaging service. This method of notification is efficient unlike the previous which was done through letters which sometimes reached to their intended destination late hence fail to convey the information on time (Ewan 1).
M-government can also employ mobile phones in voting where the voters can send a short text indicating their preferred candidate. This method of voting is very fast but the system has to be advanced to make sure that there is an existing register of voters. Some people are against this system because they feel its best suited for younger generations because the elderly can hardly use it due to its complexity.
Therefore, governments should embrace the use of telecommunication media such as the internet and mobile phones to enhance the delivery of services to citizens. M-government ensures that people access government’s services at a click of a button.
Moreover, the advent of mobile technology has enabled citizens to actively access government’s services by the use of their mobile phones. As seen in the case of Dubai, people can now retrieve health information, traffic jam information, trade license information, and many more government-oriented services through their mobile phones.
Works Cited
Cordella, Antonio. “E-government: towards the e-bureaucratic form?” Journal of Information Technology. 22 (2007): 265-274.
Ewan. “Dubai leading ‘M-government’ services.” Mobile Industry Review. 24 Sept. 2006. Web.
Kushchu, Ibrahim and Halid Kuscu. “From e-government to m-government: facing the inevitable.” The 3rd European Conference on e-governance. (2003): 253-260.
Saumya, RoyHow much Government Snooping is Okay?” Medill News Service.. 12 March 2002. Web.
Satyanarayana, J. E-government: The science of the possible. New Delhi: Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.