Electronic Government

Hello again from cyberspace!

We're going to depart from the idea of e-commerce for a bit and explore the idea of e-government. If you have a healthy amount of American skepticism toward Government, this may not seem like something plausible, but there are many benefits to both citizens and businesses if the Government embraces technology like private businesses have.


There are four main ways for Government to interact with the general population:

Government to Citizens	Government to Business
Reduce waste in interactions by placing services online Increase the amount of public information available online Expand access for people with disabilities Improve access to financial assistance	Increase findability of rules and regulations Enable online tax filing Place compliance forms online for easier filing and processing Improve transparency of government programs
Government to Government	Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness
Decrease response times for emergency incidents Improve response to Birth/Death record requests Share data between local, state, and federal governments more smoothly Automate internal processes to decrease costs and wait times	Increase availability of training programs Provide more use of e-travel services with agencies Post federal jobs more conveniently Reduce overhead costs of purchasing

Even if you are a skeptic and don't believe in the capabilities of the government, I think you will find many of these items palatable and accomplishable. And this isn't all pie-in-the-sky talk, either. There are several examples of this in place now, including:

Online Petitions

Petitioning the government has long been a right of Americans, and now they can do it online. Granted, there are some silly petitions out there, like building a Death Star, but making the process of petitioning the government easier puts people closer to their rights.

Interactive Tax Assistance

The IRS offers the ITA as an online knowledge base for tax questions. This helps people understand tax laws, complete their taxes correctly, and even brings a measure of transparency to tax laws.

Access to Technology

Before you can get online, you need the infrastructure. While this isn't directly online, it is as important to e-anything as the foundation is to the house. Australia is working on building a national broadband network, bringing high-speed Internet connectivity to all its citizens.

Whether you like it or not, the government has a lot of power and information at its disposal. Making services and data more available to citizens is a step all governments should strive for, and will improve the standard of living for everyone.