INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

E-Governance and Commonwealth Games-2010

CWG 2010 would be a different story..

Submitted to:

Ms. Teena Bagga

 What is E-Governance?
E-Governance is a network of organizations to include government, nonprofit, and private-sector
entities; in E-Governance there are no distinct boundaries. E Governance refers to governance
processes in which Information and Communications Technology (ICT) play a significant role.
The role played by ICT could be wide-ranging: in delivery and standards of governance services,
to how people access such services, and the participation of people in the governance sphere. E
Governance uses ICT to induce changes in the delivery and standards of governance services and
more importantly, in the way citizens interact and participate in the governance sphere. In
today’s world where Information Technology plays a very important role in every sphere of life,
we can see the use of technology everywhere, in every field to speed up every process. E
Governance is an initiative taken by the Government in this regard that will benefit not only
companies but also the government and, most of all, the citizens of this country.

The model for E-Governance is a one-stop portal, such as USA government, where citizens have
access to a variety of information and services. An ideal portal would be one for employment
where a citizen creates a profile and is presented with employment opportunities at the federal,
state, local, non-profit, and private-sectors.

It is creating a comfortable, transparent, and cheap interaction between government and citizens
(G2C – government to citizens), government and business enterprises (G2B –government to
business enterprises) and relationship between governments (G2G – inter-agency relationship).
There are four domains of e-government namely:

• Governance

• Information and communication technology (ICT)

• Business process re-engineering (BPR)

• E-citizen

The primary delivery models of e-Government can be divided into:

• Government-to-Citizen or Government-to-Consumer (G2C)

• Government-to-Business (G2B)
• Government-to-Government (G2G)
• Government-to-Employees (G2E)

Within each of these interaction domains, four kinds of activities take place:

• Pushing information over the Internet, e.g.: regulatory services, general holidays, public
hearing schedules, issue briefs, notifications, etc.
• Two-way communications between the agency and the citizen, a business, or another
government agency. In this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and post
problems, comments, or requests to the agency.
 • Conducting transactions, e.g.: lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants.
• Governance, e.g.: online polling, voting, and campaigning.

• Government-to-Citizen: G2C is the communication link between a government and

private individuals or residents. Such G2C communication most often refers to that which
takes place through Information Communication Technologies (or ICTs), but can also
include direct mail and media campaigns. G2C can take place at the federal, state, and
local levels. G2C stands in contrast to G2B, or Government-to-Business networks. One
such Federal G2C network is USA government: the United States' official web portal,
though there are many other examples from governments around the world.
• Government-to-Business: G2B is the online non-commercial interaction between local
and central government and the commercial business sector, rather than private
individuals (G2C). For example http://www.dti.gov.uk is a government web site where
businesses can get information and advice on e-business best practice. http://g2b.perm.ru
is another example. This is a side developed to support entrepreneurs and their initiatives
by the Perm Government.
• Government-to-Government: G2G) is the online non-commercial interaction between
Government organizations, departments, and authorities and other Government
organisations, departments, and authorities. Its use is common in the UK, along with
G2C, the online non-commercial interaction of local and central Government and private
individuals, and G2B the online non-commercial interaction of local and central
Government and the commercial business sector. G2G systems generally come in one of
two types:
o Internal facing - Joining up a single Governments departments, agencies,
organizations and authorities. Examples include the integration aspect of the
Government Gateway, and the UK NHS Connecting for Health Data SPINE.
o External facing - Joining up multiple Governments IS systems. An example
would include the integration aspect of the Schengen Information System (SIS),
developed to meet the requirements of the Schengen Agreement.
• Government-to-Employees: G2E is the online interactions through instantaneous
communication tools between government units and their employees. G2E is one out of
the four primary delivery models of e-Government. G2E is an effective way to provide E-
learning to the employees, bring them together and to promote knowledge sharing among
them. It also gives employees the possibility of accessing information in regard to
compensation and benefit policies, training and learning opportunities and civil rights
laws. G2E services also include software for maintaining personnel information and
records of employees. G2E is adopted in many countries including the United States,
Hong Kong and New Zealand.

There are also some technology-specific sub-categories of e-government, such as m-government

(mobile government), u-government (ubiquitous government), and g-government (GIS/GPS
applications for e-government.

E-government portals and platforms: The primary delivery models of e-Government are
classified depending on who benefits. In the development of public sector or private sector
portals and platforms, a system is created that benefits all constituents. Citizens needing to renew
their vehicle registration have a convenient way to accomplish it while already engaged in
meeting the regulatory inspection requirement. On behalf of a government partner, business
provides what has traditionally, and solely, managed by government and can use this service to
generate profit or attract new customers. Government agencies are relieved of the cost and
complexity of having to process the transactions.

Benefits of e-governance:

• It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public benefits by getting easy
access to the most current information available without having to spend time, energy and
money to get it.
• E-government helps simplify processes and makes access to government information
more easily accessible for public sector agencies and citizens. For example, the Indiana
Bureau of Motor Vehicles simplified the process of certifying driver records to be
admitted in county court proceedings. Indiana became the first state to allow government
records to be digitally signed, legally certified and delivered electronically by using
Electronic Postmark technology.
• In addition to its simplicity, these services can reduce costs. Alabama Department of
Conservation & Natural Resources, Wal-Mart and NIC developed an online hunting and
fishing license service utilizing an existing computer to automate the licensing process.
More than 140,000 licenses were purchased at Wal-Mart stores during the first hunting
season and the agency estimates it will save $200,000 annually from service.
• The anticipated benefits of e-government include efficiency, improved services, better
accessibility of public services, and more transparency and accountability.

• Democratization:

One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, people
from all over the country can interact with politicians or public servants and make their
voices heard. Blogging and interactive surveys will allow politicians or public servants to see
the views of the people they represent on any given issue. Chat rooms can place citizens in
real-time contact with elected officials, their offices or provide them with the means to
replace them by interacting directly with public servants, allowing voters to have a direct
impact and influence in their government. These technologies can create a more transparent
government, allowing voters to immediately see how and why their representation in the
capital is voting the way they are. This helps voters better decide who to vote for in the future
or how to help the public servants become more productive. A government could
theoretically move more towards a true democracy with the proper application of e-
government. Government transparency will give insight to the public on how decisions are
made and hold elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The public
could become a direct and prominent influence in government legislature to some degree.

• Environmental bonuses:

Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need for
hard copy forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalist groups, the media, and the
 public, some governments and organizations have turned to the Internet to reduce this paper
use. The United States government utilizes the website http://www.forms.gov to provide
internal government forms for federal employees and thus produce significant savings in
paper.

• Speed, efficiency, and convenience:

E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any time
and any location, and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sitting
behind desks and windows. Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through
computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, equaling quicker
processing time. On the administrative side, access to help find or retrieve files and linked
information can now be stored in databases versus hardcopies stored in various locations.
Individuals with disabilities or conditions no longer have to be mobile to be active in
government and can be in the comfort of their own homes.

• Public approval:

Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public.
Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with increasing frequency, and
young people, who traditionally display minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn to
e-voting procedures. Although internet-based governmental programs have been criticized
for lack of reliable privacy policies, studies have shown that people value prosecution of
offenders over personal confidentiality. Ninety percent of United States adults approve of
Internet tracking systems of criminals, and fifty-seven percent are willing to forgo some of
their personal internet privacy if it leads to the prosecution of criminals or terrorists.

The essence of good governance is based on the premise that the laws and procedures are
transparent, clearly defined & understood by those governed and the implementation is both
quick and smooth. To this effect, the governance in a developing country is a challenge, because
a majority of the governed (citizens) are educationally & socio-economically challenged. More
so, in developing countries, where the governments are formed through democratic means, the
challenge of governance is much larger as the governors themselves are at times not very clear
on various rules and procedures. It is a dynamic process that cannot be handled through static
rules and procedures. Further, at times, the rules and procedures, though explicitly defined in the
constitution or statutes, by themselves become hindrances in the path of governance due to lack
of transparency and procedural clarities. Though, the solution to all these problems lies in e-
governance as it is a mechanism that is quick, interactive and provides a clear repository of rules
and regulations, which extend help in decision making for both the governors and the governed.
It has the benefit of providing clear cut, transparent, interactive, easy to implement and just
solutions (in dynamic mode) in the quickest possible time frame.

However, it is easier said than done, because in a developing country the access to basic
amenities as food, water, clothing , shelter , basic education and health take the immediate
planning priorities of the governors, that always move from economic crisis to another
Emergency Hospital Room situations without having time to plan strategies to link the issues in a
holistic perspective and address the root cause of the problems . The Governors (policy &
decision makers) need to be made aware on possibilities that are presented now with the
advancement of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) that can collect, collate and
analyze data from various sources among different sectors to view the economy holistically and
support decision making processes in a transparent way.

E-Governance In India

In August 2003, Chamravattom village, a small backward hamlet in Kerala, South India, earned
a unique distinction. It became the first village in India to become 100% information technology
(IT) literate. At least one person in each of the 850 families of the village was provided computer
training on basic word processing skills and browsing, under the 'Akshaya' project. The project
was launched by the government of Kerala with an aim to make the entire state computer literate.
This was only one of the projects launched by various state governments in India to make
available the benefits of IT to citizens.
Several state governments have initiated innovative e-governance projects. Some of the most
successful projects include Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh), Akshaya (Kerala), Bhoomi
(Karnataka), eSeva (Andhra Pradesh) and HP-Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh). These projects earned
widespread appreciation, primarily for their ability to change the lives of citizens. Through
Gyandoot, farmers got access to data relating to market prices of their agricultural produce and
land prices as well, enabling them to sell these on their own rather than going through
unscrupulous traders. The Akshaya project provided rural inhabitants of Kerala access to PCs
and the Internet, an opportunity they had never dreamt of before and which helped them to easily
communicate with their relatives abroad. The Bhoomi project provided farmers instant access to
important land records, which would have otherwise taken them months to obtain. It also
protected their land records from manipulation by corrupt government officials. Through eSeva,
busy urbanites could pay their bills for 36 public services offered by the state government at a
single counter, and in some cases, even pay their bills online, another first of its kind facility in
India.

The common benefit for all these remarkably innovative projects was the convenience it brought
to the citizens who were targeted.

According to the estimates of Gartner Inc., an internationally reputed consultancy firm, of the
total spending on IT in India in 2002, the contribution of the Government of India was 9%
($1.008 bn), making it the fourth largest spender on IT in India.

The spending included hardware, software, telecom equipment, and IT services (excluding
salaries of IT employees). This put India in the league of countries in the Asia Pacific region,
including China, Japan, Malaysia and Philippines, which had similar budget outlays for e-
governance. However, this was meager compared to the advanced countries in the world, which
spent much larger amounts of money on e-governance initiatives.

Some of the issues related to E- Governance are:

» Understand how IT could be effectively used by the public machinery to serve the
citizens.

» Understand the importance of active participation, both from the citizens and for the
government in the success of e-governance projects.

» Study the experiences of consumers availing e-governance services and examine how
e-governance initiatives can transform the lives of citizens.

Commonwealth Games 2012:

The 2010 Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and
14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and
India generally, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening
ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. It will also be the
first time the Commonwealth Games will be held in India and the second time the event has been
held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

The Government of India is criticized due to the following controversies related to the
organization of Commonwealth games this year:

• Delays: In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennell

reported that the games were at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was reasonable
to conclude that the current situation poses a serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in
2010. A report by the Indian Government released several months prior found that
construction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule. As the Times
of India reports, all CWG projects were to be completed by May 2009 and the last year
should have been kept for trial runs. The newspaper further reports that the first stadium
was handed over for trial runs in July 2010 only. To put the delays in perspective, Beijing
 National Stadium was completed much ahead of schedule for the 2008 Summer
Olympics, while the venues for 2012 Summer Olympics in London are scheduled to be
delivered one year before the games and the construction of the venues is on track. In
August 2010, the Cabinet Secretariat took a decision to appoint 10 officers of the rank of
Joint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress of the construction of stadiums.
Each officer is allocated a stadium and given the responsibility to ensure that the work
completes in time for the games.

• Vigilance-related irregularities: On July 28, 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission

(CVC) released a report showing irregularities in up to 14 CWG projects. As per official
reports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected. The detailed
preliminary findings include:

1. Award of works at higher prices

2. Poor Quality Assurance
3. Award of work to ineligible agencies

There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organizing the
games including procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues.
The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T S
Darbari (joint director in the organizing committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy
director general in the organizing committee) following the report of the three-member
panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queen's Baton Relay.
Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of
allegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis
stadium.

• Social Impact:
o Labour Violations: Campaigners in India have accused the organizers of
enormous and systematic violations of labor laws at construction sites. Human
Rights Law Network reports that independent investigations have discovered
more than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sites
since work began. Although official numbers have not been released, it is
estimated that over 415,000 contract daily wage workers are working on Games
projects.
 Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian rupees (INR) per day, skilled
workers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work and 134
to 150 INR for 12 hours of work. Whereas, Delhi state’s minimum wage
policy states INR 152 (approx. US$3) to be paid for eight hours of work.
These represent violations of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
 The public have been banned from the camps where workers live and
work, a situation which human rights campaigners say prevents the
garnering of information regarding labor conditions and number of
workers.
  There have been documented instances of the presence of young children
at hazardous construction sites, due to a lack of child care facilities for
women workers living and working in the labor camp style work sites.
 Furthermore, workers on the site of the main Commonwealth stadium
have reportedly been issued with hard hats, yet most work in open-toed
sandals and live in cramped tin tenements in which illnesses are rife.
o Slum eviction and no-beggar-zones: A much-quoted report by the Housing and
Land Rights Network (HLRN), an arm of the Habitat International Coalition, has
brought to light some worrying social and environmental consequences of the
event. Based on a Right to Information (RTI) application filed for the study and
statements by civil society groups, it has discovered that ‘no tolerance zones’ for
beggars are being used in Delhi, and that the city has arbitrarily arrested homeless
citizens under the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959. Furthermore, over
100,000 families have already been evicted in order to make space for CWG-
related projects, and a further 30,000 to 40,000 were slated for eviction and
relocation at the time of the report’s publication.
o Urban Change: The 2010 Commonwealth Games, are being used to invigorate an
elite-driven program of urban transformation that centers on privatization,
securitization, and the construction of monuments to vanity. The lure of national
prestige, an immovable deadline and, as of late, the fear of national
embarrassment has helped undermine the urban social movements and
independent activists that typically resist this agenda.

• Terror threats: Following the attacks on Mumbai in 2008 some athletes and their
representative bodies expressed security fears during the games. In April 2010, during the
Indian Premier League, two low intensity bombs went off outside the stadium in
Bangalore. Although there were no casualties, this postponed the start of the game by an
hour. Following this attack, foreign cricketers like Kevin Pietersen expressed fears for
their safety and questions were raised regarding the safety of athletes during the
Commonwealth Games. The UK and Canada also warned about potential attacks on
commercial targets in Delhi ahead of the games.

• Calls for boycott: Amid allegations of blatant corruption, shoddy construction work at
venues and security concerns for participating athletes, the 2010 Commonwealth games
has faced numerous boycott calls from individuals in India, England and Australia.

E-Governance would have changed the picture of Commonwealth Games 2012:

As we all know that the Commonwealth Games, to be held in October this year, has already
descended into an embarrassing spectacle of corruption on an almost unimaginable level, and
what should have been a shining moment is turning into a darker moment of shame for the
Government of India. But we believe that the whole scenario would have been different if the
Government would have acted wiser and followed policies like E Governance which would have
facilitated the process of organization of Commonwealth Games 2010 in India. Some of the
issues like delays, vigilance related irregularities, and terror threats could be taken care of by the
E Governance. Moreover, it connects the citizens of the country with the Government and thus
helps in a better interaction amongst them. So it would have affected the social impacts, which is
another area of criticism for Commonwealth Games 2010, in a more positive way.
E-Governance as per our view is a solution for almost all the problems in the following ways:

• Transparency- E-Governance increases the transparency between Government and the

Citizens which reduces the scope of corruption and ignorance towards responsibilities.
The steps taken by the Government and the progress can also be tracked. Suggestions for
improvements can be taken from the people from diverse fields as there would be lots of
communication between Government and people. The social impact of the games,
especially faced by people below poverty lines might be different and not so severe. The
scope of delay and vigilance related irregularities would have been much less as
compared to now.
• Public Approval- As there will be transparency, people will be more aware of what is
happening around which will definitely help them to accept the whole event in a positive
manner. It would also have increased the faith of public on the Government.

• Speed, efficiency, and convenience- The use of technology, obviously fastens the
progress, hence it would have speeded the development related to Commonwealth Games
which in return would have increased the efficiency, saving time and money.
 E-GOVERNMENT LITERATURE REVIEW

Paradigm Shifts in the Public Sector

The advent of the Internet, digital connectivity, the explosion and use of e-commerce and e-
business models in the private sector are pressuring the public sector to rethink hierarchical,
bureaucratic organizational models. Customers, citizens and businesses are faced every day with
new innovative e-business and e-commerce models implemented by the private sector and made
possible by ICT tools and applications, are requiring the same from governmental organizations.
Osborne and Gaebler (1992) referred to citizens as customers for governments, since
governments need to empower rather than serve, to shift from hierarchy to teamwork and
participation, to be mission oriented and customer focused, and to focus on prevention rather
than cure. Governments worldwide are faced with the challenge of transformation and the need
to modernize administrative practices and management systems (Tapscott, 1996). Recently, the
public sector has began to recognize the potential opportunities offered by ICT and e-business
models to fit with citizens’ demands, to offer better services to citizens and to increase efficiency
by streamlining internal processes. Tapscott and Caston (1993) argue that ICT causes a
“paradigm shift” introducing “the age of network intelligence”, reinventing businesses,
governments and individuals. Paradigm shifts prevail in the public sector too. The traditional
bureaucratic paradigm, characterized by internal productive efficiency, functional rationality,
departmentalization, hierarchical control and rule-based management (Kaufman, 1977), is being
replaced by competitive, knowledge based economy requirements, such as: flexibility, network
organization, vertical/horizontal integration, innovative entrepreneurship, organization learning,
speed up in service delivery, and a customer driven strategy. These new paradigms thrust the
shift toward E-Government paradigm, which emphasizes coordinated network building, external
collaboration and customer services (Ho, 2002).

E-Government
E-Government means different things for different people. Some simply define it as digital
governmental information or a way of engaging in digital transactions with customers. For others
E-Government simply consists of the creation of a web site where information about political
and governmental issues is presented. These narrow ways of defining and conceptualizing E-
Government restrict the range of opportunities it offers. One of the reasons why many E-
Government initiatives fail is related to the narrow definition and poor understanding of the E-
Government concept, processes and functions.
E-Government is a multidimensional and complex concept, which requires a broad definition
and understanding, in order to be able to design and implement a successful strategy. The
crucial element of all these definitions is the use of ICT tools to reinvent the public sector by
transforming its internal and external way of doing things and its interrelationships with
customers and the business community.
There are few other definitions:
1. Abramson and Means, 2001 - E-Government can be defined as – the electronic interaction
(transaction and information exchange) between the government, the public (citizens and
businesses) and employees.
2. World Bank, 2001 - E-Government is the government owned or operated systems of
information and communication technologies that transform relations with citizens, the private
sector and/or other government agencies so as to promote citizens’ empowerment, improve
service delivery, strengthen accountability, increase transparency, or improve government
efficiency.
3. Fraga, 2001 - E-Government is the transformation of public sector internal and external
relationships through net-enabled operations, IT and communications, in order to improve:
Government service delivery; Constituency participation; Society.
4. Tapscott, 1996 - E-Government is an Internet-worked government which links new
technology with legal systems internally and in turn links such government information
infrastructure externally with everything digital and with everybody – the tax payer, suppliers,
business customers, voters and every other institution in the society.
5. UNPA & ASPA, 2001 - E-Governance is the public sector’s use of the most innovative
information and communication technologies, like the Internet, to deliver to all citizens improved
services, reliable information and greater knowledge in order to facilitate access to the governing
process and encourage deeper citizen participation.
The analysis of these definitions allows us to individuate the main issues and components that
characterize an E-Government framework, such as:
1. Transformation areas (internal, external, relational)
2. Users, customers, actors and their interrelationships (citizens, businesses, government
organizations, employees)
3. E-Government application domains (e-services, e-democracy, e-administration)

Transformation Areas
The above definitions encompass three critical transformation areas of E-Government (Hirst and
Norton, 1998):
Internal - Which refers to the use of ICT to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internal
functions and processes of government by interrelating different departments and agencies?
Thus, information can flow much faster and more easily among different governmental
departments, reducing processing time, paperwork bottlenecks, and eliminating long,
bureaucratic and inefficient approval procedures. Internetworking among different governmental
departments improves internal efficiency by enabling time reductions for using, storing and
collecting data, reduction of labor costs and information handling costs, as well as the speed and
accuracy of task processing.
External - ICT opens up new possibilities for governments to be more transparent to citizens
and businesses, giving access to a greater range of information collected and generated by
government. ICT creates also opportunities for partnership and collaboration among different
governmental institutions (Allen et al., 2001). Electronic government blurs the lines not only
within government agencies, but also between government and those that touch it (Tapscott,
1996).
Relational - ICT adoption may enable fundamental changes in the relationships between the
citizens and the state, and between nation states, with implications for the democratic process
and structures of government. Vertical and horizontal integration of services can be realized,
enabling the integration of information and services from various government agencies to help
citizens and other stakeholders get seamless services. Fountain (2001) uses the concept of the
“virtual state” that is a governmental entity organized with “virtual agencies, cross agencies,
public- private networks whose structures and capacity depend on the Internet and web”.

According to these three transformational areas it is obvious that an E-Government initiative

does not consist of a simple business process reengineering. Indeed, as Tapscott (1996) suggests:
“It requires a radical rethinking of the nature and functioning of the organization and the
relationships between organizations. It needs to focus in a web of relationships including all
levels and business functions, in which the boundaries inside and outside are permeable and
fluid”.

E-Government Web of Interrelationships

The target of E-Government encompasses four main groups: citizens, businesses, governments
(other governments and public agencies) and employees. The electronic transactions and
interactions between government and each group constitute the E-Government web of
relationships and the respective four main blocks of E-Government, that are:
1. Government to Citizens (G2C)
2. Government to Business (G2B)
3. Government to Government (G2G)
4. Government to Employees (G2E)
Most researchers and academics refer only to the first three blocks, without considering the
fourth or simply including it as part of ‘government to government’ block. The relationships,
interactions and transactions between government and employees in fact constitute another large
E-Government block, which requires a separate and very careful handling. Many people today
refer to employees as internal customers and as a result, in order for an E-Government initiative
to be customer oriented and centric, it has to take into account needs and requirements of this
group as well. More specifically, these E-Government blocks can be characterized as follows:
1. Government to Citizen: deals with the relationship between government and citizens. E-
Government allows government agencies to talk, listen, relate and continuously communicate
with its citizens, supporting, in this way, accountability, democracy and improvements to public
services. A broad array of interactions can be developed ranging from the delivery of services
and the provision of welfare and health benefits to regulatory and compliance oriented licensing
(Riley, 2001). G2C allows customers to access government information and services instantly,
conveniently, from everywhere, by use of multiple channels (PC, Web TV, mobile phone or
wireless device). It also enables and reinforces their participation in local community life (send
an email or contribute to an online discussion forum).
2. Government to Business: consists of the electronic interactions between government agencies
and private businesses. It allows e-transaction initiatives such as eprocurement and the
development of an electronic marketplace for government (Fang, 2002). Companies everywhere
are conducting business-to-business e-commerce in order to lower their costs and improve
inventory control. The opportunity to conduct online transactions with government reduces red
tape and simplifies regulatory processes, therefore helping businesses to become more
competitive. The delivery of integrated, single-source public services creates opportunities for
businesses and government to partner together for establishing a web presence faster and
cheaper.
3. Government to Government: refers to the relationship between governmental organizations, as
for example national, regional and local governmental organizations, or with other foreign
government organizations. Governments depend on other levels of government within the state
to effectively deliver services and allocate responsibilities (Riley, 2001). In order to realize a
single access point, collaboration and cooperation among different governmental departments
and agencies is compulsory. Online communication and cooperation allows government agencies
and departments to share databases, resources, pool skills and capabilities, enhancing the
efficiency and affectivity of processes.
4. Government to Employees: refers to the relationship between government and its employees.
G2E is an effective way to provide e-learning, bring employees together and to promote
knowledge sharing among them. It gives employees the possibility of accessing relevant
information regarding: compensation and benefit policies, training and learning opportunities,
civil rights laws, etc. G2E refers also to strategic and tactical mechanisms for encouraging the
implementation of government goals and programs as well as human resource management,
budgeting and accounting (Riley, 2001).

E-Government application domains

The full exploitation and implementation of these complex webs of inter-relationships requires
three main application domains for E-Government (Heeks, 2001):
e-Administration – for automation and computerization of administrative tasks and for
realization of strategic connections among internal processes, departments and functions.
e-Citizens and e-Services – to realize connections and interrelationships among governments and
citizens and to deliver automated services.
e-Society – to enable relationships and interactions beyond boundaries, among public agencies,
private sector and civil community in general.
These three application domains should be considered as overlapping and E-Government can be
found in the overlapping area of these three application domains, demonstrating the complexities
and heterogeneities needed to be handled for assuring its success (Fig. 1).