Citizens at the Center: Putting Approaches to eGovernment in Perspective

Papp, Tibor

We usually claim that the quest for efficiency drives our efforts aimed at the transformation of conventional public administration to an eGovernment. Yet, these efforts most of the time merely emulate the existing administrative procedures and neither result in an actual decline of the administrative burden put on the citizens, nor they lead to a decline in costs involved.
Some argue, that the overall administrative burden grows automatically, due to an increasing dynamic density of societal interaction in modern societies and this requires public administration. Others claim, that state bureaucracies are historically essential for the stability of states and therefore they resist change and innovation. Both appear to be crucial for the transition to an efficient, electronic public administration.
In this essay I will argue that a meaningful transformation to an effective eGovernment based on maximal utilization of the potential of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has to take place for two reasons. First, societal interaction requiring public administration in modern societies grows at an unprecedented rate. Second, there is a corresponding growth in costs required for public administration. Consequently, if no prompt action is taken, the solvency and stability of the entire public sector might be threatened.
Furthermore, I will claim that most efforts to develop and effective eGovernment failed, simply because they were lacking a clear vision and a well-defined, feasible and sustainable objective.
Consequently, I will argue that an effective eGovernment under conditions of growing societal interaction should not only minimize the level of administrative burden put on the shoulders of citizens, but it should also in an equal proportion maximize the transparency of all relevant aspects of public administration.
To achieve this objective, the transition has to take place with a considerable political support and broad consensus on the following four levels outlined in an official "Roadmap toward the implementation of electronic public administration services":

1. Procedural, where the change in organization of internal back-office procedures takes place.
2. Technological, where procedures are adjusted to the capacities of new ICTs and not the other way around. Concurrently, we raise the requirements on ICT skills of civil servants.
3. Legislative, where we create an enabling legal environment for implementation of ICT driven innovations in the execution public administration.
4. Financial, providing a comprehensive cost and benefit analysis of the proposed change.

Finally, I conclude the essay with a cost and benefit analysis and risk assessment of the transitional process.