Electronic Government: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

During this period of time numerous researchers, academicians, and government officials have developed a variety of techniques, methodologies, and measurement tools that have allowed them to develop, deliver and at the same time evaluate the effectiveness of several areas of electronic government. The explosion of these technologies and methodologies have created an abundance of new, state-of-art literature related to all aspects of this expanding discipline, allowing researchers, citizens, and government officials to learn about the latest discoveries in the field of electronic government.

Due to rapid technological changes that are continually taking place, it is a constant challenge for researchers and experts in this discipline to stay abreast of the far-reaching effects of this worldwide expansion, and to be able to develop and deliver more innovative methodologies and techniques utilizing new technological innovation. In order to provide the most comprehensive, in-depth, and recent coverage of all issues related to this global phenomenon, as well as to offer a single reference source on all conceptual, methodological, technical and managerial issues, as well as the opportunities, future challenges and emerging trends related to electronic government, Information Science Reference is pleased to offer a six-volume reference collection on this rapidly growing discipline, in order to empower students, researchers, academicians, and practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of the most critical areas within this field of study.

Entitled “Electronic Government: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications,” this collection is organized in eight distinct sections, providing the most wide-ranging coverage of topics such as: (1) Fundamental Concepts and Theories; (2) Development and Design Methodologies; (3) Tools and Technologies; (4) Utilization and Application; (5) Organizational and Social Implications; (6) Managerial Impact; (7) Critical Issues; and (8) Emerging Trends. The following provides a summary of what is covered in each section of this multi volume reference collection:

Section 1, Fundamental Concepts and Theories, serves as a foundation for this extensive reference tool by addressing crucial theories essential to the understanding of electronic government. Chapters such as, “E-Government in the Information Society,” by Lech W. Zacher, as well as, “Electronic Signature: The Core Legislation Category in Digital Economy,” by Fjodor Ruzic, provide an excellent framework in which to position electronic government within the field of information science and technology. “Teledemocracy,” by Ted Becker, offers excellent insight into the critical incorporation of electronic, interactive communications into government, while chapters, such as, “Introducing Mobile Government,” by M. Halid Kuscu, Ibrahim Kushchu, and Betty Yu, address some of the basic, yet principle stumbling blocks of issues within electronic government. With over 38 chapters comprising this foundational section, the reader can learn and chose from a compendium of expert research on the elemental theories underscoring the electronic government discipline.

Section 2, Development and Design Methodologies, provides in-depth coverage of conceptual architecture frameworks to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the emerging technological developments within the field of electronic government. “E-Government Development and Implementation,” by Wayne Huang, Yining Chen, and K. L. Wang, offers research fundamentals imperative to the understanding of research and developmental processes within electronic government. From broad examinations to specific discussions on electronic government such as, Mohamed Ally’s “Design of Government Information for Access by Wireless Mobile Technology,” the research found within this section spans the discipline while offering detailed, specific discussions. From basic designs to abstract development, chapters, such as “If You Build a Political Web Site, Will They Come?,” by Pippa Norris and John Curtice, serve to expand the reaches of development and design technologies within the electronic government community. This section includes over 40 contributions from researchers throughout the world on the topic of electronic government within the information science and technology field.

Section 3, Tools and Technologies, presents an extensive coverage of various tools and technologies available in the field of electronic government that practitioners and academicians alike can utilize to develop different techniques. Chapters, such as Paulo Roberto Santhias and Regis Cabral’s, “Electronic Voting Machine,” enlighten readers about fundamental research on one of the many methods in which citizens impact the electronic government community, whereas chapters, like “Radio Frequency Identification Technology in Digital Government,” by Les Pang, explore the use of RFID in various governments— an increasingly pertinent research arena. It is through these rigorously researched chapters that the reader is provided with countless examples of the up-and-coming tools and technologies emerging from governmental information technology. With more than 40 chapters, this section offers a broad treatment of some of the many tools and technologies within the electronic government community.

Section 4, Utilization and Application, discusses a variety of applications and opportunities available that can be considered by practitioners in developing viable and effective government programs and processes. This section includes more than 50 chapters, such as “Application for Comprehensive E-Government,” by Thomas Müllner and Dominik Grimm, which review how the growing distribution and the increasing maturity of electronic government applications pose new issues. Additional chapters, such as Ryad Titah and Henri Barki’s, “E-Government Adoption and Acceptance: A Literature Review,” provide a foundation towards the development of a theoretical framework for the implementation of electronic government systems via extensive literature review. Also considered in this section is the development of an integrated framework of intentions towards repeated use with a level of confidential information shared by a user as one factor and electronic government satisfaction derived from service performance as another factor as outlined by Sangmi Chai, T. C. Herath, I. Park, and H. R. Rao, in “Repeated Use of E-Gov Web Sites: A Satisfaction and Confidentiality Perspective.” Contributions included in this section provide excellent coverage of today’s electronic government community and how research into information technology is impacting the social fabric of our present-day global village.

Section 5, Organizational and Social Implications, includes a wide range of research pertaining to the social and organizational impact of electronic government in information technologies around the world. Introducing this section is Simon Rogerson’s chapter entitled, “Aspects of Social Responsibility in the Information Society.” This chapter illustrates what types of social responsibility issues need to be addressed, who must address them, and how they might be addressed, while discussing some of the basic aspects of social responsibility and the implications for the Information Society, drawing, in particular, from Corporate Social Responsibility. Additional chapters included in this section, such as, “User Attitudes to E-Government Citizen Services in Europe,” by Jeremy Millard, provide important information on the role that the Internet is now playing in the delivery and take-up of government services by European citizens. Also investigating a concern within the field of electronic government and citizen concern is Ioannis P. Chochliouros and Anastasia S. Spiliopoulou-Chochliourou’s, “Exploiting Public Sector Information through Innovative E-Government Policies.” With over 38 chapters, the discussions presented in this section offer research on the integration of electronic government and computational access for all.

Section 6, Managerial Impact, presents contemporary coverage of the social implications of electronic government, more specifically related to the corporate and managerial utilization of information technologies and applications, and how these technologies can be facilitated within organizations. Core ideas such as training and continuing education of human resources in modern organizations are discussed through these chapters. “E-CRM and Managerial Discretion,” by Tim Coltman and Sara Dolnicar, utilize segmentation techniques to identify significant differences in managerial beliefs and then associate these belief segments with e-CRM performance. Equally as crucial, chapters, such as “Changing IT skills: The Impact of Sourcing Strategies on In-House Capability Requirements,” by Christine V. Bullen, Thomas Abraham, Kevin Gallagher, Kate M. Kaiser, and Judith Simon, analyze the results of a survey conducted in 2005, in which IT executives were asked to describe the skills they felt were critical to keep in house now and in 2008. Concluding this section is a chapter by Janis L. Gogan and Arnold Kamis, “A Not Quite Bountiful Thanksgiving at BizE.” This case examines the strategic positioning of BizE (disguised) an e-commerce start-up that serves small online businesses via an Internet portal. During an economic downturn, BizE encounters difficulties with its new private-label strategy. With cash running dangerously low, executives reassess the new strategy and consider what they can do to ensure the company’s survival.

Section 7, Critical Issues, contains over 20 chapters addressing issues such as the digital public sphere, electronic government in business adoption, information security, e-democracy, deliberative democracy, and the digital rights managements process to name a few. Within the chapters, the reader is presented with an in-depth analysis of the most current and relevant issues within this growing field of study. Elizabeth Buchanan and James Campbell’s, “New Threats to Intellectual Freedom: The Loss of the Information Commons through Law and Technology in the US” explores the growing threats to intellectual freedom through the loss of the information commons in the U.S. as a direct result of advances and changes in technology and laws, while “The Critical Role of Digital Rights Management Process,” by Margherita Pagani, analyzes the impact generated by the adoption of Digital Rights Management (DRM) processes on the typical Digital Media Management Value Chain activitie, while also analyzing the processes in the context of the business model. Crucial questions are addressed, such as that presented in Jeffrey Roy’s chapter, “Service, Security, Transparency & Trust: Government Online or Governance Renewal in Canada?,” which examines the main conceptual dimensions of electronic government and critically assess both the current responses and future prospects of Canada’s public sector. “Local Democracy Online: An Analysis of Local Government Web Sites in England and Wales,” by Lawrence Pratchett, Melvin Wingfield, and Rabia Karakaya Polat, closes this section by analyzing the extent to which local authorities in England and Wales have responded to the e-democracy agenda by examining their Web sites and assessing their potential to deliver democracy.

The concluding section of this authoritative reference tool, Emerging Trends, highlights research potential within the field of electronic government, while exploring uncharted areas of study for the advancement of the discipline. Introducing this section is a chapter entitled, “A Brave New E-World? An Exploratory Analysis of Worldwide E-Government Readiness, Level of Democracy, Corruption and Globalization,” by Zlatko J. Kovacic which sets the stage for future research directions and topical suggestions for continued debate. Providing an alternative view of electronic government is the chapter, “E-Government as a New Frontier for Legal Theory,” by Keith Culver. This chapter explores issues in Internet governance and personal privacy, which dominate legal theory’s engagement with electronic government, while e-engagement of citizens plays an increasingly important yet still limited role in governments’ interaction with citizens. Another debate which currently finds itself at the forefront of research within this field is presented by Valerie A.J. Frissen’s research. “The E-mancipation of the Citizen and the Future of E-Government: Reflections on ICT and Citizens’ Partnership” considers the notion of the e-mancipated citizen against the background of current trends in social and political participation of citizens. Found, in these chapters concluding this exhaustive multi-volume set, are areas of emerging trends and suggestions for future research within this rapidly expanding discipline.

Although the primary organization of the contents in this multi-volume is based on its eight sections, offering a progression of coverage of the important concepts, methodologies, technologies, applications, social issues, and emerging trends, the reader can also identify specific contents by utilizing the extensive indexing system listed at the end of each volume. Furthermore to ensure that the scholar, researcher and educator have access to the entire contents of this multi-volume set as well as additional coverage that could not be included in the print version of this publication, the publisher will provide unlimited multi-user electronic access to the online aggregated database of this collection for the life of edition, free of charge when a library purchases a print copy. This aggregated database provides far more contents than what can be included in the print version in addition to continual updates. This unlimited access, coupled with the continuous updates to the database ensures that the most current research is accessible to knowledge seekers.

Electronic government as a discipline has witnessed fundamental changes during the past two decades, allowing information seekers around the globe to have access to information which two decades ago, was inaccessible. In addition to this transformation, many traditional organizations and business enterprises have taken advantage of the technologies offered by the development of electronic government technologies in order to expand and augment their existing programs and practices. This has allowed practitioners and researchers to serve their customers, employees and stakeholders more effectively and efficiently in the modern virtual world. With continued technological innovations in information and communication technology and with on-going discovery and research into newer and more innovative techniques and applications, the electronic government discipline will continue to witness an explosion of information within this rapidly growing field.

The diverse and comprehensive coverage of electronic government in this six-volume authoritative publication will contribute to a better understanding of all topics, research, and discoveries in this developing, significant field of study. Furthermore, the contributions included in this multi-volume collection series will be instrumental in the expansion of the body of knowledge in this enormous field, resulting in a greater understanding of the fundamentals while fueling the research initiatives in emerging fields. We at Information Science Reference, along with the editor of this collection, and the publisher hope that this multi-volume collection will become instrumental in the expansion of the discipline and will promote the continued growth of electronic government.