E-government is about managing change, not about IT

Throughout the world, the major challenge for e-government is education, as the majority of citizens should not have to handle the complexities of the Internet.

E-government needs to be as simple as a TV remote control or automatic teller machines (ATMs).

This is the theory behind the UK government's "UKOnline" e-government initiative (www.ukonline.gov.uk). Richard Barrington, director of Industry at the Office of the e-Envoy, UK Cabinet Office, presented at the E-Government Conference held in the Sandton Convention Centre in May 2002, where he highlighted experiences and strategies being implemented in England as part of its government e-business drive.

E-government can be defined as a transformation of government communications and systems to online services, to meet the needs of the business community, the everyday citizens' requirements and those of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The question is, if people and businesses are not online, why bother implementing e-government?

The UK aims to have 6 000 UKOnline Internet centres up and running by 2005. However, making PCs available to an entire population is like giving a fishing rod to a person without teaching them how to fish. "The Cabinet Office is thus offering, in conjunction with the centres, free IT training for the unemployed, while ensuring that assistants are available at each UKOnline Centre to offer instruction when needed," says Barrington.

Barrington, on secondment to the UK government e-Envoy division from global IT player Sun Microsystems, says in conjunction with accessibility and education, businesses also need to see the benefit of the Internet on their bottom line.

He adds: "E-government services offered need to be useful to an organisation's functionality, to its customers and users."

Careful strategic planning of exactly what is available online, how and where, is a core method to incentivise business to carry out corporate ventures online.

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Providing accessibility to all government services through a single point of entry leads to simplicity. "It also allows organisations to extend their supply chain around an e-government service," comments Barrington.

For example, some of the services offered which make UK business processes easier and better, through UKOnline, include:

* A site which allows citizens to play a role in shaping government policy, discussing politics and finding information on voting and elections (www.ukonline.gov.uk/citizenspace);

* Guidance, advice and support through key events in a citizen's life, such as learning to drive, starting a new school and having a baby (www.ukonline.gov.uk/yourlife);

* Direct access to services such as completing tax returns online, applying for a TV licence, applying for a passport or booking for a driving licence theory test (www.ukonline.gov.uk/doitonline).

"It's about making the public's access to the Internet a 'must have' for businesses," says Barrington. "It's also about making the content relevant for the user and the input received vital for government e-business relations."

The e-government process needs to provide citizens with three facilities - accessibility to online utilities, delivery of required and necessary services and infrastructure to make it work.