Patricia Diamond Fletcher

Electronic Government at the Local Level: Progress to Date and Future Issues

Much like businesses with electronic commerce, public organizations are beginning to embrace electronic government (e-government). This article defines the term e-government, discusses the literature oflocal-Ievel e-government, and documents the adoption and sophistication of e-government among U.S. local governments. It employs data from a survey conducted in 2000 to examine local adoption of e-government. E-government adoption among local governments generally tracks previously documented patterns of information technology adoption, which show a statistically significant relationship between adoption and such demographic variables as population size, form and type of government, region, and metro status. The article compares the results of that survey to a normative model of e-government maturity and finds that the emergence of e-government at the local level is still in its formative stages. The analysis also examines perceived impacts from e-govemment, sophistication of e-government offerings, barrier...

The Government PaperWork Elimination Act: Operating Instructions For An Electronic Government

Abstract The U.S. Federal government has a long history of legislating the creation, use, dissemination and disposal of information that it produces. The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA, Pub. L. 105-277) is one of the most recent and revolutionary pieces of legislation to inform government information policy. GPEA requires that, when practicable, Federal agencies use electronic forms, electronic filing, and electronic signatures to conduct official business with the public by 2003. In doing this, agencies will create records with business, legal and, in some cases, historical value in an electronic environment. This article explores the role of GPEA in moving the United States toward an electronic government, one that provides information and services to citizens, businesses, and to other government using electronic technologies, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Further, it puts GPEA into a policy framework, which, is filled out with other legislation, Presidential memos and Executive Orders, and agency guidance. There are many challenges to successful implementation of electronic government applications. These are examined and recommendations are made.

The Virtual Value Chain and E-Government Partnership: Non-Monetary Agreements in the IRS E-File Program

Abstract Electronic government (e-government) models generally espouse the principle of partnership with the private sector. What is not always clear is what is meant by partnership, though, and how public organizations should organize and manage such relationships to support e-government initiatives. The paper relies on a conceptual framework of the virtual value chain to understand how a new form of collaboration emerged in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) e-file program in 1999 and what dimensions helped to make it a success. As part of a larger, multi-nation study of public–private partnerships in e-government, this paper examines IRS e-file program, one of the largest, longest-standing (dating back to 1986), and most successful US e-government programs with tens of millions of users each year. The IRS e-file program experienced dramatic changes in its long-standing partnership with the tax preparation and related software development industries in 1999 and 2000. It is possible, using the concept of the virtual value chain, to understand how the IRS rethought its relationship with its private-sector partners. A combination of conditions in the market place, in US society, within the IRS, and among the private-sector partners helped to make this new model of collaboration quite successful. The paper concludes by examining how the dimensions of partnership in the IRS e-file case and the concept of the virtual value chain might enable other public organizations to reconceptualize their e-government partnership arrangements with the private sector using a new model of collaboration.

World libraries on the information superhighway: preparing for the challenges of the new millennium

Libraries and the Internet - Policy and Practice in the 21st Century Building National Collections of Internet Publications Connectivity, Content and Collaboration - the Canadian Digital Library Experience Deposit of Digital Publications - a Pragmatic Strategy for Analysis National Library of Korea - South Korean Government Run Digital Library - RISS and KRIC Trends in Web-Based Service in Academic Libraries Impact of the Internet on Malaysian Libraries The University of Queensland Cybrary - a Virtual Library in a Wired University Towards the Peoples Network - UK Developments and the World of the EARL Consortium Providing Multilingual Internet Services in the Global Information Environment - World LinQ&trade, Project, Queens Library Practices An Analysis of Using Expert Systems and Intelligent Agents for the Virtual Library Project at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre - Carderock Division Subject Access to Quality-Assured World Wide Web Resources - Strategies for Information Professionals Progress and Prospects for Estonian Libraries The Growing Support Crisis in Federal STI Remote Access - the Development of Information Services and Technology in the Global South Libraries on the Information Highway - Issues and Lessons Learned.

Local governments and IRM: Policy emerging from practice

Abstract The response to federal information resources management (IRM) initiatives at the local levels of government has been minimal. While this concept and requirement has been on the federal agenda since the 1970s, it has not successfully diffused to the city and county levels of government. This does not reflect, however, mismanagement of their information resources. Rather, it is indicative of a bottom-up development of information technology management. A history of trying out many different approaches to information resources management has enabled local governments to evolve practices, and in some cases, policies, that fit their needs. Local governments are concerned with the provision of information and services to a citizenry who are also local, not distant and once removed, as at the federal level. This more direct need for access to information and real-time service delivery has led to the evolution of local information management responses which meet these needs in a timely fashion. The value of information is seen in its ability to create access to government and to insure the provision of services to the local public. This article will examine the range and forms of IRM practiced in city and county governments. It will examine IRM as initially instituted at the federal level and analyze the resultant management practices at the local level. The variables which lead to differences in practice will be discussed. The data come from case study results, surveys and telephone interviews with top level managers in U.S. cities and counties.

Introduction to the symposium issue

In March of 2001, a workshop on “Foundations of Electronic Government in America’s Cities” was held at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 1 The intent of this National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop was to assist in the definition of and set the direction for local electronic government offerings, broadly defined as services, resources, and the issues and/or implications associated with the provision of electronic government offerings. The audience consisted of academic researchers, local, state and national public officials, and research funders. This is no small task as governments worldwide are searching for electronic responses to public demand for information and services. At the local level, it takes on particular importance as this is where citizens are most likely to affect and be affected by their governments. The delivery of services, the participation in political activities, the use of government-enabled facilities and infrastructure are all most apparent at the local level. David C. Perry, the Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago provide the signature theme of the two-day workshop when he called for a greater attention to “engaged research,” –collaborative efforts among the research community, public officials, and the public itself to identify and carry out those research issues of critical importance to policy makers, program managers and service delivery providers, and recipients of services –in a context of academic rigor that will provide answers to those who need them, as well as contribute to the body of theoretical knowledge of a discipline. This notion resonated well with the workshop attendees and was used repeatedly to drive the setting of an urban electronic government agenda, as well as contribute to creating research studies that would satisfy at both a practical and theoretical level. The six articles in this special issue of Government Information Quarterly represent the refereed portion of the workshop, presenting a range of issues and projects that have direct relevance to electronic government in urban environments. The article by Cresswell and Pardo gives insights into the organizational and legal concerns facing large urban environments when