"E-government is not only about providing better citizen services but enhancing effectiveness of the partnership between government and the private sector and creating a policy environment that allows business to thrive," said Jeffrey Rhoda, head of IBM's e-government services division, in an interview with The Korea Herald. Rhoda, who visited Seoul last week to speak at the Global Forum on Reinventing Governmentl, is responsible for IBM's e-government strategies, strategic alliances and solutions.
"Increasing flexibility is the key to operating a successful e-government project. The government must not only respond better to social changes but be flexible enough to adapt to the changes in the world economy and competition among countries," said Rhoda.
Increasing efficiency through successful e-government projects is considered a crucial part of today's economic policies, said Rhoda, especially in developed countries challenged by moderate economic growth, tight budgets, rising social costs and increasing international business competition.
Rhoda believes e-government projects or strategies adopted by countries vary through four distinct stages in implementation. The first two stages require publishing information and establishing a central database that covers all government departments and provide one-stop public services to citizens through Internet sites and portals.
The third stage is reaching a horizontal integration between government organizations and agencies by sharing communication infrastructure, enabling them to work together to create a more efficient environmental for business and establishing new partnerships with the private sector by supporting the development of new business models and sharing the risks.
The final stage is what Rhoda calls an "On-Demand Government," where government organizations and agencies focus on their core missions and outsource other functions such as information infrastructure, procurement and human-resource development by building partnerships with other government bodies or private companies, allowing them to be more flexible and provide better services.
"Many governments are having troubles advancing to the third stage and fourth stage of e-government implementation, because government organizations usually develop separately under different silos," said Rhoda.
A recent United Nations report said Korea's e-government infrastructure ranked fourth behind the United States, Denmark, Britain and Sweden last year in the integration level of information and online service readiness. Korea has one of the most advanced information and communication technology industries in the world, with an Internet penetration rate that exceeds 70 percent.
Autor: Kim Tong-hyung
Quelle: The Korea Herold, 30.05.2005
