Governments in the region will assign a higher priority to spending in this area after realizing that it can sharpen an economy's competitive edge, technology research house International Data Corp. (IDC) said. The report on "eGovernment spending" forecast that 1.48 billion dollars will be invested in 2007, from 880.1 million dollars last year.
Asian government agencies are offering more services via the Internet, including payment of taxes and processing of documents.
"Asian governments are increasing eGovernment investments because they feel a pressure to compete with other governments, and they have seen past investments provide real benefits," IDC said. "Importantly, eGovernment initiatives can also be a determining factor when foreign investors look to invest within Asia."
The report said the region's leading eGovernments are in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Apart from the willingness to invest in IT, it is equally important that the government can provide leadership support, IDC said.
"eGovernment is a technology proposition that shakes up traditional bases of power in order to deliver new levels of efficiency and effectiveness," IDC said. "It takes a committed leadership to weather the political in-fighting that can swell up during eGovernment project implementations."
Quelle: Philippines Daily News
