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Monish M. Singh
C. W. Fisher, Ph.D.
May 6, 2010
Challenges in E-governance 1
Abstract
Despite number of benefits there exists numerous IS, sociological and ethical issues that act as a
barrier to realizing the full potential of e-governance. From an IS perspective, lack of some
prerequisite infrastructures including high literacy rate and wide availability and accessibility of
computers and internet technology, technical issues such as the use of proprietary or open
standards and usability of the system seem to be the major challenges. Similarly, some
sociological factors that affect the success of e-governance include a proper legal framework and
managing change. Finally from an ethical perspective issues like digital divide and privacy and
Introduction
The emergence of internet and rapid development of processing and storage capabilities
has provided a perfect platform for the use of ICT (Information and communication
electronic means for the interaction between government and citizens and government and
Brandt, 2003, p. 25). Providing access to information which is the most common e-governance
initiative provides an effective and convenient information platform for the citizens and increases
transparency and accountability on the part of government units. Moreover, online presence
reduces the distribution cost and removes the delay between information production and
distribution (McNeal, Hale, & Dotterweich, 2008, p. 215). Transaction services on the other
hand provides a speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective process for performing
government administration activities that can result in significant cost savings for government
(Backus, 2001, p. 1). Finally, with the wide presence of internet, e-governance initiatives can
increase citizen participation and political engagement across economic, educational, geographic
and cultural boundaries and create a more participatory democracy (McNeal et al., 2008, p. 215).
However, there exists numerous IS, sociological and ethical issues that act as a barrier in
realizing this potential of e-governance to lower the cost of administrative operation and create a
more vibrant democratic and knowledge society. The following sections analyze these
ICT Infrastructure
infrastructures that can support such dynamic initiatives which has been a major obstacle
especially for developing countries like India, Bangladesh and Nepal. This infrastructure
technology, skilled workforce to support such projects and high literacy rate among the citizens.
According to Adhikari (2007), only 1% of the population in Nepal is using Internet and less than
10% people are connected to telephone network ( p. 245). Lack of such basic infrastructure to
support e-government projects creates a serious barrier for its successful implementation.
Developing countries also have a high turnover rate with well trained IT personnel leaving the
country due to lack of scope resulting in inadequate human resource to support such e-
governance projects. Similarly there exists a digital divide between richer countries and
developing ones highlighted by the fact that high income economies have 416 personal
computers per 1000 people and low income economies only 6 per 1000 which holds back e-
governance initiatives (Ndou, 2008, p. 13). Along with this, various political, social and
economic factors such as lack of political stability, clear vision among the leadership and proper
IT policy seriously hamper the ability of developing countries to reap the full benefits of e-
Technical Issues
Rapid development of web technology with the emergence of web 2.0 platform and
underlying AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) technologies support the creation and
web pages (Zappen, Harrison, & Watson, 2008, p. 17). However, it also adds to the challenges
for e-governance as governments have been slow in adjusting to these rapid developments that
facilitate new paradigms of openness, interaction and influence (W3C, 2009). Similarly, the
proliferation of mobile devices and development of new devices like iPad and e-book readers
highlight the advent of totally different platform for interaction, information dissemination and
So, from an IS perspective, the major technical challenge lie in choosing the technologies
and standards that can support multi channel delivery, reusability of government information and
interoperability. For multi channel delivery, the challenge lie in understanding the existence of
various devices, their limitations, their usage type and then coordinating and integrating these
various channels to provide a consistent look and feel to the users. Similarly, the availability of
open and proprietary formats and their underlying advantages and disadvantages pose another
challenge for e-government projects. Traditionally Public Sector Information (PSI) generated by
public organizations has been published in different formats depending on the convenience of
government organization publishing it which has created a barrier to use for the various
interested parties (W3C, 2009). Hence the use of open formats to publish government data can
make it more accessible and readily available to all and even allow reuse through APIs to create
data mashups. The open and unobtrusive data can be adapted by users to their personal needs
such as xml dataset or RSS feeds being transformed into assistive technologies for people with
one provided by Sunlight Foundation are good examples of independent body using APIs to
collect vast amount of public data from government and presenting it in multiple views to
promote inclusion, transparency and accountability (W3C, 2009). Similarly, the use of open
Challenges in E-governance 5
standards can also facilitate interoperability which is the exchange of data and sharing of
information and knowledge between citizens, business and administrations. However, due to
lack of assessment methodology for selection of standards, the workload to select standards for
e-government services is considerable and governments have usually opted for their own
national interoperability framework depending on their choice of technology. This has resulted in
IDBAC program of Europen Union to develop a Common Assessment Method of Standards and
Specification to share best practices and expertise among the member nations for efficient
Similarly, another challenge is to keep upgrading the usability of the system to keep up
with new technologies. With the emergence of web 2.0 technologies and social media, users
have been accustomed to wield technology in far more active ways by constructing contents,
building and cultivating social networks. The failure of e-government sites to meet their
expectation has resulted in rapid decline of enthusiasm for government web sites. Baumgarten &
Chui (2009) highlight ineffective governance, lack of web-related capabilities and reluctance to
allow user participation in the creation of applications and content as the major three obstacles
that limit the impact of e-government efforts (p.27). Hence, to ensure the success of e-
governance initiatives in today’s era of wide social connectivity, agencies should regard web
development as an integral part of the services they provide (Baumgarten & Chui, 2009, p. 28).
designers, developers and information architects responsible not only for initial development but
also ongoing improvement of usability and functionality should be created (Baumgarten & Chui,
2009, p. 28).
Change Management
Challenges in E-governance 6
E-governance services not only save cost and improve the service quality but also
revolutionize and reinvent the government processes and functions (Ndou, 2008, p. 14). It further
leads to change in roles and responsibilities of administrative officials which can even trigger a
resistance from them. E-governance services are offered around customer’s needs rather than
organizational structure of government agencies resulting in the public institutions which used to
be at the center of the bureaucracy losing their importance (Alpar & Olbrich, 2005, p. 108).
Alpar & Olbrich (2005), highlight that since administrative services will be provided through a
web portal, it becomes irrelevant for a user which different institution is carrying out these
functions (p.108). Managing this organizational change will be critical for the success of e-
The success of dynamic projects especially like e-governance depends on the successful
management of change. According to Ndou (2008), addressing resistance means ensuring the
existence of incentives for employees to learn and change and establishment of plans and
strategies that encourage and promote employee participation throughout the change process (p.
14). Similarly, such employees that are engaging with online communities should be provided
with appropriate training and support in the use of tools and techniques to help them better
interact and design public policies. W3C (2009), highlights the need for clear leadership with
practical knowledge, seniority and experience at senior level to overcome this barrier by
Legal Framework
Challenges in E-governance 7
proper legal framework for the digitized operations. This is especially critical as e-government
initiatives move from information dissemination stage to more transaction stage. Appropriate
legislation and regulations needs to be placed even before e-government initiatives can advance
to address the privacy and security needs. Without the legal equivalence between the digital and
paper processes, the use of e-government services and processes will remain minimal. However,
since the decrees that govern each of the administrative processes of a public authority mainly
regulate the creation of an output rather than provide instruction about the output, it is difficult to
model government processes (Alpar & Olbrich, 2005, p. 109). And re-engineering the public
workflows without a model that respects the legal constraints may lead to systems that are not
useable as it may break laws or because their strict following of law makes them so inefficient
that they do not represent any change to their former state (Alpar & Olbrich, 2005, p. 109).
projects and waste of resources and the cost for re-developing especially for agencies with few
On the other hand existence of legal frameworks can also create a barrier to collaboration
across agencies and organizations making the accountability rules unclear for shared projects.
Similarly, the data sharing across government could be impeded by legislations enacted in order
to protect the privacy and security of citizen’s data (Lau, 2003, p. 6). So, according to Lau
(2003), the main challenges lie in addressing how existing regulations should be clarified and
of services (p.6). Consistent with Lau, Almarabeh & AbuAli (2010) suggests consulting with the
Challenges in E-governance 8
users to assess problems with existing laws and reforming processes by simplifying regulations
Digital Divide
Digital divide which is the gap between the citizens who have access to the internet and
those who do not is one of the major reasons why e-government projects fail to live up to its
potential. McNeal et al. (2008) highlight digital divide to be related to socioeconomic factors and
point that despite some progress towards digital inclusion, gaps exists based on income,
education, age and race/ethnicity (p. 216). Furthermore Lau (2003), point out that these groups in
society with lower levels of access are the ones that are already disadvantaged and require a
higher level of ongoing interaction with the government (p. 3). However, due to complexity of
such interactions despite the need for government information and services, they may not benefit
from the enhancements to service quality and greater choices through online service (Lau, 2003,
p. 3). Similarly, in their study Nicholas, 2003 & Strover 1999 (as cited by McNeal et. al, 2008)
found that internet access has not been adopted equally across regions and geography and
especially in rural areas has been constrained by state policies that protect monopolies of rural
Lack of technological skills among the citizens is one of the major reasons for such
digital divide. Pew Internet & American Life Project (as cited in McNeal et al, 2008) in their
survey highlight that 46% of their respondent did not use Internet because “Internet is too
complicated and hard to understand”(McNeal et al., 2008, p. 216). According to the authors, the
technology skills necessary to use the internet were lacking among individuals who are older,
less educated, Latino, African American or less affluent (p.216). McNeal et al. (2008), in their
Challenges in E-governance 9
research concluded “e-government as a double edged sword, motivating citizen initiated contact
of government for some (young and the women) whereas magnifying existing gap based on other
factors” (p.226). Furthermore, van Dijk & Hacker (as cited in McNeal et al, 2008), pointed out
certain psychological variables like age, gender and literacy as the strong predictors of digital
skills that affect the ability to develop technological skills (p. 216). With rapid digital revolution,
such lack of e-literacy among the citizens pose a real danger of dividing the world among
“information rich” and “information poor” and e-governance projects have the potential to either
equalize the access or further increase the barriers to participation (Almarabeh & AbuAli, 2010,
p. 32).
public places in order to provide access to online services for citizen without access to internet
(p. 53). Similarly, Almarabeh & AbuAli (2010) recommends combining access with training,
emphasizing local language and content tailored to different communities and giving special
attentions to groups difficult to integrate including elderly and immigrants (p. 32).
Privacy Concerns
Success or failure of e-governance projects depends on the level of trust citizens have on
such initiatives. And without addressing the privacy and security concerns of its citizens,
government cannot build and maintain trust to support dynamic projects that promote e-
governance. Furthermore lack of trust in online transactions has been regarded as the important
barrier to wide adoption and usage of e-commerce and e-business services (Mullen & Horner,
interaction, data sharing increases and creates a valid concern regarding privacy and data security
Challenges in E-governance 10
among the users. So, the main challenge in e-governance implementation is to respect the
accepted privacy principles while still providing services to the citizens through internet and
other technologies (Lau, 2003, p. 3). As government collects vast quantities of citizen data, it
should also act as a responsible custodian of such personal information and protect the privacy of
citizen’s data (Almarabeh & AbuAli, 2010, p. 32). It should lead the culture of privacy
protection and security by developing public policy and passing data protection laws that address
the privacy and security of user’s data in digital world and developing (Lau, 2003, p. 3).
Similarly, as government moves its core processes to the internet it also increases the risk of
internal and external threats. Since such security breaches can easily shatter the trust on e-
governance projects, governments should also focus on developing robust internal architecture
Conclusion
services more efficiently and effectively as well as engage citizens into the political process to
increase the overall political participation and trust in the government. However, failure of these
initiatives can even cost governments millions of dollars and enormous waste of time and
resources.
There exists number of IS, sociological and ethical issues such as ICT infrastructure,
technical issues, change management, legal framework, digital divide and privacy and security
concerns that seriously hinder its success depending on the level of e-governance project
envisioned. Backus (2004) further highlights political stability, level of trust in government,
maturity and constituent demand as the factors that needs to be taken in account to examine the
risk of implementing e-governance solutions (Backus, 2001, p. 4). And proposes a “Think big,
start small and scale fast” approach that combines short term steps (projects) and long term
like with any complex project, e-governance initiatives need a common vision among all the
stakeholders including political leaders and agencies and a strong leadership at various levels
that can contribute to that vision, define priorities, filter citizen’s need, make decision and
placing it online. Instead the challenge lies in understanding the use of new ICT tools to
transform the culture and the structure of government in order to provide better services to the
citizens. And only with a common vision, strong leadership and strong sense of purpose can
these challenges be met and the full potential of e-governance to optimize government services
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