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Research into relationships among government, society and technology has grown substantially over the past 30 years. However, most research and most advances in practice address narrowly defined categories of concern such as government organization, citizen services, interoperability, or personal privacy. By contrast, the future presents complex and dynamic challenges that demand a more holistic and flexible perspective, including consideration of what constitutes an appropriate infrastructure for continued development of government and governance in the digital age. This paper outlines a conceptual framework for considering the future, drawn from a stakeholder-driven investigation into potential scenarios of society and government. The framework reflects a dynamic socio-technical system encompassing interactions among societal trends, human elements, changing technology, information management, interaction and complexity, and the purpose and role of government. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Two Internet testbeds conducted at the New York State Center for Technology in Government (CTG) identified five threshold factors that shape a government agency's ability to initiate Web-based services: technical infrastructure, user capabilities, information content, cost, and security. Six kinds of benefits of the Web to deliver government information and services are described. (AEF)

Jane E. Fountain. 2001. Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change. Washington, D.C.: Brookings. Cloth, ISBN: 0-8157-0078-4, $44.95. Paper, ISBN: 0-8157-0077-6, $18.95.251 pp. In 1983, Ithiel de Sola [...]

Information and information technologies have become ubiquitous in the public sector and it is difficult to think of a public problem or government service that does not involve them in some substantial way. Public management (PM) research now incorporates the effects of the availability and quality of data as well as the technologies used in the public sector. From a PM perspective, digital government (DG) could be considered an essential aspect of innovation, co-production, transparency, and the generation of public value. However, studies that attempt to understand the role that DG research plays in PM theory and practice are scarce. As a research field, DG emerged from multiple disciplines, including public administration, information science, management information systems, computer science, communication, and political science. There have been numerous efforts in the last decade to delineate this emergent academic community by assessing the growing body of research represented by hundreds of new peer-reviewed publications every year. This paper reviews these prior studies about the DG community, along with a systematic review of recent articles in top public administration journals from the United States and Europe, to begin to identify and compare key characteristics of these academic communities, including their core researchers, theories, topics, and methods. We argue that their similarities and differences present opportunities for more dialogue between DG and PM scholars that could produce synergies to enhance the production and dissemination of knowledge, yielding greater influence on practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government agencies are expected to keep pace with the information technology (IT) acumen of private enterprises. The citizens who have grown used to speedy and efficient services from the private sector demand a comparative quality of service from government agencies. Public administrators, however, should be careful in introducing IT systems into their departments. The choice of IT systems should be guided by the agencies' program goals. Government executives should start out with small-scale IT operations and expand its systems as needs become evident., Analysis indicates that successful transformations share four common realities. IT is a powerful means of effecting change, but it is up to public managers and the people they serve to [...]