What are the stages of e-governance?

 Stages of E-Government

Presence

Presence is the first stage of development and is the establishment of a placeholder for delivering information in the future. It represents the simplest and least expensive entrance into e-government, but it also offers the fewest options for citizens. A typical example is a basic Web site that lists cursory information about an agency, such as hours of operation, mailing address, and/or phone numbers, but has no interactive capabilities. It is a passive presentation of general information. Some observers refer to these types of sites as ‘brochureware,’ suggesting they are the electronic equivalent of a paper brochure.

Interaction

The second stage is interaction. Although interactive Web-based initiatives offer enhanced capabilities, efforts in this group are still limited in their ability to streamline and automate government functions. Interactions are relatively simple and generally revolve around information provision. These types of initiatives are designed to help the customer avoid a trip to an office or make a phone call by making commonly requested information and forms available around the clock. These resources may include instructions for obtaining services, downloadable forms to be printed and mailed back to an agency, or perhaps e-mail contact to respond to simple questions.

Transaction

The third stage in the evolution of e-government initiatives is a transaction. These initiatives are more complex than simple information provision and embody the types of activities popularly associated with e-government. They enable clients to complete entire tasks electronically at any time of the day or night. These initiatives effectively create self-service operations for tasks such as license renewals, paying taxes and fees, and submitting bids for procurement contracts. Although the level of interactivity is of a higher magnitude than second stage initiatives, the activities still involve a flow of information that is primarily one-way (either to the government or to the client, depending on the activity). The electronic responses are generally highly regularized and create predictable outcomes (e.g., approving a license renewal, creating a receipt, acknowledging a bid).

Transformation

The highest order of evolution for e-government initiatives is transformation. Initiatives at this level utilize the full capabilities of the technology to transform how government functions are conceived, organized, and executed. Such initiatives would have the robust customer relationship management capabilities required to handle a full range of questions, problems, and needs. Currently, there are very few examples of this type of initiative, in part due to administrative, technical, and fiscal constraints. One of the distinctions of these initiatives is that they facilitate the seamless flow of information and collaborative decision-making between federal, state, local, public, and private partners. In other words, transformative e-government initiatives often seek to remove the organizational barriers that promote agency-centric solutions and, instead, promote customer-centric solutions. Some advocates suggest that, at its most advanced level, e-government could potentially re-organize, combine, and/or eliminate existing agencies and replace them with virtual organizations.

                            The downward answer according to UN, Gartner, and Layne & Lee study                      

The implementation of e-government has several stages. This section reviews the stages of the implementation of e-government as obtained from the existing literature. It includes research done by Gartner Research(2000), United Nations (2001), Layne and Lee(2001), and World Bank (2002). 

UN’s Five stages of E-government model

Stage – 1 (Emerging): An online presence is established through the official website. Information is basic, static, and limited.

 Stage – 2 (Enhanced): Government sites increase content, become more dynamic. The content is updated more frequently.

 Stage – 3 (Interactive): Users can interact with the department through a set of forms and email.

 Stage – 4 (Transactional): Users can actually avail themselves of government services by making payments on the website.

Stage – 5 (Seamless): There is a full integration of e-services across administrative and departmental boundaries.

 

 

Gartner’s Four phases of E-government model

Stage – 1 (Presence): Presence of simple information providing passive website indicating the same level information as information brochure.

 Stage – 2 (Interaction): The interaction stage offers simple interactions between G2C, G2B, and G2G. This includes providing email contact, forms for taking in the questions, and providing informational responses.

 Stage – 3 (Transaction): This stage involves the ability to make financial transactions to avail of government services

Stage – 4 (Transformation): Transformation stage involves making use of available data and learnings from transactions to transform governance and existing processes.

 

Layne & Lee study – Four stages of e-government model

Stage – 1 (Cataloguing): Initial efforts of government is focused on establishing an online presence.

 Stage – 2 (Transaction): In this stage, the department’s website becomes able to transact electronically, and citizens can avail government services

 Stage – 3 (Vertical Integration): Department attempts to integrate vertically with various levels of government such as local, state, and federal.

 Stage – 4 (Horizontal Integration): Integration across different functions and services.

 

World Bank’s three phases of e-Government model

Stage – 1 (Publishing): In this stage, government departments publish information on services, department related activities on their website.

 Stage – 2 (Interact): Interaction with the government involves 2-way communication, where citizens can communicate and get a response back from the government through e-mail, submitting a form, or suggesting feedback.

 Stage – 3 (Transact): In this stage, the government’s e-governance efforts make the life of citizens easier by enables electronic transactions and simplifying government processes. Government, Business and Departments can avail services by making a payment.

 

                              Deeply Discussed by all the Gartner, UN, and so on...

The implementation of e-government has several stages. This section reviews the stages of the implementation of e-government as obtained from the existing literature. It includes research done by Gartner Research(2000), United Nations (2001), Layne and Lee(2001), and World Bank (2002). 

1)Gartner Study - Four Phases of e-Government

To measure progress for e-Government initiatives and to establish a road map to achieve the desired levels of constituency service Gartner research (2000) study titled “Gartner's Four Phases of e-Government Model” classifies e-Government into four distinct phases. This can serve as a reference to the position where a project fits in the overall evolution of an e-Government strategy.

• Presence: This stage is classified by a simple information-providing Web site of a passive nature, sometimes described as “brochureware,” indicating the same level of functions as a paper brochure.

• Interaction: The interaction stage offers simple interactions between government and citizen (G2C), government to business (G2B), or a government agency to government agency (G2G). Interaction stage Web sites provide e-mail contact and interactive forms that generate informational responses.

• Transaction: The transaction stage enables transactions such as paying for license renewals online, paying taxes or fees, or submitting bids for procurement contracts.

• Transformation: The highest stage, most closely aligned with the concept of governance, involves a reinvention of how government functions are conceived and organized.

2) UN / ASPA Study – Five Stages of e-Government Development

United Nations Division for Public Economics and Public Administration (2001) study “Benchmarking E-government: A Global Perspective, Assessing the Progress of the UN Member States” identifies the five stages for quantifying the progress of e-Government. The study identifies e-Government stages as representative of the Government’s level of development based primarily on the content and deliverable services available through official websites.

• Emerging: An official government online presence is established through a few independent official sites. Information is limited, basic, and static.

• Enhanced: Government sites increase; information becomes more dynamic. Content and information are updated with greater regularity.

• Interactive: Users can download forms, e-mail officials, interact through the web and make appointments and requests.

• Transactional: Users can actually pay for services or conduct financial transactions online.

• Seamless: Full integration of e-services across administrative boundaries. Total integration of

e-functions and services across administrative and departmental boundaries.

3)  Layne & Lee Study – Four Stage e-Governments Model

To help public administrators think about e-Government and their organizations Layne and Lee (2001) provided a four-stage e-Government development and proposes a ‘stages of growth model for fully functional e-Government.

• Cataloguing: In stage one of cataloging, the initial efforts of state governments are focused on establishing an online presence for the government.

• Transaction: In the transaction stage, e-Government initiatives will focus on connecting the internal government system to online interfaces and allowing citizens to transact with the government electronically.

• Vertical integration: Vertical integration refers to local, state, and federal governments connected for different functions or services of government. 

• Horizontal integration: Horizontal integration is defined as integration across different functions and services. In defining the stages of e-Government development, the vertical integration across different levels within similar functionality is posited to precede the horizontal integration across different functions.

4) World Bank study – 3 Phases of e-Government

To assist policymakers in devising their own plans and initiatives, the Center for Democracy and Technology (2002) divides the process of e-Government implementation into three phases. These phases are not dependent on each other, nor need one phase to be completed before another can begin, but conceptually they offer three ways to think about the goals of e-Government.

• Publish: Publish sites seek to disseminate information about the government and information compiled by the government to as wide an audience as possible. In doing so, publish sites serve as the leading edge of e-Government.

• Interact: Interactive e-Government involves two-way communications, starting with basic functions like email contact information for government officials or feedback forms that allow users to submit comments on legislative or policy proposals.

• Transact: Allowing citizens to obtain government services or transact business with the government online. A transact website offers a direct link to government services, available at any time. Transact sites can enhance productivity in both the public and private sectors by making processes that require government assistance or approval simpler, faster, and cheaper.