Motives, Strategic Approach, Objectives & Focal Areas in e-Gov-Induced Change

In its early catalogue and transaction phases, E-Government (e-Gov) has been quite successful, although some critics say that it mainly reaped the harvest of relatively low hanging fruits by making paper-based information accessible over the Web, and also by Web-enabling some existing transaction processes. The subsequent horizontal and vertical integration phases of eGov, those critics hold, present a greater challenge and require more technological sophistication and organizational effort. Business processes may need streamlining, change, and even replacement in order to become more citizen-centric and also increase government internal effectiveness and efficiency (IEE). This exploratory study finds that strategies and objectives for reaching the integration phase vary with focal areas and motives. However, eGov, it is found, is a main driver of business process change in the public sector. Many practices and lessons learned from private sector reengineering apply in the government context.