Mobile Government: Towards a Service Paradigm

The convergence of mobile communication and mobile computing technologies opens up new horizons for mobile interaction and mobile working. The use of mobile technology in the government sector not only provides an alternative channel of communication and public service delivery, but more importantly, it can address the mobility of the government itself and in this way transcend the traditional e-government service delivery model by bringing personalized, localized and context aware services close to its citizen. The case of Beijing is analyzed in this paper. A distinct fluid organization emerges in mobile government practices in Beijing. With the challenges and opportunities provided by mobile ICT, government should shift from manufacturing mentality to service mentality and be aware of the potentials of mobile government to transform the government to be more agile, responsive, accountable, and action oriented.