The Role of Process Evolution in Achieving Citizen Centered E-Government

The growth and popularity of e-commerce has both challenged and enabled public sector organizations to redefine their levels of service. In the late 1990’s E-government provided unparalleled opportunities for governments to streamline processes and improve customer service. As a result, achieving successful citizen centric e-government has become a key concern for many governments. Given the unique characteristics of public sector organizations it is argued in this paper that the evolutionary based development of business process change is appropriate to expanding the use of e-commerce technology. This is due to the fact that cultural acceptance of the technology and its implementation is a critical success factor in public sector organizations due to their individual departmental structures. This paper analyses the Irish Government’s evolutionary path to the provision of successful e-Government. The lessons learnt from this case provide a valuable insight into a possible roadmap for the successful attainment of citizen-centered e-government in other jurisdictions.