Integration as a Key Concept in Knowledge Management – Implications for e-Government

The industrial economies of ‘scale’ and ‘scope’ are being transformed into digital economies of ‘depth’ and ‘coordination’. This is being facilitated by dramatic improvements in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The main strength for the efficiency of networked operations is derived from the ability to integrate disparate computer systems, creating seamlessly integrated networks. This ‘ubiquity’ depends for most part on the ‘capability of systems talking to each other’; referred to otherwise as ‘Integration’. The notion of ‘Integration’ is easy to talk about, but hard to implement in Information Systems (IS). This paper will identify some of the challenges faced by IS professionals when it comes to integrating services to create flexible business processes and deliver Just in Time (JIT) eBusiness. e-Government as an application will be used to demonstrate how governments all over the world are using ‘Integrated Service Delivery’ (ISD) to enhance the quality of service provision to the citizens and how Knowledge Management is helping to achieve this.