Validating a Normative Framework for Federal eGovernment: Preliminary Results

E-government has been identified as the next major application of information systems to fundamentally alter how U.S. federal agencies interact with the public. Through a strategy published by the Office of Management and Budget, federal agencies are formulating and executing plans to realize the many expected benefits from e-government. It is not clear, though, whether there is either a normative or empirical framework of e-government underpinning the strategy. Based on a normative framework of federal e-government created through this research, this paper presents a case study of an initiative in the federal e-government strategy, examining whether it conforms to the normative framework of federal e-government. This paper finds that there was not a consistent underlying e-government framework providing a foundation for this federal initiative. This finding raises questions about whether other federal e-government initiatives suffer a similar problem, calling into question the ultimate success of the U.S. federal e-government strategy.