Governments, they say, should inject competition into sere delivery; focus on earning rather than spending; shift from hierarchy
of teamwork and participation; and focus on prevention rather than cure. Academics and pundits discussing the reinvention of government have the lip service to the notion that the new information technology is the key enabler of government transformation. But progress has been slow on technology can achieve the new paradigm in governance. Interestingly, a leadership, with few exceptions, has come from government itself, not critics and analysts. Such leadership is occurring at the national, state, local levels, in particular in the United States and Canada.
The notion of electronic government is sweeping across the North American public sector like a prairie fire, sparking interest in many other interest. The electronic government is an internet worked government. It new technology with legacy systems internally and in turn links such government information infrastructures externally with everything digital, with everybody—the taxpayer, suppliers, business customers, voters; every other institution in the society—schools, laboratories, mass media, hospitals, other levels of government, and other nations around the world.
Internet working is the vehicle to not only reduce the costs of goverment but also to radically transform the way government programs are delivered and the very nature of governance. Internetworked government a overcome the barriers of time and distance to perform the business of government and give people public information and services when and iere they want them. Governments can use electronic systems to deliver tter-quality products to the public more quickly, cost effectively, and conniently. The result will be programs designed primarily around the needs of citizens, rather than just the old structures or the convenience of civil servants.
