Challenges to the Transformative Potential of e-Government

Disparities in Computer Access. Another challenge for e-government is disparities in computer access. This challenge includes two policy issues: the often described digital divide and accessibility for people with disabilities. In the case of the digital divide, not all citizens currently have equal access to computers, whether due to a lack of financial resources or necessary skills. While the placement of Internet-enabled computers in schools and public libraries is helping address this issue, these efforts are still progressing.³ Some observers point out that much of what governments do involves interactions with people least likely to have access: the poor, the elderly, language-limited persons, the less-well-educated, and people living in rural areas. Similarly, advocates for the disabled observe that computers can present new obstacles for citizens such as the blind or physically impaired, who may require costly hardware or software for their computers, such as screen readers or oral controls, to be able to access online information and services. This also requires that these resources be designed in a manner that makes them accessible using these tools.

Government Information Technology Management and Funding. A multi-layered challenge for the development of e-government is government information technology management and funding. This includes issues such as government information technology worker recruitment, retention, and compensation; the establishment of a CIO at the national level; and cooperation across levels of government. While e-government provides the opportunity for government employees to develop new skills, it also presents the dilemma of hiring and retaining skilled information technology workers in a relatively high-demand field. Below-market salaries,⁴ and the inability to offer some types of benefits can hinder a government's ability to attract and retain skilled workers, forcing it to either outsource certain projects or delay implementation.⁵

Likewise, the debate over the establishment of national level CIOs raises questions about how to manage and develop information technology and e-government projects. More than just an organizational issue, the outcome of efforts to reform government information technology management has implications for the level of support, funding, and interagency cooperation that will take place.⁶

Bureaucratic Foot Dragging.

Where there is weak leadership at the top, implementation of e-government solutions will be slow and the maintenance of systems, once in place, can become problematic. “Bureaucracy derives its power from holding on to…information, which is then utilized to bargain a premium from the citizen depending upon the citizen’s need and urgency.”⁷ In India, for example, the Gyandoot Project, a “unique government-to-citizen Intranet” which provided computer kiosks in a disadvantaged district of Madhya Pradesh (and received the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2000), failed to sustain itself. Another project of computerized interstate check posts in Gujarat was subverted by the local leadership and the bureaucracy. The commissioner who implemented the project was transferred and the system was not updated and died a slow death.⁸ On the other hand, in provincial and local areas where strong leaders promote e-government, ICT applications work and transparency increases.