Dear GKD Members,
below for your reading pleasure is a URL for an
article recently published in CIO Magazine on
e-government/e-governance.
Jeff Kaplan
International Affairs Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Mar. 15, 2001 Issue of CIO Magazine
http://www.cio.com/archive/031501/re.html
THE POWERS THAT E
E-GOVERNMENT IS TOUTED by many as the next great American revolution.
Beyond the hype, however, is a growing movement in the United States and
other countries to experiment with government-by-Internet. More than 220
countries and territories have websites with links to more than 15,000
government institutions. In the United States, a growing number of federal
agencies, states and localities have an Internet presence. There are
currently more than 20,000 websites offering government information.
However, the current e-government mantra�focused on digital divides, killer
applications and budget savings�misses the more compelling questions: Will
e-government transform how government interacts with the populace or serve
as a convenience for busy citizens and civil servants? Are we on the
threshold of a digital democracy or merely heading toward constant
policy-by-polling and 24/7 surveillance by law enforcement agencies?
IT Is Not a Cure-All
High-priced technologies generally add unnecessary costs to otherwise
poorly managed organizations. In other words, before you can get
e-government right, you need to get e-governance right. Poor governance
cannot be cured by e-elixirs. Computers and Internet access will not undo
corrupt, bloated bureaucracies or ineffective public institutions. Indeed,
e-government threatens the political status quo. Political elites and
entrenched bureaucrats�particularly in places where government jobs have
high profit margins�may resist.
Disturbing scenarios arise when we consider how nondemocratic governments
will adopt, or co-opt, information technologies. Such regimes treat control
of information as a political bedrock. Access to information is constrained
or rationed by those in power. Ultimately, information access is less an
issue of too few telephones and computers. Rather, education and a "culture
of information" are the foundations for enriching the information-poor and
building e-governments.
Consider recent events in China. While President Jiang Zemin lauds the
power and promise of IT, new regulations on Internet companies prohibit any
content that subverts state power or "harms the reputation" of China.
Beijing has long blocked direct access to foreign news and
politically-oriented websites. Its powerful Ministry of State Security
closed websites for posting what it termed "counter-revolutionary content."
At least 20 Chinese cities and provinces are creating special police units
to monitor Internet activity. Chinese leaders are girding themselves for
the mother of all battles�the control of information. In some respects,
they are not far from the truth. China's IT industry is growing 20 percent
annually. That means more computers, more Internet entrepreneurs, more
Chinese language websites, more chat rooms, more streamed radio and video
broadcasts, more users clamoring for additional information. However, it is
difficult to draw a line in the silicon and send troops into
TiananmenSquare.com.
As the situation in China demonstrates, absent a willingness to use
information in a fundamentally different way, e-government may merely
reflect the existing tendencies of institutions, or even facilitate more
invasive, centralized control. However, in seeking to construct a Great
Firewall to defend against foreign incursions, the Chinese may ultimately
be building their own Maginot Line, as ineffective against an electronic
blitzkrieg as the legendary French fortifications were against fast-moving
German soldiers.
High Stakes
Governments of all political persuasions will feel pressure to adapt.
Investors will increasingly factor in the e-government environment�meaning
less red tape, more transparent regulations, easier payment of fees�into
business decision making. A country's or city's future competitiveness will
rest on how it positions itself in the race for investment. Governments,
especially in smaller countries and localities that are not prepared to
reform, will watch businesses migrate elsewhere, or never invest at all.
But online services for businesses will not neatly translate into more
participatory governance for citizens. Take Peru, home to Latin America's
first online land registry, and its recent election woes. Cutting-edge
e-government initiatives did nothing to prevent President Alberto
Fujimori's use of dirty tricks to remain in power.
None of this diminishes the democratizing potential of e-government. Online
government need not simply mean fewer lines or faster permits. A recent
poll found that the leading aspiration for e-government among U.S. citizens
is to increase government accountability. E-government also offers new
avenues for participation in public policy-making. What could be more
democratic than that?
There are plenty of caveats to implementing e-government. Digital divides
exist within societies. Unraveling the complexities of online government
requires sustained political commitment and a measure of techno-literacy
among leaders. Privacy and security concerns must be addressed. Yet, the
operative issue for e-government is the readiness of governments to
democratize access to information. Are they ready to replace
command-and-control with click-and-connect? For the moment, the digital
divide applies equally to all levels of government. Yet, to the extent that
citizen-oriented approaches are adopted, e-government may signal a step
toward e-Pluribus Unum.
CIO Magazine - March 15, 2001
� 2001 CXO Media Inc.
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