e-Government and e-Governance

e-Government and e-Governance abound in literature.

Definitions for e-Government and e-Governance range from the working definitions like “the ability for anyone visiting the city website to communicate and/or interact with the city via the Internet in any way more sophisticated than a simple email letter to the generic city (or webmaster) email address provided at the site” to “the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees”. Focus of these definitions range from those focusing on Information and communication technologies (ICTs) to those focusing on ICT-enabled government and governance transformation. Some examples of such definitions include:

The use of ICTs, and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.
The use of information and communication technologies in all facets of the operations of a government organization.
The continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media.

Whilst e-Government has traditionally been understood as being centered around the operations of government, e-Governance is understood to extend the scope by including citizen engagement and participation in governance. As such, following in line with the OECD definition of e-Government, e-Governance can be defined as the use of ICTs as a tool to achieve better governance.