Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
public services and information over the internet is useless to those without access
to the technology, so e-government and the digital divide are deeply intertwined
phenomena (Helbig et al.
2009
). Becker et al. (
2008
) therefore conclude that due to
social and spatial discrepancies in internet access, the adoption of e-government is
primarily a demand-side rather than supply-side issue. This issue has serious
implications: lack of internet access implies that those most in need of government
services have the least opportunity to them in digital form. In the Australian
context, for example, Dugdale et al. (
2005
) found that those who use government
services the most are least likely to use the internet. Indeed, ironically, by facil-
itating access to government for those with internet access and denying it to those
without, e-government may enhance the inequalities in opportunity that the digital
divide represents. Kuk (
2003
), for example, found that in a sample of UK local
government websites, those in lower income regions had considerably less
information content and utility than those in higher income ones. Selwyn (
2002
)
maintains that despite the British government's rhetoric about its commitment to
social goals such as building an inclusive society with equality of access, the
primary motivation behind its adoption is an economic rationale rooted in labor
market restructuring, occupational change, and national competitiveness. To some
extent, the diffusion of ''best practices'' concerning e-government among local
authorities can help to ameliorate the problems generated by the digital divide, as
the Italian experience indicates (Ferro and Sorrentino
2010
).
5.3 Global Variations in E-Government
As Jaeger and Thompson (
2004
, p. 95) note, ''e-government is quickly becoming
'simply the way things are done' in technologically advanced nations.'' E-government
has become increasingly common across the OECD, propelled by efforts to modernize
administrative bureaucracies, improve accountability, and raise the efficiency of
public service delivery Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(
2003
). Most OECD states have initiated plans for restructuring their administrations
in line with the requisites of the ''information economy,'' typically by creating
national information portals and establishing agencies to coordinate the adoption of e-
government among local authorities. Such efforts should be seen within the broader
context of global neoliberalism, persistent financial constraints, and associated efforts
to trim the size of the public sector, reduce taxes, enhance accountability, and privatize
and deregulate many government functions. Indeed, e-government in many respects
reflects a new form of governmentality in the Foucauldian sense (Giritli Nygren
2009
),
one designed to make the state more flexible in the face of mounting international
competition and mobile capital.
The degree of e-governance readiness varies considerably, reflecting both
supply conditions (e.g., different levels of enthusiasm in attempts to initiate it) and
demand conditions (i.e., contrasting stances towards its use and adoption). The
United Nations Survey of E-governance in 2012 compared various countries on
