Global Strategy and Practice of E‐governance: Examples from around the World

Citation

Parry, F. (2012), "Global Strategy and Practice of E‐governance: Examples from around the World", Online Information Review, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 144-145. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2012.36.1.144.3

In the preface the editors point to the influence of social media, ICT and the internet in forcing either change or repression in government. They also propose an ambitious global ICT‐based strategy based on the creation of a favourable environment for the distribution and use of ICT; the modernisation of the state; support for competitiveness, social development, regional integration and the environment and in responding to natural disasters. This sets the tone for the rest of the book, which concentrates throughout on best practice examples of drawn from around the world. There is a pronounced emphasis on initiatives from the developing countries, Latin America in particular, with nothing specifically from the US or UK, nor, surprisingly, is there a study devoted to international bodies such as the UN.

The case studies are organised into sections dealing with strategy and practice at local, national and regional level. Each section has a scene‐setting introduction. In the introduction to local government initiatives the author makes some valuable general points about the difficulties facing all authorities who attempt to phase in e‐government strategies, such as “short‐termism”, structural deficiencies, resistance to change, risk aversion and lack of resources. The case studies are therefore often examples of success against the odds and determination to make ICT work as a force for good government.

The section on local initiatives is particularly good at showcasing the variety of strategies which aim to increase involvement in e‐government, such as mobile SMS services in La Paz, gender and technology use in villages in India, and engendering participatory democracy in Soveria in Italy. The section ends with three more general chapters starting with a review of public‐private partnerships at local level in Europe, followed by a model used in Macao for coordinated e‐government and public administration reform, and lastly a chapter which takes a bit of a left turn by offering a critique of two of William Mitchell's books, City of Bits and E‐topia in the context of citizenship and community.

The introduction to the second section on e‐governance at the national level makes similar points to the previous section but adds that countries generally need to learn from the successes and failures of each other. One would expect that after such a call there would be at least one comparative analysis of national e‐governance, but there is not. The nearest we get is a consideration of how the internet might be used to help reduce corruption and improve governance. The individual case studies do, however, provide a good overview of what is going on in a number of countries, with particularly good chapters on Russia, Denmark and Turkey and a fascinating study of ICT and e‐governance in Afghanistan with all the post‐conflict and ongoing problems, which could potentially stand in the way of progress. Some comparative elements do appear in the final section on regional e‐governance, with several chapters on Latin America.

The editors call this book a snapshot, as the pace of change is forcing constant reappraisals of what can be done to improve on the political landscape. Part of the problem is that technology moves so fast that long‐term strategies have to change with all that entails in the way of costs, planning and implementation. What we have here is an ambitious attempt to cover as much ground as possible, giving the reader a taste of the range of innovative projects from around the world. The subtitle, Examples from around the World, is therefore apt, though I would have liked greater variety in choice of geographic location, with perhaps a chapter or two from a global, comparative perspective. It is a fairly expensive book, though well worth reading for anyone who is interested in the topic of e‐governance.