1. Public Internet Information Systems E-government and all that

2. Lecture Plan n What is e-government and e-democracy about ? n What barriers need to be overcome for it to be really effective n What problems does it pose ?

3. Why e-government n All governments produce huge amounts of data, consultation papers, policy documents, guidelines as so on which are under used because it is to difficult for the relevant people to find and use the information

4. E-democracy n The government believes that many more people would take part in forming government policy and implementing it if it was easier to do so –vote at home –influence what happens, not just which party runs things

5. Making E-government happen n Stick up a few web sites ? n Need to change the way government operates –www.edemocracy.gov.uk n Accessability is the key issue

6. Accessability n Providing information which is relevant n in a form in which the people that need it will access it n findable n comprehensible n available

7. Issues n Physical Access –free/low cost internet access in public libraries n Accessible to those who need it –comprehensible language –benefit claimants as opposed to lawyers –blind/partially sighted

8. Getting the Information n Can be found - even if you don’t know what you want –searching/indexing strategies –customised delivery –even agents

9. Accessibility Standards n E.g. W3C Synergy Standard n ISO

10. Ecommerce vs Egovernment n Ecommerce generally targetted at the IT included (businesses/individuals) n e-democracy explicitly targets those excluded at the moment –disabled –poor –unskilled

11. E-government & security n Different enemies to Ecommerce –terrorists –hostile governments n Little potential financial gain n Dangers of propaganda –passing off sites –changing information

12. Security Solutions n Similar to Ecommerce –denial of service much worse problem

13. Key UK Web sites n www.edemocracy.gov.uk n www.ukonline.gov.uk n Try Searching Google for –Rebecca Mercuri

14. Conclusion n Using the Internet and WWW has real potential to change the way the government and people interact n The promise won’t be fulfilled if it builds even barriers between the government and those who are already disadvantaged or excluded