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Introduction
- University of Ottawa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Introduction he purpose of this book is to examine the prospects for Canada's public sector in this emergent era shaped increasingly by digital technologies, human and organizational connectivity, and institutional change. The book progresses through a conceptual presentation of egovernment 's main drivers (Part One), an assessment of e-government's first decade in Canada (Part Two), and finally a discussion of the major challenges and choices that lie ahead (Part Three). Electronic government (e-government) has emerged over the past decade parallel to the rapid, mainstream expansion of the Internet in many regions of the world. In one sense, this development is hardly new since information technologies and electronic systems have been engrained in public sector operations since the advent ofthe mainframe computer. There is indeed much debate within the literature on egovernment as to whether digital technologies and the Internet are new tools to be deployed mainly within current public sector structures and traditions or whether they are inherently transformational in driving the need for more holisticchanges to our systems ofdemocratic governance (Perri 6 2002). The former view is often espoused by public sector traditionalists who view the present model ofdemocratic governance as fundamentally sound and argue that either failure to understand the workings of the system or deviant behaviour by those in it can be addressed without abandoning the current model. Another school ofthought echoing this view isrooted, however, in the nexusbetween informationtechnologies (IT) and organizational structures. There is much historical evidence that new technologies have been adopted by those already in possession of power and status organizationally and that the resultant changes merely reinforce and indeed often strengthen existing tendencies (Kraemer and King 2003). In other words, if an organization is loose, flexible, and participative, new technologies will facilitate such dynamics; ifit is centralized and top-down in its managerial approach, IT can prove useful in such an environment as well. T X E-GOVERNMENT IN CANADA Lately, however, a more digitally transformative view has been gathering steam, aview premised on more radicalorganizational, socioeconomic , and political adaptations to new governance realities, more digitally networked, participative, and empowering. Perri6(2004) views electronic governance (or e-governance) in precisely such a manner, underscoring the need to go beyond a technocraticfocus onelectronic government (i.e., applying IT to existing systems and processes) in order to encompass what he terms the central importance of 'political judgment/ Here he refers to the broadest possible set of individual, organizational, and institutional dynamics exerting influence on decision making, accountability, and performance both within the public sector and in terms of how it functions independently of and interdependently with other sectors. Yeteven Perri 6underscores that public sector reform will only come about as those inside government make use of new potentials while abiding by and perhaps gradually reshaping the constraints brought about by the origins and applications of contemporary institutions. In reality, there is little question that both views (tradition and transformation) have merit and exert influence on government today. Political leaders and managers must work incrementally—often shaped and constrained by tradition—in adapting public sectororganizationsto new technologicalrealities. In doing so,however, they must have some appreciation of those broader forces gathering outside government and asserting new pressures: at some point, bolder responses and innovations are required, and they will be either embraced by design or imposed as tradition gives way to experimentation and reform. This interface between the internal and the external environments, between current practicesand processes and new potentials, represents an increasingly important imperative for all levels of public sector activity. To be more precise about the scope of e-government adopted for this study, it is useful to turn to one definition adopted by many governments of late: "The continuous innovation in the delivery of services, citizen participation, and governance through the transformation of external and internal relationships by the use of information technology, especially the Internet/' This broad starting point explains why many commentators have suggested dropping the e from the e-government label entirely: as digital connectivitybecomes [44.197.251.102] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 14:37 GMT) INTRODUCTION X1 more ubiquitous, the rationale for doing so is that it is now simply a matter of ensuring the relevance, adaptiveness, and performanceof a public sector in a modern context. Such semantics aside, this book adopts the term 'e-government' since the major reforms and tensions examined have resulted in whole or in part from the widening presence of ITinfrastructures,new and more portable communications devices, and...