E-government: large potential still to be tapped

E-government: large potential still to be tapped

• While many companies already take the internet for granted, the state and particularly public administrations are still in the process of finding ways to tap the potential offered by information and communications technologies (ICT). Even though considerable progress was made last year, e-government is still in its infancy in many areas.
• In an international comparison, Germany's ranking is merely average. A benchmark test highlights the fact: great efforts are needed to ensure that Germany does not fall too far behind the leading countries in the field.
• At present, the state's online offering is largely confined to e-administration. So far, almost no means have been developed to offer citizens the possibility of participating in the political process via the internet.
• Shortcomings in the implementation of e-administration are to be found mainly in the area of "seamless" e-government. Ideally, citizens and companies would be able to conduct a transaction electronically from start to finish. Media fragmentation is still commonplace, though.
• One of the major obstacles facing seamless e-government is that use of digital signatures is not very widespread. Critical mass can only be achieved if standards are set, interoperability is assured and the public has access to a large number of attractive applications. This has high priority.
• Other challenges facing the establishment of e-government lie in the reorganisation and streamlining of administration processes, the avoidance of partial solutions and duplicate developments, and the integration of existing systems. In the short term, high investment costs may prove to be an obstacle.
• From the citizen's viewpoint, advantages of online administration lie mainly in the much higher transparency of the system and of individual processes. But people also cite the advantages of unlimited "opening hours" at government offices, time savings, convenience and flexibility.
• Companies benefit similarly from e-government owing to higher transparency and lower transaction costs. But the state also realises cost savings with online procurement thanks to lower purchase prices and processing costs. The German government, for example, expects its project "E-Vergabe" to achieve savings of 10%. The potential is substantial and makes e-procurement a key element of "lean government".

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