E-Government and the Construction Industry

Recent trends indicate drives by various governments to adopt electronic means to handle their affairs and also provide value to their citizens irrespective of time and space via so-called electronic governments (see, e.g., Mathews, 2001; Tillett, 2000). Although the construction industry is part of the clientele which e-government seeks to serve, traditionally many governments are often the major clients for the supplied services of the industry. This scenario appears to re-shape the traditional customer-supplier relations into that of evolving roles, as for example in the digital environment both parties may find themselves in the roles of supplier or customers at varied times. This article seeks to explore the nature of the exchange interactions which may evolve between e-governments and the construction industry in the digital environment in value delivery. First, perspectives on the key concepts in this article are offered, then relevant literature on the subject is examined, before conceptual models to explain potential evolving roles of the two entities in the delivery of value in the digital/virtual realms is given. An outlook on future trends on the topic is then proposed before the conclusions.