The ICT and the Legislation on Transparency and Freedom of Information

The many cases of corruption that have come to light, among other scandals, have led the public to lose faith in the management of public institutions. In order to regain confidence, the government needs to inform its citizens of all its actions. Public information should be accessible and controlled by means of a regulatory framework. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the transparency achieved and the progress still needed to be made by Dominican Republic municipalities with regards to complying with the requirements of the law on public information management. The chapter discusses the voluntary transparency achieved and factors that affect the implementation of information policies. The results highlight deficiencies in certain areas of online public information disclosure. The population size, economic capacity and electoral turnout are all factors that affect the online dissemination of public information by local governments in the Dominican Republic.

A Conceptual Model for the Measurement of E-Government 2.0 Adoption by Developing Countries

The current work explores the use of social computing as a tool to improve the interactions between the government and other parties. Social computing, which is known as Web 2.0, is applied in the public sector through the concept of e-Government 2.0. This chapter proposes a conceptual model that will measure e-Government 2.0 adoption by combining known information technology theories. The conceptual model is based on a combination of the Technology Acceptance Model, Theory of Planned Behavior and indexes from the United Nation's database. Future research should validate the empirical model. Meanwhile, the implications of the model are presented.

E-Government Transparency and Citizen Engagement Increasing Accountability

The chapter focus is on accountability and transparency through E-Government. With the increasing trend of users getting online and the opportunity for ubiquitous reach, state governments have begun to utilize social media to engage, communicate and inform their citizens. Therefore, this chapter also discusses ways to better engage citizens in government accountability and transparency discussions. With the transition from government to E-Government, greater transparency in government accountability has occurred. There is a need for government Websites to promote public trust while providing understandable, meaningful and usable government accountability information securely. The recommendations and solutions discussed are centered on enhancing E-Government transparency and citizen engagement resulting in enhanced government accountability.

Citizens and E-Government: Perceptions in Nigeria

Governments and public-sector managers worldwide have within the last decade come to the realization that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a viable tool that can help them achieve their aims. The chapter reviews literature on e-Government services and applications and the perceptions of citizens of adoption in the context of Nigeria. The methodology is a review of related literature that draws conclusions specifically to propose a plan for the adoption and the use e-Government services in Nigeria. The chapter highlights the contemporary issues of e-Government adoption in Nigeria. This chapter suggests a link between the citizens' negative perceptions and distrust of government in general and their hesitance and reluctance to embrace e-Government in particular.

The Gamut of E-Government Research, Design, and Implementation

E-Government research and practice has changed over the years to incorporate recent and contemporary technology developments and unique in evolving contextual environments. Further, the emerging conceptualization of service and applications interactions is slowly defining the gamut of e-Government research and practice. On another front, there has been a dynamic transition of e-Government being implemented on Web3.0 from the original Web2.0 platforms and advanced e-Government applications accessible on mobile devices i.e. ubiquitous or mobile government. Web3.0 presents a semantic platform allowing responsive man-machine interfaces and applications integration facilitating advanced information management possibilities. The chapter explores the contemporary issues in e-Government and articulates the pertinent factors that need to be interrogated for successful and sustainable e-Government development. Key questions of e-Government and the design principles that need to be taken into consideration in any e-Government project are explored.

Freedom of Information as a Catalyst for Responsiveness in the e-Government Environment

As Botswana actively transcends to utilizing e-Government as a platform for responsive public service delivery, it is apparent that a probe is done on the role of Freedom of Information (FOI) on government responsiveness. This chapter explores the fundamental concepts of contemporary e-Government and enunciates how FOI can be embedded in the e-Government agenda in the developing world using Botswana as a case. The chapter posits that the delay in adopting FOI in Botswana incapacitates the ability of state actors to exhibit acceptable levels of lucidity and ingenuousness during their delivery of public services and in turn promotes a culture of sluggishness which serves to promote the current existing information asymmetry. The chapter further posits that FOI may help the government of Botswana achieve its commitment towards the attainment of a knowledge-based economy during the period of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10.

Increasing Voter Turn-Up Using Mobile Phones as a Voting Tool

Because of defective elective elections which have been witnessed in the African continent for decades, some African countries have jumped onto the bandwagon of using electronic voting (e-Voting). E-Voting entails the use of technology in the voting processes. This chapter brings out the progress that has been made so far in e-Voting and comments on the extent to which this impacts the advancement of the overall principles of a democracy. The lessons outlined in the chapter may go a long way in informing future e-Voting interventions, especially in a developing world context.

Social Media Use in the Public Sector

With advances in the Internet and its associated technologies, more and more governments and their public service agencies are embracing social media as a key channel of communication and service provision. These easy-to-use applications encourage the public to actively participate and share constructive ideas in various government initiatives. At the same time, social media helps governments to actively engage with the public and monitor their existing services for continuous improvements. In this chapter, the authors explore the application of social media in the public sector and review how it has evolved over time and what lies ahead for the future. To this end, the authors explore existing and emerging platforms and tools that can be used in various public sector settings. The chapter also reviews social media best practices and initiatives in similar settings. Finally, it examines the critical challenges the public sector faces in integrating social media in its processes and services.

Value Assessment in E-Government and M-Government

Most governments around the world have implemented or are in the midst of implementing electronic government (e-Government). E-Government has its share of advantages, disadvantages and limitations. The rise of mobile technologies can be seen as the answer to complement e-Government. With the high adoption level of mobile devices and the rising demands for instant information and interactions with government bodies, mobile government (m-Government) is born. Unlike e-Government, m-Government is not restricted to being internet-based. Different wireless or mobile communication modes such as Short Message Service (SMS), mobile applications, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) have provided different avenues to implement or enhance M-Government. Both e-Government and m-Government implementations create different values for the different stakeholders. This chapter examines an e-Government and m-Government Component Assessment Cube Framework for value assessment of both e-Government and m-Government information technology project implementations. The three main groups explored in the framework are namely (value) components, stages, and stakeholders.

Knowledge Management and Electronic Records Management in the Realm of E-Government

The recent past has seen many interventions aimed at merging traditional records management approaches with emerging trends such as electronic records (e-Records), electronic government (e-Government) and Knowledge Management (KM). This has largely cascaded from the belief that appropriate records management practices may positively contribute to transparency, accountability, efficiency and increased productivity both in the public and private sector business value chains. However, realization of the full potential of records management in the realm of e-Government cannot be achieved if multi-disciplinary factors impacting on records management are ignored when drawing implementation strategies and roadmaps. This chapter utilizes extensive literature reviews to probe the best ways of implementing records management with KM in the public sector in the context of e-Government. The chapter posits that the application of KM is still in its infancy as the concept had yet to take root in the public sector.