Steps to Ensure Successful e-Government Implementations
The four processes that make up e-Government – e-services, e-commerce, e-democracy, and e-management – were created in order increase the participation of all U.S. citizens in what makes our country unique: our government. In 2003, President Bush signed a document regarding the implementation of his management agenda for e-Government. The purpose of the document was for the government to be more results-oriented, efficient, and citizen-centered. It was also designed to “eliminate billions of dollars of wasteful federal spending, and reduce the government's paperwork burden on citizens and businesses, and improve government response time to citizens - from weeks down to minutes.” The key to the implementation being successful, however, is that all of the four major dimensions work together as one under the e-Government system.
Initialization
It is during this first step in the e-Government process that a company decides whether an implementation is in their best interest. It is also during this time that a “work group” is formed to put the process into action. A term commonly used for this “work group” is competency center or business intelligence competency center. This is a group of individuals in charge of managing the agency's initiatives of, in this case, e-Government, but in a broad sense of the term, data management. This team needs to consist of programmers, testers, human resource individuals, as well as a few top officials of the company. These individuals will need to develop a agency-personalized e-Government process from the users' perspective. They will also need to assess how much money and how many personnel will be needed in order to complete the entire e-Government process. Many times, these groups will bring in outside consulting firms to help them ascertain exactly what they want to accomplish, understand the resources they need from both a technical and functional perspective as well as to assist with the steps listed below.
Establish a Strategy
This step is used to identify and evaluate what services can be provided online. The work group will also decide what data needs to be published online; not all information will be necessary for the users to access. This is a very important step in the e-Government process.
Analysis
The group will take what was established in the strategy phase and go into more detail. All underlying processes will be thoroughly analyzed, as well as any possible security issues that may arise regarding the protection of data. The team may also want to evaluate other agencies' websites to get a better idea of what users may or may not want to encounter on a site. If the working group's agency is small, this may be an ideal opportunity to collaborate with other agencies who have the same goal; money and personnel hours could be conserved by such collaboration.
Conceptualize
In this fourth step, technology products need to be gathered for implementation. At least two computers and web servers will be needed - one for development and one to be the host server. Antivirus software is needed, as well as software to develop the website pages. A firewall package will need to be installed to protect the network from unwelcome and unauthorized access. The work group will need to plan the implementation of the website as well as assess the level of risk and security measures needed to protect the website, related equipment and databases.
Realization
It is now that the required technologies that were gathered in the concept step are installed and adjusted to the current circumstances. Security is also integrated with the new hardware and software. The work group needs to be sure that the staff is trained and qualified to support the new website, hardware, and software. During this phase, it would also be wise for the group to be sure that the website is not only user friendly, but is also accessible to users with disabilities. These disabilities could include, but are not limited to physical disabilities, as well as needing options for alternate features for non-English speaking users. The realization step is the most important step in the e-Government process.
Testing
After all of the installations have occurred and the work group feels the site is ready to be implemented, functional tests are next to take place. This testing should not only be inside of the office, but also tested by a small group of users outside of the company. The feedback gathered will allow for additional revisions or corrections before the full product is released.
Implementation
Once testing has taken place and any revisions needed have been made, the e-Government process is ready for the implementation step. This is where the group, as representatives of the agency, will see if they have fulfilled the users' needs, as well as their own visions and objectives.
Documentation
After implementation has taken place, there will need to be documentation of policies and procedures including privacy and public access to data. A marketing strategy is also necessary for the user-base to grow and for the agency to be as successful as possible. Ongoing maintenance will be needed, and this should include any additional feedback gathered from the users. A happy user is a return user who will tell coworkers and other associates about the site, which, in turn, will make the company more successful.
This is how implementation occurs and the four processes of e-Government come together as one united method. By following implementation methodologies and having clear short-term and long-term goals, a focused strategy and a clear understanding of limitations of time, resources and money, agencies can implement successful e-Government processes to make our government more results-oriented, efficient, and citizen-centered.
