Individual Paper Presentation

The Growth of E-Government:
Maintaining Service Levels Using Less Resources

Citizens both locally and around the world are placing increased demands on their governments. They have always demanded efficiency, accountability, and quality service. Now they also want government leaders to maintain the levels and quality of service they are receiving without having to pay more money for it. It is within their rights to make such demands, since it is their money that is being spent. In this current economic crisis, their concerns of service reductions are justified with the looming budget cuts that will require staff layoffs which could in turn result in service cutbacks. Mesa had to make the difficult choice to reduce services in the past due to budget pressures and the rejection of a primary property tax by voters.

Advances in information technology and communications over the past decade have given governments a reliable and efficient way to serve and communicate with their citizens through the internet. Web sites are not just for information anymore. Also, most governments provide intranet access specifically for their employees to help them with communication, information gathering, and providing efficient customer service. The explosion of internet use over the past 20 years proves that the trend toward e-services is the way to go. The internet has gone from less than 1 million users in 1990, to 1.418 million as of May of 2008. Clearly many citizens would jump at the opportunity to use e-services.

From this, it is reasonable to assume that a solution that could help governments to maintain services while still reducing costs is the implementation of e-government services. E-government is the use of any information or communication technologies (IT or ICT) needed to assist in the day-to-day administration of government. E-government could help to transform administration of services into a leaner and more cost-effective proposition. It could improve communications at all levels of government, from customer to city manager. Additionally, e-government could increase the efficiency of operations by changing processes, reducing costs, preventing duplication of work and promoting information sharing. Services such as utility bill payments, ticket purchases, payment of court costs and fines, access to library catalogs and services, registration and payment for city offered classes, applying for jobs, paying for building permits, and reserving rooms for special events could easily be handled on a government’s web site.

Governments both need and want to be responsive to their citizens. They are also required to be fiscally responsible with the money entrusted to them by the taxpayers. The success of government leaders is increasingly being measured by the benefits they are creating for their citizens and their communities. Offering e-government services that require minimal staff time to administer is a solution that meets the requirements of maintaining service and quality levels at reduced cost. The success of these various services can prevent future additional reductions in city services such as those that have been enacted in recent years in Mesa.