Across Boundaries: Understanding Electronic Governance

Several years after the acceptance of Electronic Government by governments worldwide as part of their reform initiatives, there is a growing recognition that over-reliance on technology, insufficient collaboration in government, lack of emphasis on building human capacity and inadequate public consultation all limit possible benefits of such initiatives. As a result, the focus has been shifting from technology-enabled improvements in government operations (Electronic Government) to improvements in interactions between government, non-government and civil society stakeholders (Electronic Governance). Under the new focus, it is no longer acceptable to let technical or organizational issues drive Electronic Governance initiatives alone. Instead, a multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and community-oriented approach is required.

The International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV2007) will be in Macao, SAR, China during 10-13 December 2007 -- papers need to be submitted by July 30. This is not your typical conference because this will bring together managers, developers and researchers from government, industry and nongovernment organizations, and academia to share the latest findings in the theory and practice of Electronic Governance-- an idea broader than Electronic Government as understood to date. The major focus is work within and across sectors and disciplines -- the heart of the emerging management issues of electronic (digital) government/governance.

The ICEGOV Call for Papers and details are here and it's site is here http://www.icegov.org

How can government, industry and researchers work collaboratively on Electronic Government initiatives to enhance the public interest without providing any unfair competitive advantage to industry players?

What are the barriers and structural solutions to Electronic Government working across the public, private and independent sectors and across disciplines?

How can hierarchies and networks work with each other as opposed to against each other in a digital world?

How might the next President structure the Executive Branch to enable electronic governance as reflected above?

Post your comments to the Transitions site