EGovernment : an assessment and comparison of electronic births, deaths and marriages information and services provision between countries

Abstract

The extent to which countries have developed eGovernment, and the policies to implement and control the development of eGovernment, requires consideration. Whilst eGovernment exists in some form in many countries there has been little examination of its implementation and management, and how it compares between countries. This research is a contribution to the emerging eGovernment theory. There has been a proliferation in the print media of articles on the benefits and possibilities of eGovernment. Where eGovernment exists, consideration needs to be m ade of the reality as opposed to government and media hype and enthusiasm. This research examines eGovernment in a number of countries by focusing on a core government service, the agency responsible for births, deaths and marriages. Selected countries are compared and the electronic Births, Deaths and Marriages service provided by each country is related to the policies and standards they have in place for the development and control of eGovernment. Results show that eGovernment is still primarily an information medium. EGovernment, as seen through EBDM, has made little progression in terms of service provision. The development of eGovernment policy within government and the development of technology and customer service expectations in the business environment will contribute to the development of eGovernment customer service.