E-government is regarded as an important way to achieve customer-orientation, participation and greater effectiveness and efficiency in the administration and in local councils. But the long-term success of local e-government is determined by far more factors than those which are often assumed. On-line applications and their benefits are only one aspect. One significant finding of Administration Science on e-government is that it is not the technology or the applications alone which are the key to successful e-government. In fact, there is a whole range of factors such as organisational measures, strategic procedures, qualifications, communication, partnerships, obtaining resources and much more.

This article is part of a current issue of the German Journal of Urban Studies on Local E-government, containing further articles on the transformation of the administration by e-Government, the evaluation of e-Government activities and the modernisation of the administration through e-Government: the practical Example of Bremen. A free English online-version is available.

The article is based on Difu’s accompanying research of the MEDIA@Komm competition for local e-government organised by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, BMWi.

The article presents a model for successful local e-government that was developed in the accompanying research of Germany`s MEDIA@Komm competition which draws together ten factors for success with more than 50 individual sub-factors which must be taken into account in the design of virtual town halls. The conceptual components of the model have already been tested for their effectiveness in practice. It was shown that the concept can guide the local communities, enable them to carry out a structured self-assessment, correct the often narrow understanding of e-government and provide a matrix for external evaluations. For example, national and international studies on the basis of the concept described provide clear indications of both the strengths and the deficits of local e-government in Germany.

German Institute of Urban Affairs: Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik (Difu)
Busso Grabow, tel. +49 30 39001 248

01/10/2004

Busso Grabow, Helmut Drüke, Christine Siegfried

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Community websites