THE MC-EGOV STUDY IS NOW CLOSED, PLEASE SEE THE FINAL REPORT HERE.
A new agenda for eGovernment
eGovernment has transformed the way that citizens and governments interact, resulting in more efficient and higher quality public services in many cases
We are beginning to see the emergence of increasingly citizen-centric approaches; and much has been achieved to ensure that all groups in society can access and benefit from the new online public services.
However, 30% of Europeans are considered as being socially disadvantaged (suffering from multiple excluding factors, e.g. cultural, educational, physical, financial and geographical reasons, etc.) and this same 30% have yet to benefit fully from public services. Inclusive eGovernment is the current reply to this challenge, in that it addresses the delivery of public services and situates it into a multi-channel context. In this context, each consumer (citizens, businesses etc.) may benefit from exploitation of ICT in sustainable service delivery regardless of whether they themselves use ICT directly or whether an intermediary does it for them (e.g. face-to-face delivery of public services though intermediaries in public/private/third sectors).
Multi-channel delivery of public services is an approach designed to unlock the benefits brought about by the information society, in particular at the local level, where some 70% of public (mainly social) services are delivered. The Inclusive eGovernment agenda means proactively addressing people's life challenges, through organisational and financial re-engineering, underpinned by technology: using it creatively to solve social exclusion problems (and achieve public policy goals). The Inclusive eGovernment agenda also means multi-channel, multi-agency approaches, built on sustainable business models to change the way services are being delivered. It often involves a range of partners from public, private and the third sectors.