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 REPORT ON IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS ON E-GOVERNMENT IN OECD COUNTRIES
The global financial and economic crisis has over night, put governments under considerable pressure to promptly address a broad range of challenging political, economic and governance issues affecting both the public and the private sector. In  their effort to be agile and responsive to the situation, governments have stretched their human and budgetary resources to the limit. To swiftly the capacity to handle these  new  challenges,  they  are  looking  at  how  efficiency  and  effectiveness  in  the  public  sector  can  be improved.
 
While  some  governments  have  chosen  to  cut  e-government  spending  and  reduce  the  pace  of  its implementation,  others  have  chosen  to  seize  this  occasion  to  accelerate  the  pace  of  e-government implementation.  For every  country,  the  main  issues are to  avoid  wasting  tax  payers''''  money,  ensure  that resources  are  used  most  efficiently  and  effectively,  and  rebuild  citizens’  trust  through  increased
transparency in how decisions are made and implemented. As a consequence, governments are also faced with the challenge of paving new ways to increase citizen participation and engagement.

Seen  in  this  perspective,  the  different  government  approaches  to  the  crisis  response  show  some common trends. Fourteen of 22 responding countries have included e-government in their crisis response packages. Countries are generally looking into: improving performance and reducing waste in the public sector   making  strategic investments  in  new  and innovative  key  e-government  areas   accelerating  public
spending  on  e-government   rebuilding  trust  with  citizens   improving  the  quality  of  public  services   and transforming the public sector by using e-government as a key lever.

The  importance  of  having  e-governments''''  broader  strategic  potential  in  mind  as  part  of  their  economic policy framework has been emphasised by some countries'''' strategic investment priorities using public  sector  innovation  to  spearhead  new  technological  breakthroughs  (e.g.  ICT  security,  open  source, broadband  coverage,  and  "green  IT").  Using  the  funding  of  the  crisis  response  to  further  develop
innovative and necessary e-government solutions, can be viewed in those countries as sowing the seeds for new  start-ups  or  business  opportunities  –  thus  supporting  a  long-term  sustainable  economic  growth strategy.

Future work on e-government might benefit from greater insight into how e-government impacts the economy and subsequently, how these impacts can be measured consistently.
Visit: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/57/44089570.pdf
Category: Government
Focus: Connectivity, Access, Culture and Peace, Education
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