Abstract
Digital government refers to the use of information and communication technologies in governance. The topic is broad encompassing political, governance, and policymaking behavior, structures, processes, outputs, and outcomes at all levels of government from local to global. This chapter summarizes the rise of digital government beginning in the early 1990s through the present. It briefly describes major efforts to increase transparency, openness, citizen engagement and participation, and computational methods underlying “smart” governments. The chapter is divided into three major sections. First, important developments in citizen participation and engagement are examined. Second, convergence within government is described with a focus on coordination and collaboration across boundaries to create “virtual agencies.” Third, some of the key challenges facing the future of digital government are discussed. The chapter concludes with the observation that in spite of seemingly intractable challenges to privacy, security, and inequality, digital government continues to hold enormous potential to advance well-being for individuals and governments.
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Fountain, J.E. (2016). Digital Government. In: Bainbridge, W., Roco, M. (eds) Handbook of Science and Technology Convergence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07052-0_51
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07052-0_51
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