4 Major e-Government Advantages for City Mayors By
Basil Mbuna
Mayors
are facing many challenges today. Although their basic mission is to
achieve high citizen satisfaction, budgetary constraints and increasingly
tight legislation put mayors up against the wall. In this context, the
virtualisation of local municipal services is in the strategic agenda
of city halls. This article aims to highlight the benefits coming
from the dematerialisation of public services.
Reduced Costs
Given
the fact that IT projects are usually associated with heavy
financial investment, the return on investment of an e-government
solution might be questioned. The technology of “cloud
computing”, however, enables the online accommodation of almost all paperwork
in online platforms, specifically configured and organised around your way of
working. By utilising the advantages of innovative cloud solutions,
governments can realise substantial savings from the previously
needed expensive IT infrastructure and its related high maintenance
costs.
High
Operational Efficiency
In
an increasingly competitive environment, the mere reduction of costs is
inadequate – it is being efficient that counts. The effectiveness of government
is measured by the quality of its interactions with citizens.
Although
the processing of paperwork is a difficult task which consumes a
lot of resources, time spent on paperwork does not create much value
for citizens. This issue becomes even more relevant when we consider
the fact that citizens are demanding more from public services. In this
context, the virtualisation of administrative procedures is of particular
importance to governments.
By the establishment of a
centralised point of communication, public administrations
can support citizens during the different stages of life.
Easy
and Quick Implementation
Along
with its benefits in terms of cost and efficiency, the implementation of
cloud-based e-government services is easy and quick. Digitising paperwork has
never been as simple and intuitive – after registering for a cloud service, you
can customise the look of your portal and access all needed services
out-of-the box. In addition, cloud services’ design and navigation are centred
on the user of the platform, so that end user adoption is
maximised.
High
Level of Security
The
previously discussed benefits could not be relevant, if cloud technology
had security weaknesses. This is why special efforts are
invested to ensure the reliability and availability of cloud solutions.
Providers of cloud services have won users’ trust by complying with
international data protection and privacy standards. The
sophistication of authentication methods nowadays is able to reassure
even the most demanding users.
In
conclusion, it is worth mentioning one of the main challenges, faced by
the public sector today: Users are so accustomed to the flexibility and speed
of action of private sector services, that governments can no longer
afford to ignore citizen demands.
To meet the recurring criticism
about the inefficiencies of public administrations, governments can
provide citizens with a single point of
access, centralising public services and paperwork.
By
Basil Mbuna
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