Title: Understanding e-government (G2C) in the knowledge society

Authors: Ailsa Kolsaker

Addresses: School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK

Abstract: Governments are investing heavily both politically and financially in the knowledge society as a route to economic growth and international competitiveness. Web technology provides an efficient, cost-effective platform for national knowledge management, with e-government in particular being welcomed as means of engaging citizens directly in knowledge creation and dissemination. The discourse of the knowledge society assumes a robust enabling role for government, downplaying its declining role in national policymaking and possible divergence of |public| and |national| interests. Additionally, in conceptualising e-government as a facilitator of the knowledge society, governments tend to underplay the significance of entrenched cultural and operational barriers in public sector bureaucracy and citizens| reluctance to engage. This paper argues that it is only by factoring in such complexities that governments can truly understand e-government in the knowledge society and proposes the adoption of well-established marketing practices to provide pragmatic, user-centric approaches to knowledge-driven citizen engagement.

Keywords: e-government; knowledge society; knowledge management; citizen engagement; participation; electronic government; G2C; knowledge creation; knowledge dissemination; marketing; cultural barriers; operational barriers; public sector bureaucracy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJITM.2007.013997

International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.6 No.2/3/4, pp.138 - 147

Published online: 10 Jun 2007 *

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