E-Government

Not long ago I received a registration renewal notice in the mail for my pickup truck. It was time to have my pickup inspected and have the registration renewed. A couple of days later I took it in for an inspection and emissions test. It passed without any problems, and now I had the certificates in my hand. The only thing left to do was renew my registration. The last time I visited the DMV office on a Saturday, I wait in line for over two hours. Not wanting to stand in line, I decided to renew online. The online registration process took about 15 minutes, I paid with my credit card, and the website didn't require me to create a username and password. I expect to receive my registration papers and license plate sticker in the mail in about a week. This service allowed me to avoid the lines and keep my vehicle in good standing without leaving my home. There are many benefits to citizens when services become available online. They include:

• Quickly find contact information from the national down to the local government for leaders, offices, etc.
• Fill out forms online
• Download and print forms
• Pay fees online
• Purchase a license (fishing, etc.)
• Pay property taxes
• Research statistical and census information
• Job searches
• Tourism information
• Request birth, death and marriage records

The drawbacks for services coming online are few, but they do exist. They include:

• Citizens without a home computer will not have access to this information from home
• Citizens without basic computer skills will not have access
• Information and services should be provided in multiple languages, based on the percentage of citizens who live within the boundaries but don't speak English
  
• Information available about citizens needs to be constantly reviewed to avoid breeching citizen's privacy rights
• When asking for personal information (such as names, addresses and credit card information), government-sponsored websites should encrypt the information that is transferred, and citizens should avoid filling out forms that are not encrypted
• Government websites that utilize third-party services (credit card payments, etc) should ensure the citizens that their information will not be sold or disclosed
• Information can become outdated
  

With the increased availability of online e-government services, the government can expect to have citizens who are more informed and can more easily stay in touch with their leaders. Citizens can also expect to have more information available at their fingertips, avoid long lines, having to take time off work to pay fees, etc. In the end, both the government and its citizens will benefit.