E-Government

E-government and other applications of information technologies can provide powerful means for global, national and local justice, increased democracy, decentralized decision-making, and more efficient service delivery. In general, e-government initiatives are aimed at modernizing governmental agencies in their dealings with the public and extending services into online environments. In various African countries, e-government initiatives have begun; they have allowed citizens easy access to public services and lobbying opportunities at policy level decision-making. This chapter identifies prospects and challenges in e-government and e-governance in the East African region. The author sketches harmonizing strategies for the development of an ethical framework for their implementation and argues that the challenge of e-governance in developing countries resides in the challenge of “good governance” as well as issues of accessibility and user skills.