Importance of E-Government for Business in COVID Times

by Matthew Zuccaro, Digital Strategy Associates LLC

​The development of new information and communication technologies (ICT), have revolutionized the delivery of public services as well as the interaction between business owners and their government. This has become more apparent during COVID times as pandemic driven closures has increased the pressure for the transition of more government services online.

Incorporating many aspects from the private sector, including e-commerce functionality and social media engagement, many national and local agencies have invested in robust E-Government platforms capable of providing a plethora of online services. Through the Internet, government agencies have gained the ability to provide their constituents with digital access to tax payments, form submissions, public records, and the dissemination of vital information.

The development of the internet and the web presented a key opportunity for government to provide higher quality services directly to citizens in innovative ways at lower cost. The State of New Jersey has been a leader in adding online services for businesses through the Business Gateway Portal which allows online business registration among other services.

While the emergence of the World Wide Web two decades ago has propelled the conveyance of government services and information through the Internet, E-Government, has actually existed since the 1950’s, when public entities began acquiring computers. Beginning in the 1960’s the widespread use of computers for holding financial information for government, transitioned to a wider range of “front” offices or mainstream administrative settings, eventually culminating with their integration into the World Wide Web in the 1990’s.

E-government can have a transformative effect on how citizens, especially business owners, interact with their government since it provides stakeholders with a medium to directly engage their elected officials and state. The growing digitization of government achieves some kind of joined-up e-governance where the website facilitates one-stop services for citizens across a whole range of services and various tiers of local, state, and federal government. As technology continues to evolve, so will the delivery of government services to its citizens.

by Matthew Zuccaro, Digital Strategy Associates LLC
https://digitalstrategyllc.com/