[The maturity model for the public health service-a tool for assessing and improving the digital maturity level of German public health agencies]. / Das Reifegradmodell für den Öffentlichen Gesundheitsdienst ­ Ein Instrument zur Erfassung und Verbesserung des digitalen Reifegrades von deutschen Gesundheitsämtern.

The COVID 19 crisis has highlighted the key role of the public health service (PHS), with its approximately 375 municipal health offices involved in the pandemic response. Here, in addition to a lack of human resources, the insufficient digital maturity of many public health departments posed a hurdle to effective and scalable infection reporting and contact tracing. In this article, we present the maturity model (MM) for the digitization of health offices, the development of which took place between January 2021 and February 2022 and was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health. It has been applied since the beginning of 2022 with the aim of strengthening the digitization of the PHS. The MM aims to guide public health departments step by step to increase their digital maturity to be prepared for future challenges. The MM was developed and evaluated based on qualitative interviews with employees of public health departments and other experts in the public health sector as well as in workshops and with a quantitative survey. The MM allows the measurement of digital maturity in eight dimensions, each of which is subdivided into two to five subdimensions. Within the subdimensions a classification is made on five different maturity levels. Currently, in addition to recording the digital maturity of individual health departments, the MM also serves as a management tool for planning digitization projects. The aim is to use the MM as a basis for promoting targeted communication between the health departments to exchange best practices for the different dimensions.

Recommender System for Government Service in Smart Cities

significant recommender systems (RS) development has occurred along with the Internet of Things (IoT) development in recent years. Recommender systems have been widely spread across diverse fields, including environmental preservation, e-commerce, healthcare, social and governance systems. There has been a growing focus on e-government as part of smart city initiatives in today's world of connected devices and infrastructure, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. With the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), the government can enhance the delivery of public services, increase transparency, accountability, and credibility, as well as engage citizens in the decision-making process. To facilitate 'smart' governance, one of a smart city initiative's objectives is integrating e-government into the city's governance framework. The lack of personalized services for particular stakeholders is one of the most significant limitations of e-governance. There are a number of open challenges coupled with interesting opportunities, making this a very promising and exciting area for research to shape recommendation systems for urban environments. Considering the overwhelming amount of information, services, and tasks available through smart government applications, it is a greater chance of providing personalized recommendations for different stakeholders and tasks within multi-faceted and multi-dimension. There is still a lot of research to be done on recommendation systems in the context of smart cities or smart government. This paper survey the existing studies on recommendation systems for smart governance. The study aims to address smart city challenges to considered when designing and implementing recommendations for e-governance and the target stakeholder's interests. © 2022 IEEE.

Presenting, Representing, and Misrepresenting COVID-19 in the Five Central Asian States: The Political Underpinnings of Official State Coronavirus Websites in Authoritarian Regimes

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, each of the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) took notably different approaches to presenting coronavirus-related information on the internet through official websites. To understand these differences, this chapter engages with literature that looks at how states use websites for self-promotion, what shapes the decision-making of those elites in control of a state, and who sanctions the creation of those websites. Pairing a quantitative presentation of these websites' qualities with an analysis of text and images, the differences among these coronavirus websites are sketched out before they are situated in the political circumstances of the states which designed them. This analysis finds that coronavirus websites developed by Central Asian states are not solely depoliticized platforms for disseminating information to the public, but, rather, are inexorably linked to the concerns and objectives of state elites;in turn these elite agendas are reflected in each state's online response to the pandemic. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Citizens' intentions to use e-government during the COVID-19 pandemic: integrating the technology acceptance model and perceived risk theory

PurposeBased on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and perceived risk theory (PRT), this study proposes a new model for exploring factors affecting citizens' intentions to use e-government in the Vietnamese context during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe current study takes the form of a case study of the Vietnam context and employs a quantitative method. An Internet-based survey was conducted in Vietnam and was completed by 441 respondents. Hypotheses were tested using a two-stage structural equation model. SPSS 22 and AMOS 20 software were used for primary data analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that factors of TAM are still valuable in predicting citizens' intentions to use e-government services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the factor of PRT, namely, perceived risk of COVID-19 pandemic, also affects citizens' intentions to use e-government services. Attitudes toward e-government play a mediating role in the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived risk and citizens' intentions to use e-government. Examining the predictive power of TAM and PRT factors, it can be seen that TAM factors have a higher total effect on citizens' intentions to use e-government, compared to PRT factor.Originality/valueThe present study demonstrates a new model for exploring factors affecting citizens' intentions to use e-government during the COVID-19 era. It explored the effectiveness of combining TAM and PRT as well as the predictive power of each factors in an integrated model aimed at predicting citizens' intentions in the emergency context like COVID-19. This study helps us improve our understanding of e-government usage and would be of particular interest to policymakers and service providers of e-system.

"Smart City" Concept as a Possible Answer to New Challenges in Post-Covid Era

The "Smart City" concept and "smart digitalization" represent implementation of information and communication technologies in local government units. This is a new approach to local governance in managing various local government services and delivery of goods. Local government represents a form of political and administrative territorial organization, with specific local tasks and services regarding the local community. It has a separate jurisdiction and specific autonomy and functions mostly independently of the central government administration. Different administrative and political systems have different models of local government organization. The position of local government units depends on the degree of centralization present in the political system. Local government organization and public authorities are focused on delivery of goods and maintaining various public services for the local community, and their services usually have a local character. Their radius of influence is territorially limited in local units and social communities connected with these units. Services and tasks provided from local government units are specific because they usually influence daily life and quality of living in the local community. The concept of "Smart City" and implementation of "smart digitalization" in managing local public tasks and delivery of local services and goods can improve local governance and help in establishing an efficient model of local government administration. In this paper a comparative and deductive approach is used to explain main elements of the "Smart City" concept and their application to local government tasks and obligations. Second, it uses a synthetic approach to explore how implementation of "smart digitalization" and the "Smart City" concept can be used as an efficient tool for social, economic, and political challenges in the post-Covid era.

How E-Government Can Help Societies during a Crisis: Implications of UTAUT Model in Lebanon

Introduction: Information and communication technology (ICT) usage has grown rapidly, with a significant rise following the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assesses the relationships among task-technology fit, sense of virtual community, and the continuous intention to use electronic government services (e-government). Methods: Through quantitative approach using surveys, a total of 390 data was obtained from registered citizens in Tripoli municipality during the pandemic. The data were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results: The mediating role of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model was observed, which shows that task-technology fit, sense of virtual community, and the consideration of society and its development are essential factors for citizens to use ICTs. Systems should entail features that meet the needs of citizens, community-building elements, and satisfactory performance. The importance of e-government ICTs in community development, particularly in a fragile state such as Tripoli, Lebanon, is the highlight of the current results. This can be beneficial for governmental authorities in the region of the Middle East, helping them to increase communication effectiveness by implementing appropriate digital means for the public during a crisis. Community development is a highly effective aspect that governments can implement in their digital services to provide opportunities for learning, awareness, and social progress to the public.

E-Government and COVID-19: An Empirical Study in Greece

E-government and the implementation of ICT technologies in the public sector has been in the center of interest for a few decades now, but it is a fact that the Covid-19 pandemic and the worldwide lockdowns have given a boost on their prosecution in our everyday lives. The aims of this study were to i) examine the implementation of digital transformation best practices utilized by the governments globally and ii) take a thorough look in the case of Greece, to determine whether and to what extent the Greek government adopted similar practices and initiatives, allowing the use of online digital services to citizens in a wide array of public sector areas during the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, we sent a questionnaire to 202 people in Greece, via email and social media platforms. In response, 150 useable questionnaires were received with response rate of 74%. We gathered responses were gathered between May and June 2021, and data gathered were analyzed with PSPP statistical program. The results showed that the majority of the practices used by the government were well communicated, as most of the digital services were acknowledged by the participants even if they had not used them. In particular, the taxation portal and the central digital portal for governmental services were used in percentages of 76% and 66% respectively. In terms of use and satisfaction, responses were also quite encouraging, with 72% of the participants mentioning being very satisfied with the speed and quality of the new digital services, though leaving room for further research to conclude on improvement methods. After in-depth examination of the global and Greek progress of digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to state that all governments have shown tremendous improvement in order to cover citizens' needs, while using the majority of the available digital channels.

Three Cities on YouTube: E-Government?s Evolution Through Content Creation

Local governments are enhancing their governance through various information communication technologies (ICTs). This article presents an exploratory case study of three municipalities within the United States, examining how each applies YouTube for communication. Using content analysis and selected statistical tests of mean difference, the authors analyzed the videos uploaded between January 2020 to August 2020. The three municipalities used YouTube to document policymaking, publicize programs and services, update critical information during times of crises, and, in some cases, create unique brand images. The average number of views per video were similar across the three YouTube channels. However, one of the municipalities received a statistically significant number of average likes per video, which spotlights its positive brand image. In conclusion, the authors suggest directions for future research and recommend practices for social media adaptation in government.

Smart Urban Governance in Epidemic Control: Practices and Implications of Hangzhou

Appropriate governance tools can facilitate urban governments' effective responses to crises. Supported by information and communication technologies (ICTs), e-government infrastructure can be employed to achieve smart governance in epidemic control. Examining the case of Hangzhou, this paper discusses the Chinese megacity's adoption of e-government infrastructure as a means of combating the COVID-19 epidemic and stimulating recovering of the economy. This paper also summarizes several policy implications that may serve as points of reference for other cities when formulating their crisis response strategies. The paper concludes that smart governance rooted in the use of e-government infrastructure has exhibited great potential for public health crisis management.

Assessing Trust in Online Collaboration in E-government during the COVID-19 pandemic: An Employee Perspective

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, firms and institutions have to shift to work from home to prevent the spreading of the pandemic. As a public sector, employees in government institutions also collaborate online during the lockdown. Collaboration online has been identified as a challenge for employees. While our understanding of how employees' perception and trust of the e-government is still limited. To address this research gap, this study intends to investigate the antecedents of employees' trust in e-government during their work process in the new normal. By conducting a qualitative study with 14 in-depth interviews with employees with e-government experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, we extracted several key antecedents of employees' trust in e-government. Based on the qualitative data analysis, a theoretical model of trust antecedents was proposed. Our study provides a deep understanding of the specific antecedents of employees' trust in the e-government context. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

E-Government as a Key to the Economic Prosperity and Sustainable Development in the Post-COVID Era

Our paper focuses on the role of e-government in relation to economic development within the post-COVID era. Nowadays, e-government represents the service which utilizes digital technology to create electronic pathways to improve the efficiency of public services, increase economic prosperity, and improve the standard of living. In this paper, we argue that e-government presents the only proper and viable model for public administration in the 21st century by embedding internet-based technologies to ensure smooth interactions between the government and its citizens, solving the most socially important problems, enabling internal communication between public servants, and delivering public services to the entire population regardless of age or gender. In addition, we show that stakeholders and policymakers should foster the development of an adequate and non-discriminatory environment for e-government through regulatory frameworks, policy guidelines, and government guarantees. Our study is based on the results of our own survey that was administered using a snowball and quasi-random sample of 400 respondents (aged 19–26 years;56.2% females and 43.8% males) from the Czech Republic (N = 136) and the Russian Federation (N = 264), of whom 58% were women and 42% were men (M ± SD = 45.53 ± 11.46, median age 44). Our results show that the e-government enhancement concept has been perceived as an effective tool for fostering economic prosperity, tackling corruption, and helping to avoid uncertainty. Based on the theories of customer-focus and relationship marketing, this study suggests that the most significant factor influencing the success of e-government projects is citizen orientation, followed by channel and channel orientation, and technology orientation. We show that the governments of developing countries should prioritize e-government applications in their requests for international assistance and cooperation, as well as international financial support. Moreover, we argue that digital transformation should become the key element of the changing business and market needs in the post-COVID era.

The Combination of Ontology-Driven Conceptual Modeling and Ontology Matching for Building Domain Ontologies: E-Government Case Study

During the last decade, ontology engineering has undoubtedly participated in a lot of beneficial applications in different domains. Nevertheless, ontology development still faces several significant challenges that need to be addressed. This study proposes an enhanced architecture for the ontology development lifecycle. With the help of this architecture, users can complete ontology development tasks since it provides guidance for all key activities, from requirement specification to ontology evaluation. Ontology-driven conceptual modeling (ODCM) and ontology matching serve as the foundation of this architecture. ODCM is defined as the application of ontological ideas from various fields to build engineering objects that improve conceptual modeling. Ontology matching is a promising approach to overcome the semantic heterogeneity challenge between different ontologies. The proposed architecture is applied to e-governance domain, which is one of the online services that gains a great attention worldwide, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. However, residents of Arab countries face numerous obstacles and do not receive the full benefits of e-governance. For these reasons, Egyptian e-government is selected as the suggested case study. The results are encouraging when the produced ontology is compared with 20 existing ontologies from the same domain. On the basis of OntoMetrics, the average values of metrics correlated to accuracy, understandability, cohesion and conciseness lie in the 95th, 95th, 95th and 57th percentiles respectively. The results can be further enhanced by defining more non-inheritance relations and distributing the instances across all classes. © 2022. ISCA

Digital Government in Application-Based Motor Vehicle Tax Payments in Indonesia

Amid the current pandemic, information technology such as the internet has become a basic need for society. The increasingly limited space for movement requires people to master technology to be able to survive and interact virtually. On the other hand, technology that has become a basic need also needs to be adopted by the government to improve public services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to be more effective and efficient. E-Government and digital government in Indonesia are strengthened by the presence of Presidential Instruction No. 3 of 2003, as well as Presidential Regulation (Perpres) no. 95 of 2018 concerning the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE). One of these acceleration efforts is also strengthened by the presence of the electronic-based government system index (SPBE) which measures how the electronic-based government system in Indonesia is at the regional level. As people increasingly master technology, the form of technology-based services (e-services) will be increasingly needed by the public. So, how does the government respond to this? West Java Province itself through Bapenda (Regional Revenue Agency) and a team of IT experts has launched an application called Sambara (West Java Mobile Samsat), a public service in the form of an Android-based smartphone application for payment of Motor Vehicle Tax (PKB) in West Java Province. The application is also implemented in Banten Province through the SAMBAT (Samsat Banten Hebat) and SIGNAL (National Digital Samsat) Applications as well as Cooperation in the Management of Regional Levies through the SIREDA (Regional Retribution System) application.Copyright © 2023, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

E-Government Development—A Key Factor in Government Administration Effectiveness in the European Union

The phenomenon of digitisation of the public sector is an irreversible process that affects both the way public institutions are organised and the communication relationships between people and institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a challenge and a strong impetus in accelerating the digitisation process of public administration at the global level such that it is currently difficult to make a clear distinction between governance and e-governance. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of the intensification of the digitisation process of public services in increasing the efficiency of governments at the level of the member states of the European Union, based on a cluster analysis. A robust least squares regression method was used to estimate the effects of the three dimensions of the e-government development index (EGDI) on government effectiveness. The results of the analysis highlighted the fact that the skills of the population in using online services determine the increase in a double percentage of government efficiency in intensively digitised states compared to states where the digitisation of public services is less developed. The development of the telecommunications infrastructure also has a significant positive impact on the efficiency of the government. However, online services offered by public authorities have proven to negatively influence government efficiency in both clusters. © 2023 by the authors.

Private and Public Digitalization and Economic Resilience during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic represented a tremendous shock for both public and private sectors and put pressure on the economic environment alongside national healthcare systems. Our article examined the economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU Member States and assessed if countries with more intense use of digitalization instruments (e-government features, e-commerce, ITC skills, etc.) in both public and private sectors registered a lower economic decline during 2019–2020. Our approach was based firstly on statistical correlation analysis applied to several indicators obtained from Eurostat and European Commission. Secondly, we elaborated different regional models of economic and social homogenous characteristics that could be found among EU Member States based on a hierarchical cluster analysis model applied to several structural socio-economic and digitalization indicators. The main conclusion was that there is a strong positive correlation between the share of ITC employment and the share of ITC in GDP, and the level of digital skills for individuals and the share of companies with high intensity of digitalization. © 2023 by the authors.

E-government, political system and COVID-19 in Africa: lessons for future disruptive shocks

PurposeThis study aims to explore the role of mobile tracing applications as part of e-government services in combating the COVID-19 pandemic effects in Africa by analyzing the moderating role of sustainable development. This study also investigated the role of the political and economic systems in mitigating the negative consequences of COVID-19 and how e-government interacts in this relationship. Design/methodology/approachThis study included the COVID-19 performance index for 94 countries belonging to different regions, including 20 African countries. Multiple linear regression was used for data analysis via Stata software. The study was conducted from the start of the pandemic to March 13, 2021. FindingsThe results show that less economically and technologically developed countries with generally authoritarian political systems, including African countries, could limit the spread of the pandemic better than some democratic, economically and technologically developed countries in the first wave of the pandemic. The promotion of sustainable development goals moderates the relationship between mobile tracing applications as part of the e-government service and the fight against COVID-19. Originality/valueThis study provides insight into the role of mobile application technology as an e-governance service in mitigating the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in a context characterized by economic limitations, fragile public health infrastructure and relatively high political instability, especially in Africa. The findings shed light on some of the difficulties African countries may face in incorporating technology into their development projects.

Determinants of continuance intention of using e-government services in Tanzania: the role of system interactivity as moderating factor

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the continuance intention of using e-government services in Tanzania as well as moderating effects of system interactivity.Design/methodology/approachA research model based on expectancy confirmation model was developed and empirically tested using 213 data collected from e-government services users who were selected using the judgemental sampling technique. The variance-based structural equation modelling technique was used for data analysis using SmartPLS 3.0.FindingsThe results of this study suggest that system interactivity, computer self-efficacy, management support, confirmation, satisfaction and perceived usefulness have a positive and significant influence on continuance intention to use e-government services. Moreover, the findings of this study indicate that system interactivity moderates the influence of perceived usefulness and satisfaction on continuance intention.Originality/valueThis study extends the expectancy confirmation model with system interactivity, management support and computer self-efficacy which are considered as important factors in continuance usage of technology. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of system interactivity on the effects of perceived usefulness and satisfaction on continuance intention.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the development of the information society in Slovenia

Digital transformation is trending pursuant to the almost ubiquitous use of digital technology by private and public sectors, and general populations. The disruption caused by advancing technology requires strategic responses to mitigate the negative aspects of such disruption and generate positive change. Other disruption, moreover, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, additionally imposes limitations on what we consider to be normal life, further engendering the utilization of digital technology. Even though the impact of digital transformation can be assessed by means of different metrics, including the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), they do not provide sufficient clarity in terms of pain points and improvement possibilities. The differences in relation to the availability of said technology and the skills necessary for its optimal use, which are closely related to user education level, age, and economic status, are additional parameters governments and policymakers need to consider, and data-driven decision-making is essential to ensure optimal policy-making and investment vis-à-vis digital transformation, such as the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility. This paper analyses Slovenia's digital transformation between 2018 and 2021, using data collected from more than 5,000 respondents, to detect technology use differences in terms of demographics, focusing on the digital divide and the COVID-19 crisis, and compares Slovenia's experience with other EU Member States, focusing especially on online public administration services. Our results evidence that the digital divide is the main differentiating factor in Slovenia and that gender is accordingly not of great import, and that Slovenia's oldest generation and some members of younger generations face problems when endeavoring to digitally integrate. Compared to other EU Member States, Slovenia is average according to DESI, but the findings show that EU Member States should take its specifics into account to address their own DT paradigm. © 2022, Bucharest University of Economic Studies Publishing House. All rights reserved.

ECONOMIC GROWTH, E-GOVERNMENT, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION DURING COVID-19: A PANEL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ASIAN ECONOMIES

Covid-19 has brought economic and environmental concerns to ASEAN nations. Thailand and Indonesia's financial difficulties and environmental deterioration worsened due to the deployment of government resources to a medical emergency. This study examines Thailand and Indonesia's economic growth, e-government, and environmental damage during covid-19. In this study, secondary data is employed to determine the findings. The study indicates that Thailand and Indonesia must improve their e-government performance to achieve sustainable economic growth and environmental conservation. This analysis utilized secondary data sources. During this investigation, the years 2017 to 2020 are considered. The outcomes of this study revealed that it is the responsibility of the government in every country to safeguard the environment since economic freedom ensures economic sustainability. Similarly, the results of this study indicate that e-government practices in ASEAN countries, particularly Indonesia and Thailand, should be improved to reduce environmental degradation in the country. The scope of this study is limited to public sector departments and the governments of Thailand and Indonesia. This study's conclusions have theoretical and practical implications for strengthening the body of knowledge and the effectiveness of government machinery to improve the government sector. This study also shows the next areas of literature research in this field. © 2022, International Journal of eBusiness and eGovernment Studies. All Rights Reserved.

MODELLING THE IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT ON CORRUPTION FOR THE COVID-19 CRISIS

E-government is the transition of traditional government administration to digital platforms for the public good and increased efficiency. The covid-19 pandemic in ASEAN countries generated a new wave of corruption in public sector enterprises. This study is based on secondary data and utilizes credible studies and resources for its crucial findings. With effective e-government, corruption in Thailand's public sector departments can be minimized, according to the conclusions of this study. The scope of this study is confined to institutions in Thailand's public sector. This study reviewed data from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines acquired between 1960 and 2012 to assess the relationship between corruption (C), E-governance (EG), economic growth (EG), and good governance (GG) (GG). This study examined data collected from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines between 1970 and 2022. The results reveal that e-governance is inversely associated with corruption, suggesting that e-governance decreases corruption. The findings indicate that the usage of electronic government is recommended as a technique that can boost the efficiency and effectiveness of government activities and give better service to the general public. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by demonstrating that the role of checks and balances in e-government functioning is essential since, without checks and balances, no government can function professionally. This study revealed to practitioners that, to limit corruption, a separate department of accountability should be created to oversee the entire operation of the government department, as the likelihood of corruption would be lower without sufficient oversight. © 2022, International Journal of eBusiness and eGovernment Studies. All Rights Reserved.