Social inclusion, security and e-democracy issues in e-government

This paper focuses on aspects of e-government with emphasis on how local authorities are coping with the transition into the Information Society. E-government will be reviewed in the light of such topics as social inclusion, security and e-democracy. The challenge has been set in the UK, for local authorities to deliver 100% of services capable of electronic delivery by 2005, with 25% to be delivered by 2002. The research was carried out with the support of a local authority council in South Yorkshire. It included a survey of members of Northern Authorities Benchmarking IT (NABit) to ascertain views on various aspects of e-government. The results were analysed to provide a more valid representation of local authorities' attempts to reach the 2005 target. The findings challenge some of the views portrayed in the literature review and show low confidence in achieving government targets. eLearning emerged as a key factor to prevent social exclusion and guarantee e-democracy.