Towards morally defensible e-government interactions with citizens

This paper looks at citizen-facing e-government. It considers how the non-discretionary nature of the citizen's relationship with government makes citizen-facing e-government different from business-consumer e-commerce. Combined with the moral basis of the state, the paper argues that there is an obligation for the state to set an example, which should affect the design of citizen-facing e-government, with design-for-all being an appropriate philosophy. Other consequences should include a preference for open standards and a wariness of unintentional endorsement of commercial products. E-government should also offer a good level of data protection and security, and has a role in educating citizens in matters of computer security. Advantages and disadvantages that may come from e-government adoption are considered, including a number of ways in which cost savings and increases in convenience may be achieved. There are brief discussions of questions of distribution of the benefits of e-government adoption and of the relationship of e-government to e-democracy.